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Michelle Appel

@msappel.bsky.social
817 followers 838 following 1.4K posts

Data geek, higher ed policy wonk, institutional researcher, disability activist, swimmer, hoarder of yarn, and spouse of John Appel the SFF author. All views are my own.

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Reposted by Michelle Appel
Jane Espenson @janeespenson.bsky.social · 10h
This is worth a good read and some anger.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 10h
Reason 5,372 I consider myself a higher ed geek - I love the institutions' commercials during sporting events and have Opinions about who does them well. Northwestern's spot in the first quarter was a great argument for the public good they (and all of higher ed ) produce.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Two hospitals, 75 miles apart, with two different patients with unrelated issues, on the same day has to be some sort of strange bingo card spot. Not one I wanted, but here we sit. On patient 2's 83rd birthday.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Watching Flame Fatals with my own member of the glorious @framefatales.com crafting crew. Time to raise money for the Malala Fund! gdq.gg/donate
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Why yes, I did turn on the Iowa football game solely to see the wave at the end of the first quarter.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The NYT Games app has changed the arrangement of the gamesin the home screen and it is totally messing with my head.
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Reposted by Michelle Appel
Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
😳
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Introduce yourself with five artists you've seen at least twice: Billy Joel James Taylor Paul Simon Jonathon Coulton Griffin House
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today was my 53rd first day of classes! Campus was buzzing.
Red yellow and white balloons at a college campus entry road.
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Aimee Steinberger @aimeekitty.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
If you want to be like Dolly, you can donate to underprivileged children getting books with her charity, donate.imaginationlibrary.com
donate.imaginationlibrary.com
Home
Make a donation and support Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in communities around the world and help put more books into the hands of more children.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I dropped in very quickly to my Instagram stories with the first draft of my thoughts. Tl;dr is there multiple forms of grief. I’ll be on MSNBC at about 8 o’clock tonight, if you’re into that kind of thing.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I had to say thank you.
meditationsinanemergency.com
In Praise of Dolly Parton, 1946-2026, Our Goddess of Kindness
We will always love her, and there will never be another like her, this artist who came out of deep rural poverty in the 1960s to become not just a staggeringly great performer and songwriter but phil...
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Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has donated 3 million books to kids. Here's the link where you can donate. Also, consider sending someone a book on your own. Dolly would like that. imaginationlibrary.com
imaginationlibrary.com
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library | USA, UK, IE, CA, AU
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting program that mails free books to children from birth until they begin school in participating areas.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 26/08/2026
When Trump’s tariffs drove blue-collar job cuts across America, his White House didn’t lift a finger to help.
motherjones.com
Canada is spending billions to help its workers survive our tariffs
When Trump's tariffs drove blue-collar job cuts across America, his White House didn't lift a finger to help.
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Ericka (Wiggins) Weathers @erickaweathers.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Hi ed policy folks! Anyone able to review AERA proposals for Division L (Educational Policy and Politics), Section 1 (Governance, Politics, and Legal Issues)? We need 3 or 4 more non-student reviewers. The ask is to review ~10 proposals each. You can DM me if interested. Thanks & please share!
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Jesse Hawken @jessehawken.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Can they just release a list of foods that it’s still safe to eat?
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
If you run social media for a university, department or scholarly association and you’re still patronizing Twitter, you’re actively helping the reactionaries working for your destruction.
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Martha Wells @marthawells.com · 21/08/2026
My Ukrainian publisher Ranok asked me to pass along the news that on 8/1 a warehouse was bombed by Russia, burning about 8 million books, including the print runs of their translated Murderbot editions, + The Cloud Roads & Witch King. This really hurts the publishing house, and 1/-
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amulya.bsky.social @amulya.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
My husband Drew wrote this at breakneck speed while moving cross-country and caring for an 8 month old, bc he felt it was necessary, ethically and politically, to correct the record. If you read Tyler Austin Harper's piece, I hope you'll read this.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Matt knows what they are talking about. Listen to them.
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Matthew Cortland (they) @matthewcort.land · 20/08/2026
www.wgbh.org/news/health/...
Hannah Reale
August 13, 2026
A new rule from the Trump administration this week means the federal government will stop covering gender-affirming treatments for transgender children who rely on public health insurance like Medicaid.

