Ben Barr
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benjaminbarr.bsky.social
Ben Barr
@benjaminbarr.bsky.social
1.9K followers 2K following 230 posts

Professor in Applied Public Health Research. Head WHO collaborating centre for policy research on the determinants of health equity.
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/population-health/staff/benjamin-barr/ . Was once an anthropologist, maybe I still am. .. more

Videos
Public Health 46%
Medicine 29%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 2 more

kevinschofied.bsky.social
Kevin Schofield @kevinschofied.bsky.social · 4h
Amazingly, Zahawi only got round to deleting the below after the press conference announcing his defection to Reform.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Tim Bale, Ben Barr , and 7 more

jamesdaustin.bsky.social
James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 9h
Kemi, this is just a population density map

Reposted by Ben Barr

feralrobots.bsky.social
Feral T. Robot, Oil Swamp Utility Bot #7629 @feralrobots.bsky.social · 15h
On the one hand, it's on Fox, it's bullshit, & I'm repeating myself.
On the other, short of the Furies themselves, the most terrifying women in the ancient Greek world were the maenads, & Fox just put the idea of maenads in the streets of America out into the aether like it's nothing.

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Colin F. Camerer, Paul Glasziou , and 32 more

ediparolev.bsky.social
Justin @ediparolev.bsky.social · 2d
“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”
Uruguay’s Renewable Charge: A Small Nation, A Big Lesson For The World
Uruguay built a power grid that runs 99% on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. Here’s how its bold energy overhaul became a global model.
www.forbes.com

Reposted by Ben Barr

jlynch13.bsky.social
Julia Lynch @jlynch13.bsky.social · 2d
Had a great conversation about democracy and health and our new book GETTING BETTER: THE POLICY AND POLITICS OF REDUCING HEALTH INEQUALITIES (link in bio) for the Andrea Mitchell Center's podcast series. @profbambra.bsky.social @profkatsmith.bsky.social
Give it a listen!
The Andrea Mitchell Center Podcast: Episode 7.13: Democracy as a Public Health Intervention
Interviewer: JOSHUA ROSE. In this episode of the Andrea Mitchell Center podcast, Joshua Rose speaks with Penn Political Science Professor JULIA LYNCH about her book Getting Better: The Policy and Poli...
mitchellcenter.libsyn.com

Reposted by Ben Barr, Mike Daube

adphuk.bsky.social
Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) @adphuk.bsky.social · 2d
Interesting new research highlighting the impact the places where we live & work has on our health & wellbeing, and highlighting that health harming products are more prevalent in the most deprived areas, potentially worsening health inequalities ⬇️

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Unequal high streets? A spatial analysis of inequalities in health-related amenities in England from 2014-2024
There are persistent inequalities in health-related behaviours in England which are stratified by region and deprivation. These are influenced by the …
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Ben Barr, Christoph Bertram , and 8 more

yveilleuxlepage.bsky.social
Dr Yannick Veilleux-Lepage @yveilleuxlepage.bsky.social · 3d
🧵In my expert opinion as a researcher of vehicle ramming attacks, what has been publicly described in the video evidence does not support the claim that Renee Nicole Good was attempting a deliberate ramming attack when she was shot in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026. 1/7

Reposted by Ben Barr

medrxivpreprint.bsky.social
medRxivpreprint @medrxivpreprint.bsky.social · 3d
Reducing mental health inequalities through hypothetical interventions in early childhood: Evidence from mediation analysis using the UK Millennium Cohort Study https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.07.26343647v1

Reposted by Robert West, Brendan Nyhan, Tom Clark , and 13 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d
Walz: "I couldn't help but think, and it scares me a bit -- 'The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most important directive.' It certainly feels like that in this moment."

Reposted by Ben Barr

flipchartrick.bsky.social
Rick @flipchartrick.bsky.social · 4d
Military support for a president who threatens Europe on several fronts, citing an alliance and ‘special relationship’ that clearly no longer exists, posted on a platform owned by a billionaire who has called for the overthrow of the British government.

Our defence dilemma in one tweet.

