𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
@charlescmann.bsky.social
Author of "1491, "1493," and, most recently, "The Wizard and the Prophet." Working, inefficiently, on another book.
The background image is pretty old by now, but I like the pig. The avatar photo is only a couple years old, though, so that's something.
The background image is pretty old by now, but I like the pig. The avatar photo is only a couple years old, though, so that's something.
Pinned
How the System Works
A series on the hidden mechanisms that support modern life — and what happens if we don’t maintain them
www.thenewatlantis.com
My thanks to the New Atlantis, letting me do this series on "How the System Works," and for removing the paywall today. It's maddening how little attention our society--and our political leaders, who take cues from us--pay to the systems that have made things better for so many billions.
Guacamole cannoli. So wrong, but so good.
November 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Guacamole cannoli. So wrong, but so good.
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
Point of order: all human births are “natural.” Medical interventions in fertility are a fundamental part of the deep history of our species. Stop mom-shaming women who want and need medicine for being, um, human. Cheers!
September 29, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Point of order: all human births are “natural.” Medical interventions in fertility are a fundamental part of the deep history of our species. Stop mom-shaming women who want and need medicine for being, um, human. Cheers!
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
Today’s the day I traditionally read @charlescmann.bsky.social’s article
Native Intelligence
The Indians who first feasted with the English colonists were far more sophisticated than you were taught in school. But that wasn't enough to save them
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Today’s the day I traditionally read @charlescmann.bsky.social’s article
TFW when you, a journalist who has occasionally spoken to people in the cattle industry, know more about it than the Secretary of Agriculture. Makes you long for the good old days of John Block.
Our USDA Secretary who doesn't even know what the cattle cycle is
What a time to be alive
What a time to be alive
Brooke Rollins on spiking beef prices in November 2025: "There's a lot of reasons for that. The Biden-Harris administration had a war on cattle because they talked about climate change and cattle, um -- it was crazy."
November 26, 2025 at 4:15 PM
TFW when you, a journalist who has occasionally spoken to people in the cattle industry, know more about it than the Secretary of Agriculture. Makes you long for the good old days of John Block.
Odd to be noting James O'Keefe, but here he may have turned up fascinating stuff--the GAO apparently copying vaccine databases secretly that RFK Jr had ordered to be destroyed. A window into internal govt struggles--which, of course, O'Keefe seems to think is bad.
x.com/JamesOKeefeI...
x.com/JamesOKeefeI...
James O'Keefe on X: "CAUGHT ON HIDDEN CAMERA: U.S. Government Accountability Office Director Admits GAO Staff “Stole & Backed Up” Vaccine Data Allegedly Deleted by RFK Jr.’s HHS - Possible Violations of Federal Records, Theft, & CFAA Laws. Steven Putansu, a 16-year veteran of the U.S. Government https://t.co/OaGR6ME248" / X
CAUGHT ON HIDDEN CAMERA: U.S. Government Accountability Office Director Admits GAO Staff “Stole & Backed Up” Vaccine Data Allegedly Deleted by RFK Jr.’s HHS - Possible Violations of Federal Records, Theft, & CFAA Laws. Steven Putansu, a 16-year veteran of the U.S. Government https://t.co/OaGR6ME248
x.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Odd to be noting James O'Keefe, but here he may have turned up fascinating stuff--the GAO apparently copying vaccine databases secretly that RFK Jr had ordered to be destroyed. A window into internal govt struggles--which, of course, O'Keefe seems to think is bad.
x.com/JamesOKeefeI...
x.com/JamesOKeefeI...
In 1924, Calvin Coolidge's 16-yr-old son played tennis on the White House grounds w/o wearing socks. He got a blister and was dead from infection a week later.
This is unthinkable today—which is why I wrote this series. Cuz the systems that save us from this kind of fate are in urgent need of care.
This is unthinkable today—which is why I wrote this series. Cuz the systems that save us from this kind of fate are in urgent need of care.
For a yr, I've been working on a series for The New Atlantis about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Our ancestors built them up over decades to fend off hunger, thirst, darkness and disease. But too few of us know about them—and they're all at risk. The conclusion is now available online:
Why We Are Better Off Than a Century Ago
Our ancestors built grand public systems to conquer hunger, thirst, darkness, and squalor. That progress can be lost if we forget it.
www.thenewatlantis.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:03 PM
In 1924, Calvin Coolidge's 16-yr-old son played tennis on the White House grounds w/o wearing socks. He got a blister and was dead from infection a week later.
This is unthinkable today—which is why I wrote this series. Cuz the systems that save us from this kind of fate are in urgent need of care.
This is unthinkable today—which is why I wrote this series. Cuz the systems that save us from this kind of fate are in urgent need of care.
