Dr. Michael Shank
@michaeljohnshank.bsky.social
Striving to build an accessible bridge between science/policy and the public’s understanding of, engagement with, and co-creation and co-ownership of that science and policy. www.michaelshank.tv
Love this! Way to lead, New Mexico! An innovative pilot program in New Mexico saw a 93 percent graduation rate among students who usually struggle. Leaders have launched it at more schools.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
Students in need were paid $500 a month to stay in school. It worked.
The state is launching a three-year pilot program offering $500 a month to homeless students who maintain high attendance and fulfill other requirements.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Love this! Way to lead, New Mexico! An innovative pilot program in New Mexico saw a 93 percent graduation rate among students who usually struggle. Leaders have launched it at more schools.
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
“If inequality continues to rise, the spillover effects of that in terms of the security agenda, in terms of undocumented forms of migration, will also become more daunting,” he worries.
aje.io/opwjty
aje.io/opwjty
AI threatens to widen inequality among states: UN
Report warns of potential 'great divergence', with developed states profiting and others left behind.
aje.io
December 2, 2025 at 1:27 PM
“If inequality continues to rise, the spillover effects of that in terms of the security agenda, in terms of undocumented forms of migration, will also become more daunting,” he worries.
aje.io/opwjty
aje.io/opwjty
Of the less than 2 percent of global philanthropy devoted to climate, just 3 percent goes to grassroots organizing, and almost all of that to left-of-center groups. That prompted Founders Pledge to invest heavily in civil society groups on the political right.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Column | On Giving Tuesday, how to make small donations with big climate impact
I asked economists and climate philanthropists what they could teach people like me, whose Giving Tuesday donations may only have one or two zeros behind them.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Of the less than 2 percent of global philanthropy devoted to climate, just 3 percent goes to grassroots organizing, and almost all of that to left-of-center groups. That prompted Founders Pledge to invest heavily in civil society groups on the political right.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Love it. Have at it. “The goal is to elect a handful of independent candidates to the House of Representatives in 2026, using AI to identify districts where independents could succeed and uncover diamond in the rough candidates.”
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...
An independent effort says AI is the secret to topple 2-party power in Congress
Using artificial intelligence to identify congressional districts where independent candidates could win, an organization called the Independent Center is aiming to disrupt the two-party system.
www.npr.org
December 1, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Love it. Have at it. “The goal is to elect a handful of independent candidates to the House of Representatives in 2026, using AI to identify districts where independents could succeed and uncover diamond in the rough candidates.”
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...
www.npr.org/2025/12/01/g...
I love vultures. A true circular economy. The key message from the article? It’s one line and gets its own paragraph in the piece: “When we endanger other species, we endanger ourselves.” This is true across all species.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Humans killed millions of vultures. Now people are paying the price.
The near-extinction of vultures in India has had severe consequences.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I love vultures. A true circular economy. The key message from the article? It’s one line and gets its own paragraph in the piece: “When we endanger other species, we endanger ourselves.” This is true across all species.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Reposted by Dr. Michael Shank
Ask yourself why there wasn’t this level of wall to wall coverage for this shooting wgme.com/news/local/i...
ICE agent who shot woman in Chicago drove Border Patrol vehicle back to Maine
An unnamed ICE agent, who shot and injured a woman in Chicago, is now back in Maine after driving the Border Patrol vehicle he was in 1,100 miles.
wgme.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Ask yourself why there wasn’t this level of wall to wall coverage for this shooting wgme.com/news/local/i...
“All of the planet’s three main rainforest regions – the South American Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa – have gone from being allies in the fight against climate breakdown to being part of the problem.”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Africa’s forests transformed from carbon sink to carbon source, study finds
Alarming shift since 2010 means planet’s three main rainforest regions now contribute to climate breakdown
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 1:17 PM
“All of the planet’s three main rainforest regions – the South American Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa – have gone from being allies in the fight against climate breakdown to being part of the problem.”
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
To illustrate his point, Green added up typical living expenses based on national averages and found that a family of four will spend $136,500 a year on child care, housing, food, transportation, health care, taxes, and other essentials.
www.investopedia.com/is-the-real-...
www.investopedia.com/is-the-real-...
Is the Real 'Poverty Line' $140,000 a Year?
One analysis suggests that modern budgets push the effective poverty line far above official levels, revealing why many six-figure earners still feel financially strained.
www.investopedia.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:36 AM
To illustrate his point, Green added up typical living expenses based on national averages and found that a family of four will spend $136,500 a year on child care, housing, food, transportation, health care, taxes, and other essentials.
www.investopedia.com/is-the-real-...
www.investopedia.com/is-the-real-...
This is how you do it. “Nonviolent movements that have toppled oppressive regimes, prevented coups and transformed societies follow these four essential steps.” By Jamila Raqib with the Albert Einstein Institution
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/11/the-...
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/11/the-...
The playbook of every successful nonviolent struggle
Nonviolent movements that have toppled oppressive regimes, prevented coups and transformed societies follow these four essential steps.
wagingnonviolence.org
November 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
This is how you do it. “Nonviolent movements that have toppled oppressive regimes, prevented coups and transformed societies follow these four essential steps.” By Jamila Raqib with the Albert Einstein Institution
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/11/the-...
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/11/the-...
Love seeing it. “Everyday people from blue and red states alike are leading actions such as protests, boycotts and mutual aid.”
By Rachel Leingang in The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
By Rachel Leingang in The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
A groundswell of activism takes hold in the US: ‘We are a bridge to the future’
Everyday people from blue and red states alike are leading actions such as protests, boycotts and mutual aid
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Love seeing it. “Everyday people from blue and red states alike are leading actions such as protests, boycotts and mutual aid.”
