iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I just saw an entertainment “news” piece refer to Michael Douglas as “the Ant-Man actor”, incredible stuff

Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Sure, but barring some really hard-to-imagine sci-fi stuff, we are not going to be making further huge increases in human lifespan any time soon, or at least not in a way that sustains quality of life in advanced age such that it might affect fertility decisions

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

VRE is a pretty nice commuter experience, but the frequency is bad and it’s unreliable enough that I am certain there are potential riders who have found themselves in a bad spot one or more times and stopped using it (I used to ride it 2-3 times a week)

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

It’s very useful but there are a lot of “buts”, and it was far from decisive for us. N of 1, I know

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Of all the demographic points people refuse to believe, this one’s pretty high on the list. If you offer women (and couples) choices, they want a number of children that is consistent with much lower fertility, in the aggregate, and no policy short of coercion has much effect. And coercion is bad!

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Neil Strauss has a lot to answer for

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

And I have! It’s pretty unpleasant, but free is a great price

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

When I was figuring out what I wanted to do for my PhD, I applied to do a PhD with someone who basically made their entire career on PSID data (ended up going a very different route)

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Holy moly; idk if my non-social sci followers understand the enormity of this, but that is borderline-apocalyptic for some large, longstanding lines of quantitative social science research

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Yeah I should have been clearer, sorry, was just being goofy: I’ve seen “sofa cum bed” screenshots re: sleeper sofas on here before, which I have heard is the primary way those are called in some places

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I see we’re having another one of those days where Bluesky learns about this particularly funny bit of (primarily?) South Asian vernacular (Not saying you personally, just reading your replies)

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I understand why you have burned out here in the past, and I will understand if you need to leave again, but I want to say that I’m very glad you’re here

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I know it’s a cheap shot to say you ain’t missing much, but truly

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Oh hell yeah, I saw that job and knew I was gonna be jealous of whoever got it

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Reposted by Nate Frey

Bat 🦇 Borus @matthewborus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It's really crucial to remember that a "gas tax holiday" means starving states of revenue. That means fewer resources for public needs. Who do you think wins in a fight between funding for preschools and highways?

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Yep. This site is full of the kind of ppl who will inconvenience themselves to avoid AI; meanwhile, IME the avg office drone is circumventing IT policy to let ChatGPT rewrite their emails or w/e Even at a basic level, I don’t think I know a single normie who would intentionally use DDG over Google

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I think this is highly contingent on “person is interested in making a reasoned argument and not just signaling/parroting”, but yeah, my experience accords with this research, conditional on that

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It is very difficult; there’s also the bit where if you have children you don’t always get to choose who you interact with socially. Granted, you don’t need to take those parents out to lunch, either

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

To me, it does basically everything the rightly beloved S1 does, except in a more interesting setting and with fewer unresolved plot points at the end. I don’t know! Might just be a misogyny thing, or maybe I really am missing something

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I am usually someone who spoils his consumption of media w reviews, so when I learned this week that True Detective: Night Country, (which I watched long after it came out having read nothing about), has a lot of dedicated haters, I was really taken aback. To me it might be the best season?

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I am trying to do less generic political posting, but recent SCOTUS-sanctioned events in Tennessee remind me to unequivocally state in any available venue that the death penalty is unacceptable under any circumstances

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yeah I’m being a little cagey because I am not pseudonymous on here, but I have had three jobs with firms that were either consultancies or had a consulting LOB, and we also partnered with other consulting firms, and this accords with my observations

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Tremendous variability in quality of consulting work, both between consulting firms and even among teams within firms, also The last consultancy I worked for was *incredibly* good but we were expensive and semi-niche No shade on eg Deloitte but idk if you get the same quality consistently there

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Paul specifically addresses housing and points out that a student (or someone on their behalf) pays for housing whether they are in school or not, very hard to get a clean comparison there

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Reposted by Nate Frey

Karen Benjamin Guzzo @karenguzzo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Hey, demographers! If you've ever used @prbdata.bsky.social's World Data Sheet, consider making a donation so they can continue producing this valuable resource! Visit www.prb.org/donate/!

