Darby Saxbe

I am so happy and grateful to be with Flatiron!

Haven’t seen it! But glad we agree on Aimee Mann.

Scott Galloway is wrong about dads and childbirth He called it “disgusting” for fathers, but that’s not what my research has found

Scott Galloway recently told Derek Thompson on his podcast that childbirth is “disgusting” and “unnatural” for dads. I’ve studied fathers' experience of childbirth in my lab for years, and I think Galloway is wrong. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/scott-gall...

Dads really do have more fun Why fathers seem to enjoy time with kids more than mothers do

My newsletter this week is about whether it's more fun to be a dad. I report on research finding that fathers enjoy parenting more than mothers do, and that millennial men are increasing their childcare time. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/dads-reall...

Has feminism weakened the family and crushed the birth rate? Linking women's advancement to family formation

New essay about feminism, family formation, and why a lot of feminism is better than some feminism when it comes to the welfare of kids and parents. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/has-femini...

Don’t let Russell Vought trick Congress into destroying science by removing multiyear funding limits from the NIH funding bill.

Has feminism been bad for men? How the rise of lady-workers affected economics, employment, and inflation

darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/has-femini...

Screenshot from viral Australian skincare Tiktok showing a woman in a pink sweater and the caption "Bring back gender pay gap"

My newsletter this week is about whether feminism has hurt men’s economic prospects, led to discriminatory hiring, and increased inflation. Lots of spicy stuff to unpack! Link in comments

In my newsletter this week, I shared my starting-a-Substack tips and told the true story of being trolled by my 14-year-old son. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-to-win...

Hahahaha just add some brain worms to the model and you’re golden

Thank you!

Nice work! This will definitely restore the public's faith in science

The forbidden truth about sex differences Mars and Venus in retrograde

I have an essay in @theargument.bsky.social today, diving into the science on gender differences and making the case that, Mars and Venus style arguments aside, biological essentialism isn't well-supported by the evidence.
www.theargumentmag.com/p/the-forbid...

How to cure anxiety and fix your life My long history of panic and how I fought it

I wrote a newsletter this week about how I used to get panic attacks, but then I went to clinical psychology graduate school and figured out how to deal with them.

darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-to-cur...

Monogamy is good, actually How marriage evolved and why it stabilizes societies

New essay on monogamy: why it evolved, why marriage is good for stable societies, and why young people (especially young women) might be losing interest in it. open.substack.com/pub/darbysax...

At #ISDP2025! 🧠 Catch my poster (P2.47) on sleep + cingulum white matter in first-time fathers.
Thanks to Quester for helping me get this poster organized! (www.quester.xn--tech)-sw3b @darbysaxbe.bsky.social

Can’t wait!

How's it going!?

BOOK COVER REVEAL!!!! Plus all the cover ideas rejected along the way

My new essay this week is all about the unexpected twists and turns of the design process for the cover of my new forthcoming book...and includes some very silly rejected ideas. substack.com/home/post/p-...

It's true! We've written five of these one-day papers so far.

How COVID masks messed with our minds How the brain processes the emotional expressions of masked faces

My new essay describes our lab's research on how face masks affect the brain's processing of emotion.
darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/how-covid-...

You're not the captain of the parenting police Let kids exist in public

I just published my first piece with The Argument, and it's about why parents should let their kids go to the roller rink on their own.

You're not the captain of the parenting police www.theargumentmag.com/p/youre-not-...

Protester holding a sign that says “Resisting tyrants is patriotic.”

Picture of crowd at NoKings protest

Person in chicken suit holding up No Kings sign

Person at protest holding up We Love America sign

Massive turnout at the #NoKings protest in Pasadena. Calm, peaceful, multigenerational crowd. Patriotic signs and American flags everywhere. I’m still waiting for my check from Soros.

Selfie of poster attending USC rally

Picture of crowd gathered for rally

Picture of signatures on the petition opposing the Compact

Picture of the petition in front of a speaker

Great crowd at USC for a rally celebrating our decision to say no to the Compact! A letter opposing the Compact was signed by 1500 members of our university community. @ryanboyd.bsky.social @aaup.org @sanjaymadhav1.bsky.social

Thank you!

Are universities too woke to exist? No, we should not defund all universities because of "ideological capture"

I wrote about whether universities are "too woke" and suffering from "ideological capture." darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/are-univer...

Our paper is finally out @darbysaxbe.bsky.social @genesisflores.bsky.social! Expectant fathers raised in riskier environments show lower white matter integrity in limbic regions and less effective parenting, even controlling for depressive symptoms. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The Science of Social Relationships RCGD fall 2025 SEMINAR SERIES ISR Thompson 1430 | Mondays 3:30 to 5 Darby Saxbe | 09.29.25 The Transition to Fatherhood as a Window for Neural, Hormonal, and Psychological Remodeling

The RCGD series on the Science of Social Relationships continues Monday with a talk from @darbysaxbe.bsky.social on the transition to fatherhood. The talk will review studies on hormone and brain changes across the transition to parenthood in first-time human fathers. buff.ly/92KtRNS

Terrible parents of yore How intensive parenting became an aspirational status symbol

New essay today about how parents of the olden days were actually TERRIBLE, the phenomenon of "baby farming," and why intensive parenting is a modern invention. darbysaxbe.substack.com/p/the-bad-pa...

Super cool. I'm curious if the salience network changes track with perceived hunger or cravings, or with eating behaviors.