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Stephan Lewandowsky

@lewan.bsky.social

19K followers 1.8K following 4.6K posts

Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Bristol. Homepage: https://www.lewan.uk

Stephan Lewandowsky is an Australian psychologist. He has worked in both the United States and Australia, and is currently based at the University of Bristol, UK, where he is the chair of cognitive psychology at the School of Psychological Science. His research, which originally pertained to computer simulations of people's decision-making processes, recently has focused on the public's understanding of science and why people often embrace beliefs that are sharply at odds with scientific evidence. .. more

Neuroscience 23%

Sociology 19%

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 23h

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The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

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UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Juliet Lodge

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

“America’s senior military officers, including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, must approach Trump now and make clear to him that they will not obey illegal orders to act against American citizens or disrupt the American political process.”

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

The Civil-Military Crisis Is Here

The leaders of the U.S. military may soon face a terrible decision.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, American Library Association, Alan Richardson , and 4 more Stephan Lewandowsky, American Library Association, Alan Richardson, Stephen D. Murphy, Alessandro Rigolon, James Connelly, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Thomas M. Keck @tmksyracuse.bsky.social · 1d

Weber State administrators told student they couldn't present their research on the state's anti-DEI law at an on-campus conference on censorship(!) unless they removed all mentions of DEI from their slides

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Weber State Censors, Then Cancels, Censorship Conference

University officials said that several planned presentations violated a Utah state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion at public universities.

www.insidehighered.com

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 2d

very good analysis of the U.S. blueprint to turn Europe into a nationalist theocracy:

Trump’s State Department Wants to Use Tech Policy to Remake Europe In Its Image | TechPolicy.Press

Tech policy is a key part of the Trump administration's dramatic project to replace the US's traditional European alliances, Dean Jackson writes.

www.techpolicy.press

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Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Norbert Schwarz , and 10 more Joanna Bryson, Anna O. Law, Norbert Schwarz, Stephan Lewandowsky, Patrick Dunleavy, Rosemary A. Joyce, Laurent Pech, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Dean Eckles, Judith Beyer, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 2d

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall , and 7 more Stephan Lewandowsky, Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall, Alison Phipps, Graham Dutfield, Mark Robinson, Stuart White, Vaughan S. Roberts, Christina Pagel, Alexander Woywodt

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d

The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Kimberly Nicholas @kimberlynicholas.bsky.social · 3d

This month's Facts in my climate action newsletter focuses on the excellent study by @cabels18.bsky.social, @kiiahuttunen.bsky.social, Ralph Hertwig & @lewan.bsky.social. I really appreciated their excellent analysis, please check out my summary here: wecanfixit.substack.com/i/174419696/...

Democracy is worth fighting for. Here's how

Facts: Fight democratic backsliding ⚖️| Feelings: Unthinkable Resource Hub🫶| Action: Protect democracy🗳️

wecanfixit.substack.com

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 5d

Precisely. It seems to be a model not a deterrent.

Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 5d

We see Fascism in the U.S., and we like it!

George Mann @sgfmann.bsky.social · 5d

Sunday Express: Tory ‘ICE' force would deport 150,000 a year #TomorrowsPapersToday

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Philipp Markolin, PhD @philippmarkolin.bsky.social · 5d

"If we Europeans do not wake up and say, ‘We want to take back control of our democracies,’ I can tell you this: within 10 years [...] we will be a continent, like many others, of conspiracy theorists, extremists, noise and fury."

defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy

“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.

defenddemocracy.eu

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 5d

We see Fascism in the U.S., and we like it!

George Mann @sgfmann.bsky.social · 5d

Sunday Express: Tory ‘ICE' force would deport 150,000 a year #TomorrowsPapersToday

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Leibniz-Lab Pandemic Preparedness @leibnizpandemic.bsky.social · 8d

Beim Summer Lecture zitiert @lewan.bsky.social eine 🇺🇲Umfrage. 85% aller Teilnehmern wissen nichts über Impfstoffe. Aber fast die Hälfte derer, die sich als „Impfstoffexperten“ bezeichnen teilen Fehlinformation. Die, die angeben am meisten zu Wissen, wissen am wenigsten. Bei Desinformation typisch.

