My great-grandfather led a team of doctors that invented chemotherapy. He’s part of the legacy of breakthroughs in medical science that saved so many lives. And now we’re going to throw away years of groundbreaking research because we put a manifestly unqualified person in charge of public health.

Trump administration violated impoundment law by canceling NIH grants, slowing new awards, GAO finds The Government Accountability Office found that the Trump administration, by abruptly canceling NIH grants, had violated a 1974 federal law

The Govt. Accountability Office issued a report today finding that the Trump admin has violated a law blocking presidents from withholding funding Congress has approved

@mmolteni.bsky.social & I break it down:

www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/g...

i think it is hard for some people to really their heads around the reality that kennedy is staunchly anti-vaccine and thinks that people should suffer through disease and that those who die deserved it and that those who survive are a better order of human being

US health agency to wind down mRNA vaccine development The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday it would wind down mRNA vaccine development activities under its biomedical research unit.

I think they’ve turned against vaccines for the same reason they’ve turned against weather forecasting & broadband access & childcare tax credits: it’s an area where government investment has an obvious benefit for the public and thus must be eliminated to reduce trust in government’s abilities.

Allan Ahlberg, Whose Children’s Books Were Best Sellers, Dies at 87 Over five decades, he produced some 150 books, many of them illustrated by his wife, Janet Ahlberg, including classics like “Each Peach Pear Plum.”

Allan Ahlberg, a beloved author of best-selling children’s books, many of them illustrated by his wife, Janet Ahlberg, has died at 87.

Trump says pharma tariffs could eventually reach up to 250% Trump told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that planned tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported into the U.S. could eventually reach up to 250%.

so uh the plan is to make meds more expensive then? www.cnbc.com/2025/08/05/t...

The problem is far bigger than Jeffrey Epstein | Rebecca Solnit Treating the scandal as an aberration misunderstands the global epidemic of violence against women

"One of the reasons the epidemic of violence against women is so unacknowledged is because cases like these are talked about individually, and often treated as though they are shocking aberrations rather than part of a pervasive pattern that operates at all levels of society."

Opinion | The Subversive Joy of BookTok

The Subversive Joy of BookTok www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/o...

Only 29% would back Brexit now — poll suggests tables have turned We asked Britain about Europe, China and their least favourite world leaders, but one answer stands out

The shocking thing about the British political system is that even now when two thirds of the country things Brexit was a bad decision and well more than half want to rejoin the EU--not a single major national political party supports rejoining.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/only...

A Fight Over a West Point Job Reveals Two Visions of America Under Trump

A conflict between two Americans: one, a West Point grad, combat vet, Rhodes Scholar, expert and academic. The other… a woman banned from Uber because she was too abusive to Muslim drivers.

Guess who wins.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...

Trump Will Remake the Fed. Lower Rates Are Just the Start. President Donald Trump wants the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates by a lot, quickly. He will get that, and probably much more, under the next Fed chair.

I’ve spent the last several weeks learning everything I can about what President Trump and his allies want from the new Fed chair. I put all that together in a cover story for Barron’s. It's not just rate cuts.

Tldr; Expect major disruption at the Fed. Staff cuts, model changes, polarization & more

YouTube video by Hannah Fry The secret mistake embedded in the speed of light

youtube.com/shorts/Z2LLc...

It's wild watching someone else maybe blackmailing Trump. From prison no less.

And when (because I'm increasingly convinced we're in a when, not if situation) Trump pardons Maxwell, it might actually be enough to break the MAGA coalition permanently. Emphasis on *might.*

I very well understand how the press game is rigged against the democrats, but still in all "if this were a democrat" scenarios you would have 50 republicans - including lindsey graham somehow simultaneously on 4 networks - screeching to the cameras . gotta play the game

Trump Just Released His Plan to Revoke Birthright Citizenship. It’s Worse Than Imagined. Try as it might, the government cannot cover up the horrors with bureaucratic legalese.

The Trump administration has quietly released the first stage of its plan to revoke birthright citizenship from the children of immigrants. It uses dry legalese to conceal the barbaric reality of ICE agents in maternity wards and deportation flights for babies. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Strange how employers aren't leaping to hire people when there's no way to know what economic policy will be in the next week, much less next year. Maybe toilet paper costs 50% more. Maybe the federal gov't breaches a contract with your biggest customer. It's all one big game show, weeeeeee!

a **federal judge** had his faith in the judicial system shaken.

Is Bob Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' Video the Most Copied of All Time? Margo Price's new video pays homage to Bob Dylan's 'Subterranean Homesick Blues.' She's not the first to do so.

a deep dive on the enduring tradition of music videos where people hold up cue cards with lyrics on them, by David Browne www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

How Can I Build Muscle as I Age?

How Can I Build Muscle as I Age? www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/w...

The Tudor effect: the English historic houses profiting from Wolf Hall An increasing interest in Henry VIII and the new BBC drama about his reign have boosted visitor numbers for castles and palaces used as filming locations and connected to the king

Thanks very much for the mention, @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/...

Peter Sellers Recites The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” in the Style of Shakespeare’s Richard III If you know nothing else of Shakespeare’s Richard III, you’ll know this famous opening line, and it’s likely many of us know it through Laurence Olivier’s performance of Richard as a “melodramatic bad...

Peter Sellers Recites The Beatles’ “A Hard Day’s Night” in the Style of Shakespeare’s Richard III www.openculture.com/2016/03/pete...

Just A Cat... Last night as I went to sleep, I tried to conjure up the feeling of when I loved Clive.

open.substack.com/pub/annawhar...

Just A Cat... Last night as I went to sleep, I tried to conjure up the feeling of when I loved Clive.

Just A Cat...
open.substack.com/pub/annawhar...

Neuroscientist named in gunman’s letter reflects on CTE after decades of studying brain injuries "In some aspects, we've made a lot of progress. But there's still so far to go, and I’ve got to figure out a way to get there faster."

From @theathletic.com: The neuroscientist Chris Nowinski's name was in a letter found on a gunman who killed four people in New York. We spoke to him about Monday’s shooting, the stigmas around brain injuries and what might happen with the shooter's brain.

"That’s a matter between me and my grammarian" — this story is perfect

Tons of Dem Defenders coming out of the woodwork to say that there is absolutely nothing the party could have done to block Elon from buying Twitter, completely ignoring the fact that MUSK HIMSELF WOULD HAVE WELCOMED ANY EXCUSE NOT TO BUY IT and there are a million ways to soft-pressure companies

✅🗳️👇🏾 #Maine

Are you kidding me with this perfection. Omg. #dailydahlia #bloomscrolling 🌱

Starbucks plans to phase out its mobile-only stores for a future with more 'warmth and human connection' Around 80 to 90 pickup-only locations in the US, many of which are located in office buildings and offer no seating, will be phased out.

Around 80 to 90 pickup-only locations in the US, many of which are located in office buildings and offer no seating, will be phased out.

Organized Money | Matt Stoller | Substack Dave Dayen and Matt Stoller take you on a tour of how business really works. Click to read Organized Money, by Matt Stoller, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Seriously, this is a must-listen, and Bridget's book is great, too.
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