Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · May 30

One of the reasons I love this piece is that, in clearly showing why the administration’s attacks on medical research funding are so devastating, it also makes one of the clearest cases for why that funding has always mattered. unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking

How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

unbreaking.org

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · May 30

I urge everyone to read Unbreaking’s new page on everything the govt is doing to destroy & diminish medical research funding.

It’s the best thing I’ve read on this topic: @lizneeley.bsky.social & co have such done an incredible job.

unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking

How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

unbreaking.org

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Unbreaking @unbreaking.org · May 30

Hi! We just released three new pages. First up, we break down the devastating defunding of medical research in the US, including grant terminations and delays representing nearly $5B in funding losses, cuts to future funding, and attacks on training programs: unbreaking.org/issues/medic...

Medical Research Funding — Unbreaking

How the administration is breaking the government, and what that means for all of us.

unbreaking.org

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Unbreaking @unbreaking.org · May 19

👋 Hi, we’re Unbreaking, a volunteer-run collective working to document our current moment of institutional collapse and its human costs—as well as the pushback and resilience work already underway. We believe this is critical work for building and retaining political agency.

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · May 19

I can’t recommend this enough.

UNBREAKING, a new project from @lizneeley.bsky.social & co, documents & explains our many concurrent institutional collapses.

It’s beautifully executed work, full of intellectual & moral clarity. 3 pages are live, more will come. It’s SO GOOD, & I learned so much.

Unbreaking @unbreaking.org · May 19

👋 Hi, we’re Unbreaking, a volunteer-run collective working to document our current moment of institutional collapse and its human costs—as well as the pushback and resilience work already underway. We believe this is critical work for building and retaining political agency.

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · May 19

Genuinely delighted that @unbreaking.org is now doing our work in public. I cannot tell you what it means to be a part of it, or how much its already helped me. If my Meeting the Moment newsletter has helped you, Unbreaking is going to bowl you over. So much more ambitious and helpful. Join us!

Unbreaking @unbreaking.org · May 19

👋 Hi, we’re Unbreaking, a volunteer-run collective working to document our current moment of institutional collapse and its human costs—as well as the pushback and resilience work already underway. We believe this is critical work for building and retaining political agency.

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · May 13

AN IMMENSE WORLD: YOUNG READERS EDITION is out today! 🥳

I’m really grateful to AnnMarie Anderson for adapting it, Rebecca Mills for illustrating, Tom Russell for shepherding, and Rose Eveleth for reading the audiobook.

(And it’s dedicated to Typo.)

bookshop.org/p/books/an-i...

An Immense World (Young Readers Edition): How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets

How Animals Sense Earth's Amazing Secrets

bookshop.org

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · May 10

👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

chris xu @chrysaora.bsky.social · May 10

Every week @lizneeley.bsky.social’s newsletter manages to pull coherence & moral clarity out of the wreckage of the news around science and higher ed. This week it feels particularly impressive (and more critical than ever!) to have pulled off.

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Week 16

Figuring out what to focus on now & next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Apr 7

Encouraging news I would've missed if it weren't for Liz's weekly update: "The Rutgers University Senate passed a resolution proposing a Mutual Defense Compact in which members of the Big Ten conference will pool funding and legal, policy, and communications capacity and expertise."

More of this!

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Apr 5

I flew home from #SciTalk25 last night, so this week’s Meeting the Moment debrief was written at altitude, while I watched lightning pulse in thunderclouds.

What’s happening in science & higher ed: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Thread to come after some much needed coffee and hiking.

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Apr 5

I flew home from #SciTalk25 last night, so this week’s Meeting the Moment debrief was written at altitude, while I watched lightning pulse in thunderclouds.

What’s happening in science & higher ed: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Thread to come after some much needed coffee and hiking.

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Mar 29

The latest issue of @lizneeley.bsky.social’s essential weekly newsletter on the continuing attacks on science & higher-ed, and living through these times: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Week 10

Figuring out what to focus on now & what next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Mar 24

I’ve had a several dozen requests to write or be interviewed about the 5th anniversary of Covid and said no to all of them… except this one with @alexis-madrigal.bsky.social. Here’s our chat on the things we’ve memory-holed, and where we go from here.

www.kqed.org/forum/201010...

Ed Yong on the Pandemic’s Legacy on Science Research and Reporting | KQED

As part of our series looking at the legacy of the pandemic five years on, we talk to Ed Yong about how COVID changed our relationship with health news, reporting and research.

www.kqed.org

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Mar 22

Modern science is international. Travel is essential for training & collaboration, but the US is not reliably safe for many of us. We all have ways to confront the threat, even if leadership is failing us.

