iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 5h

There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...

But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.

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Dr. Amy, PsyD @dramypsyd.rmh-therapy.com · 6h

Friends, does anyone know what made this web? It wasn’t there last night and this is one of about five in our back yard this morning. I’m curious.

Spiderweb in a planter. There’s an iron angel decoration and the web goes from the angel’s wings down to the dirt.

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Michael Ekstrand @md.ekstrandom.net · 7h

Joe Konstan introducing the John T. Riedl Lasting Impact Award at #RecSys2026, recognizing work with a durable impact on the field. Happy to be a part of the committee who selected the first recipient and to carry forward John’s memory and legacy.

A photo of a convention room, with Joe on the stage and a slide with a brief bio summary of John on the slide.

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One of the Sarahs @one-of-the-sarahs.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Who wouldn't wasn't a Frog-legged leaf beetle to join them for coffee/tea?! www.teepublic.com/user/one-of-... #MerchMonday

Screenshot of a TeePublic coffee mug printed with a simple graphic of a shiny green beetle with thick rear legs and the text "Never Skips Leg Day."

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I’ve been taking advantage of @md.ekstrandom.net’s conference travel to slowly move our weightlifting space upstairs to our bedroom. There was a moment today when I realized that neither space was functional for my workout and I would need to carry weights up stairs in order to lift weights.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Tegan and her octopus are spending a few hours together at the vet. I found what the vet thinks is probably a melanoma last night. It’s nice that it can come off today, but it requires sedation which is always risky for rabbits.

Tegan, a black lionhead rabbit, snuggled up with a red octopus stuffy

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Chris MacQuarrie @cmacquar.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Resurrecting an old meme in light of finding spotted lanternfly in Canada doe the first time

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

500 day streak on Finch today. It’s remarkable how well this cute little app has helped with self-care for me. If you’re interested in trying it, here’s an invite finch.go.link/16m3L?adj_la... Or my friend code 4XMFHPE8YJ1 if you want to connect

finch.go.link

Finch - Your New Self-Care Best Friend

Meet your new self-care best friend! Finch is a self-care pet app that helps you feel prepared and positive, one day at a time.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Love being one of the people who reacts to poison ivy on the wind (and seeing it growing along running routes)

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Geoff Bowden @geoffbowden.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

One of the biggest failures of universities is some of the lowest hanging fruit. Make the case to communities and states: do you like having doctors and teachers? Bridges and computers? Yes?You can’t have them w/o universities. Universities are for everyone, not just the people who attend them.

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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Was slumming it on fb and ig to see reactions to the Academy of Natural Sciences closing. It’s heartening that people are pissed. But it’s astonishing/enlightening how little understanding there is of what *any* museum is, who runs them, and how they’re funded. 🧵with dinosaur pics for attention

Museum display corral with cast skeleton of Tenontosaurus being attached by Deinonychus. Three baby Tenontosaurus following.

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Trung Le Nguyen @trungles.com · 02/09/2026

So Emma Woodhouse is a pretty girl who is pretty smart, pretty rich, and pretty much has no problems whatsoever. We’re off to a roaring start.

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Alright everybody, time to text the teachers in your life. The fall semester is open at SkypeAScientist and we are ready to match classrooms, scout troops, library groups, and more with scientists! Tell the educators in your life, and send them to SkypeAScientist.com

A frog uses its comically long tongue to catch a fleeing fly and the words say “send this to a teacher” pointing right. Then under the tongue it says “Skype a scientist matches classrooms with scientists for free Q&As” and there’s a little pond scene with lily pads and spatterdock flowers and a rock with a snail on it and a salamander with the words get a match at Skype scientist.com

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Thought I was going to get a quick #InverteFest photo when a hover fly started hanging out, but then it kept landing on my phone. Eventually got a photo.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Of course I made the sketch upside down 🙃

Photo of Nyssa, a black Rex rabbit, sitting in a cat tree room. The photo is the reference for the sketch

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I encountered six other pedestrians and a few cyclists while crossing Falls Bridge today. A lot of people I see are using it for recreation (which is important!) but some people are just trying to get somewhere.

View from Falls Bridge: a river reflecting sunshine, with trees on either side

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 25/08/2026

[Exit Queen.]

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

This quote about “a sixth-generation Iowan is less Iowan than an illegal immigrant” bothers me. Iowa is a place not a gene. My family has lived in Iowa for generations. I grew up in Iowa. I’ve rogued corn and exhibited at the State Fair. Anyone currently living there is more Iowan than me.

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Ecololgists!! This fall, the LEGO league's theme for their annual competition is ecosystems/biodiversity themed. We are going to need *a lot* of ecologists to help meet the demand. If you are willing to have a conversation with k-8 students about ecology, pls sign up here forms.gle/NbxitaXamK7B...