But in what appears to be a first-in-the-nation policy, Massachusetts officials with MassHealth say the state will keep covering the costs of treatments like hormone therapy.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a rule Tuesday blocking the use of Medicaid money for transgender care for anyone younger than 18. The rule is set to take effect this fall.
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John Rogers @johnrogers.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Hey so a couple years ago I wrote a pilot for a show where the payoff was an entire city's water supply being taken hostage, and the research was up in the top 5 slow horror of "Oh, wait. No, that can't be right... oh shit, OH SHIT."
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
our entire global financial system is currently leveraged to the hilt on the premise that it was good and right for a small cadre of US companies to steal all of the intellectual work ever produced by humanity and sell its back to us without credit or remuneration to the authors (plagiarism)
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
My professional association was on point on this letter of comment regarding IPEDS data quality. #IRWatercooler www.airweb.org/docs/default...
airweb.org
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Ashe @ladyinsanity.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
If someone near you is secretly recording with glasses, yell “META stop recording!” It works even if you’re not the owner. (This is more effective than the Disney trick, since there are AI tools to remove background music.)
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Shecky @shecky.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Reposting for today; we don't know how much time is left, so finding a soft-landing zone is critical.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Rankings season is upon us. I am more stressed and exhausted this year than last (which I didn't think was possible). I ask again - why must they torture us by releasing all these rankings at our busiest time? [I know the answer - in time for admissions season. But it still feels like torture.]
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Lol
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Shepherd @neolithicsheep.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I have lived east and west and while the west coast mountains will kill you through indifference to humanity, they are brash young mountains. The Appalachians are the home of things whose names humanity has never known, and they resent us as newcomers and take us down into the dark when they can.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I feel like @kenwhite.bsky.social needs to see this.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
This was such a good episode of Strict Scrutiny
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Adam B. Vary @adambvary.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Imagine Stephen King, circa 1997, putting out daily press releases promoting his anti-gay org while publishing horror books as Richard Bachman. Imagine George Lucas, circa 2007, announcing a billion dollar fund for anti-Muslim lawsuits, then launching 'The Clone Wars.' This is J.K. Rowling today.
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andré carrington @andrecarrington.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Not to spoil anything but this is literally Spider-Man villain behavior
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Bradford Vivian @bradvivian.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
It’s really pretty simple: The Atlantic is a major source of misinformation about higher ed. Full stop.
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Sanjay Srivastava @sanjaysrivastava.com · 11/08/2026
TRUMP: "So I left them to die. I like my journalists dead. Too bad it didn't work." <wild applause> HOST: "And with that, we officially adjourn the 2027 White House Correspondents Dinner"
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
I love the @chronicle.com Almanac edition.
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Mychal Threets @mychal3ts.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Vaccines do not cause autism. Autism is not something to be fixed. Autism is not something to be cured. My autistic friends, you are autistic joy. Thank you for being wonderful you ✨ Sincerely, Your Autistic Library Friend 💛
Mychal smiles in a shirt that reads, “Be a buddy not a bully”
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I have an adult autistic daughter. She is awesome and I cannot imagine her any way than exactly as she is. When asked about vaccines by a relative 15+ years ago I said "I would rather have my autistic daughter than a dead unvaccinated neurotypical one." #VaccinesSaveLives #EndAbleism
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Reposted by Michelle Appel
Tara C. Smith @aetiology.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
A day after the 1- year memorial of the shooting at the CDC. This is the kind of shit that gets public health professionals and physicians targeted for abuse--absolute lies that undermine everything we do.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
"Shrinking" is so so so good.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
As the grandson of Kansas wheat farmers, let me offer my careful opinion -- this is not good.
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I keep on noting that: (a) cutting both USAID and SNAP programs at the same time is not good for the farm economy in the United States; (b) blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a major choke point for fertilizer…also not good for the farm economy; and (c) major heat droughts in Europe. This is not good.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 05/08/2026
We created this guide for anyone who could experience a miscarriage in a state with abortion restrictions. We wrote it in consultation with dozens of doctors, including those who regularly treat patients who are miscarrying 👇
propublica.org
If You’re Pregnant, Here’s What You Should Know About the Medical Procedures That Could Save Your Life
Women experiencing pregnancy loss in states with abortion bans told us they wished they had known what to expect and how to advocate for themselves. We created this guide for anyone who finds themselv...
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 06/08/2026
Mother Jones reporter Abby Vesoulis appeared on CNN last night to discuss her bombshell investigation about Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio). CNN's Jake Tapper also got into a heated exchange with the congressman over these recent allegations. You can read Abby's full story here: bit.ly/4waceIu
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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Data centers (and detention camps!) — big box buildings on the edge of life —are THE ISSUE because they tangibly encapsulate every other issue—environment, corruption, accountability, social (media) fracturing, and a politics of impunity that drops disaster on locals, then claims to know 🚫 about it
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NPR @npr.org · 04/08/2026
Military veteran and D.C. resident Anna King has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Idaho National Guard, saying three guard members assaulted her while detaining her in front of her home. n.pr/4wyjw9S
n.pr
A veteran was detained by the National Guard in her front yard. Now she's suing
Military veteran and D.C. resident Anna King has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Idaho National Guard, saying three guard members assaulted her while detaining her in front of her home.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Great example of the difference between data-driven and data-informed. We need to be data-informed but the data don't tell us everything. Context is important.
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Michelle Appel @msappel.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I, too, am allergic to Bactrim. I have not eaten an uncooked vegetable since this mess started. Grateful to Matt Courtland on Bluesky for their thread that informed me. And my nutritionist for helping me brainstorm solutions (gonna peel my own farmers market carrots under lots of water).
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