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Jennifer Leman

@jlorileman.bsky.social
346 followers 1.2K following 10 posts

Features editor at National Geographic. Science journalist and proud WGAE member.

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Reposted by Jennifer Leman
ProPublica @propublica.org · 16/02/2026
ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from. We'll let their words speak for themselves.
propublica.org
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
the Washington Post effectively blew up its arts section today, dismissing its books, TV, music, and theater critics, features writers, and several editors. (I'm also guessing the vacant film critic position will stay that way.) Just an insane loss of talent and a huge self-inflicted wound.
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Simon Willison @simonwillison.net · 05/02/2026
The CIA just stopped publishing their World Factbook and took every page, including the archived copies of previous versions! This sucks. It was public domain, so I recovered the 2020 edition (the last one published as a zip file) and shared it to GitHub simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/5/t...
simonwillison.net
Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell
Somewhat devastating news today from the CIA: One of CIA’s oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset. There's not even a hint as to why they …
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Sandhya Dirks @audiosand.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Screen shot of two tweets from Emmanuel Felton, who was fired from the Washington post. 

First tweet reads: I’m among the hundreds of people laid off by The Post. This comes six months after hearing in a national meeting that race coverage drives subscriptions. This wasn’t a financial decision it was an ideological one. 

Felton quote tweets it with this: 
The other reporter on my team covering race was also laid off as well as the editor in charge of race coverage across national. The team covering America beyond DC is now 90% white.
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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 04/02/2026
BREAKING: a trusted source tells me that The Washington Post also laid off the entire team that manages live video, video-on-demand, and *video creators*. What is going on!
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Julia Métraux @juliametraux.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
This is painful to read.
A tweet from Lizzie Johnson that reads, I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated."
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 16/01/2026
Guards may have choked a man to death inside an ICE tent encampment on the Mexican border. Had three children, been in the U.S. for 30 years. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/... @douglasmac.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com
Medical examiner believes death of man in ICE custody was homicide, recording says
A fellow detainee says he witnessed Geraldo Lunas Campos being choked to death by guards at the ICE detention center in Texas on Jan. 3.
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Jennifer Leman @jlorileman.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
2026: the year I start playing video games
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Reposted by Jennifer Leman
Mothership @mothership.blog · 09/01/2026
It's time to board the Mothership. www.youtube.com/shorts/iEw90...
youtube.com
Board the Mothership.
YouTube video by Mothership Media LLC
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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
I know, it's not out until October, but pre-orders help books hit big on that first week and get attention. Help Snaggletooth make a big entrance - I promise you're going to want to sink your teeth into this one. 🦖
bookshop.org
Tyrant Lizard Queen: The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore
The Love, Life, and Terror of Earth’s Greatest Carnivore
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Michael Le Page @mjflepage.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
mRNA 🧬 vaccines - but not other kinds - trigger an innate response that can allow the immune system to 'see' and attack tumours, animal studies suggest 🧪 If true, the covid vaccines should do this - and now we have the first evidence this is so www.newscientist.com/article/2500...
newscientist.com
mRNA covid vaccines spark immune response that may aid cancer survival
An analysis of patient records suggests that mRNA covid-19 vaccines boost the immune response to cancerous tumours when given soon after people start a type of immunotherapy, extending their lives
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Nicole Foy @nicolefoy.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Hi, I'm the ProPublica reporter who's been tracking an unusual stat: U.S. citizens grabbed by immigration agents. I did it because the government isn’t. This is what I found.
White words on a black background read:

50+ 
Immigration agents have the authority to detain whom they reasonably suspect are in the country illegally. We found more than 50 Americans who were held after agents questioned their citizenship. They were almost all Latino.

~130
Agents also can arrest citizens who allegedly interfered with or assaulted officers. We compiled cases of about 130 Americans, including a dozen elected officials, accused of assaulting or impeding officers. 

