Prof. Carrie McDonough

A fun reminder that a loss of 60,000 jobs in and around academia is ~50% more than all coal mining jobs in the entire country.

“It’s not simply that one piece of technology is overhyped, it’s that hype is a necessary ingredient of the current business ecosystem of the tech industry.”

This!! This is why I am also so worried about the relentless repetition of “we have to tell better stories about our science!”

Sure, but…

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

What is The Times waiting for to come to its have-you-no-shame moment? Call a lie a lie, a dictator a dictator, a fascist a fascist, and a racist a racist. Refusing to use direct, factual language prevents journalists from covering and explaining news. It's not journalism.

Mr. Trump has never been especially wedded to facts, routinely making up his own numbers, repeating falsehoods and conspiracy theories even after they are debunked and denigrating the very concept of independent fact-checking. But his efforts since reclaiming the White House to make the rest of government adopt his versions of the truth have gone further than in his first term and increasingly remind scholars of the way authoritarian leaders in other countries have sought to control information.

Baker has him "never especially wedded to facts." No, he lies. His lies "increasingly remind scholars" authoritarian leaders seeking "to control information." No, he censors and propagandizes. This newspeak underscores the #BrokenTimes own fear of truth and direct language.

If you were wondering why they're attacking scientists, it's this.

If there's no Covid testing to track Covid, there's no Covid.

What to know if you're at risk of having your wages garnished over student loan debt Millions of student borrowers could begin having their wages garnished as soon as this summer. That's according to estimates from credit bureau TransUnion.

Millions of student borrowers could begin having their wages garnished as soon as this summer. That's according to estimates from credit bureau TransUnion.

Dem majority in PA Supreme Court helped make PA congressional maps more fair. These 3 seats need to stay blue. Everyone donate and or tell a friend/family member to vote!

Picture of Smithsonian History Museum documenting Trump's two impeachments.

Can't take away my phone's picture of it.

Every Scientific Empire Comes to an End America’s run as the premiere techno-superpower may be over.

"Trump’s interference in the sciences is something new. It shares features with the science-damaging policies of Stalin and Hitler ...But in the English-speaking world, it has no precedent, he told me: 'This is an unparalleled destruction from within.'"

How Scientific Empires End And what it means for America

The rapid decline of American science has few precedents in history, argues @rossandersen.bsky.social. We are witnessing an unparalleled act of self-sabotage:

BREAKING: A federal court rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to re-detain our client Mahmoud Khalil and blocked the government from using bogus “foreign policy” grounds to deport him while they appeal.

This is a big win — Mahmoud will remain free.

Let's please keep the remaining staff at NIH, NSF, etc in our thoughts even as you lose sleep over your own lab and scientific career.

They are enduring pure chaos to try to hold the fort.

See snapshot from wapo.st/4feKKuu (gift 🔗) saying they are "barely holding it together"

🚨 Required reading for every scientist, academic admin, and member of Congress 🚨

The shift to multi-year funding is a Trojan Horse designed to cannibalize NIH funding with zero congressional oversight

The effects will be immediate. paylines will crater, labs will shutter, Americans will suffer. 🧪

The Fight for Trans Youth Healthcare at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center It Could Happen Here · Episode

UPMC is forcing their trans patients under 19 to taper off their medication while simultaneously telling their emergency staff to expect more suicide attempts, mental health crises, and psychotic episodes as a result of being forcefully pulled off their medication.

open.spotify.com/episode/3HJN...

The NIH’s 2024 budget of just under $37B generated $95B in economic activity in 2024 alone. 99.4% of new pharmaceuticals approved from 2010-2019 came from NIH-funded research. I’m hard pressed to think of anything that generates as much direct economic benefit as our NIH did before they destroyed it

Happy to also make this pledge

Remember - if this autocracy is allowed to go to its logical conclusion, it will be a blow to all of your achievements and all of the time you've put in... At least that's how I see it as an environmental researcher.

Also - if you're NOT achieving a whole lot right now, you're not alone. We get it. It's hard to stay motivated when all our good work is being ignored, distorted, and destroyed. Stay strong and do what you can to oppose this crap.

I have definitely been less productive as a scientist the last few months because I am prioritizing advocating for science funding and freedom for ALL researchers and students, not just advancing my own career goals. And something, as a competitive person and a perfectionist, it is very hard.

In some ways, generating knowledge is in itself an act of defiance; unfortunately it's no longer enough. We need more brazen speech and action to defend scientific integrity in this country.

US faculty and scientists: If you continue to achieve things you're proud of despite the anti-science environment we're in, great job. But right now, it's crucial to also be advocating for academic freedom and pushing back against the Trump regime.

Columbia and Penn Made Trump Deals. More Universities Could Be Next.

Penn and Columbia pride themselves on national leadership.

Now they're leading the way in appeasing authoritarianism

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/u...

Scientists and leaders world-wide should learn from this. They must push back DIRECTLY on health misinformation.

That means standing up for real science and scientific truth in a clear and direct way, and talking about the charlatans and liars who sell scary stories and easy cures.

“This resolution is going to allow us to turn a page…..”

In what book, Acting President Shipman?

My suggestion to universities is that you select as your presidents and acting presidents, people who actually understand the meaning & significance of universities to democracies.

So…not antisemitism.

Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle Fight With Trump

You can never bend the knee enough to appease an authoritarian bully.

This is a devastating blow to academic freedom & freedom of speech at Columbia.

Never in the history of this nation has there been an administration so intent on the utter destruction of higher education as we know it.

Amid Fear of Retaliation, N.S.F. Workers Sign Letter of Dissent

"In the letter, the signatories warned that National Science Foundation grants now underwent a 'covert and ideologically driven secondary review process'...”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/s...

U.S. deportees, freed from Salvadoran prison, describe ‘horror movie’ Three Venezuelans, released last week from the Terrorism Confinement Center, said they were repeatedly beaten and denied access to lawyers.

Sharing this GIFT LINK so people can’t say they didn’t know what’s been happening in our name.

wapo.st/3GZuXCW