More on that + Dept of Ed in this week's debrief buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

(1/5)

Week 9

Figuring out what to focus on now & what to focus on next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Mar 1

The World Health Organization calculates that measles vaccinations saved 60 million lives, 2000-2023. On Thursday, CDC scientists were forbidden to co-author papers with WHO colleagues.

Other attacks on science + what to do about them in this week's debrief buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
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Week 6

Figuring out what to focus on now & what to focus on next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 24

Vermilion flycatcher🪶

📷 Alameda Creek

This bird, which is rare for the Bay Area, was spotted in last year's Christmas Bird Count. No one has seen it for 7 weeks, and a lot of folks have looked. And then it just showed up in the same spot 2 days ago.

A little red-orange bird lands on a branch and spreads its wings and tail out

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 23

One last thing I’ll say about this is that judging by people’s messages, the audio version has some stuff not in the edited online transcript, including a discussion of the false tension around empathy in journalism, and a bit about paying attention to sparrows.

Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 22

On the cutting room floor is the bit where the host introduced their interview series, The Interview, and I asked how long it took to come up with the name. Anyway, here’s me talking about birds and science and burnout and moving through the world. The photo’s nice! www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/m...

‘The Interview’: Ed Yong Wants to Show You the Hidden Reality of the World

The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer talks about burnout from covering the pandemic and how bird-watching gave him a new sense of hope.

www.nytimes.com

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 23

This is excellent

Dr. Rebecca Calisi-Rodríguez @rebeccacalisi.bsky.social · Feb 22

I emailed university faculty/staff/administrators a roadmap to support DEI through legal challenges, collective resistance, and institutional protections for faculty. The question isn’t whether institutions will comply—it’s who will fight back, and how! greencarelab.ucdavis.edu/how-universi...

This Is Not a Drill: How Universities Can Save DEI

By now, many of us have read the headlines: the U.S. Department of Education has ruled that race-based scholarships, cultural centers, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs violate...

greencarelab.ucdavis.edu

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Feb 22

Every Friday, I write a debrief about what’s happening in science & higher ed. It goes out late, and is written for all the friends & colleagues I wish I could sit down and talk it through with over drinks.

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Week 5

Figuring out what to focus on now & what to focus on next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 22

On the cutting room floor is the bit where the host introduced their interview series, The Interview, and I asked how long it took to come up with the name. Anyway, here’s me talking about birds and science and burnout and moving through the world. The photo’s nice! www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/m...

‘The Interview’: Ed Yong Wants to Show You the Hidden Reality of the World

The Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer talks about burnout from covering the pandemic and how bird-watching gave him a new sense of hope.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Feb 15

We do this all to stay focused, not flooded. I share the sense we’ve made in a late Friday night debrief.

There is a lot to feel sad & sick about. I can’t tell you things will be okay, but I can tell you A LOT about efforts to make it better.

This was week 4.

buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Week 4

Figuring out what to focus on now & what to focus on next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Feb 15

If you care about science & higher ed in America right now, your world has changed.

We have been forced into a battle we didn’t choose.

Whatever our titles, our jobs now also includes emergency response, psychological first aid, organizing & many other things we weren’t trained in

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Liz Neeley @lizneeley.bsky.social · Feb 8

Well. I have been informed that it is the weekend, again.

When you are ready to sit down together & figure out what just happened and what to do, we’ve got you: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

It’s also okay if you’re coming in hot! “What the actual fuck??” is a sensible start place at the moment.

Week 3

Figuring out what to focus on now & what to focus on next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 8

(and my newsletter, explaining why I’m so proud of Liz. And bird photos buttondown.com/edyong209/ar...)

The Ed's Up - On Doing Something

When the COVID-19 pandemic started, I had reported the topic, knew people to call, had built enough credibility at my workplace to take big swings, and had...

buttondown.com

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Ed Yong @edyong209.bsky.social · Feb 8

Here’s @lizneeley.bsky.social’s latest newsletter, documenting the ongoing attacks on science and higher ed, and figuring out what to focus on: buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

Week 3

Figuring out what to focus on now & what to focus on next in science and higher ed

buttondown.com

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Reposted by Ed Yong

Neil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · Feb 8

1/8. This week I had a few different conversations with scholars who, in the face of the attacks on science and institutions of learning in the U.S., are wondering what to do. One suggestion I have is: keep doing your work. It matters in and of itself. Why do I say that? A few reasons.

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