~20
Among the citizens detained are nearly 20 children, including two with cancer.
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Andrew Dessler @andrewdessler.com · 16/10/2025
🚨Reporters🚨 I'm looking for a reporter who's can zoom into my graduate professional development class and talk about interviewing scientists (e.g., what makes a good interview, how can scientists help reporters, ...).
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Maxine Joselow @maxinejoselow.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Before catastrophic floods swept through the Alaska Native village of Kipnuk on Sunday, the EPA canceled a $20 million grant intended to protect the community from extreme flooding. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/c...
nytimes.com
Before Alaska Flooding, E.P.A. Canceled $20 Million Flood Protection Grant
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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 10/05/2023
Happy birthday to #astrophysicist Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900-1979), a trailblazer for women in #astronomy who discovered that hydrogen and helium are the most common elements in the universe.⁠ ⁠ 1/n ⁠ #linocut #physics #sciart #printmaking #womenInSTEM #mathyear #astrophysics #astronomer
Linocut portrait of Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin in a lace collar in front of the sun in oranges and black against the blackness of space. At the bottom of the print is the solar absorption spectrum (a rainbow style gradient of indigo at left through to red and black at the right with specific discrete thin black vertical lines at various places).
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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 29/02/2024
For #BlackHistoryMonth pharmaceutical chemist Alice Ball (1892-1916) developed 1st effective treatment for leprosy. 👩🏾‍🔬🧪🐡 #histsci Though her life was cut tragically short, her research saved 1000s from exile & painful, ineffective lifelong treatment for leprosy, & she was a trailblazer for 🧵1/
My linocut portrait of pharmaceutical chemist Alice Ball, a young Black woman in a lab coat, printed in indigo. Below her is the chemical reaction for Ball’s Process in violet. Above and around her is a branch of chalmoogra with green leaves and yellow fruit.
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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
For #spacetober_challenge day 8 prompt propulsion, my portrait of #mathematician, aeronautical #engineer, philanthropist & Cherokee ‘hidden figure’ of the space race: Mary Golda Ross (1908-2008).⁠ 🧪🐡🧮🔭👩🏻‍🔬 #histsci ⁠ Great-great-granddaughter of Chief John Ross, who was forced to lead his people on the
Linocut portrait of Mary Golda Ross looking over her shoulder in a gradient of green (at bottom) to gold (at top) surrounded by vehicles important to her career including P-38 Lighting fighter plane, and Agena rocket, important to Apollo missions in grey.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 13/10/2025
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L
reut.rs
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.
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Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
"It was an exciting opportunity to do applied pollinator research, which is what I want to do for my career.... I feel lucky to have my new job, but I’m definitely still in mourning." This is something I've seen from a lot of former Feds. They LOVED their jobs.... www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/s...
nytimes.com
She Studied How Logging Affects Pollinators
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Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
ICE left David, a 17-year-old boy, stranded on the side of Interstate 20 after pulling over his immigrant father, Hector, in Mississippi. David began running in the scorching sun after the car and watched as it disappeared from sight—soon headed to a Louisiana ICE prison. Here's their story.
mississippifreepress.org
ICE Stranded a 17-Year-Old on I-20 After Arresting His Father. The Mississippi Dad Now Faces Deportation.
A 17-year-old watched as ICE arrested his immigrant father, Hector, on I-20 in June. The family faces mounting legal fees and the risk of deportation.
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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 09/10/2025
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
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Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 09/10/2025
Across the country, people keep asking the same question: "What do we do now?" And my answer is always the same: UNIONIZE.
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Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Apple has removed Eyes Up, an app that aggregates videos people have published on social media documenting abuses by ICE, from the App Store, Apple’s ongoing crackdown on anti-ICE apps continues.
404media.co
Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses
Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.
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Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
It's Nobel week! Here's @laurenjyoung.bsky.social with a great explainer on the science of today's winners, who developed our understanding of how the immune system avoids attacking the body: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/2025...
scientificamerican.com
This Year’s Medicine Nobel Goes to Discovery of Why the Body Doesn’t Attack Itself
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi shared the Nobel prize for their work on peripheral immune tolerance, a process that is key to organ transplants and treatment of autoimmune disease...
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Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
"But months later, the results are in: of more than 160,000 students enrolled, only 43 families chose to opt out of LGBTQ+ education districtwide." "this crusade is not a mass movement. It’s the obsession of a vanishingly small minority"
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed. The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.
nature.com
Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired
“I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.
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Shawn Musgrave @shawnmusgrave.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
If you know other cases where DHS/ICE and other agencies demanded data about an activist's online accounts, I'm still digging. My Signal is shawnmusgrave.82
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Wow! Brilliant for writers!
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The NewsGuild-CWA @newsguild.org · 25/09/2025
🚨 ACTION: The U.S. should welcome foreign journalists—not kick them out. DHS is trying to gut the journalist I visa program and weaken press freedom at home and abroad. ▶️ Will you join over 13,000 and submit your own comment?: newsguild.org/action-newsg...
newsguild.org
ACTION: NewsGuild-CWA joins calls on DHS to withdraw journalist visa proposal | The NewsGuild - TNG-CWA
The NewsGuild-CWA calls on DHS to withdraw its proposed rule that would change the I visa program for foreign journalists working in the United States.
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Till Eckert @tilleckert.com · 26/09/2025
