Kathryn Olesko
@kathrynolesko.bsky.social
Historian of science interested in 19th c. German sci & tech., atomic cultures, science pedagogy, and developments in physics. Retired from Georgetown Univ. Now Affiliate Faculty at the Univ. of Puget Sound. Avid reader. Archival junkie. I block bots.
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
Heartbreaking. The University of Nebraska will terminate its entire Earth science department.
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
It's over.
Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.
www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.
www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...
BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.
www.dailynebraskan.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Heartbreaking. The University of Nebraska will terminate its entire Earth science department.
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
One of the country's most successful and respected geology & climate programs: gone.
When ideologues & politicians are threatened by the very act of studying climate change, I wonder: who of us is next?
Tragically, this trend is not going to end well.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Tragically, this trend is not going to end well.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I'm back writing on Substack with a four-part series on "Gold Standard Science."
open.substack.com/pub/kathryno...
open.substack.com/pub/kathryno...
Gold Standard Science, Part I
Why we should take another look at Executive Order 14303 "Restoring Gold Standard Science." Part I begins with a review of the EO and the reaction to it from scientists and the left.
open.substack.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I'm back writing on Substack with a four-part series on "Gold Standard Science."
open.substack.com/pub/kathryno...
open.substack.com/pub/kathryno...
Justice served.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Criminal Case Dismissed Against Former F.B.I. Chief Comey
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Justice served.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...
Gates bends the knee. Famous last words. Gift article.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...
Bill Gates Says Climate Change ‘Will Not Lead to Humanity’s Demise’
www.nytimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Gates bends the knee. Famous last words. Gift article.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c...
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans
October 12, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Shared courtesy of my Penn History colleague, Ben Nathans
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow embodied what a journalist should be: someone who holds power to account instead of capitulating to it.
Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.
Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.
October 12, 2025 at 5:32 PM
CBS reporter Edward R. Murrow embodied what a journalist should be: someone who holds power to account instead of capitulating to it.
Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.
Over 70 years later, his segment denouncing Joe McCarthy’s congressional witch hunts rings truer than ever.
MIT rejects Trump's deal. Gift article.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
MIT rejects Trump's deal. Gift article.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...
We were here a year and a half ago. Gift article reviewing the Fra Angelico exhibit in Florence. Something uplifting for a change.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/a...
Fra Angelico and the Miracle of Faith Made Visible
www.nytimes.com
October 8, 2025 at 1:20 PM
We were here a year and a half ago. Gift article reviewing the Fra Angelico exhibit in Florence. Something uplifting for a change.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/a...
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
Great opportunity—one I wish had been available when I was on the job market!
After a long hiatus, AIP's postdoc position for historians of the physical sciences is back!
3 years, $77,500 per year + benefits. Work in the Washington, DC area, close to Univ of Maryland. Open to US citizens/permanent residents. Apply by Nov. 15! #histsci
workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
3 years, $77,500 per year + benefits. Work in the Washington, DC area, close to Univ of Maryland. Open to US citizens/permanent residents. Apply by Nov. 15! #histsci
workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...
September 30, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Great opportunity—one I wish had been available when I was on the job market!
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
Hegseth to Geneva Conventions: drop dead
Hegseth: "We unleash overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy. We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement."
September 30, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Hegseth to Geneva Conventions: drop dead
A good move in the AI world, harking back to the days when cutting edge scientific work was supported in industry
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
Top A.I. Researchers Leave OpenAI, Google and Meta for New Start-Up
www.nytimes.com
September 30, 2025 at 6:46 PM
A good move in the AI world, harking back to the days when cutting edge scientific work was supported in industry
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/t...
Worth pondering. We are in an authoritarian phase, with Democrats lising power day by day. Gift article.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...
Opinion | Stop Acting Like This Is Normal
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Worth pondering. We are in an authoritarian phase, with Democrats lising power day by day. Gift article.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/o...
50th Anniversary of Born to Run album. Just amazing. Here's a Springsteen tour of the Jersey Shore. Just in time for our visit. Gift article.
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...
