Liminal

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@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 39: It all matters. It all helps. Every part. Every step. Every time. (2/2)

#MeetingTheMoment

@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 39: As @prisonculture.bsky.social says, “I believe in strugglers and I believe in coworkers and I believe in solidarity. I believe we need more people all the time in all of our work, in all of our movements.” (1/2)

#MeetingTheMoment

Mel Buer (@melbuer.bsky.social) I see protest discourse is hitting the feed again ahead of No Kings—idk man, go, don’t go, …but if you do go make sure to link up with an org that’ll help you get into longterm organizing and if you…

And as this thread by @melbuer.bsky.social says: "Protests aren’t effective warnings for the powerful if you aren’t backing it up with more organizing outside of it." Read the full thread for all the other work that needs doing.

buff.ly/8PIOQvI

#MeeetingTheMoment

The #NoKings protests took place this past weekend.

There are very good reasons some of us cannot or should not demonstrate. All the more reason for the rest of us to keep showing up:
- safety in numbers
- joy in community
- to coordinate and work in formation are falling away

#MeetingTheMoment

The judicial branch has run out of funding.

When our courts start reducing services, sending staff home, and not paying those who are required to keep showing up… what will that mean for this essential branch of the government?

bit.ly/4oxsxf3

#MeetingTheMoment

Former NIH leaders lament ‘constant chaos’ at the agency, and caution it’s not over “It's been like living in a washing machine, it's been constant chaos,” former NIH official Jeremy Berg said at the #STATSummit

Between one quarter and one third of CDC employees have been removed from work, according to their union. And experts warn us to keep bracing for more.

bit.ly/4hlRsQr

#MeetingTheMoment

California announces coalition of Governors forming new alliance to protect public health from political interference | Governor of California Official website of the State of California

Fifteen governors have launched the Governors Public Health Alliance to strengthen their emergency preparedness and bolster their ability to rapidly and reliably respond to emerging health threats.

bit.ly/3WPVHdo

#MeetingTheMoment

Brown, USC, Penn, and UVA joined MIT in rejecting the promise of preferential funding in exchange for academic freedom (i.e., the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.) Since we published the newsletter, so did University of Arizona. bit.ly/3KYIJYd

#MeetingTheMoment

Each Friday evening, @LizNeeley.bsky.social writes a debrief of the week’s events in #Science & #HigherEd - What's happened? What next & what to do? 🧪

The goal is to help you keep current— by staying focused instead of flooded.
Oct 11-17 was Week 39: buff.ly/pHUaQ2P

#MeetingTheMoment

Meeting the Moment Hi! I’m Liz Neeley and I’m glad you’re here. Each Friday evening, I write a summary of the week’s events in science and higher education. I pull together roughly three bulleted paragraphs about what…

If this curated summary of news & how to think about it sounds helpful, subscribe here:
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 37 (cont): No matter how carefully we pick our fights, or how necessary they are, sometimes the door will hit us in the face. When it does, I hope we can heave ourselves up, hold on to each other, and be willing to keep trying."

@LizNeeley's parting thought for Week 37: "Sometimes we have to force the issue, ratchet up the pressure, and hold our ground no matter what. I believe this compact is one of those times. ...but the right thing, the simple thing, is not the same as the easy thing." (1/2)

After months in limbo, four NIH institute directors fired Two leaders removed by Trump administration had hoped to stay at agency as in-house investigators

Four NIH directors who had been on administrative leave since April were officially fired.
www.science.org/content/arti...

Nine universities face a very public choice about the so-called “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” - essentially a loyalty oath being demanded by the administration. Read it for yourself: www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

The government has been shut down since last Wednesday (nine days & counting).

