Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 50m

This feels accurate. It’s simply confirmation for what they already want to do.

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 51m

Man, as a Jewish person and someone who chronicled autistic people’s lives, @stevesilberman.bsky.social would be livid with RFK Jr.’s nonsense about circumcision and autism. I simultaneously shudder at how angry he’d be, but also wish he were here to do the most important work.

1 5 74

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 3h

It was yet another rough night for CDC employees: Dozens — possibly hundreds, they are still self-surveying — were let go late at night, including those who worked on the prestigious MMWR reports

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Trump Administration Lays Off Dozens of C.D.C. Officials

www.nytimes.com

2 36 62

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

330 8.7K 27K

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Adam Selzer @adamchicago.bsky.social · 23h

The frogs have landed in Chicago!

Protestor in a frog suit and an anti-Ice sign with what I believe to be a Pokémon character on a street corner in Rogers Park.

120 1.2K 6.9K

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2h

I think it was @janecoaston.bsky.social who said in 2024, the main argument Republicans would make for Trump was “he doesn’t mean that”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3h

New in PN: He's never "just joking"

"Trump is an aspiring autocrat with obvious physical and mental issues, but Johnson and his Republican cronies are insulting our intelligence about it."

He's never "just joking"

And Republicans know it, even as they play dumb.

www.publicnotice.co

11 39

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Lena Sun @lenasun.bsky.social · 4h

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.”
Among those RIFd:
—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;
—leadership of global health center
—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

52 810 1.4K

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2h

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report also puts out the information on autism prevalence too.

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 7h

They continue to eviscerate the public health machinery that has quietly kept Americans, and others around the world, safe and healthy for decades.

The staff of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the journal that reports on health trends and emerging infectious threats, was also laid off. The publication’s storied history includes a June 1981 report that five previously healthy gay men were treated for an unusual pneumonia — the first hint of the AIDS epidemic.

Roughly 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers — the so-called “disease detectives” who respond to outbreaks around the globe — received layoff notices, according to a person familiar with them. The service was spared during an earlier round of layoffs in February.

2 12 34

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Heather Knight @heatherknightsf.bsky.social · 18h

For years, San Franciscans considered him the rare big-hearted billionaire. But days before his Dreamforce conference begins, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said he would support President Trump sending the National Guard to SF and that Trump is doing “a great job.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

Marc Benioff Says Trump Should Send Guard Troops to San Francisco

www.nytimes.com

110 110 350

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2h

A lot of them like Musk were mad that their employees couldn’t work in office. This also came at the time when Democrats started criticizing tech companies or talked about breaking them up. So they went Joker mode

1 9

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2h

Everyone follow Sheryl if you want to know about the intersection of health care and Washington

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 15h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

1 3 21

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 14h

The Gilded Age may have revealed the excesses of an unchecked oligarchy, but at least it left behind centers of learning, culture, and philanthropy. Today’s roster of plutocrats seems uninterested in that. www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...

Why Our Tech Overlords Took a Hard Right Turn

A new book tells the story of how Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs became angry admirers of authoritarianism.

www.thebulwark.com

25 110 410

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Aubrey Gilleran @aubreygilleran.bsky.social · 4h

Relatedly, I recall a lot of "the joy of canceling plans" jokes and memes from the 2010s and now folks are talking about a loneliness epidemic, and, well...

Aubrey Gilleran @aubreygilleran.bsky.social · 5h

People will scoff at virtue signaling and then wonder why today’s billionaires don’t build museums, libraries, hospitals, and universities like Gilded Age ones did.

9 74 500

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2h

Evan is one of the best photographers.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 3h

“.. He handed it to President Trump and, as Trump read it, his expression shifted. Moments later, Rubio leaned in and whispered something to him - and in that instant, I knew I had captured something meaningful.”

@apnews.com

apnews.com/article/2025...

An AP photographer got word of potential Mideast peace by focusing on a note to the president

Evan Vucci is the chief photographer for The Associated Press in Washington, DC.

apnews.com

1 4 9

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 1d

LMAOOOOO

A bunch of comedians tried to make up for their participation in the Riyadh comedy festival by donating their pay to Human Rights Watch and Human rights Watch was like “nah bitch we don’t want your dirty blood money” 😂😂 I’m dying

Human Rights Watch Doesn’t Want Any Riyadh Comedy Festival Money

Taking money from those who took money from Saudi Arabia would impact perception of the org’s independence.

www.vulture.com

37 1.3K 4.4K

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 3h

It really is. In fact the autism panic is largely an elite phenomenon largely because of the refrigerator mother canard. Many of the cold and unloving mothers Kanner described in his first study about autism were women who worked.

2

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 3h

Some good news: Most people don't trust Trump and RFK Jr.'s claims about autism.
Just four percent of respondents told a KFF poll they believed the claim was definitely true, while 30 percent said it was probably false and 35 percent said it was definitely false
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Only 4% of Americans think Trump claims about Tylenol and autism ‘definitely true’

Americans are largely divided on partisan lines on whether they trust the Trump administration’s health claims on autism and vaccines

www.independent.co.uk

6 39 120

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 17h

Hey! ASU people! If you are in the Tempe area, I'll be speaking at Arizona State University on November 6. Come by, get your book signed and get a selfie.
asuevents.asu.edu/event/2025-b...

2025 Bolmarcich Memorial Lecture: Eric Garcia | ASU Events

Eric Garcia is the 2025 speaker for the Lawrence J. and Virginia Devlin Bolmarcich Memorial Lecture Series. He is an internationally recognized journalist that speaks on issues of accessibility for au...

asuevents.asu.edu

1 8 22

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 17h

I was just thinking this. Schumer figured the House GOP would collapse in March and they'd be forced to collaborate with Jeffries like they did when Biden was president! Now the reverse has happened.

2

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 17h

An update from WGN on Debbie Brockman: "Earlier today, a WGN-TV creative services employee was detained by ICE. She has since been released, and no charges were filed against her. Out of respect for her privacy, we will have no further statements about this incident.”

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 20h

This morning, masked Border Patrol agents violently pinned a longtime WGN-TV producer to the ground after detaining another unidentified male in Chicago, eventually arresting her and hauling her off in an unmarked silver van.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

WGN-TV producer violently detained during Chicago ICE enforcement action

A DHS spokesperson said that Debbie Brockman was placed under arrest for ‘assault on a federal law enforcement officer,’ claiming the WGN employee threw objects at the agent.

www.independent.co.uk

6 77 210

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 19h

I want to explain French philosophy to you. But it’s Sartre a difficult subject to understand.

8 1 31

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Status @status.news · 19h

Oliver and Jon react to Stephen Miller malfunctioning on CNN.

Watch the full episode of Power Lines: youtu.be/NJmPYIwZJNM

Or listen via a podcast app: link.chtbl.com/PowerLines_S...

2 6 29

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 19h

It looks like they did! Hence why I screenshotted it

2

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Julie Bogen @juliebogen.bsky.social · 21h

A reminder (from my 2019 @theatlantic.com reporting) that as military families go without pay this shutdown, many of them are single-paycheck households relying on the servicemember's income because the spouses have been pushed out of the workforce.

www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...

The Dismal Career Opportunities for Military Spouses

For the partners of America’s active-duty service members, finding a stable, well-paid job is often impossible.

www.theatlantic.com

2 33 86

Reposted by Eric Michael Garcia

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 1d

News: Bari Weiss just sent a memo to staffers at CBS News asking them to produce a memo explaining "how you spend your working hours—and ideally, what you've made (or are making) that you're most proud of."

One CBS News staffer puts it like this to me: "We just got Elon Musked."

340 2K 8.4K