Sarah Sloat

How Political Chaos Is Affecting Americans’ Mental Health - Dame Magazine As political instability rises, so do anxiety, depression, and disengagement. New research shows how national turmoil is reshaping Americans’ mental health.

If you’ve felt exhausted, anxious, or numb in the face of nonstop political turmoil, you’re not imagining it and you're definitely not alone.

@sarahsloat.bsky.social looks at the research on the psychological and physical toll of polycrisis.

I'd like to know what the MAHA crowd thinks of this

#Journorequest: I'm looking to speak to women who use AI chatbots like ChatGPT for health questions and guidance. If you're open to chatting, please send me a message or email. Thank you! sarahsloat9@gmail.com 🧪🧠💬

i suppose it makes sense but it is completely demoralizing that we live in a moment where there is more video/photographic evidence (often from multiple angles) than ever before and also a durable system in place for propagandists to gaslight or convince others into not believing their eyes

I'm looking to get in touch with scientists in Minnesota. Best ways to reach me are here or LDattaro.73 on Signal. Thanks!

#chemsky #neuroskyence

AI as a life coach: experts share what works, what doesn’t and what to look out for It’s becoming more common for people to use AI chatbots for personal guidance – but this doesn’t come without risks

You can use ChatGPT for life advice—but should you? Experts told me AI guidance is much riskier than most realize.

My latest for @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...

If you want to understand this moment in time, and all the ways unassuming tech is weaponized, you need to be reading @404media.co.

When I reported on why some Oura ring users were uncomfortable with a Palantir connection, this is the sort of behavior that's why they said any link—however distant—made them so unsettled. slate.com/technology/2...

Can Jollibee Beat American Fast Food at Its Own Game? A fast-growing Filipino chain is serving burgers and chicken that seem like typical American fare—until you taste them.

"In the Philippines, Jollibee is an institution; in America, it’s mostly just another chicken restaurant, and may never be destined to be anything more."

@yeahyeahyasmin.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

AI toys for kids talk about sex and issue Chinese Communist Party talking points, tests show New research from Public Interest Research Group and tests conducted by NBC News found that a wide range of AI toys have loose guardrails.

for the "sounds like The Onion but isn't The Onion" file www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

Is the heating giving me a headache? Hot, dry air from heating and decreased air circulation can make us feel under the weather. Here’s what to know

It's that time of year again: are you sick....or is your dry af apartment making you feel sick www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...

Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.

I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.

He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...

How RFK Jr., America's celebrity health secretary, is steamrolling science RFK Jr. is plowing ahead with sweeping changes to U.S. health care that have thrilled supporters, purged opponents, and horrified critics.

A new profile of RFK Jr offers fresh insights into how he works, the bond he shares with Trump, & how he's moved HHS “from evidence-based decision-making to decision-based evidence-making." Story by @chelseacirruzzo.bsky.social, @caseyross.bsky.social, & me:

www.statnews.com/2025/11/18/r...

Record Numbers of Younger Women Want to Leave the U.S. The percentage of younger women in the U.S. who express a desire to migrate permanently has surged in the past decade.

Conservatives had a meltdown over young women going for Mamdani, Sherril, and Spanberger, calling them miserable and insane.

It's no wonder polls show this group is imagining a future elsewhere, a trend that's not happening in other advanced economies.

news.gallup.com/poll/697382/...

what's the German word for when you realize you need to go outside to get the last minutes of sunlight but then you answer a quick text then realize oh the sunlight is all gone

Ofc the Sauron Brooklyn Tower went Cuomo

You Can't Refuse To Be Scanned by ICE's Facial Recognition App, DHS Document Says Photos captured by Mobile Fortify will be stored for 15 years, regardless of immigration or citizenship status, the document says.

New from 404 Media: you can't refuse to be scanned by ICE's new facial recognition app, according to internal DHS document I obtained. Photos captured by the app are stored for 15 years, including U.S. citizens. We've seen officers scanning faces w/ phones on streets

www.404media.co/you-cant-ref...

