Meredith Conroy
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meredithconroy.bsky.social
Meredith Conroy
@meredithconroy.bsky.social
5.2K followers 630 following 1.3K posts
Political Scientist at CSUSB studying gender and media, 538 contributor (RIP), & I lead research @ the Geena Davis Institute. Fan of elections & multiracial pluralistic democracy. Idahoan. Subscribe to Gender Gap: https://meredithconroy.substack.com
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meredithconroy.bsky.social
This from @pbump.com is very clarifying on the role of conspiracy in supplying a shared “reality” and what it means for our current political moment.

www.ms.now/opinion/inte...
For generations in American society, ignorance was seen as a drawback and conspiracy theories were relegated to the fringes. In recent decades, however, those who rejected or were inconvenienced by that shared reality have banded together, building a new shared understanding of the world. In that alternate universe, ignorance and rejection of reality serve as validators, indicators of trust. Those within that circle of trust are granted wide latitude to do what they want.
January 6, 2026 at 5:04 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Bowser the cat got a new hair cut. HNY!
White cat in a bow tie
December 31, 2025 at 11:43 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Unsurprisingly, the New York Post is all in on the MN daycare conspiracy.
screenshot of the New York Post homepage as of 12/31. headline is "WHODUNNIT" and features image of MN daycare manager ("Somali-run) and subhed noting "A rep is claiming somebody broke in and vandalized the center as the national spotlight has been shined on an unfolding billion-dollar fraud scandal involving Minnesota human services."
December 31, 2025 at 8:12 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Now on my substack, Gender Gap: 5 notable gaps discussed in 2025.

1. leaving the U.S.
2. marriage aspirations
3. social media use
4. loneliness
5. college plans

I picked these bc they signal how men/women structure their social lives and are imagining their futures.

substack.com/home/post/p-...
Line chart showing the share of men/women ages 18-40 who want to leave the US permanently from 2008 to 2025. In 2025, 40% of women, and 19% of men, in this age cohort say they want to leave. Line chart from 1993 to 2023 showing the share of 12th grader boys and girls who want to get married. In 2023, there is a 23 point gap, with girls less likely to want to get married. Bar chart showing share of men/women who interact with their friends on social media, and how often. 30% of men say "never" compared to 18% of women. Horizontal bar chart showing share of teen girls and teen boys who plan to go to college. 60% of girls but 46% of boys say they plan to go to college.
December 23, 2025 at 4:08 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Everything REALLY is YouTube. Brought to you by Bank of America.
Advert for a CBS x free press debate brought to you by Bank of America, called “has feminism failed women? Liz Plank vs Allie Beth Stuckey”
December 19, 2025 at 5:14 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Wow, they are even gamifying this with a leaderboard. Congratulations to Bezos, whose capitulation clearly worked.
November 29, 2025 at 10:19 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 6:59 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
I’m from Meridian Idaho and this article is spot on. What’s happening in Idaho shouldn’t be ignored if you want to understand it the new Republican Party, even though it’s a small state.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Idaho is a case study in geographic self-sorting, a trend across the country. In this land of sagebrush and self-reliance, that means a state that was already solidly red is becoming a magnet for fans of President Trump’s political movement and a laboratory for his policies. “I hear people moving here talking about themselves as ‘political refugees,’” especially people from Democratic states on the Pacific Coast, said Jason Monks, the Idaho House majority leader and a Republican from Meridian, Idaho.
November 11, 2025 at 8:05 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
VP Kamala Harris at A Day of Unreasonable Conversations focusing on the epidemic of institutional distrust.
Picture of Kamala Harris and Neephesa Collier on a stage at A Day of Unreasonable Conversations
October 7, 2025 at 12:41 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Short panel on media distrust (and crisis of credibility) at A Day of Unreasonable Conversations and love that Hasan Piker streaming currently lol.

@sarahlongwell25.bsky.social is here too and sharp as hell.
October 6, 2025 at 10:13 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
If you want to read more, the best thing I ever wrote for 538 about GOP distrust in media as a social identity: fivethirtyeight.com/features/why...
Line chart from 2000 to 2020, showing D, R, I trust in media. Tanked among R, surged among Ds during Trump's first term.
October 4, 2025 at 6:47 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Doing some course prep, and needed to pull something from the White House...

