Clayton Page Aldern

“We conclude that, through our common ancestry, humans have co-opted the abilities that macaques use for foraging to support reasoning and decision-making.”

I write because I love writing. I love writing even when I'm struggling with a writing problem that is killing me. Finding a way through that problem is both intensely rewarding and also helps me become a better writer. There is no reason for me to ever outsource that.

Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai wins the Nobel Prize in literature Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai has won the Nobel Prize in literature for his “compelling and visionary oeuvre.”

Krasznahorkai wins the Nobel! Somewhat serendipitously, I am in the middle of Satantango right now and just found myself thinking yesterday: Surely this guy has won a Nobel. Off by a day! apnews.com/article/nobe...

River or sankey diagram showing the allocation of profits from global oil and gas companies to quantiles of the US wealth size distribution via financial system intermediaries, such as asset managers, and categories of ultimate beneficiaries, such as business owners, pension funds and shareholders in listed companies. The scale is hundreds of billions of US dollars, and ultimately 50.4% of profits reaching the US personal wealth distribution go to the richest 1% of households.

🚨NEW PAPER🚨
We all know the 2022 energy price shock fueled the cost of living crisis. It also caused a profit bonanza for the very rich. We show the US reaped the largest profits ($377bn) of any country. 50% went to the richest 1%, only 1% to the bottom 50%. A🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Many more important things happening in the world right now, but one question about the state of affairs I have is: How in the year of our lord 2025 is there not an ‘insert link’ option for Gmail on iOS?

Yes my first thought when I saw this subhed was “we should promptly promote the founder of this serious website to editor-in-chief of CBS News”—so it looks like Tyler Cowen and I both get to see our digital media dreams come true today, the future is now

In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.

This is a great read by @zteirstein.bsky.social.

Living in Arizona, Valley Fever is scary! This piece breaks down the threat perfectly, how climate is turbocharging it, and the challenges to protect the public under an administration attacking public health.

grist.org/health/valle...

We're getting a wave of articles that are like, "gee willikers it sure seems like the people who complained about 'cancel culture' for years really like canceling people."

Yes! This was extremely obvious at the time and a lot of us pointed it out!

#neuroskyence

Since 2023, the city has drawn between $70 million and $90 million of an approximately $325 million federal loan for lead service line replacements that expires next year

via @keertigopal.bsky.social and @juanpab.bsky.social grist.org/economics/ch...

The climate crisis is causing an invisible health crisis: brain health.

On this ep, neuroscientist and environmental reporter @compatibilism.bsky.social reveals how the climate crisis intersects with our psychological, mental and brain health.

Listen now: www.planetcritical.com/p/how-the-ec...

re: CO2, most of the action happens indoors, where concentrations are highest! But yes, the basic story is what you report, i.e. with higher concentrations of CO2 comes lower cognitive function, especially with respect to memory, focus, and strategy/initiative. One of the reasons ventilation matters

I think Musk's comments to a rally of 100k people are the highest profile advocacy of political violence in the UK since the end of the Northern Ireland conflict. Does anybody have a counter-example?

"Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die."

Trans panic will kill us all

I don’t remember; did he ever Become President?

F

Screenshot of The Atlantic website showing an article titled ‘The Right Is Changing the Rules of the Culture War’ with the subtitle ‘For conservatives, cancel culture is in.’ The article is by Thomas Chatterton Williams and published on September 13, 2025. The page features The Atlantic’s logo at the top, a red section with a large white quotation mark graphic, and the publication date at the bottom.

🤌

This is a page from HOMELESSNESS IS A HOUSING PROBLEM, showing page 177 with the header “Response”. The text discusses the dehumanization of people experiencing homelessness and its impact on social policy. The main body text explains how extreme out-groups may be perceived as less than human, citing brain activity research showing neural patterns of disgust when viewing such groups. It argues that this dehumanization creates psychological barriers between the “deserving” and “undeserving” in policy discussions. The page includes a lengthy block quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1935 State of the Union address, where he expressed concerns about welfare dependency during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s quote discusses the burden of federal relief programs and argues that continued dependence on relief is spiritually and morally destructive, advocating for work programs over direct relief.

Not a new issue!

One reason Gregg Colburn and I wrote HOMELESSNESS IS A HOUSING PROBLEM was to push back against the dehumanization of people without housing. Kilmeade’s rhetoric is a direct consequence of a society that defines disposable underclasses

Trans rights and security, now and always

l o l

Work With Us - Climate and Community Institute Job opportunities at the Climate and Community Institute

‼️ Join my team ‼️ @cplusc.bsky.social is hiring a Housing Policy Manager to help advance progressive housing and climate solutions alongside some of the best tenant unions, labor unions, policymakers, and researchers in the field.

Apply here by Oct 5! climateandcommunity.org/careers/

"...any premature or insufficiently contextualized declaration of uninhabitability from afar risks discouraging necessary investments in adaptation by governments and donors, thereby undermining the right of people to stay and adapt in place."

Great read from an all-star cast.

Very glad you’re working on this!

Graphic Media

Zookraught

Out today—a new interactive I worked on with @compatibilism.bsky.social mapping lead pipes in Chicago. You can use this tool to check any water service line in the city for lead, and explore how lead exposure overlaps with race and class. Check out the full piece: grist.org/accountabili...

Screengrab of the interactive tool that says: Chicago: Does your water service line contain lead?

Chicago has most the lead pipes in the country.

A team of excellent reporters and I mapped them all on a searchable tool.

Huge s/o to @juanpab.bsky.social @keertigopal.bsky.social @peteraldhous.com and @compatibilism.bsky.social for this monumental effort. Relevant links threaded below!

Chicago Has a Huge Lead Pipe Problem—and We Mapped It - Inside Climate News Lead water service lines are all over the city. But majority Black and Latino neighborhoods bear the biggest burden, our analysis finds.

Chicago has the most lead service lines of any city in the county. We mapped out which neighborhoods are hit hardest. Mega collab out today from me, @peteraldhous.com @juanpab.bsky.social @compatibilism.bsky.social + @amyqin.bsky.social

insideclimatenews.org/news/2808202...

Chicago’s lead pipe crisis, mapped Here's what the data reveals about who's most at risk.

Big thanks to the whole reporting and production team here, including @juanpab.bsky.social, @keertigopal.bsky.social, @amyqin.bsky.social, @peteraldhous.com, @parkie-doo.sh, and countless others at @grist.org, @wbez.org, and @insideclimatenews.org.

Read it all here: grist.org/accountabili... 10/10