50 Years After ‘Born to Run,’ We Took a Trip to Springsteen Country
Few albums capture a time and place the way Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ evokes 1970s New Jersey. A pair of superfans hit the road to see how much of that world remains.
www.wsj.com
August 23, 2025 at 2:48 PM
50th Anniversary of Born to Run album. Just amazing. Here's a Springsteen tour of the Jersey Shore. Just in time for our visit. Gift article.
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...
A must read on science, technology, and international affairs, with linkages to Trump's personal fortune.🧪 Brilliant article by Guy Laron.
americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/08/trum...
americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/08/trum...
Trump’s Road to Riyadh: The Geopolitics of AI and Energy Infrastructure - American Affairs Journal
In the end, Trump listened to Altman not out of loyalty but utility. Altman didn’t need to donate, because he designed the game. He didn’t work for the state; he just rerouted it. And in doing so, he ...
americanaffairsjournal.org
August 20, 2025 at 7:02 PM
A must read on science, technology, and international affairs, with linkages to Trump's personal fortune.🧪 Brilliant article by Guy Laron.
americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/08/trum...
americanaffairsjournal.org/2025/08/trum...
This is now a police state methodically planned and carried out.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...
Bondi Tightens Trump Administration’s Grip on D.C. Police
www.nytimes.com
August 15, 2025 at 3:37 AM
This is now a police state methodically planned and carried out.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u...
A commentary on the destruction this regime has brought to science. (Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Opinion | How Trump Is Undoing 80 Years of American Greatness
www.nytimes.com
August 12, 2025 at 6:56 PM
A commentary on the destruction this regime has brought to science. (Gift article)
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
August 11, 2025 at 2:22 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
Check out Kathy's post raising issues around science in the USA and current policy climate. She reached out for comment on my thoughts on the LIGO array, which is spread across two sites that work together as a single broadband gravitational wave detector. #physics #sciencepolicy
Thanks to Donald Salisbury for the invitation to write a piece on the crisis in American science for the APS FHPP Newsletter. This time I interviewed four colleagues on their areas of expertise. My heartfelt thanks to all.
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/APS/fc77d112...
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/APS/fc77d112...
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com
August 5, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Check out Kathy's post raising issues around science in the USA and current policy climate. She reached out for comment on my thoughts on the LIGO array, which is spread across two sites that work together as a single broadband gravitational wave detector. #physics #sciencepolicy
Thanks to Donald Salisbury for the invitation to write a piece on the crisis in American science for the APS FHPP Newsletter. This time I interviewed four colleagues on their areas of expertise. My heartfelt thanks to all.
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/APS/fc77d112...
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/APS/fc77d112...
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com
August 5, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Thanks to Donald Salisbury for the invitation to write a piece on the crisis in American science for the APS FHPP Newsletter. This time I interviewed four colleagues on their areas of expertise. My heartfelt thanks to all.
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/APS/fc77d112...
higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/APS/fc77d112...
Reposted by Kathryn Olesko
Judge who did his job also subject to DOJ accusations. We now have a fully weaponized legal system that will target those who defend the law or the most basic constitutional principles.
bsky.app/profile/kels...
bsky.app/profile/kels...
Breaking story here from @ryanknappy.bsky.social
DOJ files misconduct complaint against chief DC Judge James Boasberg
www.courthousenews.com/doj-files-mi...
DOJ files misconduct complaint against chief DC Judge James Boasberg
www.courthousenews.com/doj-files-mi...
July 29, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Judge who did his job also subject to DOJ accusations. We now have a fully weaponized legal system that will target those who defend the law or the most basic constitutional principles.
bsky.app/profile/kels...
bsky.app/profile/kels...
This memorandum, just issued today, clearly violates the separation of church and state. It includes the “right” of a federal employee to argue to another employee that their religious belief is the “correct” one.
www.opm.gov/policy-data-...
www.opm.gov/policy-data-...
www.opm.gov
July 28, 2025 at 8:04 PM
This memorandum, just issued today, clearly violates the separation of church and state. It includes the “right” of a federal employee to argue to another employee that their religious belief is the “correct” one.
www.opm.gov/policy-data-...
www.opm.gov/policy-data-...