1/ I’m Till Eckert, a ProPublica reporter. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been going to the same NY immigration courthouse. Nearly every time, I see ICE agents arresting immigrants. Today, a woman was slammed to the ground after begging officials not to take her husband away. Thread 👇
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Bethany Halford @bethanyhalford.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Lots of chemists work in the US on H-1B visas. The new $100,000 fee is likely to prevent many brilliant scientists from coming here, which would be a huge loss. My latest for @cenmag.bsky.social cen.acs.org/careers/empl...
cen.acs.org
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Jennifer Leman @jlorileman.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
For science and health coverage, add @thexylom.com, @sequencermag.bsky.social, @thesicktimes.org to this list.
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Mark Armstrong @markarms.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
My Friday @niemanstoryboard.org newsletter: @greenwell.bsky.social on finding your book's main characters + @mdbell79.bsky.social on dialogue, @skyepillsbury.com talks to @kalilaholt.bsky.social about "Heavyweight"'s return. niemanstoryboard.org/2025/09/19/f... #booksky #longreads #podcasts
niemanstoryboard.org
Finding your book's main characters - Nieman Storyboard
Megan Greenwell's “Bad Company,” annotated. Plus: What makes dialogue work on the page?
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 19/09/2025
Breaking news: Thirty-one journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes on a newspaper complex in Yemen last week, according to a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists. They say it was “the deadliest strike on journalists in the Middle East.”
washingtonpost.com
Israel killed 31 journalists in Yemen strike, press freedom group says
Last week’s attack was “the deadliest strike on journalists in the Middle East” ever documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
An illustrated guide to getting the vaccines you need in RFK Jr.’s America www.vox.com/health/46052...
vox.com
An illustrated guide to getting the vaccines you need in RFK Jr.’s America
The right questions to ask about your family’s vaccinations.
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Eric Williams @geoliminal.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
incredible new national geological map for the U.S. just got released, mobile functional too, meaning you can get incredibly detailed geological information on the go, pretty fuckin' rad www.usgs.gov/news/nationa...
usgs.gov
USGS Unveils New National Geologic Map
In a significant advancement for geoscience, the U.S. Geological Survey has released the most detailed national-scale geologic map of the country to date, offering a unique regional view of geology at...
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C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News) @cenmag.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
During and after wildfires, people often rely on the local Air Quality Index (AQI) to make informed decisions about their health and safety. But AQI doesn't include many toxic gases; can it be expanded? cen.acs.org/environment/... #chemsky 🧪
In a new era of wildfires, the Air Quality Index needs a revamp
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Here's what the third day of elementary school looked like in Mount Pleasant, Washington DC.
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Caitlin Kelly @caitlinkelly.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Not great! Not great at all! www.wired.com/story/center...
wired.com
Top CDC Officials Resign After Director Is Pushed Out
The exodus has set off alarms among CDC staff: “My main concern is they will be replaced with puppets.”
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Sabrina Imbler @sabs.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
it's never been a better time to be listeria 🦠💅
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Matt Shuham @mattshuham.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
>> On Friday in Columbia Heights, HuffPost observed masked federal agents detain a man insisting he had legal status and pleading that his wife had recently given birth and couldn’t walk. www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
huffpost.com
Delivery Drivers ‘Targeted’ During Trump’s Militarized Takeover Of D.C. Police
Some of the highest-profile arrests during the D.C. “crime emergency” are of immigrants — especially delivery workers for companies like DoorDash.
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WIRED @wired.com · 19/08/2025
Two years ago, Earth was hit by the most energetic neutrino in history. Scientists thought it might be a measurement error, but a new study has confirmed this “ghost particle” was real. www.wired.com/story/the-my...
wired.com
The Mysterious Origins of the Most Energetic Neutrino Ever Detected
Two years ago, Earth was hit by the most energetic neutrino in history. Scientists thought it might be a measurement error, but a new study has confirmed this “ghost particle” was real.
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Blue Heron Farm @blueheronfarm.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
I'm sorry, but I need you to see this rock that looks like a sandwich that I just found on Instagram.
The caption says it's Willow Creek Jasper, but it looks like meat and pickles and onions and sauce on a flatbread
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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
15 years of radio observations yielded this amazing view down the throat of a black hole. We're looking into a jet of plasma shooting out from a supermassive black hole, called PKS 1424+240. The lines depict intense magnetic fields threaded through the jet. 🧪🔭 www.mpg.de/25171297/eye...
A striking image of the plasma jet in the blazar PKS 1424+240, seen head-on. The jet is threaded by a nearly perfect toroidal magnetic field (visualized in orange). Due to special relativity, high-energy gamma rays and neutrinos are strongly beamed toward Earth, even though the jet appears slow-moving from our perspective.
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Maryn McKenna @marynmck.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
I said earlier there's not enough coverage of the CDC shooting, so have to add that it, and reactions, are being covered by @thexylom.com , a 7-yo newsroom that is ATL-based, science-focused, and entirely Asian-American run, and people should check them out. www.thexylom.com/post/atlanta...
thexylom.com
Atlantans Sound Alarm Over Federal Cuts, Misinformation, Deadly CDC Shooting
A week after a deadly shooting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rattled the nation, Atlanta residents flooded the streets again Saturday morning to protest against the Trump adm...
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Matt B @matttg.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
Another pic, perhaps better light. Guess what’s the blue mineral? ⚒️
Blue granite - Colorado
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Vox Media Union @voxmediaunion.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Our Eater GoFundMe is up! We all know this has been a difficult year for Vox, but the folks at Eater have been extremely dedicated in their support for each of their colleagues, past and present. Let's support them now!!! #unionstrong #voxunion #1u gofund.me/04932462
Screenshot of a vox media union logo over the Eater logo. The heading reads, "Eater isn't essential without journalism."Screenshot (condensed for Bluesky word limit):

