Daniel Aldrich
@danielaldrich.bsky.social
Social scientist interested in social capital, social infrastructure, energy and environmental politics. Books at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Daniel-P.-Aldrich/author/B001JSDHPW
Daniel P. Aldrich is an academic in the fields of political science, public policy and Asian studies. He is currently full professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University. Aldrich has held several Fulbright fellowships, including a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Applied Public Policy at Flinders University in Australia in 2023, a Fulbright Specialist in Trinidad-Tobago in 2018, a Fulbright research fellowship at the University of Tokyo's Economic's Department for the 2012–2013 academic year, and a IIE Fulbright Dissertation Fellowship in Tokyo in 2002–2003. His research, prompted in part by his own family's experience of Hurricane Katrina, explores how communities around the world respond to and recover from disaster. .. more
Political science
31%
Sociology
29%
Vance announces aid restrictions for groups that promote diversity, transgender policies abroad
The move expands a longstanding Republican policy that restricted U.S. funding for organizations working on or promoting abortion overseas.
www.politico.com
Vance on Friday said the United States will stop funding any organization working on diversity and transgender issues abroad www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
Many Amazon climate disasters are missing from official records, study finds
More than 12,500 extreme climate events were registered in the Amazon biome between 2013 and 2023, according to a recent study. But many more events were never recorded, as some Amazonian countries pr...
news.mongabay.com
More than 12,500 extreme climate events were registered in the Amazon biome between 2013 and 2023, according to a recent study. But many more events were never recorded, as some Amazonian countries provided no or limited information
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
news.mongabay.com/short-articl...
How Plug-In Solar Lets Everyone Enjoy Solar Savings
Although solar can save consumers a lot of money, many people find it hard to invest if they do not have a good roof or enough capital. Plug-in solar lets everyone save.
www.forbes.com
Solar is such a good deal that when the full value of solar is added up solar owners are actually subsidizing their non-solar neighbors. With electricity prices rising faster than inflation you can think of solar as a giant hedge against inflation. www.forbes.com/sites/joshpe...
‘Loneliness economy’: how China is adapting to a rapid rise in solo living
The viral success of check-in app Are You Dead? has exposed the vast demand for services catering to China’s rapidly growing single population.
www.scmp.com
Are you dead? As the number of people living alone in China skyrockets, a wave of products and services is emerging to address the safety, social and mental health needs of the country’s solo-living population, www.scmp.com/economy/chin...
Our new #article with Tang: The paradox of smart cities: technological advancements and the disconnection from social participation
TL;DR: Technological advancements in smart cities improve governance but reduce traditional social participation
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TL;DR: Technological advancements in smart cities improve governance but reduce traditional social participation
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
New #article from Arafat et al: A new vista on social capital: its types and role in sustainable governance and democracy
TL;DR: social capital is the foundation of society – shaping trust, unity, and democracy – and its power depends on how it is built
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
TL;DR: social capital is the foundation of society – shaping trust, unity, and democracy – and its power depends on how it is built
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Social isolation kills. It increases your risk of death by 30%, the same as smoking cigarettes and much worse than factors such as obesity and sedentary living. Americans are living through what researchers call a friendship recession. What can we do?
theconversation.com/we-created-h...
theconversation.com/we-created-h...
New #article from Biferale et al: The Durability of Social Cohesion: The Effect of Climate-Related Disasters on Voluntary Work
TL;DR: voluntary work is positively influenced by a climate-related disaster, and this effect remains stable over time
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
TL;DR: voluntary work is positively influenced by a climate-related disaster, and this effect remains stable over time
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Goodbye to the idea that solar panels “die” after 25 years. A new study says the warranty does not mark the end, and real-world performance can last for decades
Solar panels are usually sold with 25 to 30 years of performance promises. But what happens after that, when the warranty language is long gone and you are
www.ecoticias.com
Looking at six solar arrays in Switzerland that have been running since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the team found most panels still produced more than 80% of their original power after three decades. www.ecoticias.com/en/goodbye-t...
Offshore Wind Triumphed in Court, but Industry’s Path in U.S. Remains Choppy
Judges ruled that three wind projects halted by the Trump administration can move forward. Still, reluctance to develop any new sites will be hard to overcome.
www.wsj.com
Three East Coast wind projects scored court victories over Trump administration attempts to shut them down last week, but government opposition to offshore turbines could hamper any industry plans for building new ones www.wsj.com/articles/off...
Another State’s Public Universities Are Tightening Post-Tenure Review and Dictating Teaching Loads
Faculty say changes by the Kansas Board of Regents undermine their autonomy, while the board says they are necessary to placate a legislature that might favor more drastic measures.
www.chronicle.com
Faculty members at Kansas’ six public universities will now be subject to stricter post-tenure-review policies that faculty advocates say erode the institution of tenure — and leave it vulnerable to further attacks from state legislators @AAUP www.chronicle.com/article/anot...
