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Matt Motta

@mattmotta.bsky.social
10K followers 1.9K following 601 posts

Associate Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management. Boston University School of Public Health. Author of Anti-Scientific Americans: a.co/d/7oSVhwP

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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 11h
New from me today at Public Health Post: Health policy is always on the ballot. But will it dominate the Midterms as it has in past cycles? In this piece, I offer a political scientist's perspective on whether 2026 will be a "referendum" on health policy. publichealthpost.org/health-equit...
publichealthpost.org
Is Public Health on the Ballot in the 2026 Midterm Election?
A political scientist's perspective on the case for and against the 2026 midterm election as a health policy referendum.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Fox News is about to get a taste of a retaliatory justice system that they have unapologetically emboldened at every turn...
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John Moe @johnmoe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
As completely deranged and fucked up and wrong as he is, I gotta say it is stressful to have the damn president of the United States constantly attacking my state of Minnesota, sending violence, calling for violence, putting all lives at risk, killing our neighbors. Like it really takes a toll.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
So excited and grateful to part of @amandayarnell.bsky.social 's incredible team at HSPH for this project. Can't wait to get to work! www.usatoday.com/story/life/h...
usatoday.com
They're helping influencers combat misinformation about menopause. Is it working? | Exclusive
Not all of the information about menopause that's floating around online is accurate. What's going on, and how do we fix it?
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Kalshi's argument for betting on drug trials is that it provides info obscured by inconsistent clinical trial reporting. Putting aside ethical/implementation questions -- is that even true? FDA approval of camizestrant on 9/4 seemingly came as a surprise to bettors on the platform as late as 9/3!
Kalshi trading figure showing that a minority of trades were placed on the probability of the drug's approval prior to 10/1, as late as 9/3. The drug was approved on 9/4.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This make believe "investment" would be only slightly smaller than the combined nominal GDP of the entire European Union (~$23t).
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Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
We've probably learned more about American politics from the ANES than any other single data source. The same is true for the GSS and sociology. Both of these are gone if Congress acquiesces to these NSF cuts.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Unless Congress reclaims its power, this will just become the new normal. A good first step would be to impeach Vought. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
In a world full of Lebrons... be a Wemby.
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Mike Finger @mikefinger.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Just asked Victor Wembanyama if he’d ever consider promoting a sports betting company. “Absolutely not. I will never do that. Honestly, I think it's very sad to see some players promote it. .. Everybody does whatever they want, but without me.”
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Alessandro Nai @alessandronai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
You know those (rare) papers that really make you proud? In new piece out at APR, we show that #AffectivePolarization likely spills onto other types of non-political polarization - notably, PREFERENCES FOR CATS VS. DOGS (aka “affective PAWlarization”) paper: tinyurl.com/jn48bypp data: osf.io/4p2zu
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Phil Klinkner @pklinkne.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I really love this chart. I'm guess that the correlation here (.85) is about as big as you would find for any other variable. Also, a less serious scholar than @tesler.bsky.social (namely me) would have made a crude Freudian reference to the slope of the line.
Chart shows a close positive relationship between Trump's 2024 vote and Google searches for testosterone boosters.
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The Great Pumpkin Papers 🎃🎃🎃 @professormusgrave.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As a professor, most of what I do is log in to things
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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Sen. John Fetterman says he's a "lifelong Republican" before Major Garrett has to correct him
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
He was great on Password!
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Clapping Applause
ALT: Clapping Applause
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ghpoliticspodcast.bsky.social @ghpoliticspodcast.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Our conversation w/ @busph.bsky.social @bostonu.bsky.social Prof Monica Wang about her new @beaconpress.bsky.social book The Collective Cure just dropped! @thrasherxy.bsky.social @madhupai.bsky.social @mattmotta.bsky.social @bucomresearch.bsky.social #publichealth podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 24/09/2026
MURRAY: The Trump admin falsely labeled birth control as abortion. Do you agree that an IUD is an abortifacient? OVERTON: If confirmed, I'll be fully briefed M: That's not an answer. The prospect of an FDA commissioner who doesn't know that birth control isn't an abortion is deeply alarming O: 😊
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 24/09/2026
86 point swing away from trump with independents. hot damn.
harry enten showing pure independent voters with a 86pt swing from trump
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
In ordinary times, these news updates would be the lowlights of an administration plagued by calamity. Today... it's just a Tuesday.
List of the day's events from NYT email briefing. List of the day's events from NYT email briefing.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Dallas Morning News replicates the Houston Chronicle's reporting: a Chinese Communist Party affiliated real estate aggregator is one of Ken Paxton's leading campaign funders (after Elon Musk and the data center promoters). www.dallasnews.com/politics/tex...
dallasnews.com
Paxton made Chinese land deals a campaign issue. His donors have ties to it.
Paxton's campaign has taken in $40,000 from donors who work for companies that facilitate the foreign investments in Texas real estate, according to records.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
