Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026open.spotify.com/track/0Gc5rs...open.spotify.comDo I Ever Cross Your MindChet Atkins, Dolly Parton · Chet Atkins - The Master And His Music · Song · 2001 000
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 21/08/2026"in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." – Benjamin Franklin This statement is false. Proof by contradiction: If we can be certain that this statement is true, then we can be certain of death, taxes, AND this statement. Therefore this statement is false. 000
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 31/07/2026"To see ourselves clearly, we don't use mirrors. We use relationships." www.nytimes.com/2026/07/31/o...nytimes.comOpinion | In a World of Mirrors, Everything Is Strange (Gift Article)Staring at ourselves on screens, on video and on social media is taking us to a dark place. 011
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanThomas Zeitzoff @zeitzoff.bsky.social · 18/06/2026The underlying paper here on the (potential) drawbacks of remote work is interesting. But the claimed effect size is massive: “Remote work explains a third of the deterioration in mental health over the last 15 years.” And it warrants skepticism. 2247
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanPJ @septemberrising.bsky.social · 13/06/2026Glasgow now, there is no place in Scotland for racism or fascism. 188128852896
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 13/06/2026I’m excited to be presenting a tutorial about my vtree #Rstats package 📦 at the useR!2026 conference in Warsaw. The conference is July 6 - 9 and my session is on the afternoon of July 6. Please DM me if you have a questions or suggestions. #useR2026 user2026.r-project.org 040
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanPeter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 28/05/2026The methods section is the most important section of a paper. Without knowing the methods, the results are literally meaningless. So it's not OK to relegate the methods to the end. Because this suggests they are an optional afterthought rather than the essential core of the entire paper. 5507
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanRich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 25/05/2026“Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the 'just war' theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated.” -Pope Leo in Magnifica Humanitas 220961
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanRich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 25/05/2026“The way society treats migrants, reveals whether its sense of justice is driven by fear or by the spirit of fraternity.” - Pope Leo in #MagnificaHumanitas 09230
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanRich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 25/05/2026“The pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs, because the human person is an end, not a means, and the economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good.” -Pope Leo in #MagnificaHumanitas 729395
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanAmerican Statistical Association History of Statistics @hos-asa.bsky.social · 20/05/2026Mindel Sheps b #OTD 1913 (d 13 Jan 1973) ASA Fellow 1970. Physician, political healthcare activist, biostatistics professor, advisor to WHO, she made substantial contributions to mathematical demography but is best known for her highly influential NEJM 1958 paper on the asymmetry of relative risk. 064
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanHannah Shelley, MLIS (Maggots, Lycanthropes & Ice Skeletons) @hannahshelley.site · 15/05/2026Probably my weirdest and most niche blog post yet. I got nerd-sniped. You know how it ishannahshelley.neocities.orgSimulacra and CitationThe Pope, Baudrillard, and finding myself inside the hypertext 1175
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanDarren Dahly @statsepi.bsky.social · 30/04/2026And if you are genuinely interested in the therapeutic value of placebos, at least make sure you understand how regression-to-the-mean and adverse-event reporting in clinical trials work. Though your blissful ignorance might get you a NEJM paper... zenodo.org/records/3886...zenodo.orgNonplussed by placebos: A response to Colloca and Barsky (2020)In a recent review published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Placebo and Nocebo Effects), Colloca and Barsky concluded that “Placebo and nocebo effects are powerful, pervasive, and common in c... 051
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanDarren Dahly @statsepi.bsky.social · 30/04/2026I haven't complained about so-called placebo effects in a long time, so here an oldie but a goodie from @nbarrowman.bsky.social on the topic. www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...thenewatlantis.comThe Myth of the Placebo EffectNick Barrowman on the shaky science underlying a popular idea 1153
