Huge congrats to Jane Qui, who has been awarded the @sciencewriting.bsky.social 2026 Sharon Begley Award for Science Reporting for her wide-ranging reporting on everything from Tibet's grasslands to CRISPR babies and the lab leak controversy. casw.org/news/jane-qi...

There are so many bigger problems in the world, but I am so damn tired of being asked to leave a review, rate my service or take a three page survey every time I do anything on the internet. Make it stop!

On Emerging Form, I chat with @cragcrest.bsky.social and Rosemerry about how my book title was almost Minutiae (yikes!), the role of goosebumps in reporting, and why walking did nothing to solve my creative problems (but unloading the dishwasher did). emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-16...

Episode 169: Roberta Kwok on the Slow Path to Epiphany

“The book is about the opposite of the eureka moment,” says science writer Roberta Kwok about her new book, LOST IN CURIOSITY: Field Notes From Scientists’ Adventures into the Unknown. Join us in a co...

emergingform.substack.com

Good piece about AI and writing. The lede: "Steven Rosenbaum has decided that the real villain behind the bogus quotes in his book is a chatbot." (he's really doubling down, wow!) www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Instead of AI, a poem by James Crews.

Recognized their calls from inside the house... so I stepped outside and looked up just in time to see a sedge of sandhill cranes flying in formation. Despite everything, the world is still a beautiful place! No photo, because I just wanted to experience the ephemeral moment.

Love this creative advice from Anna Brones's mother. creativefuel.substack.com/p/11-pieces-...

This is incredibly well reported, very comprehensive, and also very sad. Well worth your time and highly recommended.

T. Greg Doucette@gregdoucette.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Totally off-topic, but did y'all the know the Free State of Florida's citrus industry is basically dead?? This is quite a story: slate.com/business/202...

The math on this claim does not even begin to add up. The tax refund on $11,000 of income is not going to pay for all this. Unless the cancer treatments are vitamin C, the lost household income was in the low four digits and the family trip was camping in the backyard.

Matt Royer 🤘🏼@mattroyer.bsky.social · 4mo ago

You know I knew that Door Dash woman looked familiar

Cannot wait for this!

Roxanne Khamsi@roxannekhamsi.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Can I change your mind about DNA? My first book, BEYOND INHERITANCE, descries a sea change in how we talk about our genes. It comes out in a couple weeks—preorder your copy or audiobook version (narrated by me) today: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/711682...

I wrote about Skimo's Olympic debut and the rise of mixed gender events in the Olympics for @theatlantic.com Can't wait to watch these events! www.theatlantic.com/health/2026/...

An Olympic Trend That Defies Tradition

At Milan Cortina, every major sport category but ice hockey features men and women competing together.

theatlantic.com

My BFF and I watched a film called Mr. Nobody Against Putin. We had opposite reactions to it, which we discussed at Last Word On Nothing. lastwordonnothing.com/2026/01/26/l...

Lessons From Mr. Nobody Against Putin - The Last Word On Nothing

In May of 2025, I went to Mountainfilm in Telluride with my BFF Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. We watched numerous amazing films, but there’s one that continues to haunt me, eight months later.  Mr. Nobod...

lastwordonnothing.com

CASW prizes entries are now open. Taylor/Blakeslee graduate fellowships, Sharon Begley Science Reporting Award,Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting and Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award for a young science journalist. Details and application links here: casw.org/news/entry-w...

There is no such thing as certainty when it comes to health. But there's a great big market for people willing to peddle it anyway.

Jennifer Ouellette@jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Man got $2,500 whole-body MRI that found no problems—then had massive stroke arstechnica.com/health/2026/...

Viewing the video from one angle, it looks like an ICE agent murdered Renee Nicole Good in cold blood. But viewing the video from a different angle, it looks like an ICE agent murdered Renee Nicole Good in cold blood. So who's to say what really happened?

Calling all early career science, health and environment reporters. Deadline for the National Science-Health-Environment Reporting Fellowships has been extended until Dec. 31. Click below for more info. casw.org/news/applica...

The cruelty is the point. Absolutely heart-wrenching accounting of the deaths and destruction caused by USAID cuts. Top notch reporting by @annamaria.bsky.social @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/usai...

Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...

propublica.org

I loved Train Dreams the novella and was disappointed by the film adaptation. This review by @robrubsam.bsky.social is the best explanation I've seen of why the film falls short. defector.com/train-dreams... Also, subscribe to @defector.com! great writers like @evaholland.bsky.social

‘Train Dreams’ Is Afraid Of Its Own Shadow | Defector

By now, you have probably heard about Train Dreams. Since premiering this past January at Sundance, Clint Bentley’s adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella has been lauded by critics, screened at vari...

defector.com

The kind of "gold standard science" they're touting doesn't exist. fivethirtyeight.com/features/the...

There’s No Such Thing As ‘Sound Science’

Science is being turned against itself. For decades, its twin ideals of transparency and rigor have been weaponized by those who disagree with results produced …

fivethirtyeight.com

Gregg Gonsalves@gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Jay Bhattacharya and Matthew Memoli aren't bringing "gold standard science" to the #NIH, they are gutting research slowly but surely. When this time is over, they should be hauled before Congress, and shunned for the rest of their lives. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

If you are one of those special freaks, come to my workshop! christieaschwanden.com/the-book-pro...

The Book Proposal Boot Camp, Winter 2026

A workshop to help you do the work. This eight-week workshop takes place virtually, via Zoom. The workshop is aimed at people who either have a book idea that needs more development or who have a d…

christieaschwanden.com

Gabino Iglesias@gabino.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Monthly reminder: Many people have a book in them, but it takes a special kind of freak to leave the Land of Laziness, cross the Plains of Procrastination and Insecurity Mountain, find the Blade of No One Made You Do This, and use it to cut your chest open and yank that book out.

What a thrill when a reader really gets my message. Better yet when she’s a reporter writing on the tooic observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...

Scientists: have you been the target of an online harassment campaign, doxxing, or weaponized FOIA requests? I'd like to talk to you about steps you had to take to protect your digital security for an upcoming Nature story. (You can be anonymous if necessary.) RTs appreciated.

I can't say enough good things about @cragcrest.bsky.social's Book Proposal Boot Camp! I've been trying to get a proposal done for years, and this helped me get up to speed and actually writing. christieaschwanden.com/the-book-pro...

The Book Proposal Boot Camp, Winter 2026

A workshop to help you do the work. This eight-week workshop takes place virtually, via Zoom. The workshop is aimed at people who either have a book idea that needs more development or who have a d…

christieaschwanden.com

This thing about Nate Silver remains my favorite chatGPT answer of all time. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/10/a...

I just finished reading Willa Cather's O Pioneers!, a true masterpiece. My first Cather novel was My Ántonia (also a masterpiece!) Which should I read next?

"Chat GPT is not hallucinating, it’s bullshitting," ChatGPT is that guy in law school, dangerously wrong, deeply uninformed, and totally sure Debate Team is real life. Except now, in 2025? Everyone trusts him. www.lastwordonnothing.com/2025/11/10/a... By @cragcrest.bsky.social

Tell me you don’t understand risk pools without telling me you don’t understand risk pools

OMG, please let the baseball time space continuum be the thing that bumps us to a better timeline!

How much deader can the rule of law be? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...

Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases

nytimes.com

The president of the United States posted a video of him defecating on the American people. Many in my profession normalized it. This is a big reason why we are where we are.