Keeley Townsend

Leaked Interior Department database reveals US plans to revise historical information The U.S. Interior Department said a database revealing how President Donald Trump's administration planned to revise information on key phases of ​American history at national park sites was deliberat...

"An internal government database ... revealed the scope of the ... administration's ​effort to revise or remove information on African-American history, LGBT rights, ​climate change and other topics at hundreds of national park ⁠sites." www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

For anyone interested in reading a dissertation on science for policy for science #SciPol: "Aiding and Abetting Scientific Integrity in U.S. Federal Government Agencies" by Keeley Townsend digitalcommons.odu.edu/businessadmi...

In 1854, after watching the federal government deploy 2000 federal troops and spend $40,000 sending Anthony Burns back into slavery, Boston's Amos Adams Lawrence said “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.”

YouTube video by CrashCourse Crash Course Scientific Thinking Preview

"Science is one of the best ways we have of understanding what’s going on around us. In Crash Course Scientific Thinking we’ll explore the foundational principles that underlie scientific thought." youtu.be/Y45KrixWRNg?...

Trump’s Tangled Web of Deal-Making, Policy and Riches The president, his family and some of their closest associates have engaged in a sprawling campaign of deals that stretches across industries and the globe.

A compelling graphic look at all the ways that Trump and his family and friends have been monetizing the White House in his second term to enrich themselves more than any presidential clan has ever done before. @lazarogamio.bsky.social Amy Schoenfeld Walker
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica

Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.

This is a quote from the article summing up both studies in Technology Review: "A multi-university team of researchers has found that chatting with a politically biased AI model was more effective than political advertisements at nudging both Democrats and Republicans to support presidential candidates of the opposing party. The chatbots swayed opinions by citing facts and evidence, but they were not always accurate—in fact, the researchers found, the most persuasive models said the most untrue things."

Two independent studies found that AI chatbots were better at persuading voters than political ads. The most persuasive bots also lied the most. This is something that humans working in psyops have known for decades. AI is psyops at scale. www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/04/1...

The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food. The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of PFAS — also known as "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment.

Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Brace for "Living Hell" Under Trump - Bolts Trump officials are retaliating by imposing the harshest conditions in the entire federal prison system, including near total isolation.

After Biden commuted the sentences of 37 men on federal death row last year, the Trump administration is retaliating by sending them to the supermax. Prisoners are locked in cells smaller than a parking space 22-24 hours a day.

One prisoner told me he fears he won't make it out alive.

My latest:

Pulling back the curtain on religious and cultural resistance to vaccines - SciLine

Reporters—covering vaccine hesitancy? It's important to avoid the temptation to think of vaccine-hesitant individuals or groups as a monolith. Our tip sheet shares tips on how to connect with them to share evidence-based research: bit.ly/439lJfp

@aaas.org

Opinion | ‘Things happen’ Setting the record straight about our murdered colleague.

Trump’s performance at the White House Tuesday was weak, crass and of no strategic benefit to America, the Editorial Board writes.

Informative and horrifying conversation about past and present threats.

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

Anti-science bills hit statehouses, stripping away public health protections built over a century More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections – vaccines, milk safety and fluoride – have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year.

"More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections ... have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year, part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine a conspiracy theory-driven agenda into law." apnews.com/article/vacc...

Trojan gold: New US “standard” is another veiled attack on science Transparency, reproducibility, and acknowledging uncertainty are meritorious attributes of science that differentiate it from other human endeavors, such as politics. But they can also be subverted. I...

"... it is essential to recognize that Trump’s executive order is the culmination of long-standing efforts by congressional Republicans to attack or undermine US science in a way that is cloaked in benign and attractive terms." www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Could Trump’s war on the media happen here? As Emily Bell says, billionaires and strongmen alike understand one thing: control the media, and you control democracy.

"As Emily Bell says, billionaires and strongmen alike understand one thing: control the media, and you control democracy." open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight Trump vs. Higher Education: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Here’s last night’s story about Donald Trump’s war on higher education, and what a young Stephen Miller looked like. Brace yourself. youtu.be/xk94il8L820

The worst takes from a bad week The Free Press, about to take over CBS News, blames universities for American political violence

New, from me:
It was a terrible week, one that inspired some truly awful takes. The worst was the effort by Bari Weiss and The Free Press to smear universities as "the biggest culprits" to blame American political violence, with faculty training "jihadis."
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-worst-...

EPA says companies shouldn’t have to report planet-warming emissions The announcement amounts to a major rollback that would eliminate the primary means of tracking climate goals. The EPA framed it as a cost-cutting measure.

Breaking news: The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed eliminating a requirement that businesses report their greenhouse gas emissions, ending a program that has tracked the climate impact of major polluters since 2010.

Scientists trace heat waves back to individual fossil fuel companies, with potentially sweeping courtroom implications | CNN For the first time, scientists have quantified the causal links between worsening heat waves and global warming pollution from individual fossil fuel and cement companies, pushing the boundaries of ex...

"By tying increasingly severe and common heat waves to specific companies, the new research could find its way into courtrooms where individuals, cities, states and countries are seeking to hold fossil fuel producers accountable for climate damages." www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/c...

Uncoordinated federal regulations are increasing the time researchers spend on regulatory and administrative tasks, wasting intellectual capacity and taxpayer dollars.

Our new report examines the current regulatory system and suggests ways to optimize it: buff.ly/b5rGSC0

School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget. Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state program...

Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it faced hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state programs and projects last year.

(Published July 2024)

Could Project 2025 happen here? The Christian Right that propelled Trump to power is coming for Britain, says American investigative journalist Katherine Stewart.

Could Project 2025 happen here?
open.substack.com/pub/democrac...

The authoritarian checklist It is time to admit that America is no longer a functioning democracy

New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...

"This could be the difference whether your child gets cancer. Are you willing for them to die because the therapy for them is delayed?"

Powerful video with voices from top US scientists on the very real and devastating impacts of the funding cuts.

From Anti-Government to Anti-Science: Why Conservatives Have Turned Against Science Abstract. Empirical data do not support the conclusion of a crisis of public trust in science. They do support the conclusion of a crisis of conservative trust in science: polls show that American att...

Enlightening, timely essay (from 2022):
Naomi Oreskes, Erik M. Conway; From Anti-Government to Anti-Science: Why Conservatives Have Turned Against Science. Daedalus 2022; 151 (4): 98–123. doi: doi.org/10.1162/daed...

EPA to revoke 2009 finding that climate pollution endangers humans The repeal of the finding on the dangers greenhouse gases pose to human health and welfare will face fierce legal challenges.

NEW: EPA to revoke 2009 finding that climate pollution endangers humans.

His name is Mohammad Al-Motawaq. He is 18 months old. And he is starving in Gaza Hidaya Al-Motawaq's son is a year and a half old and weighs less than 10 pounds. Doctors warn of permanent damage to children's health due to chronic malnutrition from Israel's earlier blockade.

Hidaya Al-Motawaq's son is a year and a half old and weighs less than 10 pounds. Doctors warn of permanent damage to children's health due to chronic malnutrition from Israel's earlier blockade.

“Staggering” Water Loss Driven by Groundwater Mining Poses Global Threat A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid “mega” regions and causing sea levels to rise.

"So much groundwater is now being pumped that it is filling the oceans as it drains off land, becoming one of the largest drivers of global sea level rise." www.propublica.org/article/wate...

"Science and racism share a history because scientists, science’s institutions and influential supporters of science either directly or indirectly supported core racist beliefs" - one of many reasons why DEIA is critical for (not antithetical to) scientific integrity. www.nature.com/articles/d41...