For you @zetkin.bsky.social 😉

One of the best Christmas presents I ever got was this trap cam which allows me to see the creatures I share the garden with. Here’s a badger foraging beneath a persimmon tree

Today's column is on the relentless march of blithering idiocy, which includes denying climate science while your house is - literally in this case - burning down. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What would really be the implications of taking Santa Claus seriously? It's the time of the year to review the current state of the physics of Santa Claus 1/12

Once again, great stuff from Rolling Stone on the enshittification of the science publication system www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

The thread below is horrific It’s about a violent patriarchal society where countless girls are sexually abused by men. Aware adults go to great lengths to organise this & protect each other all along the social hierarchy It’s not about rich elites, it’s about the social position of girls & women

Want to dive into the politics of contraceptive cost coverage? Join the 3CoBe project at @UCLouvain as a PhD researcher in social sciences! 📍 Belgium | 🎓 Full-time doctoral position Apply here 👇 #PhDOpportunity #SocialSciences #ReproductiveJustice

Je recrute un·e doctorant·e en sciences sociales pour mon projet MIS-FNRS 3CoBe 🎓 Objectif : analyser les enjeux des politiques de remboursement des contraceptifs en Belgique 🇧🇪 Intéressé·e ? Postulez ici 👇 #PhD #SciencesSociales #JusticeReproductive

IVG : le Parlement adopte définitivement une loi réhabilitant les femmes condamnées pour avortement

I do think that if the main public health message from the authorities to the population is get the flu vaccine then the flu vaccine should be free and readily available for all. That’s not the case at the moment.

rediscovering that public health happens in social contexts: Good episode on vaccine hesitancy & the changes in childhood vaccine policy in the USA, astonishing that social epidemiologists & social scientists specialised in health are not part of the discussion open.spotify.com/episode/0TKc...

“Due to its gigantic capacities and capabilities alone, a hostile America that wants to dismantle the EU is much more dangerous to Europe than Russia could ever be.” www.ips-journal.eu/topics/forei...

Have you seen this Special Issue on "The Social Uses of the Body"? You can read the translated text by Luc Boltanski & a set of commentaries critically reflecting upon it www.sciencedirect.com/journal/soci...

“In a time of competing catastrophes, it seems worth delivering some good news about poverty and health inequality: poverty *can* be defeated, health inequalities *can* be reduced…” (tried to start this piece on a positive note 😉) #publichealth #HealthInequity www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Know any economics students considering a career in economics research? We're offering six-to-eight week placements at IFS in Summer 2026 as part of our Summer Student scheme. 📊 Apply here by 11pm, Friday 16 Jan 2026: app.beapplied.com/apply/xkr9pu...

Seems some folks’ memories were erased: Some people are highly vulnerable to respiratory illnesses which spread more easily in winter when people are indoors & windows shut If you’re ill you can wear a mask, ensure you ventilate rooms, wash your hands more often & consider telework if possible

I honestly can’t see how the traditional science publishing model will survive the enshittification by AI. We need an alternative -what impact on science careers? -worst of all: how will this impact trust in science if those outside the field have no idea if a paper is real & has been checked?

This has infected all science & the science publishing industry- which was bad- before but now is pushing for AI “peer” review given the volumes of papers & that no one wants to review anymore What’s real science? what’s bullshit? It’s all going down the shitter www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Très intéressant à lire

This is why I'm generally unimpressed by people describing how they use LLMs in academic work. Writing can sometimes be time consuming/painful because *you don't really know what you're trying to say*. The labor of thinking stuff through is part of the science and shouldn't be outsourced.

The Department of Social Statistics and Demography at the University of Southampton is seeking candidates to apply for fully funded PhD positions through the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP; @scdtp.bsky.social). 🗓️ Deadline for 2026/27 entry: 16 January 2026, 16:00 GMT More info ⬇️

In the old twitter times I used to do a lot more science communication about health inequities, doing threads and writing blogposts I was put off it, burnt by the madness of the pandemic and then the horrors of the Musk-meltdown But I do miss it, and want to engage more again...

Wonderful, ultimately uplifting podcast with Loretta Ross, who is very optimistic about the future. The “self-defeating nihilism” of eugenicists means they are very unlikely to win out in the end podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...

