iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

I'm thrilled to be returning to Wheaton College this week to share from my current research. If any friends in the area are interested, come out on Wednesday night! 🗃️

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Can't wait to talk FIT NATION at Pepperdine! Join us IRL in Malibu on Tuesday for my public talk!

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

I'm so excited to welcome @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social to campus next week to help launch our new minor! The lecture is open to the public, so feel free to join if you're in the area! You can buy her book while here, too.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

What was supposed to take one year has now taken five years (and counting) due to various obstacles. But artist Vinnie Bagwell is still proceeding with plans to install her "Victory" statue where James Marion Sims's statue once stood. #histmed 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

theguardian.com

The ongoing fight to replace racist monuments in the US: ‘requires a lot of perseverance’

Since a reckoning brought awareness to problematic statues across the country, the road to replacing them has been slow and arduous

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Famous trainer Jillian Michaels announces support for MAHA: “[What] we’re not going to get from the government, you can create in your own life by taking agency.” My book on c19 health reform explores how agency became the watchword in US health. #histmed 🗃️ www.newsbreak.com/the-kansas-c...

newsbreak.com

Jillian Michaels Backs RFK Jr.’s Health Movement - NewsBreak

Fitness trainer Jillian Michaels has supported Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement. She

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

“The foundation [of the curriculum] is traditional medicine but enhanced with the humanities and the arts to improve the delivery of care—so we improve on how we [act] with patients and how we partner with patients,” says Makhija. #histmed time.com/7303692/alic...

time.com

The World's Richest Woman Has Opened a Medical School

The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine is trying a new approach to medical education.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

The EEOC is suing the Mayo Clinic for refusing an employee's request for a religious exemption to their vaccine mandate. It gets less fanfare these days, but folks are still processing and fighting over pandemic issues like mandates, religious liberty, etc. www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...

cbsnews.com

Mayo Clinic refused employee's COVID-19 vaccine exemption request, lawsuit says

A lawsuit filed Thursday alleges the Mayo Clinic violated federal law when it refused a security guard's request to be exempt from getting the COVID-19 vaccine because of his religious beliefs.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Do any of you brilliant #histmed teachers know of a nice narrative introduction to early nineteenth-century medicine? Something like a case study of a doctor or a patient? I'm looking for something for undergraduates. I have a separate story for medicine and slavery.🗃️

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

On the fiction that we're in total control of our health. Building on Nancy Tomes's history of patients becoming savvy consumers. #histmed 🗃️ hedgehogreview.com/issues/after...

"So once you’re equipped with information, your next stop is the app store on your phone. There’s an app for every landmark on your journey. Just accept the terms, download, and follow the prompts. And stay alert to the health news filling your inbox. It is on you to journey safely, and older advice can lead you straight off a cliff."

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Just like Christian bodybuilding, Christian diet culture abides. I would just add that its history stretches further back than the 1970s and Oral Roberts. In fact, I'm writing about its manifestation in the 1830s! 🗃️ www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | The Unrepentant Return of Christian Diet Culture

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Big news for #skystorians 🗃️: Zotero now supports CMOS 18.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

A new survey shows that "congregation switching and ideological sorting" have increased among church-goers since the pandemic. Is this just a correlation, or did pandemic-inspired reflection cause people to make a change in their religious lives? baptistnews.com/article/post...

baptistnews.com

Post-COVID, church-shifting has created more ideological agreement – Baptist News Global

The COVID pandemic facilitated a greater sorting of churchgoers into more ideological groups than before

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Based on how useful *The Book Proposal Book* was for me, I'm very much looking forward to this one!

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Melanie A. Kiechle @melaniekiechle.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Is anyone working on the history of homeopathy? Or do you know scholars who have written about homeopathy recently? I could use some help... #histmed 🗃️

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

#histmed #skystorians: Do you have a favorite reading for introducing students to the *historical* nature of health and medicine? i.e. It's not just the march of science, but context matters. I find great snippets here and there, but I'm looking for a standalone reading. Case studies welcome. 🗃️

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Can anyone make out the missing word? 🗃️ Doctor reflecting on seeing poor dispensary patients during the day and then going to fancy parties with the wealthy at night. "surroundings of wealth and the luxury have made me [something] for a time and moralize upon the different phases of human life."

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Do any #histsci #histmed #skystorians have experience researching at the National Library of Medicine? Do you know if they offer scanning services? 🗃️

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Pratik Chakrabarti @pratik-hstm.bsky.social · 17/06/2025

ThreeTT jobs in history of medicine, science, and environment at Texas State University. One in Public history jobs.hr.txstate.edu/postings/sea...

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

I wonder if this model could be generalized to work on nineteenth-century American handwriting more broadly?

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Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

PLEASE SHARE: We just posted an ad for TWO research assistant positions on @pewresearch.org's religion team. We expect a lot of applications so it's best to apply this week for full consideration. Come work with our great team! pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...

