Clayton Page Aldern
@compatibilism.bsky.social
🌎🔥🧠 Data reporter @grist.org, union 🪑. Climate change, brain health, active inference, AI accountability. THE WEIGHT OF NATURE is out now: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717097/the-weight-of-nature-by-clayton-page-aldern Signal: aldern.01
"Ours is a time of lists—of 'deep state' figures to be prosecuted, media outlets to be exiled, and gender identities to be outlawed," @juliaangwin.com and I wrote in The New Yorker last year. ADL now drafting lists of its political enemies – broadly for speech critical of Israel – is a sad day.
The ADL has a website dedicated to attacking Mamdani staffers—including my friend Waleed Shahid. The ADL is applying a level of scrutiny to him they aren’t applying to literal neo-Nazis working in the federal government. Waleed has a Jewish wife and child. The ADL is a disgrace.
Huge congrats to the @propublicaguild.org on their new contract, many years in the making!
🚨 WE HAVE A DEAL! After three years, in a major step forward for our members, we have ratified our first contract with @propublica.org’s management. We deeply appreciate everyone who supported us along the way. Here are some of our big wins👇
That was fast. Google sent me a statement saying it is now “rolling back“ this AI feature after our demonstration and others from OSINT researchers www.404media.co/google-earth...
Google Earth’s New AI Lets Anyone Fabricate Completely Bullshit Satellite Images
"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."
404media.co
I’m genuinely wondering how many elections—in Michigan especially—the Democrats are going to have to lose until they’re willing to be adults and have an adult conversation about how unbelievably racist against Muslims the party is
A great example of how absurd US politics is is that Abdul El Sayed feels compelled to tell random people online to not make fun of Stevens' accent, but an actual elected official who is a Stevens supporter can say that Abdul shouldn't speak Arabic in public and Stevens won't condemn it.
Late to the publication of this piece because I'm out on sabbatical, so in case you ALSO missed @zteirstein.bsky.social's masterful overview of the climate × health intersection for @grist.org, it is here: grist.org/article/how-... Watch this space! Rumor has it Zoya has a book brewing...
How climate change gets under the skin
What we know, so far, about the lasting effects of climate change on your health and the body’s vital systems.
grist.org
I find it interesting that at a time when many of the KCRHA's staff are about to lose their jobs, their CEO's email to staff focuses primarily on claiming the media are biased and can't be trusted. Imagine worrying about your job and receiving a rant against the media instead of real information.
The City of Chicago can't say exactly how much lead pipe replacement costs, can't say how many pipes they've actually replaced, and can't explain why it costs 6x the national average. But one city official is very confident that critics "don't know what they're talking about."
New from @juanpab.bsky.social, @keertigopal.bsky.social, and me: Chicago has the most lead pipes of any U.S. city... and pays wildly more than anyone else to replace them: ~$31,000 per line, more than 6x the EPA's nat'l est. of $4,700. Officials can't fully explain why. grist.org/accountabili... 1/n
New from @juanpab.bsky.social, @keertigopal.bsky.social, and me: Chicago has the most lead pipes of any U.S. city... and pays wildly more than anyone else to replace them: ~$31,000 per line, more than 6x the EPA's nat'l est. of $4,700. Officials can't fully explain why. grist.org/accountabili... 1/n
Why is it so unusually expensive to replace lead pipes in Chicago?
The city with the most lead pipes in the nation is paying way above average to fix them. Officials can't fully explain why.
grist.org
Dimensionality reduction is how the brain acquires knowledge. Cool new paper from the late, great, Mark Stokes. www.nature.com/articles/s41... #neuroscience
Learning shapes neural geometry in the primate prefrontal cortex - Nature Neuroscience
Learning transforms prefrontal cortex activity from flexible, high-dimensional representations into compact, task-relevant and abstract codes, enabling efficient generalization of learned rules to new...
nature.com
This is not what people mean when they talk about the housing theory of everything
i have no words
Impossibly kind words from a hero. @joriegraham.bsky.social couldn’t know how foundational Overlord (esp. “Other”) was to this book. Or maybe it was that obvious!
