In this week’s Optimizer, I buy an experimental “GLP-3” drug off the gray market after five minutes on TikTok. The Wellness Wild West is unregulated and people are turning themselves into guinea pigs with unapproved weight loss drugs. www.theverge.com/column/84640...

This is good. open.substack.com/pub/drjessic...

I got a sneak peek at this series and it is … so good!

Here we go: www.theverge.com/transportati...

Tx for flagging, @thgoetz.bsky.social -what a well-done visual feature, kudos @alicecallahan.bsky.social & team. The impact of a changing food environment is also key theme of important book by nutrition scientist @kevinh-phd.bsky.social & @juliabelluz.bsky.social timmermanreport.com/2025/10/food...

With the news on ultraprocessed foods this week, it's worth going back to this excellent explainer, from @alicecallahan.bsky.social, on how we got to where we are today: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

NEW: A risk assessment found that leading general-use chatbots — ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, and Claude — are "fundamentally unsafe" for teen mental health support, failing to catch important red flags and responding inappropriately to users exhibiting signs of crisis. futurism.com/artificial-i...

Kudos to funders @neenap.bsky.social and @bloombergdotorg.bsky.social and all of the contributors for the moral clarity of this work.

At the launch of the @thelancet.com series on ultraprocessed foods, the speakers are making it crystal clear: the economic engine we use to produce the food system is hopelessly -- and dangerously -- at odds with societal goals for people’s health and the environment.

Smells like car bloat: "More than 3,800 people were killed almost immediately when they were struck in 2023, an indication that high speeds and larger vehicles are making impacts more violent. The rate at which pedestrians are declared dead at the scene of the crash has more than doubled."

The Applied Exercise Science at the Univ Michigan has launched two searches for tenure-line (open-rank) and clinical (asst/assoc prof) faculty colleagues with expertise in the Social and Behavioral Sciences of Physical Activity.

Incredible- Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, documents seen by Reuters show. And the social media giant internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day."

Business has long depended on emotional attachment as strategy to create switching costs. (E.g., Cadillac). Seems utterly obvious that despite their ethical commitments, the intentional engineering of AIs to generate human emotional attachment will soon be mainstream.

For our latest newsletter, we look at the current challenges facing public transit, how it matters for health, and ways to think about the future, ft perspectives from @humantransit.bsky.social, @davidzipper.bsky.social & @henriettalmoore.bsky.social -- and more mailchi.mp/bd7c1161a908...

also popular in our newsletter last week was this piece in the @nytimes.com on former FDA commissioner @davidakesslermd.bsky.social's effort to rein in ultraprocessed foods: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/u...

Another popular story from our newsletter last week was this piece, from @meeri.bsky.social on the curious case of low allergies among the Amish: www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

The most popular story in our newsletter last week was this piece, by Jordan Shlain, on how the key to longevity might actually be the friends in your life: medium.com/tincture/soc...

For our most recent newsletter, we were inspired by @tadfriend.bsky.social's @newyorker.com profile of the longevity movement & by John Kay’s writings on “obiquity.” We ask what it would take to achieve health by not focusing on it so much. mailchi.mp/cc9491e30ea8...

Good overview of the many factors — personal, environmental and structural — that can affect sleep: www.vox.com/even-better/...

Good piece on the complexities of what’s changing in childhood. And data from actual kids. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Also very popular in our newsletter this weekend was this oldie but goodie, also from the Berkeley Media Studies Group, on how to make the case for addressing environmental drivers of health: www.bmsg.org/resources/pu...

The most popular story from our newsletter this weekend was this piece, from the Berkeley Media Studies Group, on the tension between American ideals of individualism and the essential roles of public health: medium.com/narrative-st...

Be sure to check out this essay, from co-founder @thgoetz.bsky.social, on individualism, the illusion of freedom of choice and how attaining health individually relies on working on our collective health, in our latest newsletter: mailchi.mp/d36856ac483d...

For our latest newsletter, we look at the iconic American phrase "freedom of choice" and explore its implications for our health. Plus, a new report from @deloitteinsights.bsky.social on food as medicine, a new design envisions entertainment that's actually healthy & more mailchi.mp/d36856ac483d...

Sen. Cassidy vs. Dr. Cassidy, continued …

I'm excited to head to London this week to hear about innovation projects focused on UN SDG 4: Quality Education at the Design for Good Annual Event 2025. You can see the livestream on Thursday here: bit.ly/DfG_Celebrat...

