Nancy Kanwisher
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Nancy Kanwisher
@nancykanwisher.bsky.social
3K followers 450 following 460 posts

Scientist, mentor, activist, explorer.

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Nancy Gail Kanwisher FBA is the Walter A Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a researcher at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. She studies the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying human visual perception and cognition. .. more

Neuroscience 75%
Computer science 12%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 1d
Extraordinary segment in that a consistently pro-Israel broadcaster deeply questions not only support for Israel on the right, but also whether views she has long held have been “spoon fed” to her over the years, including her negative views of Islam.

youtube.com/watch?v=xIAS...
Megyn Kelly Questions the Israel Narrative That Was Spoon-Fed to Her
YouTube video by Tucker Carlson Network
youtube.com

Reposted by Jennifer Bussell, Nancy Kanwisher, Michael A. Clemens , and 2 more

jenna-m-norton.bsky.social
Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 7d
The district court injunction that prevented NIH from capping indirects at 15% was upheld today on appeal!

www.reuters.com/world/trump-...
Trump administration cannot slash NIH research funding, court rules
District Judge Angel Kelley last year blocked the cuts, and on Monday the appeals court agreed.
www.reuters.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

sifill.bsky.social
Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 7d
Let me be very clear: tomorrow morning and EVERY DAY THIS WEEK, call your Reps and Senators whether Dem, Republican or Independent. Express your outrage at Trump’s imperial and illegal actions against sovereign nations. TELL THEM to convene. To hold up everything. Hold up $.

202-224-3121
Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 11d
New year's day celebration in Woods Hole:
About 50 people and many dogs meet in the middle of town and walk around Eel Pond in the snow and wind making a variety of noises (e.g. blowing on a long brass horn). A toast is made, sparkling cider is served, and a cannon is fired.
I love my home town.
Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 11d
Happy New Year from Sippewissett!
May we begin this year to slow and reverse the devastation wrought in 2025.
Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 12d
Devastating:

Reposted by Jennifer Bussell, Nancy Kanwisher, Joe R. Feagin , and 11 more

maddow.bsky.social
Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 12d
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/c...

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Nancy Kanwisher

dropsitenews.com
Drop Site @dropsitenews.com · 15d
Meta, parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has introduced a new feature that lets you take control of your algorithm by suggesting topics you want to see more posts about. Look what happens when journalist @AymanM (X) tries adding ‘Gaza’ and ‘Palestine’ to his algo. 👇
Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 15d
An extra benefit of a wealth tax!:
"Billionaires including Peter Thiel and Larry Page are considering cutting or reducing their ties to California by the end of the year because of a proposed ballot measure that could tax the state’s wealthiest residents"
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/t...
A Wealth Tax Floated in California Has Billionaires Thinking of Leaving
www.nytimes.com

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 17d
Thank you @michellegoldberg.bsky.social for this encouraging piece.
Let's fight harder everyone in 2026 and get rid of this menace!
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Getting Weaker, and the Resistance Is Getting Stronger
www.nytimes.com

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 18d
Merry Christmas @bjbalas.bsky.social !
I think we have one in the pantry :-) I'll get it out for tonight!
bjbalas.bsky.social Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 18d
I didn't grow up with these as a holiday tradition, but I now think of @nancykanwisher.bsky.social every year when we get them from our stockings. The 1st time I got one I was gently tapping it on the table to no avail & Nancy showed me the proper technique of whacking the hell out of it. 🎄🍊🔨

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

bjbalas.bsky.social
Ben Balas @bjbalas.bsky.social · 18d
I didn't grow up with these as a holiday tradition, but I now think of @nancykanwisher.bsky.social every year when we get them from our stockings. The 1st time I got one I was gently tapping it on the table to no avail & Nancy showed me the proper technique of whacking the hell out of it. 🎄🍊🔨

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

mondoweiss.net
Mondoweiss @mondoweiss.net · 18d
Palestinian Christians in Gaza are celebrating another year of surviving genocide, while Palestinians in the birthplace of Jesus are under brutal Israeli military occupation. Israel has bombed, demolished, crushed and killed hundereds of thousands of Palestinians in the Holy Land.

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Martín Haspelmath

languagemit.bsky.social @languagemit.bsky.social · 19d
New book! I have written a book, called Syntax: A cognitive approach, published by MIT Press.

This is open access; MIT Press will post a link soon, but until then, the book is available on my website:
tedlab.mit.edu/tedlab_websi...
tedlab.mit.edu

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Marc Lynch, Nancy Kanwisher

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 22d
Doctors Without Borders urges Israel to let critical aid into Gaza as children freeze to death. "At least 13 people, including two-week-old and one-month-old babies, have died from winter weather and a lack of adequate shelter and aid – blocked by Israel"
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
MSF urges Israel to let critical aid into Gaza as children freeze to death
At least 13 people in Gaza, including two-week-old and one-month-old babies, have died from winter weather.
www.aljazeera.com

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 22d
This is an unacceptable way to treat the brilliant international scientists who run American science!
crampell.bsky.social Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 22d
Skilled-worker visa holders who traveled back to India this month to renew their US work permits are now stranded far from home after their appointments were abruptly canceled by U.S. consular offices and rescheduled for months later.
H-1B workers flew to India to renew U.S. visas. Now they’re stuck.
H-1B holders who returned to India this month to renew their visas had consular appointments canceled, stranding them far from their homes and jobs, lawyers said.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller , and 5 more

crampell.bsky.social
Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 22d
Skilled-worker visa holders who traveled back to India this month to renew their US work permits are now stranded far from home after their appointments were abruptly canceled by U.S. consular offices and rescheduled for months later.
H-1B workers flew to India to renew U.S. visas. Now they’re stuck.
H-1B holders who returned to India this month to renew their visas had consular appointments canceled, stranding them far from their homes and jobs, lawyers said.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 22d
Two thirds or more of both Republicans and Democrats say that the label "antisemitism" is used frequently/sometimes to delegitimize critics of Israel and political opponents:
sadat.umd.edu/sites/sadat....

