Kathleen Bachynski
@bachynski.bsky.social
Associate Professor of public health at Muhlenberg College. History, ethics, epidemiology, sports, injury prevention.
Pinned
I love this photo that @melissabender.bsky.social captured of me at the #standupforscience rally yesterday in NYC. I wonder if I could make this my official faculty photo lol @jackiantonovich.bsky.social @kimberlywheiman.bsky.social @archaeoscape.bsky.social @sarahruncie.bsky.social
ACT UP NY announces HEALTHGATE, “a campaign released on the heels of World AIDS Day…that condemns Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s deadly pseudoscience-led healthcare death circus while calling for the implementation of the New York Health Act & sustained funding for public & global health”
December 1, 2025 at 10:22 PM
ACT UP NY announces HEALTHGATE, “a campaign released on the heels of World AIDS Day…that condemns Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s deadly pseudoscience-led healthcare death circus while calling for the implementation of the New York Health Act & sustained funding for public & global health”
I never feel more like a public health professor than when I am putting my bike helmet on before riding home, and a student passing by sees me and cheerfully calls out: “that’s right, you have to wear your helmet Dr. B!”
a girl wearing a pink helmet is riding a bike on a sidewalk with a disney logo behind her
Alt: a girl wearing a pink helmet is riding a bike on a sidewalk with a disney logo behind her
media.tenor.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I never feel more like a public health professor than when I am putting my bike helmet on before riding home, and a student passing by sees me and cheerfully calls out: “that’s right, you have to wear your helmet Dr. B!”
“A federal appeals court said on Monday that Alina Habba had been serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey… the three-judge panel, based in Philadelphia, affirmed an earlier ruling by a Federal District Court judge, shooting down each of the government’s arguments”
Appeals Court Says Alina Habba Is Unlawful U.S. Attorney
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:13 PM
“A federal appeals court said on Monday that Alina Habba had been serving unlawfully as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey… the three-judge panel, based in Philadelphia, affirmed an earlier ruling by a Federal District Court judge, shooting down each of the government’s arguments”
How do you get an MRI without knowing what part of your body was scanned?
“Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.
“It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
“Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.
“It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
Trump says he'll release MRI results but doesn't know what part of his body was scanned
President Donald Trump says he'll release the results of his MRI test that he received in October. During an exchange with reporters as Trump traveled back to Washington from Florida on Sunday, he sai...
apnews.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:28 PM
How do you get an MRI without knowing what part of your body was scanned?
“Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.
“It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
“Trump added Sunday that he has “no idea” on what part of his body he got the MRI.
“It was just an MRI,” he said. “What part of the body? It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it.”
“Had the hepatitis B vaccine existed back when my father was a child I would not have lost a parent at such a young age, my mother left to raise us alone. Today, the vaccine is recommended for all newborns in the United States. But I worry that this lifesaving protection will soon be taken away”
Opinion | My Father Died of Hepatitis B Before the Vaccine. We Must Not Go Back.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:15 PM
“Had the hepatitis B vaccine existed back when my father was a child I would not have lost a parent at such a young age, my mother left to raise us alone. Today, the vaccine is recommended for all newborns in the United States. But I worry that this lifesaving protection will soon be taken away”
“Public health has already seen the power of innovation in increasing participation… Imagine if vaccination offered a similar range of options: a nasal spray, skin patch, or a traditional shot. That small degree of choice could reframe the question from whether to vaccinate to how.”
One way to fight vaccine hesitancy: ditch the needles
Benjamin L. Sievers is a vaccine researcher, and he’s terrified of needles.
www.statnews.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:03 PM
“Public health has already seen the power of innovation in increasing participation… Imagine if vaccination offered a similar range of options: a nasal spray, skin patch, or a traditional shot. That small degree of choice could reframe the question from whether to vaccinate to how.”
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
This is the most important op-ed you'll read this week. The Trump administration is about to get rid of the birth-dose of hepatitis B vaccine. That is a deadly choice for many families. @helenouyang.bsky.social tells her story. Now call your member of Congress. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
Opinion | My Father Died of Hepatitis B Before the Vaccine. We Must Not Go Back.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:37 AM
This is the most important op-ed you'll read this week. The Trump administration is about to get rid of the birth-dose of hepatitis B vaccine. That is a deadly choice for many families. @helenouyang.bsky.social tells her story. Now call your member of Congress. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/o...
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
You really have to read this thread. The genius of Tom Stoppard, the fragility of memory, the magic of theatre — and the glorious stubbornness of a researcher who would not stop.
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
November 30, 2025 at 2:42 PM
You really have to read this thread. The genius of Tom Stoppard, the fragility of memory, the magic of theatre — and the glorious stubbornness of a researcher who would not stop.
