Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Robert Brehm @robertbrehm.bsky.social · 3d

Demercado drops the ball ahead of the goal line. Make it make sense @sammonson.com

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Physicians for a Healthy Democracy @physiciandemocracy.medsky.social · 17d

publichealth.jhu.edu/ivac/resourc...

Cumulative measles cases reported in the U.S. in 2025

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Scott L Greer @scottlgreer.bsky.social · 19d

“52% of all autocratization episodes become U-Turns, which increases to 73% when focusing on the last 30 years. The vast majority of U-Turns (90%) lead to restored or even improved levels of democracy”

V-Dem data

When autocratization is reversed: episodes of U-Turns since 1900

The world is in a “wave of autocratization.” Yet, recent events in Brazil, the Maldives, and Zambia demonstrate that autocratization can be halted and reversed. This article introduces “U-Turn” as ...

www.tandfonline.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 22d

Monarez: "Kennedy demanded 2 things of me that were were inconsistent w/ my oath of office. He directed me to commit in advance to approving every ACIP recommendation regardless of the scientific evidence. He also directed me to dismiss career officials responsible for vaccine policy without cause"

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Nick Davis @ntd.bsky.social · 24d

colleagues in political science. the formal update to the Garand and Giles journal ranking survey is now live. many of you will receive an email momentarily inviting you to participate. in the event you do NOT receive an invitation, please see this website to self-enroll. thanks! sharing = caring!

Participating

The Evaluation of Publication in Political Research study is open to serious producers and consumers of political research, including faculty in institutions of higher education, doctoral students,…

eppr.study

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 26d

New, from me:
It was a terrible week, one that inspired some truly awful takes. The worst was the effort by Bari Weiss and The Free Press to smear universities as "the biggest culprits" to blame American political violence, with faculty training "jihadis."
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-worst-...

The worst takes from a bad week

The Free Press, about to take over CBS News, blames universities for American political violence

donmoynihan.substack.com

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CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 23d

Viewpoint: Four tips for understanding this week’s ACIP meeting

The Vaccine Integrity Project thought it would be good to provide 4 helpful reminders, such as VAERS data do not prove causation

www.cidrap.umn.edu/v...

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CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · 23d

Parental support for school vaccine mandates remains high in US

Earlier this month, Kennedy told the media that he does not believe the federal government should mandate any vaccine.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/m...

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Bethany Albertson @albertsonb2.bsky.social · 28d

I never want shootings on campus to happen and I never want to see them on social media.

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 29d

Incredible parallels in this Berinsky &
@gabelenz.bsky.social paper. Politicians didn't stand up to Joe McCarthy in large part because they incorrectly inferred McCarthy/ism was extremely popular. Not standing up to McCarthy was a kind of 1950s Popularism

gated academic.oup.com/poq/article/...

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George Pearkes @peark.es · Aug 27

FDA is authorizing anybody with a risk factor from this list to receive the vaccines, as well as anybody 65+.

Figure 2 from https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMsb2506929

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Robert Brehm @robertbrehm.bsky.social · Aug 14

If you guys didnt find the crazy Jags v Giants preseason ending yet to get the players names

www.instagram.com/reel/DND5JGM...

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

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Punk Rock History @punkrockhistory.bsky.social · Oct 13

Then and now in color.
Minor Threat in 1981 and 2018

#punk #punks #punkrock #punklegends #hardcorepunk #minorthreat #history #punkrockhistory

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Robert Brehm @robertbrehm.bsky.social · Aug 8

Dan, I wanted to thank you for an excellent event, and for graciously sticking around to shake hands / briefly chat with us. Thank you for all the amazing podcasts over the years (going back to when I actually had them on a device with pod in the name).

Can't wait for Alexander part 3!

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CIDRAP @cidrap.bsky.social · Aug 8

Screening in emergency departments could help boost vaccine coverage, survey suggests

The survey of adults in 10 US EDs found 86% were not up to date with recommended vaccines, but nearly half said they would be willing to get a missing shot if offered.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/a...

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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · Aug 6

RESULT: Democrats have defended a state Senate seat in Rhode Island by a margin of 82% to 16%. So that's a victory by 66 percentage points.

Harris had carried this district by 11 percentage points in November. This is the 2nd biggest overperformance for Democrats so far this year.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Aug 6

Horrific. mRNA vaccines have saved millions of lives and could save millions more.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a more dangerous decision in public health in my 50 years in the business,” said Mike Osterholm, a UMN expert on infectious diseases & pandemic preparations.
www.huffpost.com/entry/rfk-va...

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Angie Rasmussen @angierasmussen.bsky.social · Aug 5

They really won’t stop until every expert has been removed from any aspect of vaccination in America.

www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/h...

HHS further constrains certain vaccine advisers to the CDC, limiting their input in evidence reviews | CNN

In a further jolt to the process of reviewing and recommending vaccines at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, another group of outside advisers to the agency was abruptly sidelined thi...

www.cnn.com

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🎃🪦 BLOODSUGARSETHMASKET 🪦🎃 @smotus.bsky.social · Aug 4

New at Tusk: Texas Republicans did the exact same thing in 2003 and paid no price for it. So here we are again.

The Texas redistricting. No, the other one.

All this has happened before, and it all will happen again

open.substack.com

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Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · Jul 30

One of the more interesting questions about the new Texas maps is whether Ds can mount serious campaigns in these newly competitive districts and begin to revive the Dem Party in Texas. Long term we have to learn how to make FL or TX competitive. This overreach could jumpstart that process in TX.

Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · Jul 30

High risk, high reward strategy for the Republicans here. Would pick up 5ish seats under 2026 conditions, but that requires Republicans winning nearly 55% statewide. Under 2018 conditions, they could break even or lose a couple seats. A lot of this comes down to how Latinos vote in 26 and beyond

Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · Jul 30

Background:
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

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Robert Brehm @robertbrehm.bsky.social · Jul 26

Looking forward to the Raleigh event!

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Lily Mason @lilymasonphd.bsky.social · Jul 21

At its core, science is about methodically and rigorously determining what is true. Authoritarians rely on destroying anyone’s ability to readily know the truth. They confuse facts and opinions on purpose. Scientists are trained to identify the difference.

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Jul 21

5. The right-wing enthusiasm for AI science is not about doing better science faster. It’s about eliminating one of the most effective forms of societal resistance to authoritarian control.

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Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · Jul 23

Youngkin ran the best statewide campaign of any Republican in the decade I’ve lived in Virginia. Sears is running the worst. She’s completely MIA. Spanberger is going to win by double digits. Republicans are in trouble in the General Assembly, too.

The Downballot @the-downballot.com · Jul 23

Virginia Republicans are freaking out about Winsome Earle-Sears' disastrous campaign for governor.

From @juliamanchester.bsky.social at @thehill.com.

thehill.com/homenews/cam...

Headline from The Hill: Virginia Republicans sound alarm over governor’s race: ‘It’s a disaster’

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · Jul 24

Those South Park guys just showed us how politics is downstream of culture

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Robert Brehm @robertbrehm.bsky.social · Jul 14

🚨 New publication! 🚨

With Kirill Zhirkov, we test whether using term “illegal” vs. “undocumented” shifts immigration opinion.

In Research & Politics, we find no causal effect -- but preferred terms still reflect underlying ideology.

📖 Open access: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...