Protected bike lane mileage installed was significantly associated with bike commuter increases that were 52.5% stronger than standard bicycle lane mileage and 281.2% stronger than shared-lane marking mileage. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Great to see greater recognition of the environments (in this case food) that drive chronic illness. But it's not just the food products that are responsible -- there's also entertainment, housing, transportation ... www.buildingh.org/index/2024

We're always grateful for people who take time to contribute to our mission in large ways and small. This Friday, thanks go out to @joannecheung.com, @kimkater.bsky.social, @suewoods.bsky.social, @susannahrfox.bsky.social and many more: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

The most popular piece in our newsletter last week was co-founder @stephenjdowns.bsky.social's remarks -- covering lessons from our first five years -- at the 2025 annual meeting of the @sbm.org: medium.com/building-h/w...

Superb article. That constant data collection w/ regular data analysis is considered the future of health highlights 2 major failures: 1) not providing adequate health care for all; and 2) creating a modern world where it's so hard to stay healthy. The real challenge is to make this stuff rare.

The most popular story from our newsletter was this NYT opinion piece from @erictopol.bsky.social on the real (and very old school) keys to longevity, which can be supplemented by advances in measurement: www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...

We're out with our latest newsletter, ft. a collection of stories on the importance of spending time outdoors, in nature or in cities. Plus: the sneaky way that junk food hacks our brains; @erictopol.bsky.social on the boring but effective secrets to longevity & more mailchi.mp/bb408b3cec73...

In a new follow-up report, @buildingh.bsky.social researchers used the Index as a tool to evaluate socially responsible investment (SRI) portfolios, with a focus on the health impacts of a company’s products.

Great write up on our recent research from @equitiesdotcom.bsky.social: www.equities.com/impact-inves...

The most popular story from our newsletter last week was this opinion piece by @drandrealove.bsky.social in @statnews.com on the damage being done by the wellness industry: www.statnews.com/2025/04/10/r...

Hear how @buildingh.bsky.social calculates health scores for consumer products and services across entertainment, food, housing, and transportation, and makes recommendations to companies about how to make their products healthier: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zD_...

I had great conversation about our work on the Building H Index and how consumer products and services affect our health with @drjoshs.bsky.social of @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social for their Public Health On Call podcast. It's a quick listen: johnshopkinssph.libsyn.com/881-the-buil...

Last day to vote! If this issue resonates with you, please take a minute and vote for the session. Thanks to all who’ve already done so.

I’m really excited about this work we released today. We have so many products and services that make it harder for people to be healthy — and we need ways to create accountability for these impacts. The report reveals a big opportunity to fold new measures of health impact into ESG investing.

I’m really excited about this work we released today. We have so many products and services that make it harder for people to be healthy — and we need ways to create accountability for these impacts. The report reveals a big opportunity to fold new measures of health impact into ESG investing.

What a line: “Trading universal health insurance for a shot at one day renovating your own big, beautiful American kitchen with all the bells and whistles isn’t a deal that everyone born into the US economic system is glad their forebears made, but you can plausibly call it a trade.”

@apha.org A4: PHI’s @buildingh.bsky.social aims to reverse the course of chronic disease in the U.S., rooted in the belief that the infrastructure of our daily life—our food, transportation, housing, and entertainment—can be reimagined with health and well-being as explicit design goals. #NPHWChat

A4: The 2024 Building H Index (@buildingh.bsky.social) is a groundbreaking report that rates and ranks 76 popular consumer products, from Uber to Netflix, and from Trek to Ford Motor Company, based on how they affect—for better or worse—the health of customers and users: #NPHWChat

Products and services of everyday life shape how we eat, move, sleep, socialize & more behaviors that affect our health. How can we incentivize companies to build products with positive health impacts? Please vote for our session at @socapglobal.bsky.social to help make this happen: bit.ly/41ZR97W

Please vote for our #SOCAPOpen session! Well be discussing how the ‘H” of health fits into ESG and socially responsible investing. Shouldn’t companies whose products promote health be prioritized over companies whose don’t? Vote here: bit.ly/41ZR97W

Products and services of everyday life shape how we eat, move, sleep, socialize & more behaviors that affect our health. How can we incentivize companies to build products with positive health impacts? Please vote for our session at @socapglobal.bsky.social to help make this happen: bit.ly/41ZR97W

We've run the numbers, done the analysis and there's a clear opportunity to make the health impacts of products and services really matter. We're eager to bring this discussion to @socapglobal.bsky.social. Anyone can support this effort by voting: bit.ly/41ZR97W #SOCAPOpen