OK, now let’s get Disney adults super mad about ICE.

I was 20 before I learned about Japanese internment camps, from a Smithsonian exhibit. I think about that a lot—in part because museums are under attack. And in part because armed agents are on their way to Chicago to raid immigrant communities. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/05/h...

“The problem with ignoring progress and calling for something as extreme as militarized streets is it sneers instead of solves. It writes off Chicago’s people as inept and its problems as intractable.” Great perspective here from @heidikstevens.bsky.social

The problem with the president’s approach to Chicago is that it sneers instead of solves. It writes off Chicago’s people as inept and its problems as intractable. Neither could be further from the truth. My column ♥️ www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/29/h...

If a school shooter doesn't have access to a gun, then there's no school shooting. That's the only thing that ever matters. Other countries aren't plagued by gun violence for a very specific reason: They don't have 80 bazillion guns. There's literally nothing else worth talking about.

“Don’t say this is about ‘thoughts and prayers’ right now — These kids were literally praying.” - Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey

Artificial Intelligence is not just technology. It’s an artificial biologic with tremendous population health implications—both promising and perilous. In today’s TIME magazine, I call for AI engineers to take a Hippocratic Oath promising, first, to do no harm. time.com/7312350/ai-e...

This guy’s energy today. Good morning, Chicago ♥️

“I prefer someone who burns the flag and then wraps themselves up in the Constitution over someone who burns the Constitution and then wraps themselves up in the flag.” —Molly Ivins

When you can’t lead with moral authority and you keep alienating allies, when inflation is up and your approval ratings are down, how do you hold onto power? You double down, once again, on undermining the American electoral system. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/22/h...

“Here is where AI’s agreeability – so crucial to its rapid adoption – becomes its Achille's heel. Its tendency to value short-term user satisfaction over truthfulness – to blow digital smoke up one’s skirt – can isolate users and reinforce confirmation bias.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/o...

My friend Jason is getting ready to drop his daughter at college. And by “getting ready,” I mean crying himself to sleep at night. “I feel like the dad in ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding,’” he texted me the other day. “WHY YOU WANT TO LEAVE ME?!” My advice🩷 www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/15/h...

This, from @rexhuppke.bsky.social, is brilliantly savage.

The cryptobros behind the sex objects being thrown at WNBA games should know that only weak men demean women. And anyone pulling a stunt like this is clearly trying to compensate for … something. www.usatoday.com/story/sports...

Susie Lee, co-founder of Early Birds dance parties, has died at 49. “She believed she could get better, and I think that kept her going. Just the hope that she would get through this. And technically her body didn’t. But her soul did.” My column💔 www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/06/h...

I decided to throw my hat into the ring for #SXSWEDU 2026, where I'm hoping to present concrete principles for responsible use of AI in early childhood. My panel is called BORN TO BE WIRED 😉 Do me a favor and vote for it in the #PanelPicker! participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sx...

I’m glad to see @unicef.org updating its guidance on AI and children, especially the potential risks when AI offers companionship. When children’s attachment systems are activated by algorithms rather than caregivers, we’re in uncharted territory. www.unicef.org/innocenti/st...

It took a village to dismantle mainstream media. And now the village is less connected than ever. When newsrooms shrink, so does our capacity to know, understand and care about one another. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/08/01/h...

“We have never established that good child care belongs among the pantheon of American values.” So true! The first 5 years are the most rapid period of brain development and the foundation for, well, everything. Great interview here with @ehaspel.bsky.social. hechingerreport.org/why-american...

On Wednesday, the World Court declared climate change an urgent, existential threat that countries must, under international law, address. Our president would rather protect us from Rosie O’Donnell. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/25/h...

Why Colbert's cancellation marks a dangerous new stage for the culture at large

Every year the Tonns ask coaches to nominate student athletes for scholarships in honor of their son. The criteria? They have to be kind. Brooks died from cancer at 10. This year, he should be heading to college. Seven classmates are going in his name. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/18/h...