Project Overview

Pew Research Center is seeking two Research Assistants to join its Religion research project. The Research Assistants will support the project’s demography of religion and U.S. survey research teams. The demography of religion team analyzes data on the religious identity and characteristics of populations. It produces reports describing the religious composition of countries as well as other topics at the intersection of religion and social trends (e.g. religion and educational attainment, gender differences in religious commitment levels). The U.S. survey research team produces reports that explore issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. Through public opinion surveys and other quantitative tools, it studies religious groups in the U.S. and examines the influence of religion on politics and society.

The people in these positions will work closely with other researchers on staff and will report to an Associate Director of Religion research.

Primary Responsibilities

Compiling and analyzing data from surveys and censuses
Descriptive statistical analysis
Creating tables and charts in Stata, Excel, Word and PowerPoint
Contacting statistical agencies to request information and custom tables
Data cleaning, maintaining and reviewing internal files and databases
Number checking, fact checking, proofing
Performing background research, including literature reviews, contacting subject matter experts and online data gathering
Assisting with questionnaire development
Coordinate the translation and checking of questionnaires

Education/Training/Experience

B.A. degree is required. A concentration in sociology, political science, economics or another social science is desirable
Strong quantitative skills, background in data management and analysis preferred
Experience undertaking research using Stata, R, SPSS or other statistical software
Mastery of descriptive statistics
Knowledge and Skill Requirements

Quantitative skills, including an ability to use Stata, SPSS or other statistical software
Interest in public and/or international affairs, particularly in issues concerning religion and the intersection of religion and public life
Strong verbal and written communications skills
Facility using syntax commands to carefully document analysis using log files is desired
Ability to balance numerous projects simultaneously
Attention to detail, including exacting standards to maintain accuracy and impartiality in all work products
Proven ability to communicate research results clearly and concisely
Ability to work collaboratively and collegially with staff from the religion team, as well as with staff from other Pew Research Center projects and outside organizations
Ability to balance multiple projects and meet tight deadlines while ensuring accuracy in data management, fact checking and research
Ability to communicate in more than one language is advantageous

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

As far as I can tell, collaboration has shaped the interaction of medicine and religion as much as secularization. Both strains weave their way through the history. 🗃️ "Georgetown Launches Faith-Health Commission To Strengthen Trust in Health Systems" www.georgetown.edu/news/georget...

georgetown.edu

New Faith-Health Project Aims To Increase Trust in Health Systems

The Global Health Institute's initiative will explore how collaborations between faith and health leaders can improve global health outcomes.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

What are the chances a #skystorian has already visited the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to scan George Wood's transcribed diary? 🗃️ We really need a way to avoid repeating the same work over and over again. discover.hsp.org/Record/ead-A...

discover.hsp.org

Description: George Bacon Wood diary :: Library Catalog

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Thomas Tweed @tomtweed.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

I’m thrilled that my new book from @yalepress.bsky.social was officially published this week. Thanks to all the students, colleagues, archivists, and librarians who helped along the way.

Cover of Religion in the Lands That Became America

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

I should add that New Thought folks often cared a great deal about diet, just like Means. They were trying to prime their bodies for divine energy. 🗃️ R. Marie Griffith covers this well in *Born Again Bodies.* www.ucpress.edu/books/born-a...

ucpress.edu

Born Again Bodies by R. Marie Griffith - Paper

Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

The latest pick for Surgeon General seems to echo the New Thought movement. 🗃️ “Perhaps the body is simply the material ‘radio receiver’ through which we can ‘tune in’ to the divine." “Humans are out of alignment with the Earth and depleting its life force." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.com

Trump’s new surgeon general pick wants to “raise the vibration of humanity”

“The future of medicine will be about light," said Casey Means. "I don’t exactly know how.”

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Can any Skystorians help me decipher a word? "the condition of med[icine] in this country and the means of advancing it [???]." What's the missing word? From a letter written by a physician in Philadelphia in 1824. 🗃️

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

The WHO has finalized its pandemic treaty -- albeit without the participation of the United States. The idea is to share more information, supplies, and technology around the world if/when the next one comes around. www.bbc.com/news/article...

bbc.com

World Health Organization agrees legally binding pandemic treaty

The agreement is designed to ensure more cooperation between nations in the event of another pandemic.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

I'm excited to share my JHMAS review of *Critical Approaches to Science and Religion,* edited by Myrna Perez Sheldon, Ahmed Ragab, Terence Keel. 🗃️ track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=...

