Latest TR column: the best and worst effects of wearables play out in your mind, not your body. timmermanreport.com/2026/06/well... cc @nachristakis.bsky.social @alicecallahan.bsky.social @euanashley.bsky.social

Accurate: “On the weekends, I stroll to the farmers' market… and publicly air my opinions about produce. I buy with generosity, ignorance, and hope — as if nothing is happening, as if the future was laden with butter radishes, heirloom apples."

Last night, just near sunset, after going to some events for First Friday in Woodland, CA with my daughter, we drove by the Woodland Water Treatment Plant. With the sun going down the lighting on the white faced ibises there was was astonishing. Here is my favorite pic from last night. #birds

This whole series is really good, and this (3 1/2 min) video in particular resonates - about burnout, frustration, agency, and finding purpose and joy in doing science - and what a privilege it is to be a scientist today. As usual, great perspective via @nachristakis.bsky.social.

Rubio tosses RFK Jr under the bus on vaccines: "The State Dept made the decision that we are going to reengage ... we have certainly allowed Sec. Kennedy to play a leading role, but right now we're at a stage where we are going to reengage."

Great egret and osprey

This is unbelievably chilling. I thought the headline was hyperbole until reading the article

It turned out that beating the best humans at chess had nothing to do with more general intelligence. Any analogy with what we're seeing now with AI and math?

"Dozens of state anti-vaccine bills backed by “Make America Healthy Again” supporters have failed after public health groups won over Republican state lawmakers, marking a series of defeats for the backers of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr." whtc.com/2026/05/18/u...

I was buying some wine yesterday and the banter at my local about beach weather was high comedy Don’t fahget yah aloe buddy

Now out: latest TR column w my summer content recs! Books from @davidepstein.bsky.social, @danielsodickson.bsky.social &c; Blogs from @erictopol.bsky.social, @michaelalbertmd.bsky.social Pcasts on biz history, science, happiness, & future (of everything....) &c. timmermanreport.com/2026/05/summ...

I love it when one can see the iridescence of the white faced ibises that live around us -- seen near #DavisCA today #birds

Magic happens when you leverage the ‘friendship paradox’! Field experiment by Eido Airoldi & @nachristakis.bsky.social finds meaningful improvement in health outcomes through friendship-nomination targeting compared with random targeting: buff.ly/4dtOMO5

Nut graf

Obviously highly relevant op-ed about *relational value* of chatbot in health; observation will not surprise Carey Goldberg (who said this in 2023) nor Zak Kohane who has noted gaps in traditional care & emphasizes "compared to what" POV). nytimes.com/2026/05/24/o... @adamrodmanmd.bsky.social

Peer review remains essential, but the mechanics are increasingly brutal. As an editor: hard to find reviewers. As an author: long waits, uneven reviews. As a reviewer: uncompensated work squeezed into nights/weekends. Not broken in principle. Badly strained in practice. @dereklowe.bsky.social

Thinking about @davidepstein.bsky.social’s point that constraints can sometimes improve performance by reducing search space. May also be true in wellness. Simple advice-eat well, exercise, sleep, connect-is right, but can feel too vague. Rigid protocols may appeal bc they reduce decision burden.

Have been thinking @davidepstein.bsky.social POV on constraints may explain why so many embrace rigid wellness approaches vs common sense recs of @zekeemanuel.bsky.social, @hjluks.bsky.social et al (incl me). Perhaps too many degr of freedom->more stressful & harder to enact vs more constrained menu

A key point emerging from @erictopol.bsky.social's Super Agers (my wsj rev -> www.wsj.com/health/welln...) & others (incl, yes, Peter Attia) is the many adverse effects of chronic inflammation assoc w obesity (eg "inflammaging"), & correspondingly, the many benefits of reducing this eg via GLP-1s.

For all its flaws, peer review obviously gold standard. BUT - having experienced this from both POV of editor requesting reviews and author awaiting reviews, process (w rare exceptions) incredibly, brutally inefficient, likely related to # of journals, # of submitters, lack of comp for reviewing.

Vineyard sunrise. @vineyardgazette.bsky.social @phylogenomics.bsky.social @peterkolchinsky.bsky.social @jvl.bsky.social

1. Today's "temptation bundling" (h/t @katymilkman.bsky.social)- saved latest, much-anticipated @nejm.org AI pcast w CMO of @openevidence.bsky.social Travis Zack to listen to on extended morning jog. Worth it? Totally! @andrewlbeam.bsky.social @hjluks.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

This is reason almost every LinkedIn post is unreadable

I am proud to be affiliated with FIRE. This is an obvious and necessary outcome in a free society, such as ours — daily under threat at the moment.