Thank you @compatibilism.bsky.social for this incredible book. The prose is so lucid and honest and probing it moved me near tears repeatedly. And the thinking is scintillating. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this book. And thank you @penguinusa.bsky.social
A million congrats to @smallthoughts.bsky.social on this recognition! Read his excellent reporting for @grist.org here: grist.org/internationa...
How 3 years of war have ravaged Ukraine’s forests, and the people who depend on them
Nearly 5 million acres have burned since Russia’s latest invasion in 2022, ignited by rocket fire, artillery shelling, and explosive devices.
grist.org
So honored that my piece on Ukraine wildfires won the @nmwprize.bsky.social for Interactive Narrative for Social Good. I thank the judges for recognizing this work, and I'm overwhelmingly grateful to everyone at @grist.org (particularly @compatibilism.bsky.social) for bringing this piece to life.
So honored that my piece on Ukraine wildfires won the @nmwprize.bsky.social for Interactive Narrative for Social Good. I thank the judges for recognizing this work, and I'm overwhelmingly grateful to everyone at @grist.org (particularly @compatibilism.bsky.social) for bringing this piece to life.
🚨 The U.S. Census Bureau just announced on Slack that starting on Tuesday, May 12, its APIs will require the use of an API key. This is going to be a big breaking change for anyone who was not already using one, with just 2 full business days of notice.
ICYMI: I interviewed @drkatemarvel.bsky.social for @grist.org on her departure from NASA, the future of climate science, and her new book. Long live spite! grist.org/science/kate...
Why this NASA climate scientist wants you to stay angry
“I don’t think we rebuild science without getting mad.”
grist.org
Proud to be @ferrisjabr.bsky.social’s runner-up! www.sej2026.org/awards#rache...
Celebrate the Best of Environmental Journalism | SEJ Awards Presentation Returns to SEJ2026 — SEJ2026 Environmental Journalism Conference
Discover top environmental journalism and support impactful stories at SEJ2026, celebrating excellence in reporting on pressing environmental issues.
sej2026.org
Thank you so much to @sejorg.bsky.social and all the screeners and judges. And congrats to all the other winners and finalists, including @compatibilism.bsky.social @zoeschlanger.bsky.social and more
Read this book if you haven’t! The people demand it!!
Thrilled to share that Becoming Earth is the first place winner in the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists. This is an immense honor from an esteemed group of peers. I’m deeply grateful. www.sej2026.org/awards#rache...
🌎🔥📝 American climate scientists are rewriting their own research proposals, scrubbing out words they've used for decades just to keep their funding alive. New from me, Kate Yoder, and Ayurella Horn-Muller for @grist.org: grist.org/language/cli... (1/n)
To keep climate science alive, researchers are speaking in code
Words considered "woke" are vanishing from National Science Foundation proposals. Grist tracked the changes.
grist.org
Our version on @grist.org includes an interactive that allows you to examine trends in your state, as well! grist.org/energy/power...
What’s behind your eye-popping power bill? We broke it down, region by region.
The culprit depends on where you live — but it’s probably not data centers (yet).
grist.org
This story by @naveenasadasivam.bsky.social and @compatibilism.bsky.social is SO good, which makes me SO glad we had Naveena on this week's @climateone.org episode to talk about (surprise!) electricity prices.
One reason Minneapolis remains in the world's eye is we have one of the most robust & independent media ecosystems remaining in the country. You all need this...and more! @mprnews.org @startribune.com @sahanjournal.bsky.social @minnesotareformer.com @minnpost.bsky.social @racketmn.com etc.
Terrible day for many amazing, hard-working, intelligent journalists at the Washington Post. I'm still here and trying to figure out how to best support my colleagues who have lost their jobs. If you feel able to share or contribute, please do: www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...
Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel
On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund
gofundme.com
No, I do not want to be a “creator journalist” or “influencer” or run a newsletter by myself I want health insurance and a decent editor to work under and a team of comrades to work with, attend union meetings with, do good with Launch the billionaires into the sun and pass out their wealth