By Rachel Leingang in The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
By Rachel Leingang in The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Fascinating. “Neither President Donald Trump nor Vice President JD Vance were invited to Cheney’s funeral, according to a source familiar with the matter.”
www.cnn.com/2025/11/20/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/20/p...
Trump and Vance not invited to Dick Cheney’s funeral, but all four living former vice presidents attending | CNN Politics
Past presidents and politicians of both parties will gather Thursday in Washington, DC, for former Vice President Dick Cheney’s funeral — sending off a key figure of pre-MAGA Republican politics.
www.cnn.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Fascinating. “Neither President Donald Trump nor Vice President JD Vance were invited to Cheney’s funeral, according to a source familiar with the matter.”
www.cnn.com/2025/11/20/p...
www.cnn.com/2025/11/20/p...
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. And look at the win-win-win. “Ridership jumped, people cut back on driving and, over the summer, the city extended the program another year.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Iowa City Made Its Buses Free. Traffic Cleared, and So Did the Air.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:24 PM
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS. And look at the win-win-win. “Ridership jumped, people cut back on driving and, over the summer, the city extended the program another year.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/c...
Reposted by Dr. Michael Shank
We saw Trump despicably attack two female reporters. Yet not one member of the corporate media at those events stood up for these reporters. That is both inexcusable and tells you so much about the horrible state of corporate media. My article deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/trump-tras...
Trump trashing female reporters was despicable. The other reporters not standing up to Trump was inexcusable
Corporate media failed us again
deanobeidallah.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:35 PM
We saw Trump despicably attack two female reporters. Yet not one member of the corporate media at those events stood up for these reporters. That is both inexcusable and tells you so much about the horrible state of corporate media. My article deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/trump-tras...
Love this. Lead on, students. Here’s to all of running for office someday soon, too. This is leadership.
www.live5news.com/2025/11/18/o...
www.live5news.com/2025/11/18/o...
Over 30,000 Charlotte students absent from school in protest of ICE operation, reports say
Over 30,000 Charlotte students were absent on Monday, according to school officials.
www.live5news.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Love this. Lead on, students. Here’s to all of running for office someday soon, too. This is leadership.
www.live5news.com/2025/11/18/o...
www.live5news.com/2025/11/18/o...
As Trump wages a war against diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI, Chicago Women in Trades is fighting back in court, both for its own preservation and for the movement.
www.npr.org/2025/11/19/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/19/n...
How a small Chicago nonprofit is resisting Trump's war on DEI
Since 1981, Chicago Women in Trades has worked to promote equity by getting more women into the construction trades. Now the nonprofit faces a different challenge: Trump's efforts to erase DEI.
www.npr.org
November 19, 2025 at 2:39 PM
As Trump wages a war against diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI, Chicago Women in Trades is fighting back in court, both for its own preservation and for the movement.
www.npr.org/2025/11/19/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/19/n...
New research shared with The New York Times estimates the extent to which rising home insurance premiums, driven higher by climate change, are cascading into the broader real estate market and eating into home values in the most disaster-prone areas.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Rising Home Insurance Premiums Are Eating Into Home Values in Disaster-Prone Areas
Changes in the insurance market have started to affect home prices in the most disaster-prone areas, new research finds, pushing some homeowners’ finances to the breaking point.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM
New research shared with The New York Times estimates the extent to which rising home insurance premiums, driven higher by climate change, are cascading into the broader real estate market and eating into home values in the most disaster-prone areas.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Dr. Michael Shank
So Harvard is keeping this guy, but Claudine Gay had to step down over ginned up plagiarism accusations and bad-faith accusations of anti-Semitism.
Got it.
Got it.
Larry Summers tells @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
November 18, 2025 at 5:10 AM
So Harvard is keeping this guy, but Claudine Gay had to step down over ginned up plagiarism accusations and bad-faith accusations of anti-Semitism.
Got it.
Got it.
Meanwhile: The European Union has already banned many PFAS in pesticides, including two of the chemicals most used on California crops – bifenthrin and trifluralin.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
California farms applied millions of pounds of PFAS to key crops, study finds
‘Forever chemicals’ sprayed on almonds, grapes, tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Meanwhile: The European Union has already banned many PFAS in pesticides, including two of the chemicals most used on California crops – bifenthrin and trifluralin.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
This lands.
November 17, 2025 at 11:42 PM
This lands.
Love the creative protest against AI. The former Beatle is releasing a track of an almost completely silent recording studio as part of a music industry protest against copyright theft by artificial intelligence companies.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
Paul McCartney joins music industry protest against AI with silent track
Former Beatle and artists including Sam Fender, Kate Bush and Hans Zimmer record silent LP Is This What We Want
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Love the creative protest against AI. The former Beatle is releasing a track of an almost completely silent recording studio as part of a music industry protest against copyright theft by artificial intelligence companies.
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/n...
“There are about 1,000 of us…”
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 17, 2025 at 3:15 AM
“There are about 1,000 of us…”
Love it. In the past year, nearly 75,000 people have signed up to run for local and state office through Run for Something. And its candidates are winning.
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
'They Are Over It': The Trump Backlash Quietly Underway
In the past year, nearly 75,000 people have signed up to run for local and state office through Run for Something. And its candidates are winning.
www.huffpost.com
November 15, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Love it. In the past year, nearly 75,000 people have signed up to run for local and state office through Run for Something. And its candidates are winning.
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Arts for the win again. A new study finds that regularly listening to music or playing a musical instrument may help older adults protect against cognitive decline.
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
Listening to music most days could guard against dementia, study suggests
A new study finds that regularly listening to music or playing a musical instrument may help older adults protect against cognitive decline.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Arts for the win again. A new study finds that regularly listening to music or playing a musical instrument may help older adults protect against cognitive decline.
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...
www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/20...