'The development of evolution' with @kevinlala.bsky.social Listen: disi.org/the-developm...

We don't want to end the year without a big thank you to our reviewers. We couldn't do it without your support! Find our vol. 20 stars here: rdcu.be/eUOH7

➡️New article out⬅️ The Fate of Behavioral Modernity by Andra Meneganzin @andrameneganzin.bsky.social Free reading link: rdcu.be/eUOUH

Anyone who is Editor-in-Chief of a major journal for ten years deserves enormous appreciation for their service to the academic community. Thank you Stuart for your great work.

In episode 1074, I talk with Dr. Kevin Lala ( @kevinlala.bsky.social) about his great book, Evolution Evolving: The Developmental Origins of Adaptation and Biodiversity. #Biology #development #Science youtu.be/MJK04Wmq7js

➡️New issue out!⬅️ Our special issue on "The Concept of Lineage in Biology" guest edited by Javier Suárez and Matthew Haber is now out. See everything in the December issue here: link.springer.com/journal/1375...

Innovations in Decolonising the Curriculum: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. – a new book about how to decolonize the curriculum, by Adeela ahmed Shafi et al. www.emerald.com/books/edited... Here is our chapter:

Thanks to Adeela Shafi, @drtwymanghoshal.bsky.social, Acheampong Charles Afriyie, Samuel Copland & Omar El Masri for their hard work in bringing together this excellent collection of articles.

Out today! Innovations in Decolonising the Curriculum: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. I am happy (with @kztwyman.bsky.social & Jasmeen Kanwal) to have contributed a chapter – "Teaching the Science of Race and Racism" – to this important book that "moves beyond debate to action" Please do read.

How and for whom can genetics education reduce beliefs in genetic essentialism? pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41267401/ "We also find that the 3 intervention curricula are highly effective across sociodemographic group characteristics [...] we offer evidence-based strategies for curriculum development"

Today sees the publication of the Theme Issue featuring the CES Transformation Fund grant scheme. Enjoy! royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/issue/3... @durhamdcerc.bsky.social @durhamanthropology.bsky.social @cultevolfunding.bsky.social @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social

And this. My experience also supports that being *more* open about racist, sexist, and ableist histories of our fields is more engaging, not less, for students (and faculty) from minoritized backgrounds. Transparency can only enhance rigor.

From Jan 1 2026, I take over as Editor-in-Chief of Biological Theory. I would like to thank my predecessor, Stuart Newman, who has done a terrific job for 10 years. That is truly extraordinary service to the community, and the journal is in a great place thanks to his efforts. Kevin Lala

With great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky

Biological Theory is now on Bluesky! We have a new team of editors and a new editorial board. We will soon be posting about all our articles. Find out more about the journal at link.springer.com/journal/13752

I am pleased to announce that from Jan 1 2026 I take over as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Biological Theory. My first act, with the support of the editorial team, is to bring the journal to BlueSky from X. Please follow us @biologicaltheory.bsky.social. We will be posting about all our articles.

📢 Here is my commentary about the pitfalls of taking an impoverished evolutionary approach to culture, which include 'the limitations of a unidirectional model of evolution' and 'the neglect of niche construction theory'. #ehbea #evolution #psychscisky 🧪 🧵 1/2 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Really interesting paper in PNAS showing that a mutation that protects against African sleeping sickness originates de novo significantly more frequently in Africans than in Europeans, replicating similar findings for sickle-cell. I interpret as developmental bias. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A great review of my book "Evolution Evolving" by Simon Okholm in Metascience "Evolving Evolution is no ordinary textbook, and that is part of its appeal, giving the reader a sense of cutting-edge discovery and intellectual adventure" "Does development matter in evolution?" see shorturl.at/DxuK

📢 Our new article on relationship between height preferences and endorsement of gender norms.📢 We investigated whether adherence to the 'male taller norm' varied according to gender norm attitudes (heterosexual UK-based participants). 🧵1/5 🧪 #ehbea #psychscisky link.springer.com/article/10.1...

EHBEA is looking for new PRESIDENT and SECRETARY for 2026-2029! 👀 If you know of anybody who could represent EHBEA, nominate them as president! If you know with good organisational skills, nominate them as secretary! DEADLINE: 16/12/2026 HERE IS THE FORM 👇 docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Upcoming talk by the historian of eugenics Marius Turda! 👉 wienerholocaustlibrary.org/event/findin... 🗓 Tuesday 4th November, 6.30pm, London

Loved this video by @shaunvids.bsky.social about The War on Science book. Its full of fascinating, yet disturbing, snippets about some of the world's most famous scientists. Gold. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyU5...