For a yr, I've been working on a series for The New Atlantis about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Our ancestors built them up over decades to fend off hunger, thirst, darkness and disease. But too few of us know about them—and they're all at risk. The conclusion is now available online:
Why We Are Better Off Than a Century Ago
Our ancestors built grand public systems to conquer hunger, thirst, darkness, and squalor. That progress can be lost if we forget it.
www.thenewatlantis.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:59 PM
For a yr, I've been working on a series for The New Atlantis about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Our ancestors built them up over decades to fend off hunger, thirst, darkness and disease. But too few of us know about them—and they're all at risk. The conclusion is now available online:
Editors looking for young writers to publish are getting overwhelmed by fake AI-generated pitches from scammers.
"Dwell’s rates start at 50c/word—a fee difficult to justify if you have to interview 10 top designers, but a healthy payday if you only need to enter a few words into ChatGPT."
"Dwell’s rates start at 50c/word—a fee difficult to justify if you have to interview 10 top designers, but a healthy payday if you only need to enter a few words into ChatGPT."
Investigating a Possible Scammer in Journalism’s AI Era | The Local
A suspicious pitch from a freelancer led editor Nicholas Hune-Brown to dig into their past work. By the end, four publications, including The Guardian and Dwell, had removed articles from their sites.
thelocal.to
November 25, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Editors looking for young writers to publish are getting overwhelmed by fake AI-generated pitches from scammers.
"Dwell’s rates start at 50c/word—a fee difficult to justify if you have to interview 10 top designers, but a healthy payday if you only need to enter a few words into ChatGPT."
"Dwell’s rates start at 50c/word—a fee difficult to justify if you have to interview 10 top designers, but a healthy payday if you only need to enter a few words into ChatGPT."
Shameless plug:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Built up over decades, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know about them, and they're all at risk. Here's the latest:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Built up over decades, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know about them, and they're all at risk. Here's the latest:
Two Hundred Years to Flatten the Curve
How generations of meddlesome public health campaigns changed everyday life — and made life twice as long as it used to be
www.thenewatlantis.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Shameless plug:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Built up over decades, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know about them, and they're all at risk. Here's the latest:
For a year, I've been working on a series about the vast systems that underlie our lives. Built up over decades, these systems are the cathedrals of our time--but all too few of us know about them, and they're all at risk. Here's the latest:
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
1/ This is a devastatingly good article on RFK Jr by @michaelscherer.bsky.social. Even if you’re someone, like me, who has followed this arc and his devastating impact on public health, it’s a must read. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?
How an outsider, once ignored by the public-health establishment, became the most powerful man in science
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:41 PM
1/ This is a devastatingly good article on RFK Jr by @michaelscherer.bsky.social. Even if you’re someone, like me, who has followed this arc and his devastating impact on public health, it’s a must read. Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
Unless a disaster happens in the next few weeks, this year US farmers will have a record corn harvest and record soy yield (they're related, but not the same thing). Sure hope some malign force hasn't screwed up agricultural export markets. esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/defaul...
November 24, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Unless a disaster happens in the next few weeks, this year US farmers will have a record corn harvest and record soy yield (they're related, but not the same thing). Sure hope some malign force hasn't screwed up agricultural export markets. esmis.nal.usda.gov/sites/defaul...
Congratulations to these guys! Fantastic to see this work being recognized.
Our Latin America bureau @mongabaylatam.bsky.social won the Global Shining Light award last night 🏆 💯
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
One of the highest honors in investigative journalism, it's given at the annual @gijn.org conference
Their winning project moved Peruvian officials to protect land defenders in the Amazon:
Indigenous leaders killed as narco airstrips cut into their Amazon territories
Mongabay and Earth Genome detected 67 clandestine airstrips used for transporting drugs in the Peruvian regions of Ucayali, Huánuco and Pasco. The analysis used artificial intelligence (AI) and satell...
news.mongabay.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Congratulations to these guys! Fantastic to see this work being recognized.
"Wilderness: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings."
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
November 22, 2025 at 11:59 PM
"Wilderness: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings."
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
Two perfectly normal ads in the perfectly normal city of San Francisco.
November 22, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Two perfectly normal ads in the perfectly normal city of San Francisco.
New Phase 2 trial beginning to see whether Moderna mRNA vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus--a possible cofactor in MS development--can slow progression of early-stage MS. All current treatments work by suppressing immune system, with bad side effects, so this would be much better (if successful).
Phase 2 trial tests experimental EBV vaccine for safety in early MS
A clinical trial testing an experimental vaccine for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in people with MS is now recruiting participants.
multiplesclerosisnewstoday.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:47 AM
New Phase 2 trial beginning to see whether Moderna mRNA vaccine for Epstein-Barr virus--a possible cofactor in MS development--can slow progression of early-stage MS. All current treatments work by suppressing immune system, with bad side effects, so this would be much better (if successful).
