It's been a remarkably miserable week politically, but in just the last 24 hours, two examples of amazing academic generosity: this from David Adger, and a Computational Cog Neuroscience textbook from @gershbrain.bsky.social. Both open for all to read and use.

Fiscal Year 2026 NIH Funding Update The committed funding for fiscal year 2026 is lagging behind all fiscal years from 2015-2025. More details to follow. 1/6

"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell, 1984

I explained the dangers of the recent politicization of grant reviews at NIH for The Hill, and also that while diversity otherwise remains a bad word, geographic diversity is somehow laudable. thehill.com/opinion/tech...

I'm very proud of our new album, Lemons and Aces. Twelve original acoustic songs to soothe the soul. music.apple.com/us/album/lem...

these are looking more and more appealing

Our second album is officially out! 🕊️🍋♠️ A journey through heartbreak, loss, and the hope that follows. We’ve poured our hearts into this one—come take a listen. 🍋✨ open.spotify.com/album/6TDjrj... #NewMusic #Acoustic #SingerSongwriter

I guess wag the dog works, especially when you wag a bunch of dogs at the same time. No more Epstein Files or Affordability in the news.

“the new organizational chart contains the clearest evidence yet that the Trump administration has seized control of an agency that has historically been mostly free of White House interference.”

Happy New Year! I'm really excited to have received my ticket for the New Year's Eve activities!

Expanded alt Christmas playlist for your listening pleasure based on some recent suggestions. If you have a suggestion please post in the comments. open.spotify.com/playlist/3A8...

7. NIH eviscerated

Tired of the same old Christmas songs? Fire up this alt-Christmas playlist and get into the holiday spirit! Got some suggestions? Post them in the comments! open.spotify.com/playlist/3A8...

Bouba and Kiki helping out with a graph

“Trump Derangement Syndrome” has always been a way to smear people for having a logical, rational response to Trump having power. The real TDS is normalizing Trump’s power and the way he abuses it

Hey friends, are you tired of standard holiday music? I'm putting together a playlist of alt-Christmas songs. Post your recommendations in the comments and I'll put it together and post the playlist here.

Currently re-reading The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. It was published in 1993 and the dystopia it describes is incredibly accurate. I'd totally forgotten that it takes place in 2025.

As an educator I have to ask... what could that even mean? www.forbes.com/sites/michae...

We've been locked away writing and recording for months, and we're ecstatic to announce that our second full-length album Lemons and Aces is nearly complete! Twelve original songs are in the bag. Full preview here #originalmusic #acoustic #acousticguitar #folk open.spotify.com/playlist/551...

Tiny cars for people with tiny hands?

No doubt these station wagons won't have seatbelts and will run on leaded gasoline. And the kids in the back will be incubating Hepatitis B and polio. Thanks Sean Duffy and RFK Jr!

🎤 New single alert! We kept it bare bones for this one: just acoustic guitar and raw vocals. John Henderson & Lemonhead's new song, "Paint My World," is a powerful, melancholic ode to absence. Listen now. open.spotify.com/album/28lSS8...

yes

IT'S OFFICIAL. OUR SECOND ALBUM IS ON THE WAY. 📢 We poured everything into these 11 original tracks and we're finally ready for you to hear a taste. This playlist is your exclusive sneak peek before the full release. Turn it up! The countdown is on! ⏳ open.spotify.com/playlist/551...

Psych dept hiring is SO trend-based. In the 80s, connectionism was all the rage; in the early naughts, you had to do cognitive neuroscience; and today it’s all AI. Some of this is our own attraction to methods over theory, and a lot of it is a response to administration-defined financial priorities.

Perfect quote today from NVIDIA's Jensen Huang about AI: "People think that inference is one shot, and therefore it's easy. [...] But it turns out to be the hardest of all, because thinking, as it turns out, is quite hard"

A bad thing is unfolding at NIH this week: It looks like the Trump administration is trying to replace key civil servant scientific leaders, the Institute Directors, with political hires. These directors control the NIH budget, tens of billions. A bit of a video explainer here: 1/ 🧪

Does anyone know if the new shutdown ending CR funds NIH past December?

Forty days of pain for absolutely no gain. And the Dems wonder why they are so unpopular.

Exactly, a 40 day fight for nothing. And a total loss of the political capital and excitement from Tuesday. This is why people are disgusted with the Democratic party.

Chris Murphy: "There will be pretty substantial damage to a Dem brand that has been rehabilitated if on the heels of an election in which the people told us to keep fighting, we immediately stop... if we surrender without having gotten anything, I worry it'll be hard to get them back up off the mat"

If the Dem senators cave now for just "a promise of a vote" on ACA credits, then all of this pain has been for absolutely nothing.

To put this in perspective, $40 billion is about the entire yearly budget for the National Institutes of Health. Should we be bailing out Argentina, or curing cancer, Alzheimer's and age-related dementia, heart disease...?

1 year residency program at Apple. Cogsci/neuro/ling folks studying neuro interpretability, reasoning, and decision-making under uncertainty to help Apple make progress on similar questions in LLMs. Recent PhD or more senior jobs.apple.com/en-us/detail...

Don't Bread on Me.

Let me excerpt the concluding paragraph:

this really is an inspired idea

new images released of construction at the White House

When we go to Chicago we live here. Terrifying. Federal immigration agents tear-gas Lakeview, raid Lincoln Park as feds focus on city's affluent North Side www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/24/f...

This is what democracy looks like. #NoKings

Renewed. Streaming everywhere. open.spotify.com/track/1dTPp4...

When Republicans are pre-butting a pro-democracy rally like No Kings and making shit up left and right to scare people, you know they're losing and in panic mode. Pedal to the floor.

I just realized that Octavia Butler's classic novel "The Parable of the Sower" takes place way off in the future... in 2025.

This right here is Trump's ultimate goal: staying in power

Check out the new John Henderson and Lemonhead song Renewed, now streaming on Spotify and Apple Music. Cover art by Julian! open.spotify.com/album/2fTlgp...

“CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM" -- Gavin Newsom

this is good for UCLA, good for the entire University of California, and good for all US universities

I just kept waiting and waiting and waiting, and... no rapture. It did rain though.

This was a fun study to work on. Congrats Karina, great to see it in print!