Screenshot of the first paragraph of the review, reading as follows: "The editors of this collection begin with a historiographical problem. Historians of science have long reckoned with the complicity of Western scientists in colonialism, slavery, and sexism. Likewise, historians of religion have explored how Christians abetted white supremacy and its attendant evils. Yet scholars studying the intersection of these two fields have not, by and large, taken up the same concerns. Instead, they have focused on their own cluster of issues: the alleged conflict between science and religion, attempts to historicize or problematize that conflict, and debates about definitions and borders marking off the two domains. Sheldon, Ragab, and Keel determine to remedy this problem by rallying scholars who deploy “critical approaches” to science and religion, meaning those who incorporate “critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, and postcolonial and Indigenous analysis” (p. 5). But the editors aspire to more than historiographical intervention. By bringing to the study of science and religion the political consciousness of its adjacent fields, they hope to encourage scholars to marshal knowledge of the past in the fight for justice in the present."

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

This is a wild story. A generation earlier, Sylvester Graham complained about additives, like plaster of Paris, in commercial flour. Apparently it was a tradition for bakers to improve their margins by adulterating their ingredients. 🗃️

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

How a nineteenth-century doctor burns you for delivering boring lectures. 🗃️

Screenshot of text reading, "Is it the fault or the misfortune of the successor of James and Dewees, that the soporific influence which he might desire to exert over his patients with ether and chloroform overspreads his class when listening to his sedative discourses?"

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

What a remarkable life, career, and legacy. 🗃️ "He authored more than sixty books, hundreds of scholarly articles, and countless essays, columns, and forewords for other books." All while living boldly, from observing Vatican II to marching in Selma.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

The time Sylvester Graham got into an argument with a doctor during one of his lectures, calling the doctor "a stupid blockhead" for opposing vegetarianism. 🗃️

Image of a nineteenth-century newspaper article reading, "The person who will tell me that man is a meat-eating animal is not fit to teach. [Looking at Dr. Wieting.] He is a stupid blockhead, and as blind as Samson was after the Philistines had to put out his eyes."

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

The latest episode of NPR's Throughline offers a helpful history of the anti-vaccination movement since polio. It eschews a simplistic moral tale and, instead, does what history should: explores context and causation. I'm considering using this in class next semester! 🗃️ www.npr.org/2025/02/13/1...

npr.org

The Anti-Vaccine Movement : Throughline

The alleged link between vaccines and autism was first published in 1998, in a since-retracted study in medical journal The Lancet. The claim has been repeatedly disproven: there is no evidence that v...

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 15/02/2025

Leader of CCIH: "How is PEPFAR against the values of America? Innovation and excellence are American values. Mercy and compassion for those who suffer are American values. Justice for those who are vulnerable is an American value...What’s un-American here?" religionnews.com/2025/01/29/s...

religionnews.com

Suspending PEPFAR: An emergency of our own making

(RNS) — Trump’s stop-work order came with such power and authority that, literally, it caused global momentum on fighting HIV to simply stop.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Nineteenth-century physician Rene La Roche says he saw "one of the brightest luminaries of American medicine" get into a street fight with another doctor. I want to know who he's talking about!

Screenshot of a passage of text describing nineteenth-century Philadelphia physicians as querulous and combative.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Mark Humphries argues that with the release of deep research tools, historians can no longer afford to ignore AI in the hope that it'll go away. Instead, they need to engage, scrutinize, and direct the development and use of these tools. 🗃️ open.substack.com/pub/generati...

open.substack.com

Is this the Last Generation of Historians?

OpenAI’s Deep Research is a strange and shockingly powerful agentic AI research assistant that offers a clear glimpse of the future. But where do we fit in?

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Healthcare sharing ministries have been growing since the passage of Obamacare, and more people are taking notice. @dylanlscott.bsky.social says the ministries may be secularizing as they grow. Will that erode the religious freedom grounds on which they're built? www.vox.com/future-perfe...

vox.com

Americans are ditching traditional health care for something cheaper — and riskier

An obscure health insurance alternative is seeing tremendous growth. But there’s a catch.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

How an anti-establishment posture attracts wellness influencers to RFK, Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" campaign. Since the Thomsonians of the 1820s, virtuous outsiders vs. devious insiders has proven a powerful narrative for explaining our health troubles. 🗃️ www.popsugar.com/health/make-...

popsugar.com

Your Fave Wellness Influencers Might Be Embracing "Make America Healthy Again"

Here's the link between RFK Jr.'s fringe views and some wellness influencers.

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Jonathan D. Riddle @jonathandriddle.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

The backlash to pandemic-era policies continues. "Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates..." shorturl.at/FfcZA

shorturl.at

Vaccine bills stack up in statehouses across the U.S

HARTFORD, Conn. — Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious...

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Natalia Mehlman Petrzela @nataliapetrzela.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

I am thrilled to announce the launch of Season 2 of the BBC/Novel podcast I host and EP! Another gripping story of humans pushing their bodies to their limits and in the process, revealing much about human nature and the world we live in. Trailer live now! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

bbc.co.uk

BBC - Extreme, Peak Danger, Introducing... Peak Danger

A mountain of trouble. 11 climbers die in two disastrous days on K2. What really happened?

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