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Philip N Cohen

@philipncohen.com

10K followers 710 following 7K posts

Sociologist and demographer, University of Maryland; director of SocArXiv. New book out! Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists https://cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen-scholar/9780231555418 philipncohen.com .. more

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Philip N. Cohen is an American sociologist. He is a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and director of SocArXiv, an open archive of the social sciences. .. more

Political science 34%

Sociology 29%

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · Nov 14

Hello new followers! I waste a lot of time on here, but when I'm not doing that I sometimes write books. My new one is called Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists (out in January, orderable now), and it has all you need to prevent ... oh no
cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen...

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 4h

Why? Beyond various personal animosities, a high level reason for this is to destroy sources of institutional power for their opponents: Media, universities, science, public health. Also, weakening government creates a vacuum, in which no one trusts anything, for authoritarianism to fill.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 6h

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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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 4h

Having posted all this about mass sterilization, I should also note @laurabriggs.bsky.social's Reproducing Empire, which argues it was constrained choice, not a campaign of force, and that Puerto Rican feminists had long fought for birth control etc. and against nationalist pronatalism. Complicated!

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 6h

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 7h

👍 🤜 💥

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 8h

Ok! Good to know. No reason they couldn't (it's not rocket science.) But former rocket scientists are maybe a certain type.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 12h

Yes ironically real rocket scientists are bad at demography

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 12h

Journalists: I and other folks who study this stuff have are happy to jump on a call to help get things straight when you're working on birth rate stories familyinequality.wordpress.com/2025/10/03/l...

Let’s all use the right fertility rate terms and definitions

If you’re a teacher, or a journalist, or a concerned citizen, or someone who knows one of those people, and you want to know, or explain, what demographers mean when they refer to “fert…

familyinequality.wordpress.com

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 12h

Not the point of this very good political podcast, but they incorrectly abbreviate "total fertility rate" as "the fertility rate," which is a substantively different thing. The fertility rate doesn't have a "replacement" level. bsky.app/profile/juli...

Julie Kohler @juliekkohler.bsky.social · 1d

Loved having you on the show, @kieraevebutler.bsky.social! Check out today’s episode, which examines how pronatalism is part of a larger gender backlash.

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 1d

I joined @juliekkohler.bsky.social on the White Picket Fence podcast to discuss the growing pronatalist movement: who's behind it, what it stands for, and its links to Christian Nationalism. Listen here: lnk.to/wpf-ep3

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 15h

Academic book reviews are truly in their own world. At AJS you can still pay $15 for a review of a two-year-old book.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 16h

I'm sorry, mentioning the Epstein files causes autism

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 18h

He seems qualified to discuss the compact: "Many of the ideas included in the proposal — and, in some instances, their exact wording — came from a document circulated last winter at the behest of Marc Rowan"

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

www.nytimes.com

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 19h

It makes sense that people who think the only reason to learn something is to get a job and all politics is a two-party electoral system (so, a lot of Americans) would have no idea what actual viewpoint diversity is or how much it exists on real campuses

A pie chart with a big slice labeled "actual viewpoint diversity" and a tiny slice labeled "people who vote for republicans"

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 19h

It's hard to be funny if the rules require explaining your jokes.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 20h

Say what you want about the old days on twitter, but there was more humor

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

I did not see that coming

THE NOBEL PRIZE
Nobel Peace Prize 2025
Antifa
For courage in the face of rising authoritarianism.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Anyone who would believe it deserves to be as happy, or mad, as they wish to be

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

But tylenol is replacing wine-soaked cloth?

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

I did not see that coming

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Since it's not being compared to anything, and it's not a well-known measure (the inflation or unemployment), there's no reason to be so precise. The story would be the same if it was 16% or 18%

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Note: I can't accept, "nearly 17%." You can only use nearly, or almost, or more than, around significant numbers. E.g., you can say, "nearly 25%" But if it's really nearly 17%, just round it to 17%. (But this better not be 16.49% so it could almost round to 17%; the link doesn't go to the report).

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

The number of New York City households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17% over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

Who Can Afford Three Kids in New York City?

The number of city households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17 percent over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

nyti.ms

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

"We expected it would have the integrity of the president of the United States."

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 1d

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

The number of New York City households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17% over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

Who Can Afford Three Kids in New York City?

The number of city households with three or more children has dropped by nearly 17 percent over the past decade as families struggle with the cost of child care and rent.

nyti.ms

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen

Julie Kohler @juliekkohler.bsky.social · 1d

Loved having you on the show, @kieraevebutler.bsky.social! Check out today’s episode, which examines how pronatalism is part of a larger gender backlash.

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 1d

Seizing the Means of Reproduction

Lately, our government has seemed a little...baby crazy. President Trump declared he will be the "fertilization president." Vice President JD Vance announced he wants to see "more babies in the United...

lnk.to

Reposted by Márk E. Hauber, Hugo Mercier, Philip N. Cohen , and 2 more Márk E. Hauber, Hugo Mercier, Philip N. Cohen, Richard M. Carpiano, Southern Africa

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

I have to fan-girl for a minute here. My friend @rosvall-lab.bsky.social built an app to gather data on bird behavior during the 2024 solar eclipse. 10,000+ citizen scientists contributed (including my kids), and the resulting paper was published in Science today!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse disrupted light-dark cycles for North American birds during the lead-up to spring reproduction. Compiling more than 10,000 community observations and artificial ...

www.science.org

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