America, unfortunately...
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Really valuable contributions from @drannieandrews.com and @drpanmd.bsky.social in this important piece.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Midterm voters are more concerned about gas prices than vaccines. BUT, as I discuss with @usatoday.com, vaccines are becoming an increasingly important litmus test for figuring out which candidates will stand up to the Trump admin, and who will not. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
usatoday.com
Vaccines become a 2026 midterm election issue amid measles outbreak
A measles outbreak and the Trump administration narrowing childhood immunization recommendations have made vaccines a midterm election issue.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Oh it's in the top three or four of all time alright.....
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Source: opensecrets.org/orgs/jpmorgan-chase-co/summary?id=D000000103
opensecrets.org
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
In 2024, JP Morgan (via affiliated groups) donated... 🔴 $1,156,272 to the RNC 🔴 $1,000,000 to MAGA Inc 🔴 $126,868 to Donald Trump 🔴 $500,000 to Turnout for America (MAGA-aligned mobilization group) They donated plenty to Dems too. But they sunk millions into the presidential ticket that did this.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Do tech companies even use their own products? I feel like literally anybody who has had AI forced on them could tell you that this is exactly what it would do..... www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/t...
nytimes.com
OpenAI Discloses Six New Incidents of ‘Concerning' A.I. Behavior
The artificial intelligence company also released a framework for reporting when its systems go wrong.
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
BREAKING: SCOTUS denies the Trump administration’s request to enforce the new U.S. Postal Service rule for the 2026 elections. Justices Alito and Thomas dissent. More to come at Law Dork. www.lawdork.com
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 26A305
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, ET AL. U.
CALIFORNIA, ET AL.
ON APPLICATION FOR STAY
[September 14, 2026]
The application for stay presented to JUSTICE JACKSON and by her referred to the Court is denied. The Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court's preliminary injunction. And the equitable factors applicable for obtaining emergency relief from this Court do not favor a stay.
JUSTICE KAVANAUGH, concurring.
In my view, based on the briefing the Court has received at this interim stage, there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service's statutory authority. See 39 U. S. C. §401(2). But applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act because state and local election officials do not have sufficient time to reasonably implement the rule before the elections. See 39
U. S. C. §3001(m); 5 U. S. C. §706(2)(A). For that reason, I concur in the denial of the application for stay.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I recommend this excellent piece for more about the two cases in dispute, and why the CDC's actions represent a radical departure from protocol: share.google/I7QFotohih5r...
share.google
CDC vs. Pennsylvania: Why conflicting public health messages jeopardize public safety
When state health departments, federal health agencies and medical societies diverge, how is an ordinary person supposed to know whom to trust?
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Trump's CDC is dusting off the admin's COVID playbook. When you're out of arguments... simply deny the diagnoses and causes of death. This is politically-motivated data manipulation from the CDC, plain and simple.
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Annenberg Public Policy Center @appc.upenn.edu · 09/09/2026
Public confidence in Fauci has declined since spring, but still exceeds that of RFK Jr. www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/public-confi... - Even *after* Fauci appeared before a Senate committee hearing, public confidence in him stands at 50%, vs. 38% for RFK Jr.
annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org
Public Confidence in Fauci Declines Since Spring, But Still Exceeds RFK Jr. | The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
Confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci as a source of trustworthy public health information declined since the spring but remains higher than RFK Jr.
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Kristen V. Brown @kristenvbrown.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Only 14% of women with menopause actually had it documented in their electronic health record. That seems like a pretty big ommission! www.eurekalert.org/news-release...
eurekalert.org
Menopause is missing from most electronic health records, study finds
Menopause is frequently missing from women’s electronic health records, according to a University of Colorado Anschutz study of nearly 396,000 women participating in the National Institutes of H...
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Been on my list to visit for a long time!! I've heard great things.
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Georgy Tarasenko @tarasenkogeorgy.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Once we audit those channels, the acoustic signal is real - but we don’t find convincing evidence that it measures concealed dissent. A much simpler measure does better: how long someone takes on the sensitive item relative to their own pace on ordinary survey questions.
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G Elliott Morris @gelliottmorris.com · 02/09/2026
This (from Tom Wood) suggests more than just the typical thermostatic backlash is happening right now. In sixteen months, Trump and Republicans have turned the GOP’s largest party ID advantage this century into a tie for its biggest deficit
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Santos was always the odds on favorite... www.wired.com/story/george...
wired.com
George Santos Just Got Hit With Kalshi’s First-Ever Lifetime Ban
The former US representative was also fined more than $71,000 for allegedly attempting to manipulate the prediction market.
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Susan Rinkunas @susanrinkunas.com · 31/08/2026
NEW: A Texas judge paused a lawsuit seeking to revoke FDA approval of the abortion drug mifepristone until December 1—or FDA finishes its sham mife "review." Judge Reed O'Connor said Texas and Florida *can challenge drug's original approval* @autonomynews.co storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
WICHITA FALLS DIVISION
Civil Action No. 7:25-CV-00126-O
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, ET AL., 
Plaintiffs,
v. 
U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, ET AL.,
Defendants. 

