Mood:

It's not appropriate for cis people to say that trans people are too alarmed, or that certain trans writers are irresponsibly causing trans people to think the sky is falling. I want to take some time in this 🧵 to write personally about how my skies have fallen.

A hot take on a hot day: navigating the manuscript submission portal should not be more difficult than conducting the actual research study. (Looking at you, Editorial Manager)

You may find yourself working in an office across the street from a building with a plaque that says Karl Marx lived there and you may one day hear (through the open window, becasue it's hot) the tour guide saying that in fact Marx did not live there and you may ask yourself

Today I threw away a pathetic and unloved office plant and now I feel mad with power. What goes next?

PSA for trainees cold emailing with interest in joining a lab: Be careful about your use of LLMs in writing these emails!! It is now *extremely* common to get emails with a bizarrely-detailed, clearly-LLM take on a paper finding or with specific phrases pulled from the lab website. Don’t do this!

The Willimantic Mural is complete! Read all about this project, our community engagement, the artist, and more here (it's open access) www.patreon.com/SkypeAScient...

And we're live! academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/16459. come be my postdoc! these positions will be primarily supported by my NIH R01 on infant word learning, with a bit of wiggle for some other projects/new ideas/collabs.

I had my one and only kid two weeks after defending my dissertation at age 27. I had nearly ideal circumstances (really supportive postdoc and junior faculty environment) and the sleep deprivation alone nearly killed me. I can't imagine what would have happened in more hostile work environment.

Dealing with this poison ivy situation the only way I can think of: Poison Ivy playlist. (Also a visit to my doctor and steroids, probably) open.spotify.com/playlist/5BJ...

Some year I would love to enjoy June, Connecticut's most beautiful month, WITHOUT the case of poison ivy.

We have an opening for a Research Technician Specialist and/or Postdoctoral Research Fellow to work on a NIH-funded project that examines neural responses to offspring vocalizations using a songbird model! 🧠🐦🐣More information and Links to the applications are below 👇

New ‘Jackass’ Trailer Shows Aging Johnny Knoxville Trying To Climb Staircase Without Handrail https://theonion.com/new-jackass-trailer-shows-aging-johnny-knoxville-trying-to-climb-staircase-without-handrail/

Ok, bluesky chefs! I'm making my mom a cake for her birthday on Friday and want to make something fancy. Any recs? Something in the fruit or nut flavor profile as opposed to chocolate would be best.

official ad to follow soon but heads up: 1-2 postdocs slots in my lab, hopefully w/fall start! reposts welcome, details to follow. babies! word learning! cognitive & linguistic skills! #CogSciSky #DevPsychSky 🐦🐦 (lab info: bergelsonlab.fas.harvard.edu/prospectives) also recruiting grads this fall!

Another Oxford postdoc opportunity - come work with me or any of my colleagues. This scheme requires a prior UK connection. Internal deadline: July 8. www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/news/2026/05...

“Help!” cried Toad. “My list is blowing away. What will I do without my list?”

Nothing but admiration for the only other attendee at my Pilates class this evening, a woman who used every water break to eat sour cream and onion pringles.

Did you know that if you dramatically exclaim, “oh no! I dropped something!!” as you let chips fall from the counter, it doesn’t count as feeding your dog from the table?

I thought I came up with this observation all by myself then start listening to the podcast and THAT'S HOW THEY OPEN THE EPISODE. sheesh.

Totally irrelevant but I think this book is better if you sing the title to the tune of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All”

Proposal for a new postdoc funding mechanism: "Cleanup Hitter"--come to an established lab and write up all of our side quests, secondary data analysis, and other stuff that hasn't yet seen the light of day. Somebody put me in charge and I'll make this happen.

🎉Save the date! Black In Neuro Week 2026 is July 27–Aug 2. We're celebrating our 6th annual BIN Week with returning favorites like #NeuroRacism, #NeuroAcrossTheDiaspora, and #BINRollCall plus a brand new theme: #BlackInTime. ✨ 🧠 #BINW26 #AReimaginedFuture

Real call and response in my kindle library right now.

Not my best work, but felt like this was what's on the menu for Bsky today.

