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Philip N Cohen

@philipncohen.com

10K followers 710 following 7K posts

Sociologist and demographer, University of Maryland; director of SocArXiv. New book out! Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists https://cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen-scholar/9780231555418 philipncohen.com .. more

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Philip N. Cohen is an American sociologist. He is a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park, and director of SocArXiv, an open archive of the social sciences. .. more

Political science 34%

Sociology 29%

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · Nov 14

Hello new followers! I waste a lot of time on here, but when I'm not doing that I sometimes write books. My new one is called Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists (out in January, orderable now), and it has all you need to prevent ... oh no
cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen...

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 9h

Good point. I remember the first time I ate sushi, about 1984, someone offered me a bite and I was so grossed out I swallowed it and pretended to chew and said I liked it. (Also I was on acid.)

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 9h

I always think they would enjoy eating more if they chewed their food.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 9h

Some kind of geometry in this one (also, nice eyelashes)

White-tailed deer looking directly at the camera.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 13h

"I won youth by 34 points, and there are those that say that TikTok has something to do with it." (He lost ages 18-29, 54% to 43%, by 11 points.)

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Reposted by Philip N. Cohen

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 15h

On Thursday, I'll join Megan Molteni at the 2025 @statnews.com Summit for a fireside chat on the future of science, technology, and research policy--from AI governance to public trust, from access to human rights. And how to ensure science serves the public good. www.statnews.com/stat-summit-...

Thu Oct 16, 11:50 AM - 12:15 PM EDT (25 min)
Staying Human in the Age of AI

How do we build technologies in ways that expand opportunity, improve human life, and strengthen democracy? A wide-ranging interview that will span genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, and Silicon Valley’s growing influence on American sociopolitics.
Speakers
Alondra Nelson
Former Deputy Assistant to President Joe Biden & Director
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
Speaker
Megan Molteni
Science Writer
STAT
Moderator

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 16h

Ok but those four posts seem to describe the same incident?

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 22h

Great episode - thanks!

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Why? Beyond various personal animosities, a high level reason for this is to destroy sources of institutional power for their opponents: Media, universities, science, public health. Also, weakening government creates a vacuum, in which no one trusts anything, for authoritarianism to fill.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Having posted all this about mass sterilization, I should also note @laurabriggs.bsky.social's Reproducing Empire, which argues it was constrained choice, not a campaign of force, and that Puerto Rican feminists had long fought for birth control etc. and against nationalist pronatalism. Complicated!

Reposted by Shannon Vallor, Lisa W. Fazio, Nandita Sharma , and 35 more Shannon Vallor, Lisa W. Fazio, Nandita Sharma, Jonathan A. Eisen, Jocalyn Clark, Will Jennings, Jennifer A. Richeson, Julie L. Lockwood, Karen R. Lips, Joshua S. Weitz, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Benjamin Mason Meier, Philip N. Cohen, Philip Nel, Daniel W. Drezner, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Robert C. Richards, Alan Richardson, Silvia Secchi, Aaron Sojourner, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Margot C. Finn, Jason Lyall, Mark Rice, Kent Johnson, Brian Weatherson, Mary Jane Curry, Claire L. Adida, Larry W. Hunter, Richard M. Carpiano, David S. Tanenhaus, Aviel Roshwald, Jae-Young Son, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Timothy D. McBride, Melinda Baldwin, David Darmofal

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 1d

860 8.4K 15K

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Michael A. Clemens, Philip N. Cohen , and 11 more Brendan Nyhan, Michael A. Clemens, Philip N. Cohen, Laurent Pech, Robert C. Richards, William Myers, Nora V. Demleitner, Kate Starbird, Josh Pasek, Daxton R. Stewart, Aviel Roshwald, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Southern Africa, David Darmofal

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"

The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...

www.cato.org

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

👍 🤜 💥

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Ok! Good to know. No reason they couldn't (it's not rocket science.) But former rocket scientists are maybe a certain type.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Yes ironically real rocket scientists are bad at demography

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Journalists: I and other folks who study this stuff have are happy to jump on a call to help get things straight when you're working on birth rate stories familyinequality.wordpress.com/2025/10/03/l...

Let’s all use the right fertility rate terms and definitions

If you’re a teacher, or a journalist, or a concerned citizen, or someone who knows one of those people, and you want to know, or explain, what demographers mean when they refer to “fert…

familyinequality.wordpress.com

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Not the point of this very good political podcast, but they incorrectly abbreviate "total fertility rate" as "the fertility rate," which is a substantively different thing. The fertility rate doesn't have a "replacement" level. bsky.app/profile/juli...

Julie Kohler @juliekkohler.bsky.social · 2d

Loved having you on the show, @kieraevebutler.bsky.social! Check out today’s episode, which examines how pronatalism is part of a larger gender backlash.

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 2d

I joined @juliekkohler.bsky.social on the White Picket Fence podcast to discuss the growing pronatalist movement: who's behind it, what it stands for, and its links to Christian Nationalism. Listen here: lnk.to/wpf-ep3

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

Academic book reviews are truly in their own world. At AJS you can still pay $15 for a review of a two-year-old book.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

I'm sorry, mentioning the Epstein files causes autism

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

He seems qualified to discuss the compact: "Many of the ideas included in the proposal — and, in some instances, their exact wording — came from a document circulated last winter at the behest of Marc Rowan"

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

www.nytimes.com

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 1d

It makes sense that people who think the only reason to learn something is to get a job and all politics is a two-party electoral system (so, a lot of Americans) would have no idea what actual viewpoint diversity is or how much it exists on real campuses

A pie chart with a big slice labeled "actual viewpoint diversity" and a tiny slice labeled "people who vote for republicans"

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 2d

It's hard to be funny if the rules require explaining your jokes.

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 2d

Say what you want about the old days on twitter, but there was more humor

Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 2d

I did not see that coming

THE NOBEL PRIZE
Nobel Peace Prize 2025
Antifa
For courage in the face of rising authoritarianism.

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 2d

Anyone who would believe it deserves to be as happy, or mad, as they wish to be

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Philip N Cohen @philipncohen.com · 2d

But tylenol is replacing wine-soaked cloth?