Who's up early and wants to read my take on the Republican campaign for Iowa governor? The wildest part is, Randy Feenstra could still lose the June 2 primary. He is that bad a candidate. www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/05/31/a...

Persons with #HIV had to travel farther to access #CAR-T clinical trials for #NonHodgkinLymphoma compared with the general population, with the greatest disparities in the South where HIV prevalence is highest. ja.ma/4f2vSBp

In this study of global aid cuts in Uganda, health care workers including physicians, midwives, nurses, and staff described profound disruptions to health care, supply chains, and staffing conditions, and discussed their recommendations for sustaining care jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

🪼 Your tax dollars paid a scientist to squeeze jellyfish through cheesecloth. Osamu Shimomura processed tens of thousands on an NSF grant to understand why they glow. He found a protein that glowed green under UV light. Called it "green protein." Nobody cared. For decades.

Death Star Makes Major Changes to Alderaan’s Geography

Clearly we can do universal basic income, especially when the downstream savings will outweigh the upfront costs.

1-Vought sees academia as leading to the moral decline of America. 2-he hates public health & NIH for their supposed malfeasance during the pandemic (see links⬇️). mikethemadbiologist.com/2024/07/15/a... mikethemadbiologist.com/2024/07/17/t...

Having a garage sale in Michigan today and forgot how damn nice folks are here. I was struggling to stick a sign in the ground, and within 20 seconds a guy and his wife pulled over on the road to help. Then he said "aw jeeze, guess we should stop by and buy something too. Don't wanna be rude."

As a native Texan, this is such a devastating loss. As the founder of a nonprofit news outlet, I know this struggle intimately. I can only imagine how difficult this decision was, but I hope Olivia and her team know their work was good and valuable and important.

Bluesky has the New Yorker juice

It will be juneberry picking time soon - already the tree is buzzing with all sorts of birds and squirrels 🐿️

One of my strongest takeaways from the Bee this week is that it was a showcase for why critical thinking matters more than ever. So much of what the kids do up there isn’t rote memorization—it’s using their insane prep to solve words like puzzles (using etymology, patterns) in real time.

"The HPV vaccine is amaze amaze amaze" via @drjenndowd.bsky.social - #MedSky + #OncSky. jenndowd.substack.com/p/the-cancer...

Of all the harm this administration has done to US science, today's proposed changes to the way federal grants are awarded and administered is the most damaging yet. The text of the federal register document is impenetrably tedious by design, so here's an excellent summary of what it says.

And, here, in much more detail. This is an absolutely critical read for all federally funded scientists and institutions. Now is not the time to sit in the corner, hoping you won't be noticed - now is the time for action. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

More than vibes

Early Turning "How's business?" he asks. (I don't say A man died.) "Big collection," I tell him. "Oh? What kind?" (I don't say The whole curiosity of a man.) "Looks like an Anglophile," I say, "A history buff." The man starts: "Anything about—" "Yes," I know, "But mostly Gothic through Baroque."

Iowa City locals, I'm probably going to be a little quiet this weekend. One of my favorite regulars passed away. You should absolutely still come and enjoy the books. That's what we're here for. Just - tell someone who might not expect it that they mean something to you. I regret that I didn't.

Quick Rant : Global health loves to celebrate “local expertise” until it’s time for local experts to travel. Our young Cameroonian physician research coordinator was supposed to present malaria research from Cameroon at a meeting in Panama.

Does this apply to the US’s global standing?

I’m guessing this is cover since the world is about to run outta jet fuel. Blame it on Detroit

Why the Kenya Ebola Facility May Be Unconstitutional Why "we won't help you come back" may violate the same rights as "you can't come back." Read & subscribe (for free!) www.celinegounder.com/p/the-consti...