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanTim Osborne Photography 🍁 @timosborne.ca · 30/04/2026Got up early in hopes of catching this photo before work this morning. There's only a few days each year where it's cool enough in the morning to make this shot possible. Thankfully, today was one of those days! #wildlife #birds 507175872915
Reposted by Nick Barrowmanlastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Honestly think this is one of the best videos on YouTube. Beautiful folk song that, like, were it not for the very specific circumstances of the modern internet I would never have been able to experience anything like at all in my life. I am enriched by such things. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIMK...youtube.comÖzgür Baba - Dertli DolapYouTube video by Elif'in Hecesi 59810
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 23/04/2026 It is difficult to get a researcher to understand a statistical principle if getting published depends on their not understanding it. 000
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 19/04/2026Paulo do Cantos Circulaçōes cantosverso.org/item/o-homem... 1930 - 1936? Museu Do Design E Da Moda, Lisbon 000
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanRandall Munroe @xkcd.com · 16/04/2026Make It Myself xkcd.com/3233/ 6269081322
Reposted by Nick Barrowmanbatkaren @batkaren.bsky.social · 22/04/2024The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing humans the other 364 days of the year are not fools’ days. 112729
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 28/03/2026In this time of senseless warfare, here’s a very moving song. The Crow on the Cradle, performed by Lady Maisery youtu.be/dOoJ-mMy8x0?... The song was written by Sydney Carter. Here are the lyrics, which are really worth reading: unionsong.com/u115.htmlyoutu.beThe Crow on the CradleYouTube video by Lady Maisery - Topic 100
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanAlbert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 26/03/2026"One of the most heartbreaking examples of nonverbal communication to emerge from Iran. I cannot call this a mere propaganda piece. It is the unbearable truth, laid bare through the profound art of cinematography and animation." #MinabSchool t.me/politblogme/22 011066
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanAnthony Moser @anthonymoser.com · 26/03/2026This part is sharp and important: bureaucracy inherently requires discretion but can't acknowledge that because it derives its legitimacy from being objective Meaning it has an unresolvable tension at its core 45312
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Highlighter I choose carefully At first The parts that really matter But soon I realize It all matters And everything is bright like sunlight 000
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanElliot @1t2ls.bsky.social · 20/02/2026Today’s poem(s): Katana Smith, “Three of Us” and “Shitty Boyfriend” #lunchpoems 81737
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanBrian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 28/02/2026“To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Judgment of the international Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany. 2655308
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanColin Gorrie @colingorrie.bsky.social · 18/02/2026If you liked this experiment, I published a full piece today in the same vein: a text that gets 100 years older with every section, from a modern blog post to a medieval chronicle. It's a single story spanning 1000 years of English. See how far you get. www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/how-far-ba...deadlanguagesociety.comHow far back in time can you understand English?An experiment in language change 19936561333
Reposted by Nick Barrowmanwomensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 22/02/2026Kitamura Junko, Japanese ceramics artist #womensart 448347
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 16/02/2026There is literally no situation where Comic Sans is a good choice 110
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanNathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 06/02/2026I cannot sufficiently underline how despicable it is that the IOC has required Haitian Olympic athletes to remove an image representing the leader of the Haitian Revolution (against SLAVERY) from their uniforms. 562294900
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanBaldur Bjarnason @baldurbjarnason.com · 05/02/2026> At present the realities are life and death, peace and war, fascism and democracy; we are in a world which may soon become unfit for human beings to live in. A writer must decide at what remove from this conflagration he can produce his best work and be careful to keep there Cyril Connolly, 1938. 1123
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 02/02/2026I just realized that in the Chicago song "Hard To Say I’m Sorry", Peter Cetera never actually gets there. In addition to declaring “It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry”, he sings "I really want to tell you I'm sorry", and "I will make it up to you, I promise to", but he Never. Actually. Apologizes. 000
