Melissa Baker
@melissabaker.bsky.social
Asst prof at UTEP. Political psychology and political communication. Studying mental health, cognition, emotions, info behavior, & social media.
Relatedly, this morning I overheard an older woman in a grocery store in Nebraska describe the experience of watching the news now as “you never know if you’re going to see a report on new traffic closures or a discussion on whether women are people.”
Page One in Cincinnati:
“.. I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say I did not remain silent.”
#ICE
“.. I need to be able to look my grandkids in the eye and say I did not remain silent.”
#ICE
November 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Relatedly, this morning I overheard an older woman in a grocery store in Nebraska describe the experience of watching the news now as “you never know if you’re going to see a report on new traffic closures or a discussion on whether women are people.”
Reposted by Melissa Baker
Reminder: We have a bad flu season ahead of us. Get your flu shot!
CDC’s new top deputy had ordered his state health department to stop promoting mass vaccinations amid a flu surge www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
Louisiana health official who halted state vaccine campaign tapped as CDC’s No. 2
Ralph Abraham, a Louisiana health official who stopped promoting mass vaccination vaccines, has been appointed as the CDC's principal deputy director
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Reminder: We have a bad flu season ahead of us. Get your flu shot!
Not my family but a family I’ve spent Thanksgiving with had a multi year streak of dry mac & cheese so somebody tried to sneak evaporated milk into the dish already in the oven. It cooked with a milk crust on top. Nobody would fess up & it took 5 years of the cook interrogating family to find out 😂
yes, hello, I would like to place an order for everyone’s funniest stories of holiday food-related family grudges / drama / chaotic incidents / lore
I feel like we need this
I feel like we need this
November 25, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Not my family but a family I’ve spent Thanksgiving with had a multi year streak of dry mac & cheese so somebody tried to sneak evaporated milk into the dish already in the oven. It cooked with a milk crust on top. Nobody would fess up & it took 5 years of the cook interrogating family to find out 😂
Reposted by Melissa Baker
Reposted by Melissa Baker
This is Teena. She has heard your cotton ball jokes and is not impressed. 12/10 (IG: bichon_punta)
November 24, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This is Teena. She has heard your cotton ball jokes and is not impressed. 12/10 (IG: bichon_punta)
With all the complaints about AI in higher ed, it is very nice to have an experience where a student 1) discloses how they used AI and 2) used AI in a way I suggested may be useful without taking away from their educational experience. Love it.
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
With all the complaints about AI in higher ed, it is very nice to have an experience where a student 1) discloses how they used AI and 2) used AI in a way I suggested may be useful without taking away from their educational experience. Love it.
What has everyone read this year that they enjoyed? With winter break coming up, I need to get my library holds in order. (Serious business 😂)
November 22, 2025 at 4:13 PM
What has everyone read this year that they enjoyed? With winter break coming up, I need to get my library holds in order. (Serious business 😂)
Reposted by Melissa Baker
Holy f@$k!
“ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.”
This whole video is jaw-dropping.
“ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.”
This whole video is jaw-dropping.
I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ
Howard University AI Panel
YouTube video by Tiera Tanksley
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Holy f@$k!
“ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.”
This whole video is jaw-dropping.
“ChatGPT exhibits the highest level of anti-Black racism ever experimentally recorded.”
This whole video is jaw-dropping.
Almost 3.5 years into this job & I don’t even have a guess of what my office phone number is. Now playing the game of “Which comes first? Tenure or knowing my number”
November 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Almost 3.5 years into this job & I don’t even have a guess of what my office phone number is. Now playing the game of “Which comes first? Tenure or knowing my number”
Not the point but thoroughly amused by the idea of me, 5’11” with most that height in my legs, wearing heels & a dress with my knees jammed into the back of the person in front of me. The little plastic cup of ginger ale would really tie it all together.
Trump's Transportation Secretary on how to improve air travel:
"People dress up like they're going to bed when they fly... We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season, help people out, be in a good mood, dress up"
"People dress up like they're going to bed when they fly... We want to push people as we come into a really busy travel season, help people out, be in a good mood, dress up"
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 AM
Not the point but thoroughly amused by the idea of me, 5’11” with most that height in my legs, wearing heels & a dress with my knees jammed into the back of the person in front of me. The little plastic cup of ginger ale would really tie it all together.
Me: Why are so many students referencing the same paper from 50 years ago that we definitely didn’t cover in class? So weird.
Me after asking the quiz question to ChatGPT: Ah, okay, never mind.
Me after asking the quiz question to ChatGPT: Ah, okay, never mind.
November 20, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Me: Why are so many students referencing the same paper from 50 years ago that we definitely didn’t cover in class? So weird.
Me after asking the quiz question to ChatGPT: Ah, okay, never mind.
Me after asking the quiz question to ChatGPT: Ah, okay, never mind.
New branding for committee meetings just dropped
People are holding administrative burden parties to collectively take on tasks
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/re...
Essay | How to Turn the Bureaucratic Grind of Life Into a Party
We all feel it: the growing stream of administrative tasks sapping our time, spirits and social lives. Admin Night represents a tiny, nerdy resistance.
www.wsj.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
New branding for committee meetings just dropped
Accidentally put chili powder instead of cinnamon in my coffee this morning so maybe today is not a writing day after all
November 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Accidentally put chili powder instead of cinnamon in my coffee this morning so maybe today is not a writing day after all
Reposted by Melissa Baker
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
Reposted by Melissa Baker
Bumping this tip as people might be opening online recipes for family cooking.
1) Open recipe
2) Type cooked.wiki/ into the very front of the url
3) Get a simple 2-column text of the ingredients & steps
One of the 1st things I learned form the early days of Bluesky!
2) Type cooked.wiki/ into the very front of the url
3) Get a simple 2-column text of the ingredients & steps
One of the 1st things I learned form the early days of Bluesky!
November 16, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Bumping this tip as people might be opening online recipes for family cooking.
Every day this week
What a terrible day to know how to read
November 14, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Every day this week
Good news, fellow faculty: We might be onto something with cracking jokes in class. 😂
November 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Good news, fellow faculty: We might be onto something with cracking jokes in class. 😂
Q&As after talks
November 12, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Q&As after talks
Seems like a good day for a friendly reminder that it is very okay to disengage and take a break from what is going on for your own wellbeing.
November 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Seems like a good day for a friendly reminder that it is very okay to disengage and take a break from what is going on for your own wellbeing.
Attempting to make a good latte for the first time after buying an espresso machine was a very humbling experience. It's just americanos and cortados in my house now.
it's not that i ever doubted that being a barista was a skilled position, but my year-long effort to try to produce a half-decent latte at home has convinced me that a good barista is easily more skilled than virtually every c-suite executive on the planet
November 11, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Attempting to make a good latte for the first time after buying an espresso machine was a very humbling experience. It's just americanos and cortados in my house now.
Reposted by Melissa Baker
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
New: The Supreme Court DENIES Kim Davis' request to overturn Obergefell, the marriage equality decision. No noted dissents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
Annnnd flights canceled when leaving. I jinxed it.
On one hand, I am really excited about the Texas American Behavior Conference at Texas A&M this week. On the other hand, I am watching TSA line videos from IAH this week & wondering if I will even make it to College Station. (Yes, Texas is big enough that it would be a 10+ hour drive from El Paso.)
November 8, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Annnnd flights canceled when leaving. I jinxed it.
There is now a Gen Z slang dplyr and I might use it just so I can have ‘yeet()’ in my code. github.com/hadley/genzp...
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
There is now a Gen Z slang dplyr and I might use it just so I can have ‘yeet()’ in my code. github.com/hadley/genzp...