With winter storms coming to much of the US, take a moment to think about those around you whose #socialcapital - their connections - may be weaker and may need help
Leaked photos show hundreds killed in Iran's brutal crackdown
The images from one mortuary in Tehran were shown to families who went to identify their loved ones.
www.bbc.com
Hundreds of photos revealing the faces of those killed during Iran's violent crackdown on anti-government protests have been leaked. Many of the victims were too disfigured to be identified, and 69 people had been labelled in Persian as John or Jane Doe
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
The Assumptions That Broke: China, India, and the End of Fossil Growth Models - CleanTechnica
Coal and LNG fell in China and India while BEV trucks surged. The energy transition moved faster than the models predicted.
cleantechnica.com
Crossing of the 50% threshold for battery-electric heavy duty trucks in December 2025 should be understood in this broader context. Freight is not a side story. Heavy trucks are among the largest single consumers of oil products in any economy. cleantechnica.com/2026/01/22/t...
New #article from Juliusz Braun: Social Capital and Security
TL;DR: Security, in the broadest sense of the word, requires enormous financial expenditure. Equally important, however, is the provision of social capital
ejournals.eu/czasopismo/z...
TL;DR: Security, in the broadest sense of the word, requires enormous financial expenditure. Equally important, however, is the provision of social capital
ejournals.eu/czasopismo/z...
New #article from Liu et al: Combined benefits of multi-hazard early warnings on human mobility resilience to tropical cyclones
TL;DR: multi-level and multi-hazard warnings reduce exposure by 57% and recovery time by 56%.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TL;DR: multi-level and multi-hazard warnings reduce exposure by 57% and recovery time by 56%.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
New #article from Robert Bao et al: StormShare: A Crowdsourcing Web Application to Enhance Resiliency during Hurricanes
TL;DR: web application, StormShare, assists with many needs, contributing to capacity building for social resiliency
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
TL;DR: web application, StormShare, assists with many needs, contributing to capacity building for social resiliency
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
New #article from Melina Michelen et al: Bridging work: Community health workers’ role as a continuum of building + guiding the path to health equity
TL;DR: not only bridges connecting people and systems, but also builders and maintainers of these bridges
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
TL;DR: not only bridges connecting people and systems, but also builders and maintainers of these bridges
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
New #article from Lemańczyk et al: Realizing the social capital theory through the creation of shared value
TL;DR: municipality place attachment, local community impact, intrapersonal social capital, and collective social capital critical
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
TL;DR: municipality place attachment, local community impact, intrapersonal social capital, and collective social capital critical
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
I’m going to halve my publication output. You should consider slow science, too
If we don’t slow down, the research enterprise is going to crash, argues Adrian Barnett.
www.nature.com
Slow science? The boom in numbers is putting the publication system under enormous strain, and it is now impossible for scientists to thoroughly read and peer review the literature. The overall quality of research seems to be degrading www.nature.com/articles/d41...
New #article from Fukuchi et al: Parental Subjective Disaster Experiences and Behavioral Problems in Children Born After the Great East Japan Earthquake
TL:DR: Children’s adjustment after disasters may influenced by caregivers’ mental health
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
TL:DR: Children’s adjustment after disasters may influenced by caregivers’ mental health
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
New #article from Yuto Shiozaki et al: Can pre-disaster community resilience enhance post-disaster recovery?A natural experiment
TL;DR: high social participation and frequent local interactions before a disaster foster more favorable recovery perception
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
TL;DR: high social participation and frequent local interactions before a disaster foster more favorable recovery perception
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
As scholars who focus on public policy and social determinants of health and well-being, we are part of an international team of more than 100 experts who undertook the first systematic effort to develop evidence-based guidelines for social connection.
theconversation.com/we-created-h...
theconversation.com/we-created-h...
USAID's demise has created Asian vacuum for China to fill, says ex-official
US and Japan must find new ways to help region, former agency executive urges
asia.nikkei.com
Trump's destruction of USAID has created a vacuum in global development that China is happy to fill
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
asia.nikkei.com/politics/int...
Nuclear lapses overshadow reactor restarts in post-Fukushima Japan
Power provider admits to manipulating data to downplay effect of large earthquake
www.ft.com
Atomic scandal : One of Japan’s biggest utilities this month admitted to manipulating data to downplay the effect of a large earthquake on a nuclear power plant under review for reopening
www.ft.com/content/0bb5...
www.ft.com/content/0bb5...
Wind and solar overtook fossil fuels across Europe in 2025
Wind and solar generated more EU electricity than fossil fuels for the first time in 2025, driven by a massive surge in solar power.
electrek.co
Wind and solar generated more electricity across the European Union than fossil fuels for the first time last year. Wind and solar supplied a record 30% of EU power, edging past fossil fuels at 29%. electrek.co/2026/01/21/w...
Malfunction Forces Japan to Take Restarted Nuclear Plant Offline
www.nytimes.com
Less than six hours after Japan restarted one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants, a technical malfunction forced the facility back offline, dealing a setback to the government’s efforts to restore nuclear energy in the nation’s energy mix www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/b...
US to offer states deals to host nuclear waste, source says
The U.S. will seek interest from U.S. states as soon as this week on storing nuclear waste in return for incentives to build nuclear reactors, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, ...
www.reuters.com
A house without a bathroom : The U.S. will seek interest from U.S. states as soon as this week on storing nuclear waste in return for incentives to build nuclear reactors. Yucca Mountain remains in limbo despite decades of planning and site work
www.reuters.com/business/ene...
www.reuters.com/business/ene...