Reposted by Ben Barr

chriskimberley.bsky.social
chriskimberley.bsky.social @chriskimberley.bsky.social · 4d
if America flipped a switch our military would shut down instantly
our government, NHS, police, banks, supermarkets all run on American based cloud services

Reposted by Ben Barr, Stuart White

elliechowns.bsky.social
Dr Ellie Chowns MP @elliechowns.bsky.social · 4d
On Monday, Trump ran roughshod over intl law - the UK took no action.

On Tuesday, Trump threatened a NATO ally - the UK took no action.

Today, the UK supported Trump's military operation in the North Atlantic.

When will this govt stop appeasing Trump and stand up for the rule of law?

Reposted by Ben Barr, Nathan P. Kalmoe

jonshaffer.bsky.social
Jon Shaffer @jonshaffer.bsky.social · 5d
Trump & RFK Jr.'s coterie of bootlicking doctors are real pieces of shit, we argue in the British Medical Journal, essentially.

Link: www.bmj.com/content/392/...
Trump and RFK Jr are dismantling public health—aided and abetted by powerful doctors High profile physicians should be using their positions of power to resist Trump and RFK Jr’s damaging policies, not collaborating with them, say Gavin Yamey and Jonathan Shaffer President Donald Trump and secretary of health and human services Robert F Kennedy Jr have held many press events during which they have promoted dangerous health misinformation.1 2 Despite taking an oath to“first do no harm,” influential doctors have stood by Trump and RFK Jr’s sides during these briefings, lending their support. The wider medical community needs to tackle this phenomenon with evidence based strategies, including warning the public about the risks of misleading information, highlighting scientific consensus, mapping the institutional networks that spread controversial information, and countering them using political and legal strategies.3

Reposted by Ben Barr

dianecoyle1859.bsky.social
Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 5d
This is fascinating
johncarlosbaez.bsky.social John C. Baez @johncarlosbaez.bsky.social · 6d
Biology is so wild. It doesn't respect the rules we make up.

We all know children inherit genes from their parents. But it turns out mothers also inherit genes from their children!

And it can help them. (But it can also hurt them.)

For more, read this:

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Text from this article: www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04102-4 Then, in 1969, a team studying immunity in pregnant people detected white blood cells that contained the Y chromosome in the blood of individuals who would eventually give birth to boys1. For more than two decades, it was presumed that these microchimeric cells were a temporary feature of pregnancy. It wasn’t until 1993 that geneticist Diana Bianchi found cells with Y chromosomes in women who had given birth to sons between one and 27 years earlier2. This finding overturned the dogma that children inherit genes from their parents and never the other way around — these transferred fetal cells move through the family tree, travelling ‘backwards in time’ from children to their mothers. Bianchi and others would go on to show that these cells have remarkable regenerative properties — promoting wound healing in mothers by transforming into blood vessels or skin cells.

Reposted by Ben Barr

bremaininspain.com
Bremain in Spain @bremaininspain.com · 6d
Trump is a threat to everyone

European nations must now come together and speak with one voice like never before.

Reposted by Ben Barr

nathanielforde.bsky.social
Nathaniel Forde @nathanielforde.bsky.social · 7d
New tutorial: Bayesian Dynamic Path Analysis in @pymc.io

Why do New Year's resolutions fail so reliably? The statistical answer involves time-varying causal effects and masked mediation.

Full tutorial (code + math + Odyssey metaphor): nathanielf.github.io/posts/post-w...

🧵 Thread Below

Reposted by Ben Barr

haggis222.bsky.social
haggis222.bsky.social @haggis222.bsky.social · 8d
What Makes for a Healthy Society? (And can we have one, pls?)

#community #health #sociology #respect
kottke.org/25/10/what-m...
What Makes for a Healthy Society?
In a 2014 preface for his 1978 book The Ohlone Way, a description of how the indigenous peoples of California’s Bay Area liv
kottke.org

Reposted by Tim Bale, Ben Barr, Elizabeth Stokoe , and 3 more

adamjkucharski.bsky.social
Adam Kucharski @adamjkucharski.bsky.social · 9d
How likely is ‘likely’? Does ‘likely’ have a higher probability than ‘probable’? I put together a quick quiz so you can see how you interpret probability phrases, then see how you compare with others: probability.kucharski.io

benjaminbarr.bsky.social
Ben Barr @benjaminbarr.bsky.social · 10d
True of much of the healthcare prediction industry. Good prediction is of no necessary benefit. Unless it's telling you something you didn't already know and the predicted risks are more modifiable through earlier intervention.

