Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 2d

Just over here updating my slides for a book talk on FIT NATION. Wild in many ways that when I started this research, Michelle Obama felt like the future of fitness policy and culture... here we are

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 3d

Can't wait to talk FIT NATION at Pepperdine! Join us IRL in Malibu on Tuesday for my public talk!

Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 4d

I'm so excited to welcome @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social to campus next week to help launch our new minor!

The lecture is open to the public, so feel free to join if you're in the area! You can buy her book while here, too.

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 7d

I am so excited to be heading to 🌴 Malibu 🌴 next week to spend time with students + faculty @ Pepperdine U and to give a public talk about my book, FIT NATION, as part of the launch of the new Health Humanities minor. If you’re in SoCal, I hope you’ll join us!
library.pepperdine.edu/events/?trum...

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 4d

I remember not too long ago when I’d be annoyed if someone said, “Happy Yom Kippur” or I saw some Passover graphic w a menorah…

Yesterday I got a very earnest “I hope you had a happy YK” from a woman I barely know, and was genuinely touched

Amazing what 2 yrs of resurgent antisemitism will do’

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 4d

I'm so excited to welcome @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social to campus next week to help launch our new minor!

The lecture is open to the public, so feel free to join if you're in the area! You can buy her book while here, too.

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 7d

I am so excited to be heading to 🌴 Malibu 🌴 next week to spend time with students + faculty @ Pepperdine U and to give a public talk about my book, FIT NATION, as part of the launch of the new Health Humanities minor. If you’re in SoCal, I hope you’ll join us!
library.pepperdine.edu/events/?trum...

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 5d

Twisted

Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 5d

It’s cool I’m reading a Reddit forum about the Chicago Marathon and people are asking if they should carry their passports in case ICE tries to detain them during the race

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 5d

I hope you’re ok. I am so scared of exactly this, bc I’m always going up and down the stairs laden with too much. Be careful and feel better!

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 5d

Walmart is so committed to making America healthy they won’t provide health insurance or a living wage to their employees but they will remove some food coloring from some of their products. Mission accomplished!

Marketplace @marketplace.org · 5d

Walmart says it will remove synthetic food dyes and several other additives from all of its store brands by 2027. That includes private labels like Bettergoods and Great Value, the most popular in-store brand in America.

Walmart's removal of synthetic dyes could ripple through the food supply chain

Walmart says 90% of products from in-store brands are already free of these additives. But even a 10% change for a retailer as massive as Walmart can have a big effect on the industry

mktplc.org

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 6d

Heart-breaking to come home from standing-room-only services — which felt like a haven — and read about the brutal Yom Kippur attack in Manchester. Love and safety to all observing today.

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 6d

Thank you so much to @outsidemag.bsky.social for asking me to weigh in on this new study about whether your personality type influences your workouts...

www.outsideonline.com/health/train...

What Your Personality Says About Your Workout Habits

Your workout vibe may be wired in your brain

www.outsideonline.com

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 7d

I am so excited to be heading to 🌴 Malibu 🌴 next week to spend time with students + faculty @ Pepperdine U and to give a public talk about my book, FIT NATION, as part of the launch of the new Health Humanities minor. If you’re in SoCal, I hope you’ll join us!
library.pepperdine.edu/events/?trum...

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Micah @rincewind.run · 7d

there's this assumption by the admin that there is an infinite supply of buff KKK members ready to fill the ranks of the military and ICE and I have bad news for them both about the overall number of KKK members and their general fitness level

Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 8d

Something our glorious Secretary of War does not seem to have considered is that the reason military PT and grooming standards, plus policies for EEO and abuse reporting, are the way they are is because they're necessary for recruitment and retention

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 7d

Such a treat to see my PhD mentor Estelle Freedman tonight! I got to moderate a panel at a screening of her new documentary about folk singer Faith Petric. Check it out! singingforjustice.com

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 8d

People are going to be drawing parallels between this and JFK’s “Soft American” comments on the military

This is much worse, bc it’s all about “the look”… JFK at least had commitment to figurative ideals re intellectual and civic discipline

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 8d

People are going to be drawing parallels between this and JFK’s “Soft American” comments on the military

This is much worse, bc it’s all about “the look”… JFK at least had commitment to figurative ideals re intellectual and civic discipline

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8d

Hegseth: "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 8d

Good piece, bc it argues that the professoriate is more politically diverse than the haters paint us (good!), but that there are very real dynamics in academia that obscure that existing political variety (not good!)