When the funding that made the World Population Data Sheet possible was abruptly cut last year, something meaningful happened: stories poured in from around the world—from teachers, researchers, and policymakers sharing what this resource meant to their work. Those stories became the foundation of a fundraising effort that secured this 2026 edition.
If the Data Sheet has ever mattered to your work, here's a way to show it—and to help keep it alive. Donors who give $200 or more to PRB will receive a printed copy. Those who give at least $500 will also receive a copy of the inaugural 1962 edition.
🔗 Visit prb.org/donate to learn more!*
*Under IRS guidelines, the estimated value of the printed 2026 and 1962 World Population Data Sheets is not substantial; therefore, the full amount of your contribution is deductible as a charitable contribution.

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I interviewed for a TT-equivalent job at a community college once, and it was a 5/5 with class sizes mostly ranging from 25-45ish. And a ton of “service” being done by the faculty just to keep the proverbial lights on, due to an almost-complete lack of admin support of any kind. Oral exams, ha!

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Reposted by Nate Frey

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

bluesky does not seem to really be talking about this but today Stevie Wonder unleased 4 songs that didn't make "Songs in the Key of Life." music.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

music.youtube.com

Songs In The Key Of Life - The EP

EP • Stevie Wonder

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Yeah I said this to someone else, but n=1, I have often regretted not going into secondary ed and would do it in a heartbeat, but I have a family and a mortgage and it would almost literally halve my pay. And this is a fairly high-paying area compared to many!

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I was actually probably going to finally do it before we did a bad election and killed PSLF and a bunch of other government-based career paths. That was that though, I’m getting too old at this point

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Reposted by Nate Frey

Alice Reid @amrcampop.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Interested in a PhD in historical demography/population studies at @camunicampop.bsky.social, @camunigeography.bsky.social, Cambridge University? We have 3 suggested topics (see thread): contact me to discuss, or to suggest your own idea. Apply by early December for funded places.

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

On the one hand it’s an architecturally interesting neighborhood, so I get it; on the other hand, “your garage door can’t have panels, and your back doors that only guests will ever see should comply with architectural standards, and you can’t cut diseased trees without permission” is… ridiculous

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Yeah… I am admittedly a mixed-methods guy at heart, and working outside academia has only strengthened that I think

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Agree. I am reasonably good at Computer and I absolutely do not have time/energy to get any of this stuff cooking for the kinds of tasks for which it would be most useful, especially anything outside work

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I am hoping this isn’t sarcasm, or at least only gentle sarcasm, but I can never tell on here, ha

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Yeah… I would *love* to career change to HS teaching, but even having a PhD and living in a pretty high-paying district, it’s a 50% salary cut. Ain’t happening.

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Strict legal liability for some combination of the labs and the deployers solves all of these problems, and yet

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Rarely has a job ad so aggressively said “this is not for you, specifically”

Bullet point starting “strong executive functioning…”

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Since the iced coffee interview discourse is still going, two things are true: 1) if you as a hiring manager care about this sort of thing, (outside of a few buttoned-up fields), you are very bad at hiring. Like, terrible at it. 2) as a candidate in a weak job market you gotta pick your battles

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It’s very weird when you have to actually hire someone for the first time. I’ve been on panels for many years, but until my current job, I was never the one running the process, and it’s… different! Fortunately I work in govt and there are a lot of checks to keep you from doing anything too dumb

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

One of the things I liked about having a pseud account was that I could tell stories like this without worrying whether the people involved would see it and recognize themselves

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I once knowingly let myself fail a take home problem set, because it took as long as they claimed the whole exercise would take just to get to the trap, and I just pretended the trap wasn’t there because I didn’t have another two hours to do unpaid work at that point

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Terms *and* conditions? In this economy?

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

And just like The Shield, I have stopped wanting to watch well before the end

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Reposted by Nate Frey

keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 23/09/2026

Sad news that I had heard was coming: #MicrosoftResearch is basically being brought to heel by #Microsoft. #AI all the time, and no more independent social research...

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Yeah, when I was still playing in bands, the downstairs room was my favorite room in the city. I miss it.

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Nate Frey @natefrey.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

RIP Red Room where, among other fond memories, my wife and I went in our tux and gown for our wedding afterparty

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