One of my favourite things at this time of year is to wander round the Alternative Christmas market in #Toulouse which is located right outside my workplace 😊 marchedenoeltoulouse.fr/les-marches/...

A thread of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) that look like record covers... because that's EXACTLY what the world needs 1. Huey Lewis and the News: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Hot off the press! See our new paper: “Three maxims for countering sex essentialism in scientific research” in the journal Biology of Sex Differences. We show how sex essentialism distorts research & propose 3 ways to avoid making these mistakes. (1/12) rdcu.be/eNcRM

It seems a stretch to describe this as a “step” unless it’s off a diving board:

Useful overview and debate on the connection between social and #healthinequalities in Europe: ⬇️ "Health inequalities in the Nordic countries: A comparative overview and update" by Johan Fritzell & Stefan Fors onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

On the topic of policy messaging inappropriately aimed at individuals, I often return to the Chief Medical Officer's 'Top Ten Tips for Health' and the... 'alternative version' written by Dave Gordon many moons ago ⬇️ the #snark is palpable www.bristol.ac.uk/poverty/heal...

100%. Public health could begin with its own role vis-a-vis misinformation. Huge lack of attention to and investment in science translation, the 'art' piece of public health. Complex but vital work in this increasingly fraught political and info enviro & individualist culture.

One of the biggest challenges in public health & environment-related fields is the miscommunication of population-scale results to the individual-level This is often caused by the desire to formulate “action” relevant to people’s lives but ends up blaming individuals for things not in their control

Recent study by Inès Malroux et al. in Population shows how gender and social-class inequalities shape early development. We also find cumulative effects from the interaction of gender and social class. @lidiapanico.bsky.social @mkellyirving.bsky.social @ehess.fr doi.org/10.3917/e.po...

Today @TheNewYorker released our short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” online. It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

@agawande.bsky.social this text aims to increase awareness about the consequences of #usaid funding cuts after public health infrastructure in many countries has been destroyed… www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Over the summer some very important public health program leaders shared their struggles in keeping their work going since the #usaid cuts Here’s an article about it, please share to increase awareness & motivate political action “Decades of progress - undone” www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Over the summer some very important public health program leaders shared their struggles in keeping their work going since the #usaid cuts Here’s an article about it, please share to increase awareness & motivate political action “Decades of progress - undone” www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

Saying that it's "too hard" to get on the Irish president ballot when an independent woman got the entire Irish left to back her, got the biggest vote ever and beat two historically dominant parties is not just wrong - it is breathtakingly offensive and outrageously dishonest. #Aras25 #Speirgorm

Nous sommes impatients de vous accueillir à Toulouse ! Un programme riche alliant soin, pédagogie et recherche ! @oliviersaintlary.bsky.social Merci au CRGE Midi Pyrénées et au DUMG de Toulouse pour l'aide à l'organisation ! @dryo.bsky.social

RIP Jane Goodall, one of my heroes who I got to meet as a girl when she visited my school. What a role model www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Nine former directors of the CDC speak out against RFK Jr.

“No data, no problem.” — Nancy Krieger

Bumblebees #sleeping on/in #flowers at this time of year! What the feck is that all about? Lots of people asking us so here’s a quick (long)🙄 thread explaining what’s going on. Please #repost/#share so more are more informed. Thanks good people. #bees #nature #biodiversity #worldbeesanctuary 1/16

@jowolff.bsky.social was that you mentioned on TRIP question time?

I’m being trolled once again by the institutions of French research: -on one hand I’m in the dark about my budgets & can’t spend them, have no office space, have to fix our broken doors, sinks, windows… -on the other I am to gratefully accommodate USA researchers & figure out how to pay them 🤷‍♀️

I leave some artichokes go to flower just because the #bees love them so much 😊

Ouch!

Another painting to share. "Donegal Cloud" was a very small painting of a very big sky, and it came from a time when I had a dog and she and I would sit underneath it in silence. #SpeirGorm #ArtAdventCalendar

Judge Young said that the NIH grant terminations were rooted in discrimination against racial, sexual, and gender minority groups: “I would be blind not to call it out. My duty is to call it out.” #HealthInequity #DEI www.science.org/content/arti...

Beautiful morning at the old medical faculty in Toulouse with the swifts out hunting & their babies squeaking in their nests above my office