Definitely reflects my experience

www.chronicle.com/article/why-...

Why Aren’t Professors Braver?

Fear and self-censorship in academe.

www.chronicle.com

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 8d

I am by no means doing this parenting in the age of screens thing perfectly, but when I see kids who are not allowed any screens, social media, etc (usually w a smug parent in tow), I think of those kids who were forbidden McD’s growing up and then ate it every meal freshman year

Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 9d

I see a lot of discourse suggesting that kids whose parents restrict screens will never be exposed to internet horrors in childhood and will develop a healthy relationship with technology and I gotta say 1. That doesn’t work and 2. It’s creating yet another impossible and unfair parenting standard

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 9d

Say it often, say it loud:

"Overall, research has not supported the common-sense presumption that digital approaches to schooling are better than non-digital alternatives. At the broadest level, widespread computer use in education has been found to be associated with lower student achievement."

Fit for Purpose? How Today’s Commercial Digital Platforms Subvert Key Goals of Public Education

Digital educational platforms have become ubiquitous in American classrooms, with tools like Google Workspace for Education, Kahoot!, Zearn, Khan Academy, and many others now structuring curriculum, i...

nepc.colorado.edu

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 12d

Thank you to @thenewschool.bsky.social for covering the release of the Jewish American Hidden Voices curriculum!

blogs.newschool.edu/news/2025/09...

History Professor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela and NYCDOE Uncover the Hidden Voices of Jewish American History - The New School News

When the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) approached Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, professor of history, to lead the development of the latest Hidden Voices curriculum guide, Jewish American...

blogs.newschool.edu

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10d

And the admin is likely to try to deport him again once he’s out of the hospital.

digby @digby56.bsky.social · 10d

Nobody cares about the victims in the Dallas ICE shooting apparently. The first I've heard about one of them was on CNN today. He's fighting for his life in the hospital --- he was brought to the US when he was 13. He's 33 now. No criminal record.

I just don't know what to say anymore.

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 11d

Plus, we (or at least) I am not trained to teach literacy! It’s a whole, important field

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 11d

I tack between being very happy at quality “content delivery” in any media form and knowing in a deep way that reading is a special skill that offers a way of knowing that is irreplaceable

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Reposted by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela

Craig Bruce Smith @craigbrucesmith.bsky.social · 11d

Don’t worry, AI will fix it!

Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 11d

I stopped complaining about college students “who won’t read” bc it has seemed clear to me for a while that a significant number actually don’t know how, or at least with any interpretive skill

I’m not sure how we address this in college, but it’s a serious issue!

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/u...

Reading Skills of 12th Graders Hit a New Low

www.nytimes.com

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 11d

Of course. But we can’t just bury our heads and keep assigning the same stuff w same expectations

I do think the K-12 debates on literacy — which are more mainstream than they’ve been in a long time — are shifting things positively

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 11d

I agree! The most chilling part of this is that I have to admit that even for me, whose whole personality has been about reading since like age 4, I read books less than I once did. I may actually read more than ever now, but it’s not as frequently in that long form, deep way

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 11d

I stopped complaining about college students “who won’t read” bc it has seemed clear to me for a while that a significant number actually don’t know how, or at least with any interpretive skill

I’m not sure how we address this in college, but it’s a serious issue!

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/u...

Reading Skills of 12th Graders Hit a New Low

www.nytimes.com

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