Reposted by Ben Barr, Alison Phipps

aljazeera.com
Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 11d
Who are the Palestine Action hunger strikers? https://aje.io/u20ygz
Who are the Palestine Action hunger strikers?

Reposted by Ben Barr

gavinyamey.bsky.social
Prof Gavin Yamey @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 11d
Yeah, 2025 was rough in many ways, personal & political, but I managed to squeeze out a few pieces that I'm proud of, either solo or co-authored with awesome colleagues (& only a few led to hate mail/harassment!)

I wrote about cuts in health aid, RFK Jr, Trump's war on DEI, trans kids, & more

1/n

benjaminbarr.bsky.social
Ben Barr @benjaminbarr.bsky.social · 13d
The main way SAs can influence health inequalities is through economic policy, I think. My thoughts are here: www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Regional health divisions in the UK
Coordinated action is needed to resolve inequalities People in the poorer areas of the UK are dying on average nine years younger than those in more affluent areas.1 This divide, which is the fourth ...
www.bmj.com

Reposted by Ben Barr

clesthinkdo.bsky.social
The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) @clesthinkdo.bsky.social · 13d
Together with @thekingsfund.bsky.social, we've how English devolution can fulfil its potential to reduce health inequalities

@davidjbuck.bsky.social explains in this HSJ article, drawing on our recent essay with David, Tom Lloyd Goodwin & @lucatiratelli.bsky.social ⤵️

www.hsj.co.uk/policy-and-r...
The growing influence of mayors could help fight health inequalities
The King's Fund and the Centre for Local Economic Strategies have been looking at how to ensure that English devolution fulfils its potential for reducing health inequalities. There are three key areas that need to be addressed if the emerging relationship between ICSs, ICBs and strategic authorities is to help ...
www.hsj.co.uk

Reposted by Ben Barr, Lesley A. Hall

nionwomen.bsky.social
Not In Our Name (NION) Women @nionwomen.bsky.social · 14d
We are now at 75k signatures, with many messages of support on Instagram, Facebook and here.

This is a genuine groundswell of love over hate, and a call to focus on the real harms faced by women and girls.

Thank you all who’ve signed and shared. Let’s keep it going 💜

notinourname.org.uk
Home - Not in our name
Not In our Name: Women in support of the trans+community
notinourname.org.uk

Reposted by Ben Barr

johnrossmd.bsky.social
John Ross @johnrossmd.bsky.social · 14d
The United States is the only high-income country in the world in which firearms are in the top 4 causes of deaths in kids, let alone the top cause
Child and Teen Firearm Mortality in the U.S. and Peer Countries | KFF
Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations. This put...
www.kff.org

Reposted by Ben Barr

cruickshank.bsky.social
Michael Cruickshank @cruickshank.bsky.social · 14d
An interesting open dataset dropped this month with very accurate footprints of almost every building on Earth, and also critically, the heights of the buildings, so they can be extruded into 3D.

Interactive map: tubvsig-so2sat-vm1.srv.mwn.de

Paper: essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Axel Bruns, Brendan Nyhan , and 33 more

jjvincent.bsky.social
James Vincent @jjvincent.bsky.social · 15d
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls

benjaminbarr.bsky.social
Ben Barr @benjaminbarr.bsky.social · 16d
Also the number of satellites you now see, clutters the sky , when you do find a place without light pollution from earth.

Reposted by Ben Barr

leguinbot.bsky.social
Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 16d
He was appalled by the examination system, when it was explained to him, he could not imagine a greater deterrent to the natural wish to learn than this pattern of cramming in information and disgorging it on demand.

Reposted by Ben Barr

womensartbluesky.bsky.social
womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 17d
1933 newspaper article on artist Frida Kahlo #WomensArt