In context of recent discussion of MD political leanings, I asked ChatGPT to estimate MD salaries for categories mentioned, to examine whether there's any apparent relationship. Result below; *usual caveats re: AI apply!* @davidshor.bsky.social @nachristakis.bsky.social @dbaltman.bsky.social

Lots of interest in these results today; I discussed and contextualized political polarization in medicine in @thebulwark.com, a few years ago: thebulwark.com/p/political-... @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social @jvl.bsky.social @davidshor.bsky.social @nachristakis.bsky.social @rbaltman.bsky.social

What a magnificent, beautiful story via @yabraham.bsky.social @bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/19/m...

No one covers the eccentricities of the well-being and lifestyle craze more effectively or more amusingly than @bethteitell.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2026/05/18/l... Nut graf; kicker…

1/7 Short 🧵on my recent TR column on how last wk's @dukemargolis.bsky.social health policy conf left me more hopeful abt AI's promise in HC & more convinced that this will struggle to manifest in existing HC system due to perverse incentives - timmermanreport.com/2026/05/can-... @bijans.bsky.social

1/7 Short 🧵on my recent TR column on how last wk's @dukemargolis.bsky.social health policy conf left me more hopeful abt AI's promise in HC & more convinced that this will struggle to manifest in existing HC system due to perverse incentives - timmermanreport.com/2026/05/can-... @bijans.bsky.social

ICYMI latest TR column on my obs from last wk's @dukemargolis.bsky.social hlth policy conf: 1. Real promise for AI in health; 2. B/c of incentives, incumbents hopelessly fixated on using AI for reimbursement; 3. Incr popular discontent; 4. Huge consum hlth oppy. timmermanreport.com/2026/05/can-...

Osprey at #YoloBypass this AM

1/5 I've been emphasizing health value of movement for awhile - both intrinsically and in context of agency. This is an *outstanding* concise summary of why (& how) you should get off couch, by @michaelalbertmd.bsky.social substance-over-noise.beehiiv.com/p/the-one-th...

Terrific Jacob Shiff quote from this wk's @dukemargolis.bsky.social conf in DC, abt how you get what you incent; he=more optimistic than I am about adjusting incentives of current HC system; my POV on conf, & why I'm more hopeful about AI-enabled consumer health. timmermanreport.com/2026/05/can-...

Terrific Jacob Shiff quote from this wk's @dukemargolis.bsky.social conf in DC, abt how you get what you incent; he=more optimistic than I am about adjusting incentives of current HC system; my POV on conf, & why I'm more hopeful about AI-enabled consumer health. timmermanreport.com/2026/05/can-...

New TR column - a bit of a frontal reaction to a health policy conf in DC I attended this week... timmermanreport.com/2026/05/can-...

Fascinating episode

I have not seen too many of these around here but was very very happy to see a few California tortoiseshell butterflies in my yard yesterday. Here is a pic of one of them. So pretty. #butterflies

They are criminals, David, and cannot be reformed.

Hey @phylogenomics.bsky.social - your grosbeaks are good but I think the Bali flying monkeys (featured in Journal story) may be better!

1/ New TR column focused not on whether AI will save or doom the world - which eschaton is likely to be immanentized – but rather on how pragmatic doers are trying to gainfully implement AI in a range of domains. timmermanreport.com/2026/05/ai-i...

1/ 🧵In 2023, I wrote TR column about a critical, underappreciated role- @dnanexus.bsky.social -we called it "solution scientist," others use "solution strategist," "solutions engineer," or "forward deployed engineer"- upon which tech deployment vitally depends: timmermanreport.com/2023/02/the-...

Robin nesting in a rhododendron bush near one of our windows

I love love love love love male carpenter bees. Here are some pics of one from my yard a few minutes ago.

Just out-latest TR post: AI in Practice: on the important, difficult work of getting AI to deliver-in pharma, medicine, & beyond. timmermanreport.com/2026/05/ai-i... Cited: Peter Loftus, Ziad Obermeyer, Kathrine Baicker, @erictopol.bsky.social @wsj.com Raj Manrai Zak Kohane @pmalone.bsky.social

The 3 routes to influencer $: 1. Brand deals/"human billboard," & usually beholden to (multiple) brands 2. Platform partners/desperate pursuit of virality, usu via clickbait/negative emotional arousal 3. Monetize audience/usually involves cultivating "us vs them" dynamic. (via @rbaltman.bsky.social)

Super interesting via @ziadobeid.bsky.social & K Baicker on an approach to generating robust surrogate markers, urgently needed but elusive, for clin trials, essentially via channeling the AI-enabled empiric analysis that I assoc w PRS (cc @pnatarajanmd.bsky.social) jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Fascinating, absolutely fascinating Future of Everything pcast hosted by @rbaltman.bsky.social feat Stanford Comms scholar Angèle Christin on the rise (metrics, unbundling) & economics (3 routes to $, all fairly distressing) of influencers - such a great listen! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...