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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

@ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social

560 followers 430 following 39 posts

Associate Professor in Health Science at California State University Channel Islands. Trained in medical sociology and gerontology. Focused on community-engaged work addressing health, well-being, and equity among older adults and LGBTQIA+. (he/him)

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · Jul 11

Excited to share my first published film essay, on "The Last Showgirl" (Gia Coppola, 2024)! In it, I argue that the film succinctly illustrates how aging women navigate the complexities of work and retirement, self-worth, and fighting for stability and relevance.

#AcademicSky #FilmSky #Gerontology

“And now I just have to disappear”: A Gerontological Reading of The Last Showgirl

Film: The Last Showgirl (88 min)

academic.oup.com

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 5d

As a UPenn alum, I’m incredibly concerned at the Trump’s administration attempts to undermine academic freedom (and higher education overall). If you’re an alum of the 9 universities currently being targeted by this so-called “compact for academic excellence,” consider signing this petition!

Trump attacks 9 universities: Sign the alumni petition to defend your school now

Are you an alum outraged by Trump's attacks on universities? Defend your school now by signing this alumni petition in support of these 9 universities as well as campus communities across America.

alumni.controlshift.app

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Reposted by Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

Daniel Laurison @daniellaurison.bsky.social · 6d

Intersex people are real, trans people are real, biological sex is not binary, gender is complicated, and nothing anyone says can change any of those facts.

Thank you @georgianndavis.bsky.social for this piece and for all your work and speaking out.

Contributor: I'm an intersex professor. Am I supposed to lie by teaching 'only male and female'?

A campaign against teachers who acknowledge realities of human biology forces a choice: Teach truth and risk your job, or lie and maybe keep it.

www.latimes.com

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 5d

What is sad about the radical conservative takeover of New College of Florida (by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Christopher Rufo) is that a once respected institution is close to collapse.

And this will happen country-wide should anyone sign on to the Trump compact for “academic excellence.” So let’s not!

Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida

Student outcomes and rankings are slipping at the liberal arts college while spending is up. Critics believe the college is at risk of implosion, and some are calling for privatization.

www.insidehighered.com

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 7d

No institute of higher education should even think about signing on to this. And shame on any institution for spending even a second of their time contemplating the possibility.

It’s an obvious ploy to stifle academic freedom and make universities an arm of the Trump/MAGA admin. - don’t be fooled.

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 10d

Up at the crack of dawn on this cloudy Los Angeles morning because all other screenings were sold out(!), but I feel like it’ll be worth it - checking in from the Vista Theater for a special VistaVision showing of Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” (2025).

#FilmSky

Marquee outside of the Vista Theater in Hollywood (advertising for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” in Vistavision.

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 11d

“…if we are going to be bullied by a branch of the federal government to comply with what seems to be new puritanical or overly draconian rulings, we are going to be in a lot of trouble.” (CSULB Lecturer)

The fight for higher education has come to the CSU. Disappointed but not surprised!

Los Angeles Times @latimes.com · 11d

Trump administration probes alleged antisemitism in Cal State University system

The Trump administration has launched a system-wide investigation into allegations of antisemitism at California State University and has started issuing subpoenas for employees' contact information.

www.latimes.com

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 11d

Of the Chronicles I’ve read, this is my favorite too - I’ll concede though that it’s the most difficult to adapt, hence why we haven’t seen a successful attempt at a film version. But the world building Rice achieves in “Lestat” is pretty remarkable.

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 12d

Bucket list item that I’ll eventually get to: attending a midnight screening (it still plays every weekend at the Nuart in LA!). Have yet to see this with a live audience (which feels sacrilegious!?).

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 12d

I have argued, informally among friends for months, that the current Trump administration has been one of the worst for older Americans in a long time. Add this to the pile of dangerous policy decisions (e.g., Medicare/Medicaid changes, lapsed OAA reauthorization, etc.) harming older adults.

STAT @statnews.com · 12d

President Trump on Thursday evening threatened pharmaceutical companies with a 100% tariff unless they build manufacturing plants in the U.S. www.statnews.com/2025/09/25/t...

Trump threatens 100% tariffs on prescription drugs — unless companies build in the U.S.

The president threatened tariffs on pharmaceuticals, days before a deadline he set for drug companies to lower their prices.

www.statnews.com

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 13d

It's a unique anthology showing how the horror genre allows us to critically interrogate our views on aging and our conscious or unconscious ageist attitudes.

(and as an FYI: while my review is of the print version of the collection, the essays are also available open access - so get reading!)

Fear of Aging

How can studying the genre of horror help to integrate older people better in our ever fearful and suspicious societies.

www.transcript-publishing.com

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 13d

Calling all horror fans! I'm pleased to share that my review of the essay collection "Fear of Aging: Old Age in Horror Fiction and Film" (edited by João Paulo Guimarães, 2025) has been published in The Gerontologist.

#FilmSky #BookSky #GeroSky

Using the “thrills and pleasures of horror” to explore aging and old age in Fear of Aging

I still vividly recall the thrill of viewing Coralie Fargeat’s body horror triumph The Substance (2024) opening weekend with a packed audience at my local

nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 14d

First time I listened to this I was on a run and had the volume turned ALL the way up because of the muted intro. The absolute JUMP SCARE that happened when the beat dropped almost made me fling my phone into the road.