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanJoshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 29/01/2026Today's @nytimes.com dialogue with Ross Douthat & Jay Bhattacharya is tough sledding. I wrote a book on how silent transmission made COVID harder to stop and drove misleading narratives. The interview continues to mislead as a means to seize more power. a 🧵 www.amazon.com/Asymptomatic...amazon.comAsymptomatic: The Silent Spread of COVID-19 and the Future of PandemicsAsymptomatic: The Silent Spread of COVID-19 and the Future of Pandemics 714861
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 30/01/2026The road to hell is paved with misaligned incentives. 020
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanDavid Fisman. @dfisman.bsky.social · 30/01/2026open.substack.com/pub/davidfis...open.substack.comThe RCT TrapWhen “Gold Standard” Evidence Becomes an Excuse for Inaction 610629
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanRachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · 28/01/2026🚨Want to know which Canadian companies are profiting off of ICE and Trump’s violent mass deportation agenda? Well I just spent the last few days digging into exactly that. Here are the companies I found, how much they’re making, and whether they’re getting Canadian taxpayer dollars. Sneak peek: 8382149
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanAmnesty Canada @amnesty.ca · 28/01/2026Take action now to stop Bill C-12, which would put our friends and neighbours at risk. Join us in calling on the Senate to uphold our values of fairness and justice by voting against Bill C-12. takeaction.amnesty.ca/page/173197/...takeaction.amnesty.caBills C-2 and C-12 are a Threat to Refugee Rights. Tell the Canadian Government to Withdraw It.Bills C-2 and C-12 undermines due process and dignity. It risks turning Canada’s approach to refugees and migrants into one built on arbitrariness and political discretion instead of fairness and just... 084
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanEric Wickham @ericwickham.ca · 27/01/2026New from me: More Than 100 Gazans Have Been Accepted to Canadian Universities. Canada Isn’t Letting Them In.pressprogress.caMore Than 100 Gazans Have Been Accepted to Canadian Universities. Canada Isn’t Letting Them In.See a map of the graduate programs they're planning to attend, if the government finally processes their visas 6276209
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 19/01/2026We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. —Martin Luther King Jr. Letter From Birmingham Jail April 16, 1963 letterfromjail.comletterfromjail.com Letter from Birmingham Jail, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter to 8 white church leaders, written from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. 000
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanMiranda Keeling @mirandakeeling.com · 17/01/2026On my walk in the woods I come across this ghost-leaf - veined insides yawning through the gaps that winter has torn in its surface, caught, as if half-way between this world and the next, a delicate, decayed delight. 22103994
Reposted by Nick Barrowmanwomensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 17/01/2026The umbrella, 1883 by painter Marie Bashkirtseff #WomensArt 067679
Reposted by Nick Barrowman3wombats @3wombats.bsky.social · 17/01/2026youtube.com/watch?v=0Qpj... ❤️🌏youtube.com"Peace Train" featuring Yusuf / Cat Stevens | Playing For Change | Song Around The WorldYouTube video by Playing For Change 1143
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanAndrea Woo @andreawoo.bsky.social · 16/01/2026Canada’s privacy watchdog announced Thursday it is investigating Elon Musk's X after widespread reports of users generating sexualized deepfakes through the social-media platform’s AI chatbot, Grok. www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...theglobeandmail.comCanada’s privacy watchdog expands probe into X over Grok’s sexualized deepfakesUsers have been generating the images using the Elon Musk-owned platform’s AI chatbot 17122
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanTorqolbo! @torq.bsky.social · 15/01/2026Introduce yourself with 5 facts: 1. It's nine in the morning, long after December 2. I'm writing you now just to see if you're better 3. Toronto is cold 4. But I like where I'm living 5. There's music on Ossington all through the evening 111
Nick Barrowman @nbarrowman.bsky.social · 10/01/2026This seems particularly relevant in our current moment: “Silent bystanders act as enablers because watching others ignore something encourages one to deny its presence.” – Eviatar Zerubavel, The Elephant in the Room: Silence and Denial in Everyday Life. Here’s a further excerpt: 000
Reposted by Nick BarrowmanChris Weston @chrisweston.bsky.social · 10/01/2026That sounds like the other side of that Arthur C Clarke thing about advanced technology and magic. Any sufficiently mature technology ceases to be seen as technology, or something like that ;) 101