that point could end up being the difference between arsenal finishing second with 81 points and second with 82 points

This is fantastic fun!

Global maternal mortality rates have fallen by almost 60% since 1985

cancel out a band by inventing their exact opposite: the restoring pumpkins

Douglas Adams was a time traveller

Most things by @timharford.ft.com are an instant recommend. This piece about the impact of aid funding cuts is essential: www.ft.com/content/8575... "A million deaths may be a statistic, but it is also a million tragedies. Most of these tragedies could still be prevented"

This is obscene. Also, any news about RFK and vaccines should remind people that he profits from anti-vax legal cases: www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/pre...

This is a travesty & a nightmare. The US was a founder of @gavi.org. It lowers global vaccine costs, has vaccinated 1B children, & averted 19M deaths. This pull out will cost 100s of thousands of children's lives a year - and RFK Jr will be personally responsible. www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/o... I'm glad that @nickkristof.bsky.social is reporting on the impact of the USAID cuts

I needed to read this piece by @iandunt.bsky.social: iandunt.substack.com/p/thank-god-... An unapologetically positive piece about immigrants and immigration

First, jab more babies www.economist.com/leaders/2025... From The Economist

I ran @USAID health programs for the last 3 years. Trump’s 90 day Stop Work Order on foreign assistance does serious damage to the world and the US. Examples:🧵

Word of the Day is ‘uhtcearu’ [ucht-kay-aru, with the 'ch' as in the Scottish ‘loch']: Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.

Fascinating paper on where 6000 global elites went to college. Billionaires, CEOs, heads of state, central bankers, etc. In a word: Harvard. Fully 10% of global elites went to Harvard. Elite US schools are over-represented (23% IvyPlus), but nobody comes close to Harvard. 🧵

This is a remarkable piece of writing, about the most compelling of cricketers.

The gif we've all been waiting for.

This is a good reanalysis of the impact of GiveDirectly. The vast majority of our family's personal giving is to this org. Partly because the impact is compelling. Mostly because development, to me, is about agency. And unconditional cash transfers enable agency.

. @kopalo.bsky.social is a must read for anyone interested in global health or development. I 100% agree with him here. Would add - getting serious about adaptation often means getting serious about impact of climate change on health and food systems.

I heard it was a mekko chamber

I made one for 'types of paper in epidemiology and public health' #EpiSky

We now have 3 starter packs for Global Health Nerds! go.bsky.app/DgwRPwD go.bsky.app/RScFWyt go.bsky.app/ADqkPeH Will keep updating!

And the links are up! Albeit half-asleep. On taxation, migration, ideology and The Onion. #EconSky www.cgdev.org/blog/economi...

"If we look at the true state of health financing in Kenya, in Malawi, across the continent, we are constrained for the next 5-10 years. There is no new money" from a partner meeting in Nairobi. Has #globalhealth really grappled with this?

Retweeting for a different time zone!

Community Health Worker in Nairobi: "Our problem is that Meta AI does not speak Kiswahili"

@madhupai.bsky.social can I be added to the starter pack #2 please?

Updated Global Health Nerds starter pack Will create part 2! go.bsky.app/DgwRPwD

I'm in Nairobi for the first time in 4 years, and I'm instantly reminded how much I love this city

New to @bsky.app & hoping to find global health colleagues? I keep a list, available on my profile. Follow everyone and help us grow this healthier place 💪🦋

I've been using Duck Duck Go as my main search engine for years now. It's great. Like Google used to be.

Has anyone seen a good analysis of the new UK budget and our ODA commitments? Feels like it's not mentioned in any of the news I've seen

New paper and blog! I've recently been thinking a lot about 'localization' of development cooperation. This is an area getting a lot of attention at the moment, but I worry there are challenges associated with the movement to localize that we have yet to fully appreciate.

Every story you’ve seen about this election erases South Asian voices; *none* cite numbers about our vote. Here’s the reality: South Asians favor Harris by nearly *fifty points*. They favor her at least 2-1 on *every issue* — including a whopping 76% strongly in favor of abortion.

It's like the UK doesn't care about soft power

Shortly after the Physics prize announcement, my colleague asked ChatGPT what was going on in the picture. "This information is inaccurate, as Geoffrey Hinton and John Hopfield are known for their contributions to AI....it seems like a parody rather than an actual Nobel prize announcement."

Comrade works well here

Instead of watching the debate, I had dinner with my kids, walked the dog, and saw a rainbow. Feels like the right decision.

In 2020, eight countries had a worse Maternal Mortality Ratio than the UK had in 1847. You can play around with the data here: mmr2020.srhr.org

This graph has been getting a ton of attention. It's great. But also there are countries with an MMR right now, which is higher than the UK was 150 years ago. It's one of the terrible, ignored issues of our time.

Next week is UNGA. It's always really busy and there's too much work. I know people are using AI to come up with questions for public events. I also know that people are using AI to develop talking points. Is this the first UNGA where AI is talking to AI? And will anyone care?

And my weekly links are up! This week featuring Dietrich Vollrath in @asteriskmag.bsky.social, Rachel Glennerster on policy reform, Noam Angrist and Stefan Dercon on the implementation gap and some great Sesame Street videos. www.cgdev.org/blog/economi...

Many Seattle public schools are on 'shelter in place' today, due to social media threats. Some things about the US are just fundamentally broken. mynorthwest.com/3989630/thre...

This performance of Florence + The Machine's first album, with a full orchestra, is sublime. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

In fairness, brown people have taken over a lot of Seattle. Have you seen Amazon and Microsoft?

My three year old's takeaway: why is the old man sad. The girl is a happy girl

I was already excited to vote for her

Everything is the fault of the immigrants apparently

This is great! It's also (understandably) heavy on infectious disease. Where are all my health systems peeps?