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Maggie Astor

@maggieastor.bsky.social

33K followers 650 following 3.8K posts

Reporter at The New York Times writing about the intersection of health and politics, especially in marginalized communities. NYT Guild steward. No, not one of those Astors.

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · Aug 14

ICYMI: My dispatch from Phoenix about extreme heat's toll on unhoused people.

People are passing out from dehydration, getting third-degree burns from the sidewalk, being hospitalized for heat-related illness and more. One woman was in an accident and the ground burned her foot down to the bone.

Homeless and Burning in America’s Hottest City

www.nytimes.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 5h

TAPPING THE SIGN

I enjoy talking about Spelling Bee. I limit myself to commentary on words that *aren't* on the list, and generally on the difficulty of the day's puzzle. Please don't be That Guy.

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 19d

I love my fellow Spelling Bee fans but please, you have to stop posting spoilers in my mentions

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 5h

It doesn't, but if it did, this would be a spoiler. Please don't post spoilers in my mentions.

Reposted by Maggie Astor

John Schwartz @jswatz.bsky.social · 8h

One judge compared their district’s current relationship with the Supreme Court to “a war zone.” Another said the courts were in the midst of a “judicial crisis.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...

Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders

www.nytimes.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 7h

Excuse me

Spelling Bee rejecting the word "muon." The center letter is M and the outer letters are N, U, E, T, O and L.

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Reposted by Maggie Astor

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 18h

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:

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 21h

I have to take my cat to the vet for his checkup and boosters tomorrow and can't wait for the annual tradition of my neighbors staring at me suspiciously as the carrier in my arms emits bloodcurdling screams

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

I was a political reporter before I was a health reporter, so I can tell you — same tone, but more volume and more threats.

I also want to emphasize that my complaints about this type of message DON'T mean I resent good-faith criticism, which I value and consider sincerely even when it's painful.

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

And I deeply resent the suggestion that I write flimsy stories to advance my career — along with the suggestion that the reader is doing me a kindness by assuming I do that so as not to assume bad faith. That would be bad faith!

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

No, my articles obviously don't come from annotated outlines from sources of what I'm supposed to say and who I'm supposed to talk to. I vet my own sources and information. Any mistakes I make (and every journalist in the world makes mistakes) are my mistakes.

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

I honestly find these sorts of patronizing, journalistically illiterate messages more annoying than the ones calling me the c word

Maggie,

I understand you were doing your job. You likely received a directive from on high about the narrative to adopt—perhaps even an outline annotated with medical articles that looked rigorous and conclusive, plus a list of key opinion leaders (expert doctors) to validate it. Against the backdrop of anti-Trump and anti-Kennedy noise, it may have seemed coherent. You may even have viewed leading this report as a chance to advance your career. I don’t assume bad faith.

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

***DON'T*** know. I changed "whichever techbro thinks" to "whichever techbros think" and didn't change the second verb. Goddammit.

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

Whichever techbros think that shoving Gemini pop-ups in my face every time I blink might get me to try Gemini doesn't know that, almost a quarter-century after my bat mitzvah, I still deliberately make pasta on the first night of Passover every year because my mom made me go to Hebrew school

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 1d

Fuck offfffffff

A pop-up window in my inbox that says "Draft emails confidently with Gemini. Gemini can help you write your drafts in seconds and quickly refine them." The two options — "continue" and "try it now" — both suggest agreement to use Gemini. You have to go to the X in the upper right corner to say no.

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Reposted by Maggie Astor

Dorit Reiss @doritreiss.bsky.social · 1d

"In North Carolina and other states, low-income families who normally get no-cost Covid-19 vaccines for their kids have been told those shots aren’t available because states have been unable to order Covid-19 vaccines through the VFC program."

www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/h...

Low-income families are still waiting on Covid-19 vaccines for kids, but states say they’re coming | CNN

Many low-income families who normally get no-cost Covid-19 vaccines for their kids through the Vaccines for Children program have been told those shots aren’t available because states have been unable...

www.cnn.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote 15 pages of a 30-page paper the day before it was due, paused for a panic attack in which I literally tore my bedsheets by digging my nails into them, wrote the other 15 pages the night before it was due, printed it five minutes before class started, and got an A. I didn't make any of it up.

Dane 🔜 NYCC AA L-34 @monkeyminion.com · 2d

I wrote a 15 page report on heraldic symbolism in medieval armor and weapon design for my art history class the night before it was due (8am class). Made up 90% of it (only found one book for reference) and got an A. GenAI could fucking never.

wrote 20 pages on Faulkner's The Bear four hours before final papers were due on trucker pills and coffee and cigarettes and got an A, fuck you.
You people couldn't hang with real slackers.
finn
wokeupchic • 4d
It's fuck Al till your homework due in 25 minutes

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Reposted by Maggie Astor

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 2d

We will be writing more of these. If you’re a scientist and your science has been disrupted, we want to hear from you: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...

Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Maggie Astor

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 2d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

ICYMI: You're not alone if you're having trouble finding a Covid shot for your child.

A lot of factors are at play. Access through the Vaccines for Children program should open up now that the acting CDC director finally approved the CDC vaccine panel's recommendations, but other barriers remain.

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 3d

The email is three paragraphs

An AI prompt offering to "summarize this email"

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Reposted by Maggie Astor

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 4d

President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have created new obstacles for many people seeking Covid vaccines. But it has been particularly difficult to secure shots for children, including infants and toddlers, who are at higher risk of severe illness from Covid even if they are healthy.

Parents Struggle to Find Covid Vaccines for Their Children Amid Regulatory Confusion

Children under 12 need different versions of Covid vaccines, but many pharmacies and pediatricians’ offices aren’t stocking them.

nyti.ms

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 4d

Yes, adult doses are for 12+. There *are* some states that restrict pharmacists' ability to vaccinate minors, so it's possible that's what you're running into, but also very possible you just got an individual pharmacist with bad info. As corporate policy, Walgreens is not limiting to 18+.

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 4d

There are a lot of reasons for this. Some predate Trump (e.g., demand for pediatric vaccines is low overall, so some providers don't see them as worth ordering, which hurts the parents and children who do want them). But others are directly connected to recent Trump administration actions.

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 4d

Covid vaccines *are* approved for ages 6 months and up. Moderna and Pfizer have made pediatric doses. These doses have shipped to providers who ordered them. Children have gotten them and insurance should cover them. They exist!

But finding a provider who has them in stock can be really difficult.

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 4d

This one's for all the parents who have told me they're going through hell trying to find Covid vaccines for their children: It's not just you! Gift link:

Seeking Covid Shots for Their Children, Some Parents Hit a Wall

www.nytimes.com

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Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 4d

There already are — they're FDA-approved, have been manufactured and shipped to providers, and many have gotten them. However, shots for <12 are harder to find than >12 because fewer providers (including both doctor's offices + pharmacies) have ordered them. I have an article about this coming soon.

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