The new CDC language on vaccines, picked up in the Google search below, was inserted on direct orders from RFKJr himself. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u... (gift link)
November 21, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The new CDC language on vaccines, picked up in the Google search below, was inserted on direct orders from RFKJr himself. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/u... (gift link)
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
This bs is now top search result in Google
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
This bs is now top search result in Google
In more detail: Wakefield had extensive financial ties to lawyers and families suing vaccine manufacturers, recruited research subjects from litigants, paid kids to give blood and lied about it, misreported *every single one* of his subjects' cases, and subsequently tried to cash in on his work.
GOP Sen. Ron Johnson is crowing about Robert Kennedy Jr.’s CDC pushing debunked vaccine misinformation.
“Time to apologize to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and all the others who were maligned and vilified for simply asking the right questions,” he says.
Wakefield’s paper was *fraudulent.*
“Time to apologize to Dr. Andrew Wakefield and all the others who were maligned and vilified for simply asking the right questions,” he says.
Wakefield’s paper was *fraudulent.*
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM
In more detail: Wakefield had extensive financial ties to lawyers and families suing vaccine manufacturers, recruited research subjects from litigants, paid kids to give blood and lied about it, misreported *every single one* of his subjects' cases, and subsequently tried to cash in on his work.
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
This is a fun episode of one of my favorite podcasts, made even better by two of my map clients —
@lollardfish.bsky.social and @charlescmann.bsky.social — getting name-dropped in short order!
I drew the maps for two of David’s books, & I’m working (slowly) on a set of maps for Charles’s next book!
@lollardfish.bsky.social and @charlescmann.bsky.social — getting name-dropped in short order!
I drew the maps for two of David’s books, & I’m working (slowly) on a set of maps for Charles’s next book!
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:52 PM
This is a fun episode of one of my favorite podcasts, made even better by two of my map clients —
@lollardfish.bsky.social and @charlescmann.bsky.social — getting name-dropped in short order!
I drew the maps for two of David’s books, & I’m working (slowly) on a set of maps for Charles’s next book!
@lollardfish.bsky.social and @charlescmann.bsky.social — getting name-dropped in short order!
I drew the maps for two of David’s books, & I’m working (slowly) on a set of maps for Charles’s next book!
@stewartbrand.bsky.social has a new and really interesting book coming out, and here’s an excerpt, which I’m guessing would be of interest to anyone who is interested in ideas.
The Essential Art of Civilization
What the U.S. Army’s idea of “sustainment” can teach us about how systems — and civilizations — endure.
longnow.org
November 20, 2025 at 5:46 PM
@stewartbrand.bsky.social has a new and really interesting book coming out, and here’s an excerpt, which I’m guessing would be of interest to anyone who is interested in ideas.
You know, I would grumble but accept it if they said, "The science is controversial," because it obviously and unfortunately is. But to say it isn't "evidence-based" when there is so much evidence is utter horseshit. And the other studies haven't been "ignored"--they've been carefully refuted.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
You know, I would grumble but accept it if they said, "The science is controversial," because it obviously and unfortunately is. But to say it isn't "evidence-based" when there is so much evidence is utter horseshit. And the other studies haven't been "ignored"--they've been carefully refuted.
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
Oh come the hell on.
CDC has overhauled its website to assert that “the claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim”
November 20, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Oh come the hell on.
Reposted by 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝙲. 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚗
Such a beautiful and moving graphic memoir from @sirosenbaum.bsky.social.
flaminghydra.com/issue-444/#t...
flaminghydra.com/issue-444/#t...
On the shoreline
S.I. Rosenbaum debuts a new graphic memoir of devastation and love
flaminghydra.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Such a beautiful and moving graphic memoir from @sirosenbaum.bsky.social.
flaminghydra.com/issue-444/#t...
flaminghydra.com/issue-444/#t...
Second time in a month. Picking up new glasses at the optometrist. Nice old duffer ahead of me at the counter.
Nice Old Duffer: "Are you Stephen King? The writer?"
Me: "No. I get that a lot."
NOD, smiling: "I see now. You're a little older than him."
Which, ouch.
Nice Old Duffer: "Are you Stephen King? The writer?"
Me: "No. I get that a lot."
NOD, smiling: "I see now. You're a little older than him."
Which, ouch.
November 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Second time in a month. Picking up new glasses at the optometrist. Nice old duffer ahead of me at the counter.
Nice Old Duffer: "Are you Stephen King? The writer?"
Me: "No. I get that a lot."
NOD, smiling: "I see now. You're a little older than him."
Which, ouch.
Nice Old Duffer: "Are you Stephen King? The writer?"
Me: "No. I get that a lot."
NOD, smiling: "I see now. You're a little older than him."
Which, ouch.
I hadn't known this--it looks like US divorce rates have been falling, slowly but steadily, and now are at roughly a 50-year low. (Source: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...)
November 19, 2025 at 1:59 PM
I hadn't known this--it looks like US divorce rates have been falling, slowly but steadily, and now are at roughly a 50-year low. (Source: www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...)