The specifics of who is furloughed and which work continues vary quite a lot by agency. How it's affecting agencies & services:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Week 37 Sept 27-Oct 2, 2025 - hold the door

Each Friday evening, @LizNeeley writes a summary of the week’s events in #Science & #HigherEd - What's happened? What next & what to do? 🧪

The goal is to help you keep current— by staying focused instead of flooded. Here's last week: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

this week, for our newsletter, @ambikamath.bsky.social wrote a bit about writing (and not writing), featuring some excellent advice from @edyong209.bsky.social!
buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

So What Do You Do? file under: PROCESS NOTES this one is from: LIZ Last December, Ambika and I took a large roll of paper, unfurled it across my dining room table, and started...

We have a brand new offerings brochure! @lizneeley.bsky.social wrote about the process leading up to it here:
buttondown.email/liminalcreat...
We can't wait to hear from you about how we can work together!

A 'Conversation' Piece file under: PROCESS NOTESthis one is from: LIZ I am evidently a bit of a monster: I am unbothered by, and sometimes even enjoy, listening to recordings of my...

From @lizneeley.bsky.social, on the mess of thoughts in her head during an interview, and the emergence of coherence from the mess!
buttondown.email/liminalcreat...

Since 2020, I’ve been dreaming of a collective. Thanks to you, @ambikamath.bsky.social @edyong209.bsky.social @juliesquid.bsky.social @neillewisjr.bsky.social & Sara Yeo, I’m listening harder, learning more, & taking more interesting creative risks than I dared hope.
Cannot wait to see where we go.

Announcing the Liminal Collective! file under: PROCESS NOTESthis one is from: AMBIKA At the heart of everything we do at Liminal is our conviction that science communication is not just one...

"At the heart of everything we do at Liminal is our conviction that science communication is not just one art, or one science: it’s many arts and many sciences...we cannot do the work alone."
Announcing the Liminal Collective!
buttondown.email/liminalcreat...

It takes tremendous skill to do improv well & many trainers out there offering training for scientists. (I think it can be great, but it’s tricky. Happy to share suggestions)

But in this conversation, I wanted to dig deeper into the idea that improv offers a way to rehearse our courage.

Bravely taking the stage file under: IN CONVERSATIONthis one is from: LIZ I’m still thinking about courage and this idea that courage is like a muscle. How do we flex it? What does...

What can science communicators (and all of us!) learn from improv about being braver? @lizneeley.bsky.social talked to Boyd Branch to find out!
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Odds and Ends file under: THE STACKthis one is from: AMBIKA For this edition of Making Science Make Sense, we’ve assembled a collection of things that we (and some of our...

Our latest is a list of Odds and Ends: things that we and our friends have been up to!
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I love this, and it's really stuck with me since first reading. Moments > Memories > Meaning

Moments, Memories, Meaning file under: PROCESS NOTESthis one is from: AMBIKA I recently ran my first workshop as a member of Liminal! It was about telling the story of one’s journey in...

Our latest! @ambikamath.bsky.social writes about her conversation with @lizneeley.bsky.social on how to find the stories we want (and maybe need) to tell!
buttondown.email/liminalcreat...

The Case for (Scientific) Courage file under: IN CONVERSATION this one is from: LIZ In my last post, I wrote about recognizing and reclaiming power over your career choices. But I couldn’t...

I really liked this short chat between @lizneeley.bsky.social and our friend @simondonner.bsky.social about the nature of courage buttondown.email/liminalcreat...

(Subscribe to Liz & Ambika’s newsletter!)

The Case for (Scientific) Courage file under: IN CONVERSATION this one is from: LIZ In my last post, I wrote about recognizing and reclaiming power over your career choices. But I couldn’t...

In our latest for "Making Science Make Sense", @lizneeley.bsky.social talked with @simondonner.bsky.social about courage, science, and taking action!
buttondown.email/liminalcreat...

Breaking the Spell file under: SOLICITED ADVICE. this one is from: LIZ. In 2009, Vanity Fair hooked me with a story about how fishing policy transformed Iceland into “a machine...

In our latest, @lizneeley.bsky.social talks about boygenius, and breaking the spell of the "boy geniuses" in your life!
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