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Scott L. Greer

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 8d

📢 I've decided to do regular 2-3 mins video updates of latest authoritarian antics of Trump administration on YouTube & TikTok.

Have been inspired by reading how many people get their news there and how dominated it is by the right.
www.tiktok.com/@profchristi...

www.youtube.com/@ProfChristi...

Professor Christina Pagel

I'm Professor Christina Pagel at University College London. My research is in health systems. I'm passionate about science, public health, supporting diversity in the sciences, and protecting liberal ...

www.youtube.com

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 8d

Ah ok. So inciting violence and supporting fascism (and interfering in European elections), in addition to engaging in unethical research, are personal opinions that FRSs are free to engage in. Did I get that right? @deevybee.bsky.social

Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 8d

Interesting. I am not holding my breath. But yes, it will say a *lot* about the Society if they do not expel him now. @deevybee.bsky.social

Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 8d

The Royal Society is meeting today to determine what action to take on Elon Musk's continued membership.
What they decide will say a great deal about what the society stands for and whether it is able to meet the needs of the modern scientific community.

Royal Society to consider expelling Musk after rally speech - Research Professional News

“Language of violence” in address to anti-immigration march pushes science academy to reassess billionaire’s fellowship

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Nina Jankowicz

Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 8d

The amazing @ninajankowicz.com does a deep dive into the machinations of the Jim Jordan reality-inversion machine which recently claimed that Tech Giants were pressured by Biden admin into "censorship." They weren't. And they said so in front of Jordan's committee:

Jim Jordan Claims Google Censored Conservatives. His Own Committee’s Work Shows Otherwise.

Google execs’ interviews before the House Judiciary Committee show no evidence of “censorship” or government coercion - so who’s lying?

wiczipedia.substack.com

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 8d

Royal Society to consider expelling Musk after rally speech - Research Professional News

“Language of violence” in address to anti-immigration march pushes science academy to reassess billionaire’s fellowship

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Sarah J. Schoppe‐Sullivan

Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 9d

Terrific sleuthing and deep background research by @alex23.bsky.social into the horrors of "research" on autism conducted by none other than the person RFK Jr put in charge of ... you guessed it, the (non-existent) link between autism and vaccines:

From Willowbrook to the Geiers: Families Speak Out

“Once, I went down to the Geiers’ basement to use the bathroom. I saw several ladies packaging drug bottles into boxes. And in the bathroom I saw what appeared to be equipment from a chemistry lab.”

www.etpnews.com

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Reposted by Ruha Benjamin, Marc Lynch, Jan W. Mueller , and 9 more Ruha Benjamin, Marc Lynch, Jan W. Mueller, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit, Stephan Lewandowsky, Michael A. Clemens, Berk Özler, James Goodwin, Eric J. Segall, Manisha Sinha, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 9d

Young’s opinion, which rules that the Trump admin illegally targeted pro-Palestinian students for deportation, is absolutely scathing.

“In all our history we have never tolerated an armed masked secret police…ICE brings indelible obloquy to this administration and everyone who works in it.”

And there's the issue of masks. This Court has listened
carefully to the reasons given by Öztürk's captors for masking-
up and has heard the same reasons advanced by the defendant Todd
Lyons, Acting Director of ICE. It rejects this testimony as
disingenuous, squalid and dishonorable. ICE goes masked for a
single reason -- to terrorize Americans into quiescence. Small
wonder ICE often seems to need our respected military to guard
them
as they go about implementing our immigration laws. It
should be noted that our troops do not ordinarily wear masks.
Can you imagine a masked marine? It is a matter of honor -- and
honor still matters.
To us, masks are associated with cowardly
desperados and the despised Ku Klux Klan. In all our history we
have never tolerated an armed masked secret police.
Carrying on
in this fashion, ICE brings indelible obloquy to this
administration and everyone who works in it
"We can not escape
history," Lincoln righty said. "[It] will light us down in
honor or dishonor, to the latest generation." Abraham Lincoln,
Second Annual Message to Congress (Dec. 1, 1862) .
Perhaps we're now afraid to stick our necks out. If the
distinguished Homeland Security intelligence agency can be
weaponized to squelch the free speech rights of a small, hapless
group of non-citizens in our midst, so too can the Federal Home
Loan Mortgage Corporation, and the audit divisions of the I.R.s.
and the Social Security Administration be unconstitutionally
[98]

