“The Joy of Why” is back. In our first episode of the new season, pioneering biochemist Jennifer Doudna talks about how her early, “rebellious,” decision to study RNA led her to a Nobel Prize. Tune in: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...

Folks, I need your help: Jen Chan, owner of the eponymous restaurant which happens to be one of my favorite places in Atlanta, is raising $140,000 to cover cancer treatment expenses and make sure health insurance companies don't get away with tripling fees on her employees because of her diagnosis.

Regret to inform Mr. Show continues to get more relevant. Like, this isn't even a joke anymore. Whole media empires operate this way.

Ken Paxton's impeachment defense lawyer just endorsed James Talarico. Dan Cogdell says his former client "has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas."

Honestly incredible stuff but this made me gasp: "For $100 million a year we can get clean oceans,” he said. This is less than the annual marketing budget of most major consumer goods companies that produce the plastic The Ocean Cleanup is pulling from the sea. techfixated.com/young-invent...

Link

Full statement of Scott Pelley after he's fired from CBS 60 Minutes, detailing the sort of corruption of journalism Bari Weiss has brought to CBS News:

tl,dr; Scientists no longer allowed to use federal funding to publish, attend meetings, or talk to the public. They cannot collaborate internationally. Grants can be cancelled for any reason, at any time, political appointees have a final say over what gets funded, and who gets funded.

White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval of research grants These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

Further analysis of these proposed changes here: elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/summary-of...

At least 18 NPR journalists have accepted buyouts and another 10 have been laid off as the public media network attempts to save money and reorganize the newsroom. n.pr/3RxYWqE

Even with federal grants largely restored, scientists say the Trump administration is still preventing those funds from reaching them. The consequences, they say, are already becoming clear.

“if Americans reduced their lawns by half and added native plant gardens to feed birds, butterflies and other wildlife, this would create more habitat than Yellowstone and a dozen other major national parks combined.” www.npr.org/2026/05/21/n...

NEW: HHS and RFK Jr. still refuse to say what an anti-vaccine activist is doing after being hired as an analyst at the agency. Kennedy promised to give the Senate Finance Committee a copy of David Geier’s contract; I learned he has not actually provided it. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

CALL YOUR REPS NOW! SPREAD THE WORD! HR 2616 was snuck onto the calendar for a vote TOMORROW. This is a pro book banning bill which seeks to ban ALL books by or about trans individuals.

I admire the hell out of these Texas Tech students, who held a funeral for academic freedom: pen.org/texas-tech-a...

Pitt unveiled a new, state-of-the-art research laboratory, which could impact fields from transportation to medicine, and attract new talent to the region. The Western Pennsylvania Quantum Information Core allows researchers to study how matter reacts under extreme pressures and temperatures.

3000 volunteers have already made nearly 900,000 classifications, yet 70% of the project are still to be done. All the background and link to the Zooniverse: www.zooniverse.org/projects/apr... #ESA #Euclid #astronomy #GravitationalLensing #science #CitizenScience.

aw, RIP. definitely met her at some point, I think we were on a cartooning panel together at reed college once.

Our Gives Back charity for May is Allies for Health & Wellbeing! Allies is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that empowers individuals and communities through integrated medical care and supportive human services, which includes offering inclusive primary care to leading the way in holistic HIV treatment

A New Hampshire Republican. A German Holocaust denier. A suspicious bottle of baby oil. An NPR investigation reveals how the alarming rise of antisemitic conspiracy theories reached a state capitol. n.pr/4cTPF39

We have a healthcare system that prioritizes profit over people's lives. It's past time to pass Medicare for All so people aren't going bankrupt for basic care.

Honestly, this is just appalling. That a university would be this terrified of books, ideas, of discussion, of research, and of humanity in general

Don't hear much from Bari Weiss on academic freedom these days

🔵 This week's Tom the Dancing Bug ⚖️ Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts enters... THE SHADOW DOCKET! 🙏 Brought to you by the magnificence of the Inner Hive, including long-time member John Skelton & new member Ms. Marble. 👊 Join us at patreon.com/rubenbolling/membership! READ IT RIGHT HERE👇

This piece is incredible because you're like "oh so that's what did it" like five times and by the end you're just like "jesus christ make it stop"

Schools, colleges and other public institutions originally had until this week to make online content accessible to people with disabilities. Now, the Justice Department has delayed that deadline. n.pr/3Qnk6Hq

This is where your MAGA friends and family are getting their “news” from—bunch of AI generated bots Repost from: www.instagram.com/reel/DXTO8-F...