OPINION & ORDER
Before the Court are Defendants Food and Drug Administration, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr,
Martin A. Makary, Richard Pazdur, and Department of Health and Human Services’ (“Government Defendants”) Motion to Stay or Alternatively to Dismiss (ECF No. 20); Danco Laboratories, LLC and GenBioPro, Inc.’s Motions to Dismiss (ECF Nos. 52, 54); The State of
Florida and the State of Texas’s Consolidated Response (ECF No. 56); and Defendants’ Replies (ECF Nos. 57–59). Having considered the Motions, briefing, and applicable law, the Court DENIES Danco Laboratories, LLC and GenBioPro, Inc.’s Motions to Dismiss and GRANTS in part Government Defendants’ Motion to Stay.

full docket:
www.courtlistener.com/docket/72012984/the-state-of-florida-v-us-food-and-drug-administration/?order_by=desc
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🏳️‍⚧️ UNBAN LINK @biancamack.co · 30/08/2026
Love a direct, to the point queen. Say it plainly and leave no space for bad-faith bullshit.
Asked why the WNBA continues to experience these heightened distractions, Cloud said, "Men."
"The men now that are like 'Oh, we need to protect the WNBA,’ y'all were the same ones saying we shouldn't be paid," Cloud continued. "Y'all were the same ones saying we shouldn't have been invested in, saying we're a joke, the same ones that don't respect Black women. So, if you're going to protect women, that means all women. That includes Black women, trans women and the list goes on."
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
And that's *before* the start of the NFL season. www.cnn.com/2026/08/28/b...
cnn.com
Young adults under 21 traded $5 billion on Kalshi this year, amid prediction market frenzy | CNN Business
Young adults between 18 and 21, who are legally barred from most gambling in the US, have traded an estimated $5.4 billion so far this year on the Kalshi prediction market, according to a new CNN anal...
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
An important step in the right direction.
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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
As expected, DOJ is appealing Judge Talwani's TRO to the First Circuit, and will (almost certainly) go to #SCOTUS if/when the court of appeals refuses to stay it pending appeal. TL;DR: Mail-in ballots will be back before the justices by as early as the middle of next week...
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Mickey Gasper was in Worcester two weeks ago. Now he's playing like his next stop is... Cooperstown???
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"Even with tonight’s [Supreme Court] stay, section 3 [of the Executive Order on mail-in ballots] remains blocked; the USPS Final Rule remains frozen." Always grateful for the clear-eyed and lightening fast analysis by @stevevladeck.bsky.social. www.stevevladeck.com/p/246-making...
stevevladeck.com
246. Making Sense of the Mail-in Ballots Ruling
The Supreme Court’s grant of a stay in one of the mail-in ballot cases is deeply wrong, but it’s also not the main event over whether Trump’s patently unlawful executive order can take effect.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Entire generations of voters, political operatives, policy wonks, and politicians do not remember this.
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Thomas [DARK MODE], DO @tom.medsky.social · 18/08/2026
Earlier today I went to give a toddler the MMR vaccine and our nurse grabbed my arm and said "Doctor! That's not MMR, that's a Diet Coke!" Thank goodness. You can understand the confusion.
A plastic coke bottle on the left. The MMR vaccine (Priorix™️ GSK) on the right. The vaccine is a small glass syringe and a vial with a light green cap.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Right!! Like, at that point..... maybe just.... write it??
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Yeah I think that's fair! But, maybe there should be a way to like, not assume primary authorship on a piece like that? This passage seems more like "senior authoring" a piece, where someone else assumes first authorship.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
In all seriousness -- I totally recognize that having ideas and expertise can contribute to authorship. But to expect primary or first authorship for that alone is, in my view, antithetical to the premise of... well... authoring something.
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Matt Motta @mattmotta.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Easy: AI is the author. I hope that clears things up!
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