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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 9h

Oh Phil I’m so sorry for your loss

Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

Louie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 9h

One of the things about this study is that a lot of baby and toddler books are written in house, by editors. So the study reveals the whiteness of editorial in kidlit even if not explicitly. But, big picture, this trend is unacceptable. I remember so many promises www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

‘Catastrophic decline’ in Black representation in children’s books

A report by charity Inclusive Books for Children found that of the 2,721 books surveyed, only 51 featured a Black main character, down by 21.5% since 2023

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 9h

Be bald, live underground, last forever

Roger Highfield @rogerhighfield.bsky.social · 9h

Naked mole rats' DNA could hold key to long life, reports @bbcvic.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 9h

Such a shame, but I guess it takes that external perspective sometime. Have you pursued any kind of honorary research fellow or associateship? I’ve got one, solved the access problem

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 9h

Aaaand my kids are both sick and there’s a confirmed case of hand foot and mouth at nursery, wheeeee

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 18h

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 21h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

Jacob Harris @jacobharr.is · 17h

It feels like the necessary first step to a nation finally saying “what the fuck are you talking about?” whenever presented with this hyperbolic danger language

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 18h

This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 21h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

Anica Mrose Rissi @anicarissi.bsky.social · 18h

Yes, this matters even in states like mine where there's a statewide Freedom to Read Act or similar. School board members who insist on "oversight" of what books educators put in school/class libraries & who champion "parental rights to protect their children's innocence" can still do serious damage

Anica Mrose Rissi @anicarissi.bsky.social · 23h

How to celebrate Banned Books Week: Read up on your local candidates for school board (and learn how to read between the lines--scarier candidates in my district basically speak in code); vote for the ones who will protect the freedom to read; encourage your friends & neighbors to do the same.

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

my eldest also appears to be sick so I guess all my scheduled work plans tomorrow are out of the window in favour of movies and snacks

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

I need to go to bed so I can get up at 630 to do the work I couldn’t do tonight because I acquiesced to the youngest’s need to nurse to sleep, fell asleep myself, then found a whole pile of good but overdue and urgent work that meant I didn’t do the overdue and urgent work I meant to

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

Archane @archane.bsky.social · 18h

I can't believe this needs saying

Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 22h

Circumcision does not cause autism. RFK Jr. does not know (and does not want to know) how to evaluate public health and medical literature.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS9D...

SHOCK CLAIM: RFK Jr. Says Children Circumcised Early Have Twice The Autism Rate Due To Tylenol Use

YouTube video by Forbes Breaking News

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

con questi nuovi ritmi americani (she/her) 🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸🏳 @racheledini.bsky.social · 18h

Instead of appreciating that new knowledge and considering what we might learn from having a better understanding of neurodivergence and what it might add to our understanding of the social, we’re… looking to expunge it? Eugenics 101 right here.

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

con questi nuovi ritmi americani (she/her) 🏳️‍⚧️🇵🇸🏳 @racheledini.bsky.social · 18h

And also: consider that until recently most high-functioning autistic people (I don’t like the term but am using for shorthand) were undiagnosed & didn’t know they had it. This is simply fear of a thing that was always there but is now more visible bc we have better diagnostic tools&more awareness—>

Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 21h

I don’t exactly how to phrase this, but like… is autism that bad???? Like, why is it such a source of fear??? Of course there are challenges but you can be autistic and have a rich, fulfilling life! Many people do! I don’t understand the preoccupation.

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

assholes, we’re not broken we’re just elite tier but also mysterious

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

Anyway my pet theory is that people fixate on autism because we’re fucking amazing and that intimidates most neurotypical people and institutions because they get leery about how we can be both “weird” AND brilliant and don’t like it

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

picture me, AuDHD and there to visit family but also to give a paper at U of T about philosophy, ignorance and disability, walking around twitching slightly and grimacing under these innocuously fucking violent banners that were obviously a core part of the university marcomms that year

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

This isn’t to say the RFK debacle isn’t something new or distinctive for reasons other than its insistence that autism is bad, preventable, blameworthy and curable; but it is to say that there’s a lot of social investment in the idea that autism requires a cure predates this, & lives elsewhere

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

I am finding this whole thread fascinating but I find this point particularly interesting

A small story: about 5 years ago I was in Toronto near U of T and every road had lamppost banners touting the research agenda.

What stood out? The ones claiming to seek a cure for autism. Just yknow, there.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 20h

They want to create the (false) perception that autism is preventable and curable, because that allows them to: 1) cut accommodations, services, and support for autistic kids and their families, and 2) blame mothers for autism in ways that make (1) seem justified.

bsky.app/profile/jess...

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 17d

Whether they're blaming vaccines and Tylenol, or selling dubious "remedies," what they're really doing is promoting the perception that families (and especially mothers) can prevent and treat Autism. And thus also the perception that people with Autism and their families don't need social support.

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

Ah well

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Reposted by Dr Zara Bain

Luke Steuber @lukesteuber.com · 18h

What a shitty thing to have to worry about

Norway braces for Trump’s reaction if he does not win Nobel peace prize

US president may impose tariffs, demand higher Nato contributions or even declare Norway an enemy, analyst says

www.theguardian.com

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

I realise it is Bad Form to be quite so ambivalent about getting a job in philosophy but philosophy is pretty ambivalent about me so I think it’s only fair, really (even if my external and internal examiners sang my praises from the rafters and dragged my dept and supervisors for not doing better)

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

sidenote that I am in fact very open to post docs, jobs, ad hoc teaching, coauthored projects on and around epistemologies of ignorance, epistemic oppression and injustice, Charles W Mills, critical philosophy of race and of disability, social epistemology and social and political philosophy

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

And then things got busy with @aat-transcribes.bsky.social, I got burned out, and have I either set up a personal professional website or made much progress turning my phd chapters into articles for publication? I have not

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

Feels like a fever dream that I was regularly up til 2am finishing up job applications for 25+ jobs with a two year old and a 6-10 month old for a while last year, and it got me all of one interview not even in my discipline let alone subfield

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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 18h

the whole of the US job market being foreclosed to me because of the politics despite being until that point the most likely place I’d land work as a specialist on Mills, social epistemology and political philosophy, really put a damper on the whole job hunt

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