"The question isn’t whether to embrace innovation, but how to ensure these tools enhance rather than replace the irreplaceable bonds and experiences that build brains.” Thank you to @outthinkmedia.bsky.social for this conversation on AI and early childhood. outthinkmedia.com/2025/07/01/w...

Change all the stylebooks

The first thing I read this morning. Not gonna lie, it made me tear up a bit. Maybe more than a bit. I thought we learned a lesson when COVID shut down the arts - that we need them. I guess not...

Arts cuts might seem like a minor outrage in the grand scheme of outrages. But if 2025 has taught us anything, it’s that we can be appalled by more than one thing at a time. And a society that doesn’t cultivate art is an appalling thought. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/07/04/h...

I’m grateful to The Hill for publishing my oped calling for more information on AI’s impact on early brain development. Tech can be a powerful force for good—as a cochlear implant surgeon, I rely on it to help children hear! But we must apply it with intention...especially in early childhood.

🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

I watched Sam, the man who handles maintenance in my building, pull a treat out of his shirt pocket for a dog in our elevator and I felt the air shift the way it does when someone is kind. It sent me looking for more stories of kindness. I found some❤️ www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/27/h...

What happens when a robot is wrong? A recent study reveals that young children trust robots — even when they mess up. Some fascinating findings ... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Health groups are mobilizing behind the scenes to preserve access for vaccines as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. works to upend the nation’s decades-old vaccine system, according to public health experts.

There’s cost-cutting, and then there’s cruelty. Shutting down LGBTQ+ services on the suicide hotline blurs the line to the point of indistinction. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/20/h...

A bit of brightness in this world: the Edmonton Oilers apparently play Pink Pony Club in the locker room whenever they win, and it’s become a sort of unofficial playoff anthem. Love these burly hockey dudes embracing it. Love the overalls. Love it all. Go Oilers!

The principles that made America a shining city upon a hill—reflecting hope and promise to the world—were always intended to serve, at least in part, as an invitation to join this grand experiment. What happened to that? My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/13/h...

Right now the U.S. Senate is negotiating the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which already passed the House. This Bill focuses on a variety of programs, but I want to talk about one part that intersects with the work I do as a researcher, a social scientist, and a pediatric surgeon.

Another banger from @rexhuppke.bsky.social www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...

You can’t ban an Everyone is Welcome Here poster for promoting ‘individual beliefs’ and then require public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. Not without your hypocrisy showing, anyway. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/30/h...

Public health advocates are warning that newborn hearing screenings are at risk of being cut because of drastic cutbacks at federal health agencies. This would have grave consequences for our children. A 🧵 time.com/7278169/baby...

Mother's Day can be complicated because motherhood is complicated. Sometimes Happy Mother's Day doesn't feel quite right. An old column I re-share every year ♥️ www.chicagotribune.com/2019/05/10/h...

Only city to produce a president, a pope and this view. Good morning, Chicago 💙

Chicago gonna Chicago

This, by @heidikstevens.bsky.social, is excellent. And while she’s talking about a 5-year-old boy, her sentiments ought to apply to everyone. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/07/h...

It’s hard to know where to start on the white woman calling a 5yo boy the N-word incident, but I’ll start here: 5 year olds don’t steal. If you see a child behave like a child and your mind goes to crime, your worldview is broken. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/07/h...

Crockett debuts a new game called "Trump or trans," then displays a gigantic placard of Trump golfing

Given the shitshow that was today’s DOGE hearing, just gonna re-up this: www.usatoday.com/story/sports...

“I think this says that they will not tolerate us being active participants in our democracy—they want an autocracy,” Emily Feiner told Mother Jones. Meet the 64-year-old retired social worker who went viral after being forcibly removed from her representative's town hall.

Chicago is perfect today 💙

He’s determined to stop the presses. All of them.

Above all, Trump is a performer. And now that his main character vibes are back in the White House, he’s determined to remake our past, present and future in his image, once and for all. But Americans aren’t extras in our own life stories. My column. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/02/h...

The lowest ever approval rating at this point in a presidency.