Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
Historian of science & medicine and writer @ Johns Hopkins & Berkeley. Biography of James Watson coming soonish from Basic Books. Also rock climbing, roots music, tattoos, dogs, humor. My opinions are his –>
Pinned
Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
· Mar 18
Hello world! I’m a historian of genetics who writes for both academic and gen’l audiences. Author of books on Barbara McClintock and medical genetics & eugenics + many articles. Currently writing a biog. of James Watson. Other loves= dogs, music around the world, inappropriate humor.
Hi, I’m
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
REM
The Replacements
The Ramones
The Pixies
B52s
REM
The Replacements
The Ramones
The Pixies
B52s
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
Run-DMC & Beastie Boys
Prince
The Hold Steady
boygenius
Car Seat Headrest
the last 20-odd minutes of waiting to take turkey out / put sides in suuuuuuuuuucks
Run-DMC & Beastie Boys
Prince
The Hold Steady
boygenius
Car Seat Headrest
the last 20-odd minutes of waiting to take turkey out / put sides in suuuuuuuuuucks
November 28, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Hi, I’m
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Looking for some music that’s appropriate for the holiday, is family friendly, and doesn’t suck?
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Giving thanks
open.spotify.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Looking for some music that’s appropriate for the holiday, is family friendly, and doesn’t suck?
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
I buy at least two books from this list every year! If you are a non-tenure-track historian and have a book coming out in 2025, please fill out this form to be included!
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I buy at least two books from this list every year! If you are a non-tenure-track historian and have a book coming out in 2025, please fill out this form to be included!
Anyone here use a Remarkable tablet? I ordered both the 2 and Pro models and am keeping the Remarkable 2.
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
November 24, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Anyone here use a Remarkable tablet? I ordered both the 2 and Pro models and am keeping the Remarkable 2.
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
ooh. will listen to this. those are a few of my favorite things.
In the summer (you can tell by the shirt) I had a fabulous conversation about embryology and stem cells with @nmoris.bsky.social at the Crick Institute. Here's the first part of it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB0...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB0...
The Creativity of Life: A Conversation with Naomi Moris, Part 1
YouTube video by Marginalia Review of Books
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:53 PM
ooh. will listen to this. those are a few of my favorite things.
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
RIP Jimmy Cliff- original global reggae ambassador who paved the way for so many. As a teen I was completely turned on by “The Harder they Come” and it started me on a musical journey that’s lasted my whole life. A passionate performer, I always enjoyed seeing him in concert.
Thank you Jimmy!
Thank you Jimmy!
November 24, 2025 at 3:24 PM
RIP Jimmy Cliff- original global reggae ambassador who paved the way for so many. As a teen I was completely turned on by “The Harder they Come” and it started me on a musical journey that’s lasted my whole life. A passionate performer, I always enjoyed seeing him in concert.
Thank you Jimmy!
Thank you Jimmy!
Check out my convo with Susanna Joy Smith of @geneticfrontiers.bsky.social, about medical genetics and eugenics and The Science of Human Perfection. New podcast episode, available here, on Apple, or wherever you get your pods.
www.geneticfrontiers.org/podcast
www.geneticfrontiers.org/podcast
Genetic Frontiers, a podcast about the promise, power, and perils of genetic information.
Genetic Frontiers, a podcast about the promise, power, and perils of genetic information
www.geneticfrontiers.org
November 22, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Check out my convo with Susanna Joy Smith of @geneticfrontiers.bsky.social, about medical genetics and eugenics and The Science of Human Perfection. New podcast episode, available here, on Apple, or wherever you get your pods.
www.geneticfrontiers.org/podcast
www.geneticfrontiers.org/podcast
This of course is a plausible, skeptical take and might well be true. But I’m not so sure. If you think about Trump turncoats, most of them are women. Women could play a key role in dismantling this despotic system. Trumpworld is so damn sexist—it seems worth a shot to try to exploit it
Everyone stop acting weird and shocked about MTG. She has been systematically distancing herself from the current GOP for months and months. She has a plan reform herself under a new image ON THE RIGHT that’s not part of a sinking ship.