Nice lil chyron they got there.
October 2, 2025 at 3:51 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Tweet from dril in 2012: “This Whole Thing Smacks Of Gender” i holler as i overturn my uncle’s barbecue grill and turn the 4th of July into the 4th of Shit
September 30, 2025 at 10:14 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Was about to eat a string cheese and then remembered this tweet I saw shared on Instagram. Stopped me dead in my tracks
Tweet by @wormpuller: white people be eating cheese right before bed
September 5, 2025 at 4:03 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
www.boisestatepublicradio.org/health/2025-...
Idaho OBGYN exodus continues: state lost 35% of obstetricians since abortion ban The exodus of Idaho obstetricians continues: a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows Idaho has lost a little more than a third of its OBGYNs since the repeal of Roe V. Wade in 2022. Before Idaho banned almost all abortions in August 2022, there were 268 OBGYNs in the state. Today, there are 174 obstetricians serving the state’s roughly one million women, 600,000 of whom are of reproductive age. The 35% decline is in line with falling numbers captured last year.
August 7, 2025 at 5:20 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Last night I attended the live taping of the Las Culturistas awards show in LA. It was a delight. Hate to be earnest online (ha) but it was a lovely homage to creativity, comedy, and the arts. These sketch ideas were amazing. It will air on Bravo 8/5, and be available on Peacock, next day. Watch!
picture of Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers on a stage, at the taping of the Las Culturistas Awards.
July 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
What a shit show of a day. Here is my cat Bowser after his haircut today.
Dapper white cat with a lion haircut on a pet-grooming station.
July 8, 2025 at 1:27 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
LMAOOooo that they still get the senate tho, because even the dumbest guy knows that shit is forever entrenched in minority rule.
Elon saying Trump would’ve lost the White House and house (but not senate) without him.
June 5, 2025 at 11:38 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
For holiday cards this year I made physical stickers. It was like 3 bucks a sticker. No regrets.
Mad kitty sticker.
June 4, 2025 at 2:35 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Take Trump’s executive orders on immigration. Michele Waslin, the program coordinator at George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research who has studied Trump’s executive actions on immigration, notes a pretty big cultural shift during Trump’s term, which makes dismantling his orders especially difficult. “Under the Trump administration, everything was set up to restrict immigration, to see immigrants as a problem, to see them as a threat,” she said. This had an effect even on legal immigration. Waslin described it as a “slow-walking” effect, meaning that Trump’s executive orders treating illegal migration as a threat likely spilled over to how legal migration was handled, too. “You can significantly slow legal migration to the United States by personnel practices and the guidance that they are given,” Waslin said.
June 3, 2025 at 9:57 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
@rudalev.bsky.social explained:
So, by the time a revocation comes along, that “doesn’t just automatically flip the switch,” says Rudalevige. These orders are usually legally and politically sound. Plus, “agencies get moving in a certain direction,” Rudalevige told me. Once an agency moves in that direction — updating standard operating procedures and perhaps even agency culture — it can be difficult to reverse course.
June 3, 2025 at 9:55 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Oh E! News, you hate to see it. (For my journalist friends).
Text article saying TKTK, which is journalism speak for details to be added before publication Headline for an article about Miley Cyrus debunking a new song from E news
May 4, 2025 at 8:25 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Social media influencers run on distrust in institutions. It’s their main source of fuel. www.npr.org/sections/pla...
This whole saga shines a spotlight on the rising levels of distrust in American institutions. In 2025, no organization is above suspicion, even the Girl Scouts.
April 10, 2025 at 4:24 PM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
Bowser bunny (cat) 🐯
White cat sleeping in white cat bed with orange bottom
March 28, 2025 at 2:38 AM
meredithconroy.bsky.social
As a social scientist, I couldn't help but be intrigued by what the Signal chat revealed about these people and their relationships to each other. Read this full story from @moiradonegan.bsky.social for this, and more!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The content of the chats themselves is grim, too, providing an insight into the petty and eager social dynamics within Trump’s inner circle and the administration’s principle-thin commitment to any understanding of policy. Vance pipes up to suggest delaying the strike; he claims to be worried about public opinion on the issue, and complains that an attack on the Houthis would provide economic benefits to Europe, who he wants to punish for some reason. He does not seem to feel he has enough clout to actually oppose the strike, however, undermining his own complaints with caveats that he will defer to others.
March 27, 2025 at 5:54 PM