And it's like spiders at the beach
Weird but fkin' beautiful

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧪

(RNS) - Last Friday (Oct. 17), the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist minister in the Chicago area, stood alongside other protesters demonstrating outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Broadview, Illinois. As a line of Illinois State Police began marching toward her and other demonstrators, gripping wooden batons, footage shows the pastor with her hands raised in prayer. Officers then pushed into the protesters, forcing them back. One officer shifted his stance, reared back and began shoving his baton like a battering ram - jamming it repeatedly, Kardon says, into her leg. A few seconds later, the pastor was pulled from the crowd and thrown to the ground. All the while, Kardon says, she never stopped praying. When officers began to arrest her, they tied her arms behind her back and placed her along the curb. "I said, 'God, please help these people to know that what they're doing is wrong, and help them to turn around," Kardon, who leads United Church of Rogers Park in Chicago, said in an interview. Her leg, she said, has developed visible bruises.

NEW: 200+ Chicago-area clergy — Protestants, Catholics, and evangelicals — have signed a letter decrying ICE's efforts and voicing a willingness to put their "bodies on the line" for migrants.

"What Kristi Noem and her ICE agents are doing is immoral," they write. religionnews.com/2025/10/21/a...

The Frightening Reason Some Women Are Ditching Their Oura Rings “It’s not paranoid to be concerned about your data. It’s justified.”

whoa. #oura #dod slate.com/technology/2... 👀‼️♀️

The Frightening Reason Some Women Are Ditching Their Oura Rings “It’s not paranoid to be concerned about your data. It’s justified.”

“While the growing mutualism between tech and government strengthens, it may leave some consumers behind, particularly women concerned about surveillance and the exploitation of reproductive health data.”

The Frightening Reason Some Women Are Ditching Their Oura Rings “It’s not paranoid to be concerned about your data. It’s justified.”

“I don’t think a company marketed to women and trying to help them regulate and better understand their bodies should be working with the government.”

Here’s my latest on messy layers, mental calculations, and what happens when a user base feels betrayed:

slate.com/technology/2...

What is metabolic syndrome – and do we really need to worry about it? Metabolic syndrome – popularized by two architects of Maha – is a real health issue, but messaging can take a turn toward scienceploitation

I know *a lot* has happened, but remember when RFK said he could tell if a kid had "mitochondrial challenges"? I wrote about how that and metabolic syndrome became MAHA buzzwords, and what the science actually says. For @theguardian.com:

www.theguardian.com/wellness/202... 🧪

RKF Jr.’s Plot to Kill America - Dame Magazine During a morning in late August, Jilian Melamed, a research assistant professor, was discussing exciting new data with her team. They’re working on mRNA-based therapies for autoimmune diseases. So far...

Threats to defund mRNA research are putting a substantial portion of the U.S. population at risk. How did something so promising get vilified? For @damemagazine.bsky.social, I reported on why scientists are horrified and how lies by omission make us vulnerable: www.damemagazine.com/2025/08/28/r...

ŌURA Establishes U.S. Manufacturing to Support Growing U.S. Defense Business ŌURA is proud to partner with the U.S. Department of Defense to prioritize security and promote readiness in support of those who serve.

Anyone thinking of cancelling — or has already cancelled — their Oura ring because of the DoD/Palantir partnership? If so, I would love to speak with you for a potential article! Please email sarahsloat9@gmail.com

ouraring.com/blog/oura-us...

@jennifernuzzo.bsky.social shares her concerns in interview w/ @damemagazine.bsky.social that cuts to #mRNA research could limit the development to treat other diseases.

It shrinks the pool of researchers, push them into different fields, or moves them to work in other countries.

More here ⤵️

RKF Jr.’s Plot to Kill America - Dame Magazine During a morning in late August, Jilian Melamed, a research assistant professor, was discussing exciting new data with her team. They’re working on mRNA-based therapies for autoimmune diseases. So far...

Ending research for vaccines and therapies that don’t exist yet might sound bad but feel inconsequential for now. Then you'll have a loved one in desperate need. Here's my story on what we're losing and the researchers doing everything they can to continue the science. For @damemagazine.bsky.social:

One issue (of many) that should inspire you to make an issue of it: kids with brain cancer won't be able to get the novel treatments they need and have been waiting for
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...

Wired and Business Insider remove 'AI-written' freelance articles Wired and Business Insider have removed freelance articles over concerns they were written by AI under a fake name.

what we need now is the gonzo feature revealing "who is Margaux Blanchard" pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/d...

This is Your Brain Under Constant Trauma - Dame Magazine On 9/11, E. Alison Holman was in Nigeria. She didn’t learn about the terrorist attack until she saw it on television at a home she was visiting. Holman was horrified by what she saw and asked her host...

feels about as appropriate as ever to resurface this article I wrote for @damemagazine.bsky.social www.damemagazine.com/2022/06/29/t...