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David Quammen

@quammen.bsky.social

Author and journalist. The Song of the Dodo, Spillover, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, The Tangled Tree, Breathless, and other books. Most recently, The Heartbeat of the Wild. Bunch of magazine work since 1981.

3,031 Followers  |  239 Following  |  241 Posts  |  Joined: 15.11.2024  |  1.7834

Latest posts by quammen.bsky.social on Bluesky

I hadn't realized until the Olympics began ten days ago that NBC stands for Nothing But Curling.

17.02.2026 23:38 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Rob. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm afraid of.
😜
Women's Monobob: Now THERE is a sport, and a group of athletes to admire.

17.02.2026 20:13 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Hello NBC? You're covering "Olympic" curling. Rerun of "The Last Dance" on ESPN. Which is sports?? Duh. Goodbye.

17.02.2026 03:36 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Hello, NBC? Are you insane? What's is it that makes you think we want to watch HOUR after HOUR after HOUR of prime time Olympic coverage of . .. CURLING??
We don't.
It's not an athletic activity, a sport. It's a nice pastime for seniors.

17.02.2026 02:59 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Bradley (lurking blackly in his kennel box) is my sidekick, and Oscar is Bradley's.

01.02.2026 20:33 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Nathaniel. I enjoyed your McClintock book and look forward to the one on Watson.

01.02.2026 20:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks, Michael. Hope you and your gang are well, and that your work thrives.

01.02.2026 20:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

thank you, Steve

29.01.2026 21:05 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

So, I heard about the world leader who got stuck on a sabotaged escalator at the UN. He was trapped for two hours, waiting for rescuers. Then his wife pointed out that a stuck escalator is still a stairway, and she walked away.

24.09.2025 07:16 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Chainsaw babe sighted at Tre Cime. @betsygainesquammen.bsky.social

19.09.2025 14:12 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Chainsaw Babe, sighted in Cortina d'Ampezzo

18.09.2025 15:10 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Ebola vaccination begins in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Vaccination of frontline health workers and contacts of people infected with Ebola virus disease has begun in Bulape health zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kasai Province where an outbr...

We do not talk enough about how much vaccines have transformed Ebola outbreaks. The country stock pile of 2000 vaccines was immediately deployed to respond to the outbreak in the DRC and 45,000 additional doses have been approved for shipment to the DRC.
www.afro.who.int/countries/de...

15.09.2025 17:47 β€” πŸ‘ 220    πŸ” 62    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 3
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These two hombres lay claim to Dave's chair when he's on the road. Partners in crime. @betsygainesquammen.bsky.social

17.09.2025 20:48 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Everyone parrots the line, β€œThey’ll just replace Trump with another figurehead.”

Bullsh*t.

Later today in my latest JHN Newsletter I’ll break down why Trump is the one irreplaceable piece of this machine.
When he’s gone...the whole thing starts to crack.

31.08.2025 16:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2171    πŸ” 418    πŸ’¬ 245    πŸ“Œ 45

One of the things that amazes me about the English Civil War (roughly 1642-1651), as I'm reading of it in David Hume's great history, vol. 5, is that this was essentially a ferocious, murderous, ruthless religious warβ€”fought between Episcopalians and Presbyterians.

31.08.2025 16:35 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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OH, DEAR!! .

OH, DEAR!!
open.substack.com/pub/ejeancar...

Go, E. Jean!

12.08.2025 21:45 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Disease Expert: I Predicted COVID in 2010! Contagious Cancer & The Next Global Pandemic
YouTube video by Jacob J. Watson-Howland Disease Expert: I Predicted COVID in 2010! Contagious Cancer & The Next Global Pandemic

I had a fine time talking with Jacob Watson-Howland for his podcast. We went deep into the weeds of zoonotics and much else.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0wW...

06.08.2025 03:25 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Good job, Jaju. Let's all not serve pierogi to Dershowitz.

01.08.2025 03:30 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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What the DOJ Is Doing Behind the Scenes Read more here.

Please pay attention.πŸ‘‡

We cannot afford to leave our democracy in the hands of a process that requires this DOJ to act in good faith. We must act now to harden our election systems. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/what...

31.07.2025 21:33 β€” πŸ‘ 13364    πŸ” 5079    πŸ’¬ 347    πŸ“Œ 186

I love this. Who doesn't love walking-stick insects.
I've seen a huge one in New Guinea scare the bejeezus out of a local lady, on whose shoulder it alit. But, god bless and comfort her, it was harmless.

01.08.2025 03:20 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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How conspiracy theories about COVID’s origins are hampering our ability to prevent the next pandemic The COVID pandemic likely began when the virus jumped from animals to humans, and didn’t start in a lab. But false narratives continue to circulate.

Our research has been engulfed by an endless torrent of lab leak conspiracy theories about the origin of the pandemic - even as the evidence for zoonosis has only grown stronger.

This fuels anti-science agendas and erodes public trust.

Now, we respond πŸ‘‡

theconversation.com/how-conspira...

30.07.2025 00:45 β€” πŸ‘ 360    πŸ” 171    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 5
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Her name was Diana. She was 23 years old and 7 months pregnant.

Russia murdered her today in an attack on the maternity hospital in Kamyanske.

29.07.2025 11:47 β€” πŸ‘ 15739    πŸ” 5121    πŸ’¬ 801    πŸ“Œ 300
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We Are Not the Generation That Lets This Die After 250 years of sacrifice, we won’t let apathy be our legacy.

Some generations were asked to storm beaches. Ours is being asked to stay engaged. That’s not too much to ask.

I wrote this piece not just as a veteran or former congressman but as a dad. We are not the generation that lets this flame die. Not on my watch

adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/we-are-not...

29.07.2025 18:20 β€” πŸ‘ 12905    πŸ” 3920    πŸ’¬ 431    πŸ“Œ 181
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ICE Agents Invade a Manhattan Little League Field Youman Wilder has coached local kids for twenty-one yearsβ€”including four who have gone pro. When masked agents tried to interrogate his players, he told them, β€œYou don’t have more rights than they do....

When ICE agents questioned a group of 11- to 14-year-olds who’d just finished batting practice, their coach, Youman Wilder, stepped in. β€œI’m willing to die to make sure these kids can get home,” he recounted afterward.

28.07.2025 21:10 β€” πŸ‘ 7734    πŸ” 2141    πŸ’¬ 214    πŸ“Œ 114
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Scientist on green card detained for a week without explanation, lawyer says A Korean citizen studying in Texas on a green card was detained in San Francisco after a trip overseas. His lawyer says authorities won’t give a reason.

A Korean-born researcher and longtime U.S. legal permanent resident has spent the past week detained by immigration officials at the San Francisco International Airport without explanation and has been denied access to an attorney, according to his lawyer.

29.07.2025 13:29 β€” πŸ‘ 7781    πŸ” 3732    πŸ’¬ 393    πŸ“Œ 258

As things get weirder, I keep expecting Trump's body to split open suddenly, like a character in "Men in Black," to reveal that there's nothing inside the skin but a tower of nibbling maggots. I say this with all due respect.

27.07.2025 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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3/2 He gets some well-deserved outside time after the cleaning of his tank, Bootsville.

26.07.2025 21:57 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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2/2

26.07.2025 21:52 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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One guess what summer reading Boots has embraced.
1/2

26.07.2025 21:52 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I wrote this story as a young man in Montana, forty years ago, struggling to understand, struggling to survive, and I am very glad and grateful to see that it has legs.
We all have fathers. Mine was a wondrous man. This story is not about him. It's fiction.
Your father?

26.07.2025 01:46 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

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