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 9d

Couldn't be clearer now I suppose. And yet, some "serious" pundits who are "nuanced" will find a way to turn the obvious into a complicated unanswerable question.

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 9d

An unprecedented violation of our civic and Constitutional traditions. Calling every military leader in the world back to the U.S. to hear a wildly inappropriate partisan campaign speech followed by a fascist call to use the military against Americans.

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Halley E. Froehlich

Naomi Oreskes @naomioreskes.bsky.social · 9d

Thought provoking piece by my colleague #Charlie Tyson
www.chronicle.com/article/can-...

Can Academic Freedom Survive the Surveillance State?

Two weeks in a Boston courtroom underscore the perils of intellectual life in America.

www.chronicle.com

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Staffan I. Lindberg, Will Jennings , and 10 more Stephan Lewandowsky, Staffan I. Lindberg, Will Jennings, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Steve Peers, Tim Bale, Sanford F. Schram, David R. Miller, Mary L. Dudziak, Mark Rice, Greg Linden, Christina Pagel, David Darmofal

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 9d

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10d

Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"

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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 11d

What has Yvette Cooper’s proscription of Palestine Action done to this country?

Beyond absurd. It’s extreme authoritarianism. These police should be arresting rapists & crooks, not neglecting those duties to spend time arresting citizens standing against genocide.

It undermines police and the law.

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 11d

Dear Trump,
You know that eventually, inevitably, you'll have to fire RFK Jr.
The longer you wait, the more his unmitigated health disasters redound back upon you, further tarnishing your already sad legacy.

www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

More kids are severely ill or dying from the flu, CDC reports

As fewer children get their flu shots, cases of a rare, severe complication are rising. Last season, the U.S. experienced the highest number of pediatric flu deaths in 15 years.

www.nbcnews.com

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JazzReads📚 @jazzreads.bsky.social · 11d

So exhausting..

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 11d

Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall

Forget the US president’s seeming volte-face on Ukraine this week: he and Putin fundamentally agree that European liberal democracy is the problem, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisd...

www.theguardian.com

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 11d

Word of caution: anyone who calls those thugs "fascists" is guilty of inciting violence. (If you need a dictionary to comprehend this, try Enid Blyton's Topsy-Turvy World. You can find it at the top of the Magic Faraway Tree.)

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 12d

This sounded so incredible, even today, so I didn't want to believe it. But it checks out: www.reuters.com/business/med...

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Stephan Lewandowsky @lewan.bsky.social · 12d

Parts of the US are now officially living under occupation by hostile armed forces. Too bad it's the U.S. army.

Trump orders deployment of troops to Portland and authorises 'full force'

The president says the latest move to send troops to a major US city is "necessary" to protect immigration detention facilities.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky

Ira Hyman @irahyman.bsky.social · 12d

If you haven’t already seen the anti-autocracy guide for academics, I recommend it to you.

Good for context and advice.

And if you’re looking for people to participate in such a discussion, maybe check with @lewan.bsky.social or @ninajankowicz.com. Good, smart people.

zenodo.org/records/1569...

The Anti-Autocracy Handbook: A Scholars' Guide to Navigating Democratic Backsliding

The Anti-Autocracy Handbook is a call to action, resilience, and collective defence of democracy, truth, and academic freedom in the face of mounting authoritarianism. It tries to provide guidance to ...

zenodo.org

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