Usha Lee McFarling

Coach John Beam's Legacy Is Everywhere | Defector Coach John Beam’s murder has been a national story, which seems like something that John Beam would find simultaneously hilarious and troublesome. His adult life was dedicated to teaching, and to…

Coach John Beam’s legacy is everywhere: defector.com/coach-john-b...

i was unprepared for the degree to which (some) techbros are computer illiterate

like. they don't know how computers actually work, and they tricked themselves. this is MIND-BOGGLING

The Thin Line Between Progression and Depression Exploring the impending decision between unemployment and suicide, and why people may choose the latter.

I was interviewed for this piece on the mental health journey throughout unemployment, particularly at a time when many Black women are out of work.

gmattison1.substack.com/p/the-thin-l...

Crazy happenings in the courts today. Just wow.

Happening now!

"Its not that we didn't want to work with them, it was that what they were asking of us was inappropriate." - Daniel Jernigan, M.D., MPH, former Director, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC

The bookshelf in our beautiful seminar room @ksjatmit.bsky.social is filled with books by former fellows. Want to be next? Applications to our fellowship are open and on our website. @annaleen.bsky.social @ferrisjabr.bsky.social @tomzellerjr.com @s-r-m.bsky.social and Melanie Kaplan. Please share.

How Jeffrey Epstein used SEO to bury news about his crimes “the google page is not good,” Epstein wrote

New from me: The same tactics marketers use to get you to find their toothbrushes or photography business on Google were also used by Jeffrey Epstein & co. to try to launder his reputation online. SEO to try to cover up the most infamous pedophile ring.

www.theverge.com/report/82231...

Everything that actually made America great is being destroyed

Are the Deals to Save Research Funding Good For Research? More and more scientists are going back to work after their universities struck unprecedented — some say mistaken — arrangements with the Trump administration.

New from me: Are the deals to save research funding good for research?

More and more scientists at Cornell, Columbia, and elsewhere are going back to work after their universities struck unprecedented—some say mistaken—arrangements with the Trump administration.
www.chronicle.com/article/are-...

Alice Wong, disability activist and luminary, dies at 51 - The Sick Times Alice Wong platformed and uplifted people with Long COVID in her final chapter as a lifelong disability advocate and storyteller.

Rest in peace, Alice Wong 🕊️

thesicktimes.org/2025/11/15/a...

The Lies Have It: Advice for Journalists Approaching Misinformation Kai Kupferschmidt, KSJ '24, shares actionable tips for journalists seeking to reduce the harm of misinformation.

I was asked by @ksjatmit.bsky.social to share my advice for journalists dealing with misinformation. It’s a really important topic so I was happy to oblige.
It’s also a topic where we are all trying to navigate a constantly changing landscape, so do let me know what you’ve found works or doesn’t…

Stunning. Archives are everything.

Is NIH cutting corners as it rushes to fill leadership positions? Unlike in the past, agency searches appear to exclude help from outside academic researchers

NIH is ramping up efforts to fill a huge slate of vacant leadership positions.

Onlookers worry the process is being rushed and will depart, as it already has in one case, from the long-standing practice of drawing on advice from academic scientists to find candidates. https://scim.ag/47HraVv

Senator Murray Slams Outrageous Political Retaliation at NIH, Demands Answers from Trump Administration - Senator Patty Murray Vice Chair Murray in June to NIH Director Bhattacharya: “You just received a letter signed by hundreds of your own staff who believe this administration’s actions risk breaking NIH and the lifesaving ...

Great to see continued leadership from @murray.senate.gov

www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murr...

1/2

OK 99.9999 percent of journalists are disgusted and outraged by this whole thing, OK? Actually, 99.99999999999999 percent.

RIP Alice Wong, A warrior and inspiration.

KSJ Opens Application Cycle for 2026-27 Fellowships Applications for KSJ's Academic-Year Fellowship and the Africa and Middle East Fellowship will open November 15 and close January 9.