This is a substantial power grab by OMB. Comment period starts tomorrow. Here are two relevant excerpts. 1/3

Since NIH and NSF are no longer funding research, this will hurt US Citizens and their health and economy the most

Jackson quoted me in this piece...but he misquoted me and/or neglected the point I was making. On Jan 20, 2025, we lacked the political machinery necessary to meet the moment Trump wrought on our scientific ecosystem. Today, we do not. Because we built it at @standupforscience.net. 1/x

President of MIT not mincing words today in @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/s...

Updated “Shorter Is Better” tables — now including the new pediatric neutropenic fever trial. That makes 4 neutropenic fever trials supporting the HOW LONG criteria. Are there still oncologists in denial? 👀 #idsky @bradspellberg.bsky.social

So here's what happened to my lab (and @viralemergence.org). www.nature.com/articles/d41...

As I've been saying: Inflation is just getting started. I think this is going to be a major theme of the next few years. It is not going to be pleasant, even for people with money. For people without, it's going to be (and is already) devastating.

You may recognize names like "Hantavirus" and "Ebola virus." But "Andes virus" & "Bundibugyo virus" may not ring a bell. I wrote about how recent outbreaks highlight virus diversity, and our difficulty putting names on it. Yet our survival depends getting names right. Gift link: nyti.ms/4dzRPqn

Hard to think of anyone i'd want to hear from more than Harry Edwards. Thanks to @edgeofsports.bsky.social for tracking him down and sharing his voice with the rest of us.

Having recently watched both The Sheep Detectives and the Thursday Murder Club, I have to ask … do other cultures have a genre of cozy, often elder-adjacent shows about murder or is this just a weird Western thing? How far does this even get through Europe? I love it, but this is a bit odd, right?

Wild Ginger open.substack.com/pub/mygaia/p...

The Pope shan't be pontificating!

Fill up in Iowa and don’t stop until Colorado

💬 Perspective: #Hantavirus cases aboard the MV Hondius exposed gaps in detection, notification, and public health coordination, highlighting persistent weaknesses in global outbreak preparedness and response across jurisdictions. ja.ma/4dKbjqP

Can’t believe that Andy Kim is in two of the most haunting pictures of the last few years.

"In fall 2024, UW-Madison had 1,059 new international graduate & professional students. This past fall...772, a 27% decrease" Again, this plus gutting the 25% of R1 university budgets that is federal grants is an existential crisis. You'd think our leaders might loudly & collectively oppose it.

Converting to Catholicism so I can tell my bosses using unregulated AI is against my religion and I will sue them like that cake lady who hated gay people if they make me use it

Sometimes years go by with no Iowa fatalities in a war theater. Unfortunately four Iowans deployed in the Middle East were killed there this past year. A heavy Memorial Day for Iowa: www.bleedingheartland.com/2026/05/25/a...

In normal times, the fact that government officials at HHS blatantly lied to the public and got caught would be a scandal of unusual size. Everyone involved in this disinformation scheme against the people of the United States should be held accountable.

Is this Iowa or Arizona? These are all around CHA. Each is a different one. There are more near baseball and football. The one thing you can miss when there’s no sports on campus is all the plantings 🌵

22 years. #thearsenal

I do think it is highly problematic that Jay Bhattacharya dismantled pandemic preparedness & response (PPR) Tellingly, & rather pathetically, he called PPR “the pandemic industrial complex,” & he deliberately worked to defund it, including ending funding for PPR research, including mRNA vaccine R&D

Jeffery Taubenberger, the acting head of the NIAID, the NIH’s infectious disease institute, is reported to have stepped down. www.statnews.com/2026/05/21/n...

Lookadiss! 🫶 @amyactonoh.bsky.social

I am heartbroken that Muhlenberg announced this week "the non-renewal of 13 faculty positions, as well as the elimination of 9 currently filled staff positions.” We are losing incredible faculty and staff with no clear justification for the criteria used. Students are rightly demanding transparency.

As someone who collects data for a living, I'm very worried we're missing or ignoring key indicators that are shaping peoples' experiences. Loss of health insurance, food assistance, cost increases, etc. I don't think "people are wrong" is a rational interpretation at this point