On August 8, without warning, Vox Media laid off 15 members of Eater, Punch, and Thrillist, the award-winning food, drink, and travel news and recommendation sites, while management celebrated Eater’s 20th anniversary. The cuts decimated local coverage, including Chicago, the country’s third-largest market.

This is the second restructuring at Eater in less than 10 months. The cuts come not only one month after the Vox Media Union ratified its new collective bargaining agreement, but also two months after the James Beard Awards, where Eater and Punch earned four nominations and two wins.

The firings came a week after Jim Bankoff claimed in an interview there would be no imminent layoffs. Eater says farewell to a cohort of award-winning and dedicated journalists who fought tooth and nail to keep the wall between editorial and advertising intact. We sound like a broken record, but we are once again grateful to have bargained for industry-leading severance language in our latest contract.

This GoFundMe is organized by members of the Vox Media Union. All funds raised will directly benefit union members impacted by the August 7 layoffs, and will be distributed in equal shares to those who opt-in to receive funds. The organizers will be reaching out to those impacted in the coming days with details.

Our union is committed to supporting our colleagues who were laid off, and will hold management accountable for how these layoffs were conducted. With these funds, we hope to ease the financial burden that these layoffs have placed on our colleagues some of who face mounting medical bills and are charged with being their family's primary caretakers.

The Vox Media Union layoff fund is being overseen by a committee of Vox Media Union members, including Ashok Selvam, Jaya Saxena, and Amy McCarthy. The fund will operate transparently, with full accounting of all donations that are received and distributed.
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
BREAKING WSJ: The Trump White House plans to conduct a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions, materials and operations ahead of America's 250th anniversary to ensure the museums align with "Trump's interpretation of American history." www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
wsj.com
Exclusive | White House to Vet Smithsonian Museums to Fit Trump’s Historical Vision
Top White House officials will scrutinize exhibitions, internal processes, collections and artist grants ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.
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Alexandra Witze @alexwitze.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
In which @stephaniemlee.bsky.social reports for @theopennotebook.bsky.social on using public documents for investigative science journalism. With @laurenweberhp.bsky.social @naveenasadasivam.bsky.social @primateyell.bsky.social @dangaristo.bsky.social & more: www.theopennotebook.com/2025/08/12/h...
theopennotebook.com
Hidden in Plain Sight: Using Public Documents to Report on Elusive Stories - The Open Notebook
People, companies, and government agencies don’t always return your phone calls. To investigate secretive subjects, reporters can make creative use of documents that are out in the open. Lawsuits, Ins...
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Josh Fischman @jfischman.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Should you be scared the big chikungunya virus outbreak in China could reach the U.S? The infection is really painful. And yes it could hit the US, I report today in @sciam.bsky.social. We have the mosquitoes that carry the virus. But there are outbreaks much closer. Plus we have vaccines. 🧪🩺
scientificamerican.com
Should You Worry the New Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in China Could Reach the U.S?
Experts say the painful infection, spread to people from mosquitoes, can get to many countries if it finds the right hosts
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