Bethy Peffy

A screenshot of my Focus Friend room which is mostly full

This count up timer has really changed the game for me on #focusfriend! I struggle to figure out how long tasks will take, so I kept undercutting myself on socks bc I didn't think a task would take as long as it did. Most of this comes from this week!!

@hankgreen.bsky.social

2 weeks left!

Title card: Study Hall courses Below is a composition notebook with 4 tabs sticking out. They read: Power and Politics in US Government, Real World College Math, Modern World History, and Intro to Psychology. To the right is a yellow post it note that says "take a top tier college course for just $25." Behind these objects are fall leaves. In the bottom right corner there is a brown notebook, and in the top left corner there is a matcha latte.

Study Hall courses offer the best low-investment, risk free way to start, re-start, or continue your college journey! Where else can you take a college course that starts on YouTube, and only pay for the credit after you've passed the course?

Complexly is looking to hire a Director of Development!

If you're interested, please review our job posting at Complexly.com/job and apply before Friday, October 17!

Commenting bc you asked for it in your most recent video. Go cancel your WSJ subscription if you haven't already!

I've been able to turn it on and then open another app to watch videos with Focus Friend running in the background. I think this is the intended usage as long as Deep Focus mode isn't on? So you could try that!

71 right now

Reuters “Musk says xAI to take legal action against Apple over App Store rankings”

Bria Sullivan standing with me probably thinking “what, like it’s hard?”

While Elon Musk prepares to sue Apple because he says it’s impossible to get Grok to #1 on the App Store, here’s a picture of me with @bobabria.bsky.social, the sole developer of the app that hit #1 on the App Store yesterday.

Tuberculosis Spawning in Crowded, Dirty ICE Detention Centers Doctors and medical researchers expect more outbreaks of infectious disease as the Trump administration crams thousands more people into miserable conditions.

Unsurprising but horrifying. Wherever there are people forced into crowded living conditions, there will be tuberculosis. Wherever people are dehumanized, there will be tuberculosis. prospect.org/health/2025-...

The reason EV range (and gas mileage) go down so much when you drive faster is because, when you drive twice as fast, you hit twice as many molecules AND you hit each of those molecules with twice as much force, which means drag increases exponentially.

I asked Orin what kind of guy he was and he said he was an octoguy because he’s eight years old.

mRNA tech is some of the coolest, most powerful, most promising scifi shit humans are currently doing. They are being investigated to help with cancers, autoimmune diseases, M.S., stroke recovery, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and high cholesterol.

A thing I think we miss is that the “authoritarian playbook” isn’t a set of instructions authoritarians are reading from, it’s just a list of things that happen when narcissists get too much power.

I doubt that there is a single family in America that hasn’t benefitted directly from the NIH.

Instead I’ve been using “anti-vax influencers” which distinguishes them from normal folk and focuses not on what they do to vaccines, but what they do to people.

I’ve more recently started using “vaccine alarmists” and “vaccine alarmism.”

Do with this what you will.

An extract of a typewritten letter - the letters overlap and are not aligned, with one squiggly overlapping sentence reading "Oh dear this is more modern art than letter"

My old typewriter fell apart on me while I was typing a letter to a friend.
(relatable)
This led to an oddly artistic mess. Ran out of ink afterwards, alas, after maybe 25 years of owning it.

Walking is really, really, really good for you.

Conclusion of a new meta-analysis that reviewed 57 studies on walking & health:
"Compared with 2,000 steps per day, 7,000 steps per day was associated with a 47% lower risk of all-cause mortality."

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

On this World Emoji Day, here’s the forecast for the week! Told in emojis 😅

#stlwx

i have no idea what this pun means but nonetheless: the teaser for tag all stars is here.

we have literally never been more back

This is a big and significant win, and speaks to the real power of public advocacy campaigns. Still a VERY long way to go in the fight against the cuts, though. Join us at @tbfighters.org in pushing against attempts to cut U.S. investments in domestic and global health.

Are they going to start paying taxes??

Experts estimate USAID cuts are leading to 88 deaths PER HOUR. A UN office called these “the deepest funding cuts ever to hit the international humanitarian sector.” If funding isn't resumed, they estimate an additional 10 million cases & 2 million preventable deaths by 2030: tb.impactcounter.com

I would like for wealthy people excited for tax cuts to sign a piece of paper acknowledging that every dollar they get in tax breaks is going to be paid for by someone else…either someone not getting healthcare or SNAP or some future person paying higher taxes to pay the interest on our new debt.

One of the benefits of reading a lot of history is that you realize how many people who were ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN they were doing a lot of good were, in fact, doing a lot of harm.

Certainty is a hell of a drug. Certainty combined with fame/power is especially dangerous.

In a World with HIV Treatment, Why Are Teenagers Still Dying of AIDS?

The heartbreak abounds in every direction, but it's so devastating to lose young people to HIV when we know how to prevent those deaths. We are now witnessing the horrific impacts of the U.S. Government's cuts to global health. magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/wor...

The problem with this stretch of heat is that we're hot during the day, but the low temperatures at night are warm too. We're not recovering well overnight, and the heat wears on you more because of this. #stlwx

Tornado watch until 4pm for ST. Louis metro and our counties in Illinois. #stlwx

Don't just say it's unconstitutional, remind people that the constitution is full of very good ideas designed to prevent authoritarianism, and most people who want to ignore it want that specifically because they are authoritarian.

P4A perks are surprise gifts for your future self😌