I was pleased and proud yesterday that the University of St Andrews invited esteemed journalist Gary Younge to give its 2025 Race Equality Lecture. Gary gave a fantastic talk, entitled "Equal Opportunities and Photo Opportunities", which was much appreciated by the large audience. #race, #racism

"A network of privately funded political think tanks has popularized the falsehood that lawful desegregation and diversity measures are politically radical and socially destructive...In doing so, those think tanks represent the hyper-partisan political aims of wealthy donors, not the public".

We’re excited to launch the official BlueSky profile of ISHPSSB! Founded in 1998, we connect researchers in philosophy, history, and social studies of biology and medicine worldwide. Follow us for updates and events! #PhilosophyOfBiology, #HistoryOfScience, #STS, #Biology, #Medicine

Balanced and considered account of scientific racism in the evolutionary sciences and what academics can do to counter it:

The count down starts for #CESRabat! Follow @ces2026.bsky.social and join us May 11-13 next year for an exciting meeting in Rabat, Morocco. Massive thanks to the #CESRabat organising committee: Sarah Alami (co-chair) Mathieu Charbonneau (co-chair) Zachary Garfield Edmond Seabright

📃 Check out the paper in BioScience: "Cultural inheritance is driving a transition in human evolution" academic.oup.com/bioscience/a... But, wait, is this bullshit?

Animals don’t just live in their environments—they transform them. And in doing so, they may also shape their own evolutionary trajectories. Our new paper in Trends in Ecology & Evolution introduces a framework for zoogeochemical niche construction. A thread 👇

Lectured about the immigration restriction and Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s today, so I'm going to repost this piece on the Great Replacement Theory that drove white supremacists back then and that still drives them today.

Here is the link to a short blog that @kztwyman.bsky.social and I wrote about our article (with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social and Marc Feldman) entitled "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience": www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...

Our article "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience" (with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social, @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marc Feldman) is now published online. We describe five factors that contribute to the spread of racism and suggest strategies for countering them. doi.org/10.1017/ehs....

For those interested in my latest book, Trusting Science, here is a 30% discount code:

Balanced piece, including the opinion that EO Wilson made significant contributions to biological research and the acknowledgement that "Sociobiology lent evolutionary storytelling about human behavior and cognition an air of scientific legitimacy. That legacy is manifest today"

I'm pleased to share this new article by @svenkasser.bsky.social, Laura Fortunato @anthrolog.bsky.social, Marc Feldman and myself. The article extends gene-culture coevolution to recognize evolutionary effects of culture arising through drift and migration. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

New commentary in Science, with Gillian Brown and Kevin Lala, on the human sociobiology debate 50 years on: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Very happy to share this article, coauthored with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social and Clark Barrett, on the contemporary relevance of the human sociobiology debate, 50 years after publication of Wilson's landmark book.

Thanks to Tim Lewens for a wonderful review of our 'Evolution Evolving' book. "In this exceptionally ambitious and impressive book, Lala and collaborators... show how an understanding of development is essential to an understanding of evolution" Read it here: shorturl.at/mgGEm #evolution #evodevo

Really happy to share this article I'm grateful to have been a part of: 'Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience' coauthored with @kevinlala.bsky.social, @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social and Marcus Feldman. Check out a preprint here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #ScientificRacism #Antiracism

Excellent talk by @rebeccasear.bsky.social at @ishpssb2025.bsky.social on maintenance of scientific racism in contemporary academic literature. Academic journals play a role in platforming scientific racism (eg failure to retract articles using fradulent 'national IQ dataset'). #ishpssb2025 #ehbea

I was very happy to bump into my dear friend Eva Jablonka at the ISHPSSB meeting in Porto. What a great scientist and wonderful person she is.

I'm happy to share our latest manuscript "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience", coauthored with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marcus Feldman.

Thanks for your great talk @petinozappala.bsky.social

A really thoughtful and inciteful review of my book "Evolution Evolving" by @cassandrazieyang.bsky.social in Bioscience. "By taking into account the structure of development, we can begin to envision how the system of evolution will itself be evolving." See BioScience doi.org/10.1093/bios...

The extraordinary legacy of Conrad Waddington was the focus of a terrific workshop held at the KLI last week. Superb talks, a beautiful venue, and great discussion made for a lot of fun. Thanks to all the participants, and particularly organizers Alejandro Febregas Tejeda & Francisco Vergara-Silva.

An excellent short video by @rebeccasear.bsky.social on the resurgence of eugenics. Definitely worth investing 10 minutes of your life to watch.

been a long time coming, there's now a preprint along with Will Hoppitt describing our new R package for creating, fitting and interpreting bayesian NBDA models (STBayes). www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... Documentation is here michaelchimento.github.io/STbayes/inde...

A terrific review of my recent book in this month's Biological Theory: Enrico Petracca argues that "Evolution Evolving marks a tip- ping point in the study of evolution". link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Look what I got from my local library. I'm stoked! @kevinlala.bsky.social