A teacher who is a fish has his fin on his hip and another pointing to the chalkbaord that says "Calling all ecologists skype a scientist needs you!" and a shrimp says "lego league jis coming" and a snail thinks "HELP!" and a seahorse says "This year's theme is ecosystems" and hot fish teacher says "Volunteer to speak with classrooms"

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/08/2026

14 hours later and my mentions are still full of angry treatises about badly behaved cyclists. Bike lanes are not a reward for good cyclist behavior! They are infrastructure proven to make cities safer for ALL ROAD USERS. Whatever way cyclists have wronged you is irrelevant to the discussion!

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Ten years is a long life for a bun, but not nearly long enough. 💔🌈

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Jesus fucking Christ covid vax REDUCED miscarriages and stillbirths. Also I'm one of the people who studied menstrual side fx of the covid vax to make sure we didn't invalidate peoples' real experiences, and to better set expectations for side fx. Ultimately the project made me even MORE provax!

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Michael Ekstrand @md.ekstrandom.net · 11/08/2026

“I don’t know what that dark circle is” isn’t what you want to hear when the emergency vet is looking at the ultrasound 😭😭😭.

A black Rex rabbit eating a large piece of green lettuce.

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Satori :skyeface3: @satori.mastodon.thirring.org.ap.brid.gy · 07/08/2026

Hi friends, hoping to be on later tonight after dealing with some glass... but as a few of you have asked, I have set up a Go Fund Me for the buns :bunHeart: It embarasses BunMum (so hard) to do this, but we would do anything for our sweet loves (even this) and don't ever want money to ever […]

mastodon.thirring.org

Original post on mastodon.thirring.org

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Sandy Ernest Allen @sandyernestallen.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I'm not gonna tell anyone how to live or what precisely will fill the Harry Potter sized hole in *your* heart, I'm only telling you: If you support Harry Potter, you're telling me you don't care about trans rights enough to do something as small as give *that* up.

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Reposted by Jennifer Ekstrand

Sarah @sosomanysarahs.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

For folks who are nostalgic about participating in a fandom for ongoing series written by living authors, the Locked Tomb series or Leigh Bardugo's books might fill that need.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I suspect a lot of the draw of HP was less about the prose and more about the social aspects made possible by its popularity. So read books in community where possible. If you don’t know where to find it, live post as you read and a community might appear. Maybe try Terry Pratchett.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Saw the Cundhill Prize long list this morning www.cundillprize.com/news/the-202... and I’m having some emotions about it. I added a few titles to my to-be-read list, but so many of them prompted a reaction of “I do not have the emotional capacity to read that in the near future.”

cundillprize.com

The 2026 Cundill History Prize Longlist

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

The days are feeling shorter… I don’t love noticing that before the equinox.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

A lot of traits domestic rabbits have been selected for are bad for the rabbits: short faces cause respiratory issues, Rex fur leads to sore hocks. These aren’t quite as severe as the hairless cats, but aesthetics over welfare is a common choice for rabbit breeding. (So adopt don’t shop)

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

“HELLOFALL” is quite a bold coupon code by ThredUp

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Looking at hydration vests again. And again, I am annoyed that my bust size is (still) too large for “women’s”options. The main reason I would want my water carrier to be gendered is because boobs change the geometry.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

David Tennant would be great. Barbara Rosenblat or Renee Raudman would also be great

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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I'd be deader than Mitch McConnell if our excellent union health insurance hadn't paid for the operations and the unbelievably costly drug regimen that have kept me alive, with day-to-day good health This contract is a matter of life or death for me. Please support us

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JLMeyer @jenniferlmeyer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I see you!

brown bunny with pink ears standing up.
has a black tail. back ground is one color

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Had a cool morning and my best mile time dropped by a minute and a half. I knew the heat stress was significant, but I was starting to worry about my summer plateau.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Hello ozone headache. I’m glad I don’t have them constantly for a month every year since leaving Idaho, but I would like global warming smoke to go away now.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I’m not sure whether stories like this just appeal to my confirmation bias or if food safety is really getting worse.

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

These days I only use my smart watch when running. I lost it in my sock pile, and by the time I thought to use “find my watch” the battery was too low. I found my watch in the jumble of socks this morning, and after it had a few minutes to charge, it started pinging. A little too late to be useful 😂

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

But… but… but the sparrows killed my romaine and I have pet rabbits who require lots of lettuce

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Today’s the anniversary of John Riedl’s death. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_T.... John was @md.ekstrandom.net’s Ph.D. Advisor. We experienced a lot of loss during what we call the Year of Hell, but John’s death was one of the most acutely painful. I really hate melanoma.

en.wikipedia.org

John T. Riedl - Wikipedia

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Jennifer Ekstrand @bugsnbuns.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Tomorrow is going to be a “fuck cancer” day.

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