Science/health/environmental journalists: Join us for an amazing year at MIT. 🔭🧪2026 applications are open! Deadline is Jan. 9. Please share widely. ksj.mit.edu/news/2025/11...

the CDC museum inspired so many people (including myself) to serve this nation and world in public health. this is hard to see

Photo of Rosalie Osborn, as an older woman. She's a white woman, with gray hair, in a gray sweatshirt, holding binoculars, as well as glasses clutched by her pinky finger. Behind her is grass. The photo is from her obituary at Animals 24-7: https://www.animals24-7.org/2015/10/07/rosalie-osborn-mentor-to-africa-network-for-animals-founder-josphat-ngonyo/

Many have heard of the “Trimates:” Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas.

But before any of them was Rosalie Osborn. But sadly, she, and her colleague Jill Donisthorpe, have been written out of the narrative. (1/16)

🧪#Primates

I guess I am hitting a nerve, because they just put me on admin leave. TikTok video by Jenna

In a video, Norton confirms the news and says: "I strongly suspect it is because I have been speaking up in my personal capacity about the harms I have been witnessing inside the NIH.

Putting me on admin leave was designed to scare and silence me. I will not stop speaking out," she says.

The health impacts of #climate change are coming and we are not ready, say panelists at #ACHJSummit. "Many physicians do not have training in dealing with extreme heat," says Grace Wickerson of @scientistsorg.bsky.social. "Do we have a health system that's ready for this? No we do not."

There was no network news correspondent more powerful — and productive — than NBC’s Jim Avila.

And yet, when I got my first big assignment for Nightly News, it was HE who sent me a simple topline: “Go get ‘em.” 🙏🏼

#RIP @nbcnews.com

A Dead Cat, A Lawyer's Call And A 5-Figure Donation: How Media Fell Short On Epstein Why did it take some of the nation's biggest news organizations so long to take seriously the accusations against the late Jeffrey Epstein? Allegations about his behavior go back more than a decade.

Amazing 2019 story from @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social Worth rereading today. (And man these media outlets let us all down.) www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...

Dr. Wendy Wilcox of NYC Health+Hospitals in front of a picture of city officials handing out baby boxes with diapers in effort to stem maternal mortality.

Many causes for Black maternal mortality crisis, but depression is one factor and not being able to afford diapers can contribute to depression. 💔 Dr. Wendy Wilcox of @nychealthsystem.bsky.social says NYC is handing out "baby boxes" to help. Solutions can be so simple. And so cheap. #ACHJSummit

NSF is open again!

A few comments:

*Please be patient.
During a shutdown NSF employees cannot open computers or respond to emails.

*Merit review will continue. However panels won’t resume until after Dec 8th.

*POs remain excited and committed to advancing science and the scientific workforce.

Panel of speakers at AHCJ fall summit

Poster of Ms. Nettie Coad who founded Greensboro Health Disparities Collective

Hearing about improving health care from Terence Muhammad of the Greensboro Disparities Collaborative which is doing amazing anti-racism work in medicine. He urges journalists to include community members in stories. “If you don’t listen you won’t be able to get the story right.” #AHCJSummit

What Camden’s homicide-free summer reveals about community safety and health outcomes Camden, N.J., recorded no homicides this summer. The milestone is a good starting point for reporters covering gun violence solutions.

Good job Camden, NJ police and community orgs! healthjournalism.org/blog/2025/11...

I Got Birth Control in Three Different Countries—Here’s How the U.S. Stacks Up Analysis: Intrauterine devices, or IUDs, are an increasingly popular, long-acting contraception. But pain management and cost inhibit many patients in the U.S. and abroad.

As someone who's lived abroad, I frequently compare the experience of getting health care in those places w/that of the US. So when @rewirenewsgroup.com was pitched a story contrasting the pain & cost of IUD insertion in 3 countries, I jumped to assign it. Wild guess: How do you think the US fares?

Golden State Fearless, informed, independent opinion journalism from California.

Do you miss the LA Times opinion section before the authoritarian billionaire exerted editorial control?
You can find the journalists we trust, at the new nonprofit newsroom www.golden-state.org

As always, a big thank you to @mblscience.bsky.social and @whoi.edu for an immersive science adventure on the MA coast.

Could this be you next year? Applications for KSJ fellowships open next week! Stay tuned...