What a moving detail about Walter Dowdle, a public health giant. “Ms. Hulsey recalled that her father walked to and from work each day with a large bag to pick up trash on his way home. As a child, she thought her father was a garbage man until a classmate informed her otherwise.”
Walter Dowdle, Public Health Leader in Times of Crises, Dies at 94
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:09 AM
What a moving detail about Walter Dowdle, a public health giant. “Ms. Hulsey recalled that her father walked to and from work each day with a large bag to pick up trash on his way home. As a child, she thought her father was a garbage man until a classmate informed her otherwise.”
“The investigations by both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are the sharpest scrutiny to date by Congress… They constitute a notable step by Republican lawmakers who have spent much of the year deferring to Mr. Trump and refraining from exercising oversight of his actions.”
Lawmakers Suggest Follow-Up Boat Strike Could Be a War Crime
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 12:16 AM
“The investigations by both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees are the sharpest scrutiny to date by Congress… They constitute a notable step by Republican lawmakers who have spent much of the year deferring to Mr. Trump and refraining from exercising oversight of his actions.”
“Bad ideas can be beaten back at the ballot box, in the public square, and through the halls of Congress. The country is under no obligation to tolerate institutionalized quackery or elected officials who, through feckless appeals and half measures, have become complicit in it.”
The Undermining of the C.D.C.
The Department of Health and Human Services maintains that it is hewing to “gold standard, evidence-based science”—doublespeak that might unsettle Orwell.
www.newyorker.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:21 PM
“Bad ideas can be beaten back at the ballot box, in the public square, and through the halls of Congress. The country is under no obligation to tolerate institutionalized quackery or elected officials who, through feckless appeals and half measures, have become complicit in it.”
“The development highlights a growing tension within the real estate industry. Fires, floods and other disasters are posing more risks to homes as the planet warms, but forecasting exactly which houses are most vulnerable — and might sell for less — has proved fraught.”
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:48 PM
“The development highlights a growing tension within the real estate industry. Fires, floods and other disasters are posing more risks to homes as the planet warms, but forecasting exactly which houses are most vulnerable — and might sell for less — has proved fraught.”
“Berg's point is that AI doesn't merely automate tasks — it automates the very processes through which people develop their skills.”
We can't really say this enough...
> Anastasia Berg [at UCL Irvine] said that new research — and what she's hearing directly from colleagues across various industries — shows that employees who heavily rely on AI are losing core skills at a startling rate.
www.businessinsider.com/ai-tools-are...
> Anastasia Berg [at UCL Irvine] said that new research — and what she's hearing directly from colleagues across various industries — shows that employees who heavily rely on AI are losing core skills at a startling rate.
www.businessinsider.com/ai-tools-are...
AI tools are 'deskilling' workers, philosophy professor says
A philosophy professor warns that AI reliance is weakening workers' judgment, creativity, and problem-solving.
www.businessinsider.com
November 30, 2025 at 8:07 PM
“Berg's point is that AI doesn't merely automate tasks — it automates the very processes through which people develop their skills.”
“Prosecutors said that Mr. Gentile and Mr. Schneider over several years used private equity funds controlled by Mr. Gentile’s company, GPB Capital, to defraud 10,000 investors by misrepresenting the performance of the funds and the source of money used to make monthly distribution payments”
Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 7:52 PM
“Prosecutors said that Mr. Gentile and Mr. Schneider over several years used private equity funds controlled by Mr. Gentile’s company, GPB Capital, to defraud 10,000 investors by misrepresenting the performance of the funds and the source of money used to make monthly distribution payments”
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
Mark Kelly: "We have a president who doesn't understand the Constitution, who installed an unqualified secretary of defense. I cannot think of a secretary of defense in the history of our country that is less qualified than Pete Hegseth. He should've been fired after Signal-gate."
November 30, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Mark Kelly: "We have a president who doesn't understand the Constitution, who installed an unqualified secretary of defense. I cannot think of a secretary of defense in the history of our country that is less qualified than Pete Hegseth. He should've been fired after Signal-gate."
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
LSU is paying its previous football coach over $50 million NOT to coach there while likely guaranteeing Kiffin something approaching double that, all while having an academic hiring freeze and budget cuts across the board. What is the purpose of a university (rhetorical)?
SOURCES: Lane Kiffin is expected to accept LSU's offer to become the Tigers next head coach. Kiffin is set to meet with his Ole Miss team this morning at 9 AM CT. As we reported yesterday morning, LSU has been very confident it was going to land Kiffin. www.nytimes.com/athletic/684...
Lane Kiffin expected to take LSU job as Ole Miss sets team meeting: Source
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:06 PM
LSU is paying its previous football coach over $50 million NOT to coach there while likely guaranteeing Kiffin something approaching double that, all while having an academic hiring freeze and budget cuts across the board. What is the purpose of a university (rhetorical)?