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

hannahnatanson.bsky.social
Hannah Natanson @hannahnatanson.bsky.social · 22d
This account of how the Trump admin carried out a once-unthinkable overhaul of government in 2025 is based on a year’s worth of messages and interviews with more than 1,200 current and former federal workers. Please read from me and @merylkornfield.bsky.social. wapo.st/4b14KAy
The year Trump broke the federal government
How DOGE and the White House carried out a once-unthinkable transformation of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.
wapo.st

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 23d
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem reports 90% of Gazans lost their homes since October 2023, with the average resident displaced six times.
www.haaretz.com/gaza/2025-12...
Average Palestinian in Gaza displaced six times during war, Israeli rights group finds
B'Tselem Reports 90% of Gazans Lost Their Homes Since October 2023, With the Average Resident Displaced Six Times. Evacuations Often Gave Minutes' Notice, Forcing Families Into Tents, Shelters, and Da...
www.haaretz.com

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

stephenwalt.bsky.social
Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 24d
Looking forward to reading the NYTimes public editor’s reaction to David Brooks’ failure to disclose his connection to Jeffrey Epstein when he wrote a column saying the case was unimportant. Oh wait: they don’t have a public editor anymore. Never mind.

Reposted by Elizabeth Sharrow, Nancy Kanwisher

indivisible.org
Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 25d
Minnesota’s Indivisible Two Harbors is so committed to fighting for our democracy that they rally every Saturday morning — even when it’s dangerously cold outside: “Dress warm and join us!"

Find your local organizers: indivisible.org/groups
A photo of Indivisible Two Harbors (dressed warm) standing along a street with signs that read “DEMOCRACY NOT MONARCHY” and “PEACE/NO WAR.” Text over the photo says “DECEMBER 13, 2025/-8°F.”

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 25d
Important caveat on simplistic one-gene alterations as explanations for the mergence of human cognition.
profsimonfisher.bsky.social Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 25d
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
www.science.org

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Nancy Kanwisher, Nicholas A. Christakis

profsimonfisher.bsky.social
Simon Fisher @profsimonfisher.bsky.social · 25d
While stories of singular DNA changes that drove evolution of human brain/behaviour remain seductive, advances across multiple fields of biology cast doubt on such simplistic narratives of our origins. A new paper from my lab shows how biobanks may speak to this fundamental question.🧪
Explainer🧵👇1/n
Evaluating the effects of archaic protein-altering variants in living human adults
Promise and pitfalls of using large biobanks to study impacts of archaic protein-coding variants in living humans.
www.science.org

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Hisham Zerriffi

jvp.bsky.social
Jewish Voice for Peace @jvp.bsky.social · 29d
We grieve the loss of life in Sydney, Australia, where gunmen attacked a celebration of the first night of Hanukkah, killing at least 11 people. This was a terrifying incident of hate-fueled violence that no community should face.
Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 29d
A magical first snow of the year in Sippewissett.

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

mondoweiss.net
Mondoweiss @mondoweiss.net · 29d
READ: Dr. Nahla Al-Sarraj gained hundreds of thousands of social media followers by discussing the Gaza genocide. She was fired after a pressure campaign from Israel lobby groups that she believes aimed to silence her. Despite this, she remains unbowed.
mondoweiss.net/2025/12/pro-...
Pro-Palestinian influencer Dr. Nahla Al-Sarraj fired following Zionist smear campaign
Dr. Nahla Al-Sarraj gained hundreds of thousands of social media followers by discussing the Gaza genocide. She was fired after a pressure campaign from Israel lobby groups that she believes aimed to…
mondoweiss.net

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · Dec 13
Always worth listening to the great moral giant of our time Ta-Nahisi Coates:
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Dec 13
“Tell your children who the cowards were.”

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Kevin Carey, David G. Stewart , and 3 more

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Dec 13
“Tell your children who the cowards were.”
Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · Dec 12
Yup I realized that when one of his New Yorker articles discussed his great idea that the brain might have a special region for face recognition, all presented as his idea long after this had been widely published.
melaniemitchell.bsky.social Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · Dec 12
Incredible piece on Oliver Sacks. If you were ever awed at his supposedly true stories (I remember being stunned by the account of the autistic twins who rattled off large prime numbers), read this. He told wonderful stories, but they were in large part fiction.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
Oliver Sacks Put Himself Into His Case Studies. What Was the Cost?
The scientist was famous for linking healing with storytelling. Sometimes that meant reshaping patients’ reality.
www.newyorker.com