She’s not suddenly changing her tune! SHE’S AN OPPORTUNIST
She’s not suddenly changing her tune! SHE’S AN OPPORTUNIST
November 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
This of course is a plausible, skeptical take and might well be true. But I’m not so sure. If you think about Trump turncoats, most of them are women. Women could play a key role in dismantling this despotic system. Trumpworld is so damn sexist—it seems worth a shot to try to exploit it
Guys, guys! MTG shouldn’t resign—she should switch teams! The Dems should roll out the red carpet for her! How sweet wouldn’t that be?!?
Now’s the time to put Dems’ big-tent rhetoric to max effect!
Write your Representatives! Welcome MTG to the Democratic party!
Now’s the time to put Dems’ big-tent rhetoric to max effect!
Write your Representatives! Welcome MTG to the Democratic party!
Well holy s***snacks, y’all, Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning from the House! Is it just me or is this a very significant moment?
November 22, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Guys, guys! MTG shouldn’t resign—she should switch teams! The Dems should roll out the red carpet for her! How sweet wouldn’t that be?!?
Now’s the time to put Dems’ big-tent rhetoric to max effect!
Write your Representatives! Welcome MTG to the Democratic party!
Now’s the time to put Dems’ big-tent rhetoric to max effect!
Write your Representatives! Welcome MTG to the Democratic party!
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Psychedelics and immortality: Nature went to a health summit starring RFK and JD Vance www.nature.com/articles/d41... - all the grifters together at last!
Psychedelics and immortality: Nature went to a health summit starring RFK and JD Vance
The Make America Healthy Again summit, attended by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and vice-president JD Vance, gave a sense of what’s driving US health policy.
www.nature.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Psychedelics and immortality: Nature went to a health summit starring RFK and JD Vance www.nature.com/articles/d41... - all the grifters together at last!
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
"An overweening faith that our genes make us who we are is a terrifying thing."
Today's #histSTM lunchtime read: @nccomfort.bsky.social discusses James Watson's gradual embrace of genetic determinism in an essay for @nytopinion.nytimes.com.
#histbio #histsci
#eugenics #DNA 🗃️📜🧬
Today's #histSTM lunchtime read: @nccomfort.bsky.social discusses James Watson's gradual embrace of genetic determinism in an essay for @nytopinion.nytimes.com.
#histbio #histsci
#eugenics #DNA 🗃️📜🧬
Opinion | James Watson Saw the True Form of DNA. Then It Blinded Him.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:55 PM
"An overweening faith that our genes make us who we are is a terrifying thing."
Today's #histSTM lunchtime read: @nccomfort.bsky.social discusses James Watson's gradual embrace of genetic determinism in an essay for @nytopinion.nytimes.com.
#histbio #histsci
#eugenics #DNA 🗃️📜🧬
Today's #histSTM lunchtime read: @nccomfort.bsky.social discusses James Watson's gradual embrace of genetic determinism in an essay for @nytopinion.nytimes.com.
#histbio #histsci
#eugenics #DNA 🗃️📜🧬
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Brilliant article ⬇️
I didn’t know it worked this way. @nytopinion.nytimes.com first published my piece on Watson and genetic determinism on Sunday, but it came out in the paper today. Evidently each week the op-ed page is a mad shuffling scramble for Friday.
Opinion | James Watson Saw the True Form of DNA. Then It Blinded Him.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Brilliant article ⬇️
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
"We who have nothing and most likely will til we all end up locked up in jail by conservative christian right wing republican straight white american males."
And that's who killed him.
And that's who killed him.
In continuing remembrance of the great Todd Snider, I'd like to send this one out to everyone who doesn't know they're a target of this song. Bless your hearts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5hl...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5hl...
Todd Snider - Conservative Christian, Right Wing, Republican, Straight, White, American Male
YouTube video by Farm Aid
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:48 PM
"We who have nothing and most likely will til we all end up locked up in jail by conservative christian right wing republican straight white american males."
And that's who killed him.
And that's who killed him.
With the official CDC messaging now going full-on Looney Tunes about vaccines, it seems a good moment to revisit the history of the vaccine–autism scare.
It's a case study of pseudoscience in the making.
The following is taken from the hist med survey that I teach at Johns Hopkins.
1/7
It's a case study of pseudoscience in the making.
The following is taken from the hist med survey that I teach at Johns Hopkins.
1/7
November 20, 2025 at 5:42 PM
With the official CDC messaging now going full-on Looney Tunes about vaccines, it seems a good moment to revisit the history of the vaccine–autism scare.