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
"I hope you get the worst fucking hemorrhoids and can never sit down," one protester says heckling the masked feds staring down from the parking garage above.
November 29, 2025 at 4:49 PM
"I hope you get the worst fucking hemorrhoids and can never sit down," one protester says heckling the masked feds staring down from the parking garage above.
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
The director of the FDA is using unverified submissions to the VAERS database to claim the Covid vaccine resulted in 10 pediatric deaths.
Anyone can submit anything to VAERS. To demonstrate, a doctor famously reported that the flu shot turned him into the Incredible Hulk.
Anyone can submit anything to VAERS. To demonstrate, a doctor famously reported that the flu shot turned him into the Incredible Hulk.
November 30, 2025 at 3:11 AM
The director of the FDA is using unverified submissions to the VAERS database to claim the Covid vaccine resulted in 10 pediatric deaths.
Anyone can submit anything to VAERS. To demonstrate, a doctor famously reported that the flu shot turned him into the Incredible Hulk.
Anyone can submit anything to VAERS. To demonstrate, a doctor famously reported that the flu shot turned him into the Incredible Hulk.
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
I recently conducted some hiring interviews and I encountered two candidates using AI during the interview. It is really a sad spectacle…
“It’s very difficult to imagine a robust market for university graduates whose thinking, interpreting, and communicating has been offloaded to a machine. What value can such graduates possibly add to any enterprise?”
November 30, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I recently conducted some hiring interviews and I encountered two candidates using AI during the interview. It is really a sad spectacle…
Willis “finally began compiling numbers collected by ambulance crews, which soon showed that the rate of e-bike-related accidents was nine times higher for youths than for riders over age 20. (The rate for 10-to-15-year-olds was five times greater than for any other group.)”
The Shocking Crash That Led One County to Reckon With the Dangers of E-Bikes
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Willis “finally began compiling numbers collected by ambulance crews, which soon showed that the rate of e-bike-related accidents was nine times higher for youths than for riders over age 20. (The rate for 10-to-15-year-olds was five times greater than for any other group.)”
“He articulated to everyone who asked that although he did not want to die, he would prefer death to a pacemaker’s potential complications, especially the possibility of infection…A cardiologist spent hours at his bedside, trying to get to know him… to find some opening that would persuade him”
Opinion | The Medical Case That Still Haunts Me
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:34 PM
“He articulated to everyone who asked that although he did not want to die, he would prefer death to a pacemaker’s potential complications, especially the possibility of infection…A cardiologist spent hours at his bedside, trying to get to know him… to find some opening that would persuade him”
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
Hegseth has lost National Review.
www.nationalreview.com/corner/we-in...
www.nationalreview.com/corner/we-in...
‘We Intended the Strike to Be Lethal’ Is Not a Defense | National Review
The laws of war, incorporated in the federal war crimes statute, prohibit the killing of people who have been rendered hors de combat.
www.nationalreview.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Hegseth has lost National Review.
www.nationalreview.com/corner/we-in...
www.nationalreview.com/corner/we-in...
“It’s very difficult to imagine a robust market for university graduates whose thinking, interpreting, and communicating has been offloaded to a machine. What value can such graduates possibly add to any enterprise?”
November 30, 2025 at 1:18 PM
“It’s very difficult to imagine a robust market for university graduates whose thinking, interpreting, and communicating has been offloaded to a machine. What value can such graduates possibly add to any enterprise?”
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
Here at the University of South Carolina, we've had no in-state tuition increases for the past seven years. Factoring in inflation, it now costs 25% less to attend USC than it did before that. The school is flourishing as a result, with enrollment at over 40,000 students for the first time ever.
It's no secret that going to college can be very expensive, with tuition costs rising faster than financial aid. But what's causing that price tag to rise so quickly?
College 'sticker prices' have risen dramatically. Here's why
It's no secret that going to college can be very expensive, with tuition costs rising faster than financial aid. But what's causing that price tag to rise so quickly?
n.pr
November 30, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Here at the University of South Carolina, we've had no in-state tuition increases for the past seven years. Factoring in inflation, it now costs 25% less to attend USC than it did before that. The school is flourishing as a result, with enrollment at over 40,000 students for the first time ever.
Reposted by Kathleen Bachynski
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI
Anecdotally on twitter seeing a big shift the last few days from every AI slop account saying every other creative field is “over” and they’re in control now to now posting about how nobody likes them and it’s not fair and they’ll persevere and real artists respect and uplift eachother
November 30, 2025 at 12:27 AM
my “AI is over” anecdote is that my wife was hired over the summer to write scripts for a big tech company explaining how to use their AI tools and after many rounds of revisions, the latest notes said “we’re finding a lot of AI fatigue among our users” and to remove all references to AI