(worth it, though!)

Reposted by Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

NPR @npr.org · 15d

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore $500 million in federal grant funding that it froze at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Judge orders Trump administration to restore $500 million in grant funding to UCLA

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore $500 million in federal grant funding that it froze at the University of California, Los Angeles.

n.pr

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 20d

The irony (as outlined in the article) is that RFK Jr and McMahon are arguing for a particular approach to treating mental health in children - but what they’re seeking to actually eliminate isn’t treatment at all, it’s *screening.* The article outlines the obvious reasons why this is a bad idea.

Daniel G. Aaron, MD, JD @medlawdan.bsky.social · 20d

"U.S. Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr ... want[s] schools to do away with mental health screenings and therapy. Instead, ... schools 'must return to the natural sources of mental well-being: strong families, nutrition and fitness, and hope for the future.'"

www.npr.org/sections/sho...

RFK Jr. wants to end mental health screenings in schools. Experts say it's a bad idea

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon are against schools giving kids standardized questionnaires about their mental well-being. But experts say they are wrong.

www.npr.org

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 21d

“Words are not violence, nor are they powerless…if you would look away from the words of Charlie Kirk, from what else would you look away?”

-Ta-Nehisi Coates (in an excellent piece summarizing the bigotry and impact of Kirk, and how this moment in time ties to the Reconstruction era)

Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause

By ignoring the rhetoric and actions of the Turning Point USA founder, pundits and politicians are sanitizing his legacy.

www.vanityfair.com

Reposted by Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

Helen 🏳️‍⚧️✊🏻💕 @mimmymum.bsky.social · 23d

“Anti-trans harassment and violence is all the rage. Trans people are afraid to leave the country, let alone leave their houses. The right-wing ecosystem has gladly spent years creating these conditions, while Democrats have by turns avoided saying anything about them at all” 😞

👉🏻 archive.ph/ewBhT

THE CUT

They Want the Shooter to Be Trans
By Lex McMenamin, a writer and editor at Teen Vogue.

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 22d

The full proposal hasn’t been made public yet, so this just seems to be a snapshot - which is already terrible. I can’t imagine what the rest of the document looks like. But I believe Harvard just had a major court victory related to funding, so if UCLA fights this then (hopefully) all is not lost.

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 22d

Capitulating to the demands of the Trump administration would be counter to the mission and integrity of not just UCLA, but the UC system and higher education in general. The full details of this proposal need to be made public so that we can all see the extent of its potential damage.

Here are the details of Trump's $1.2-billion call to remake UCLA in a conservative image

The Times describes the details, for the first time, of the 28-page proposal the Trump administration has made to remake the UCLA campus.

www.latimes.com

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 22d

#FilmSky lost a great one today. A true Hollywood legend.

Oscar winner Robert Redford, respected actor, director and producer who founded the Sundance Institute, has died

Robert Redford, a generational icon who commanded the big screen as the star of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Way We Were” and won awards and lasting praise for directing films such as...

www.latimes.com

Reposted by Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 24d

1. Trump threatened every hospital that provides gender affirming care to transgender youth.

Many complied and shut down their programs.

Boston Children's Hospital didn't. They fought back and kept providing care.

And now, they just beat Trump in court.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Boston Children’s Fights Back For Trans Kids: Judge Quashes Trump Subpoena

Around 2,000 BCH employees and untold numbers of patients were targeted by the DOJ. A judge just told them, “No.”

www.erininthemorning.com

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Reposted by Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 24d

I wrote about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, its aftermath, and the sort of people we are when we engage the world through our screens. Read @liberalcurrents.com

www.liberalcurrents.com/yes-its-the-...

Yes, It’s the Guns. It’s Also the Phones.

Life online is corroding the virtues that make liberal democratic life tenable.

www.liberalcurrents.com

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Reposted by Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 25d

He didn't bridge disagreements. What he did with "Prove Me Wrong" was the debate equivalent of creating a wrestling persona--watch me take on, and take down, all comers! Nothing he did suggests that he was honestly open to persuasion by others or to tempering his numerous ugly, bigoted stances. >

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 25d

Fun fact: involuntary euthanasia is euthanasia performed without the consent of the person. It is, put more simply, murder, and also is: grotesque, abhorrent, unethical, and f*cking illegal (regardless of the population under discussion, including especially vulnerable groups).

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 25d

Brian Kilmeade endorses euthanizing homeless people: "Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them."

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Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · 25d

I’ve been hesitant to publicly discuss this week’s news, given my more nuanced reaction (and we live in a political climate that seems repulsed by nuance). But this piece seems to sum up my thoughts perfectly - I do not condone violence, but I also will not mourn a legacy built on hate.

Charlie Kirk’s Legacy Deserves No Mourning

The white Christian nationalist provocateur wasn’t a promoter of civil discourse. He preached hate, bigotry, and division

www.thenation.com

Ronald W. Berkowsky, PhD 🏳️‍🌈 @ronaldberkowsky.bsky.social · Sep 7

It’s a funny, dark, delicate gem of a film that never feels cute. And while Sweeney is great, it’s Dylan O’Brien who stands out and gives one of the best lead turns of the year thus far. Highly recommended seeing this, as it’s been one of the few bright spots this year.