It's a case study of pseudoscience in the making.
The following is taken from the hist med survey that I teach at Johns Hopkins.
1/7
It's a case study of pseudoscience in the making.
The following is taken from the hist med survey that I teach at Johns Hopkins.
1/7
Yup, I know one or two of those
My quote of the day
Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact that they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people's buttons.
Travis Bradberry
Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact that they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people's buttons.
Travis Bradberry
November 20, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Yup, I know one or two of those
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Gotta say, it’s a hard time to be a historian of medicine whose focus was pre-antiseptic / pre-vaccine era.
Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad
November 20, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Gotta say, it’s a hard time to be a historian of medicine whose focus was pre-antiseptic / pre-vaccine era.
In continuing remembrance of the great Todd Snider, I'd like to send this one out to everyone who doesn't know they're a target of this song. Bless your hearts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5hl...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5hl...
Todd Snider - Conservative Christian, Right Wing, Republican, Straight, White, American Male
YouTube video by Farm Aid
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:14 AM
In continuing remembrance of the great Todd Snider, I'd like to send this one out to everyone who doesn't know they're a target of this song. Bless your hearts.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5hl...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5hl...
I didn’t know it worked this way. @nytopinion.nytimes.com first published my piece on Watson and genetic determinism on Sunday, but it came out in the paper today. Evidently each week the op-ed page is a mad shuffling scramble for Friday.
Opinion | James Watson Saw the True Form of DNA. Then It Blinded Him.
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:48 AM
I didn’t know it worked this way. @nytopinion.nytimes.com first published my piece on Watson and genetic determinism on Sunday, but it came out in the paper today. Evidently each week the op-ed page is a mad shuffling scramble for Friday.
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Behold the horny beaver!*
*we may need to work on the name...
*we may need to work on the name...
November 19, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Behold the horny beaver!*
*we may need to work on the name...
*we may need to work on the name...
"Most men flying seem to understand
That a man hasn't technically flown till he lands
If you're coming in to land and you crash and die
All you really did for sure was get too high"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=26TV...
That a man hasn't technically flown till he lands
If you're coming in to land and you crash and die
All you really did for sure was get too high"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=26TV...
Mission Accomplished (Because You Gotta Have Faith)
YouTube video by Todd Snider - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
"Most men flying seem to understand
That a man hasn't technically flown till he lands
If you're coming in to land and you crash and die
All you really did for sure was get too high"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=26TV...
That a man hasn't technically flown till he lands
If you're coming in to land and you crash and die
All you really did for sure was get too high"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=26TV...
RIP Todd Snider (1966-2025), an alright guy.
Todd Snider, Folk Singer With a Wry Wit, Dies at 59
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:48 PM
RIP Todd Snider (1966-2025), an alright guy.
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Periodic reposting of the secret seal of the American Historical Association.
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
November 10, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Periodic reposting of the secret seal of the American Historical Association.
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Its image: a wet blanket.
One motto: "Historians - we are here to bum you out."
(Grainy because I risked my life to smuggle this out of a secret history ritual.)
Well hot damn, I just found that @leev.bsky.social is on here. Lee, my man! You still interested in doing this? I've got to finish revisions on my book, but then I am totally up. It's only gotten more relevant since we hatched this and @jackiantonovich.bsky.social would read the shit out of it!
I’ve long wanted to write a piece called,“Against STEM.” Liberal arts education includes science, tech, engineering, math. STEM has become a code for excising the humanities and arts, which we need more than ever in algorithmic society.
November 18, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Well hot damn, I just found that @leev.bsky.social is on here. Lee, my man! You still interested in doing this? I've got to finish revisions on my book, but then I am totally up. It's only gotten more relevant since we hatched this and @jackiantonovich.bsky.social would read the shit out of it!
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Lovely review of CRICK by Peter Lawrence - who knew Francis well and took the photograoh below - in @currentbiology.bsky.social. “Scintillating… a biography to savour.”
Francis Crick: A thoughtful biography to savour
“His aim was not just to make discoveries about two of the major riddles of science,
he was also driven (…) to understand our true place in the Universe, shorn of superstition
and religion.”
www.cell.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Lovely review of CRICK by Peter Lawrence - who knew Francis well and took the photograoh below - in @currentbiology.bsky.social. “Scintillating… a biography to savour.”