Made a site that takes objects from wikipedia and turns them into endless I Spy > neal.fun/wiki-spy/

When we win, the first bill I’m filing is a comprehensive anti-corruption package: Overturn Citizens United Ban corporate PACs and super PACs Ban members of Congress from trading stocks Once we defeat the most corrupt politician in America, we can defeat this entire corrupt system.

Want to counteract this problem? Here’s a reminder of this awesome tool from @dalezhou.bsky.social to promote citation diversity! github.com/dalejn/clean...

Today is the big day! Join us at 11am at 50 riverside drive in Willimantic, CT for our community paint day! CT folks, spread the word!

Commercial publishers are refusing to allow for zero-embargo public access to peer-reviewed articles as required by federal policy. www.statnews.com/2026/06/11/o...

Wow

Job ad (1/2): Postdoc fellowship in the AFNI group (SSCC, NIMH, NIH, USA). FMRI/MRI methods dev, software design, statistics, analysis, data viz, quality control, machine learning and more! Please see: discuss.afni.nimh.nih.gov/t/job-ad-pos... I am happy to chat at OHBM+Brainhack. Please share!

Job ad (2/2): data scientist in the AFNI group (SSCC, NIMH, NIH, USA). FMRI/MRI methods dev, software design, statistics, analysis, data viz, quality control, machine learning and more! Please see: discuss.afni.nimh.nih.gov/t/job-ad-dat... I am happy to chat at OHBM+Brainhack. Please share!

NEW DOCTOR ALERT! Hannah Mechtenberg successfully defended her dissertation on Monday. @hannahmech.bsky.social is a phenomenal science communicator and basal ganglia expert that I tricked into doing a language science PhD with me. Congrats, Dr. Mechtenberg!!!

Governor Healey signed a proclamation recognizing June 2026 as National Aphasia Awareness Month in MA. This effort was initiated by the National Aphasia Association (NAA) and catalyzed by local advocates, NAA Ambassadors, and the BU Aphasia Resource Center. Learn more: https://bit.ly/4uWtfG9

yeah, he seems like the moveable type

Look, writing a book must be so difficult, and there is no budget for editing any more. But I really wish someone somewhere in the process had prevented this author from describing a character as "unprepossessing" three times on as many pages. And the word "swingeing" at all.

Our cats ruined one rug by insisting on puking only on that rug rather than on the many hardwood or tile surfaces in the house. We replaced the rug and now they've decided it makes perfect claw-sharpening material. Anybody want two cats, gently used?

Pride flags with #ggplot2 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ github.com/borstell/pride

Recruiting for a salaried 4-year PhD project (or two) in Oslo We seek someone dynamic, curious & fun! Work closely w other PhDs in neuroscience/biology & w our three brilliant Knockout project postdocs (psychology/pain/behavioural genetics) Please share widely www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

We have two job openings in my lab currently — for a postdoc (100% FTE some teaching four years) and a postdoc/phd student (75% FTE no teaching three years). Check them out at www.uni-luebeck.de/aktuelles/be...

Deadline 11 July: 2-year temporary asst. prof position, phonology and child language acquisition, Ling.+Langs, McMaster Univ. careers.mcmaster.ca/psp/prcsprd/...

Deadline Nov 1: Asst. prof (tenure track), open area, but encouraging corpus ling [syntax, morph, lexicon] or experimental sociolx or psycholx; Linguistics, NC State Univ Dept. of English. jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/230...

Deadline June 19: 2 positions, Asst., Assoc/Full (tenure track/tenured), Speech and Hearing Sciences, Arizona State apply.interfolio.com/185788

I love going to the car wash and so my best friend sends me a video message every time she takes her car to the car wash. 10/10 friend.

My garden is a weedy mess but the poppies never disappoint.

Dynamic 3D MRI of vocal fold oscillations: In vivo assessment of vocal fold thickness, contact area, and glottal area waveform across phonation types in comparison with high-speed imaging https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0043582

Sponsored by or applying for federal grants? You want to know this.

Now that I've assembled my grant writing supplies, I'm ready to write this grant. Follow me for more tips.

Sun in an Empty Room, by Edward Hopper, 1963.