Pennsylvania’s primary election will take place on Tuesday, May 19, and the WESA Voter Guide has everything you need to know about the races taking place in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and statewide:

FBI Director Kash Patel’s defamation lawsuit against the Atlantic explained: joycevance.substack.com/p/kashs-comp...

NEW: Astronaut Reid Wiseman shares a video of ‘Earthset’ that was taken with his iPhone “This is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye…” Wiseman said. This has to be the greatest iPhone video of all time.

Her work authorization is good for another four years -- but she "stopped working for the government’s side in immigration proceedings ... after seeing the conditions in detention facilities and how detained people were treated" so ofc they're targeting her. www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...

A U.S. council recommends opening four Pacific marine monuments to commercial fishing, covering 3.1 million square kilometers. While proponents cite sustainability, critics warn that longlines and bycatch will devastate pristine ecosystems like the Marianas Trench and Papahānaumokuākea.

The city of Pittsburgh has moved the spring 2026 yard debris collection up by one week to this coming Saturday. The original date for the twice-annual collection was April 25, but officials moved it due to a conflict with the NFL Draft, which is being hosted in Pittsburgh this year.

Three additional town halls will be held online in the coming days: Arsenal Elementary on April 14 Miller Elementary on April 21 Manchester Elementary on April 28

Experts found that the White House budget request for the upcoming fiscal year could defund 54 NASA science missions, including a spacecraft currently studying Jupiter and two planned Venus missions: www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

Another example of the insane incompetence of a member of Trump's administration causing sickness and death. What in God's name is wrong with them? They intentionally WANT people to suffer….

Last night Reps Greg Stanton, Yassamin Ansari, and Adelita Grijalva conducted a surprise inspection at a Mesa Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility after an AZ Mirror investigation found ICE was moving detainees to hide overcrowding from announced visits.

URGENT:

Even just a few years ago, killing property taxes entirely would have been dismissed as a radical libertarian fantasy. Not any more. buff.ly/skK8rhP

To figure out how to boost student voting, colleges have relied on a study about campus voter registration and turnout rates. A Trump administration investigation has cut schools off from new data. n.pr/3OrRHPJ

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For everyone wondering when the lunar flyby will be and how you can follow along, it looks like NASA will have live coverage starting at 1 pm ET Monday on YouTube/NASA+

This week's comic on the authoritarian takeover of US media

...scientific disciplines. Now, its guiding light is acting as henchmen to a lawless President. NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences is being used as a culture war cudgel, to the express detriment of our sciences for economics and prosperity...

Statement from Rep. Lofgren (ranking member of House Science Committee) re dissolving SBE: "What NSF is reportedly doing is in illegal contravention of the laws enacted by Congress this January. For over 75 years, NSF’s guiding light was how to best support cutting-edge research across all...

See also reporting by Science's staff:

Join me live, 10am PT at kalw.org's Your Call: time for the 25th Amendment? @markjacob.bsky.social pulls that apart for us. Then: @propublica.org's @jeffernsthausen.bsky.social & @marioarizabaez.bsky.social: www.propublica.org/article/trum.... Phone in: 866-798-8255 or email [email protected].

Announcing our lineup of Greenfield Neighborhood events for Spring & Summer! Saturday Block Parties are back! La Palapa is back! Lots more details coming soon, but for now, mark your calendars; we’re starting on April 18 with a t-shirt & big studio sale. See you in Greenfield this Spring & Summer!

New, from me: The federal government is required to track job satisfaction among its employees. The Trump admin stopped collecting the data, so a nonprofit stepped in. The results show that a collapse in morale and zero trust in Trump agency leaders. 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/federal-em...