Natasha Loder
@natashaloder.bsky.social
Health Editor, The Economist.
My newsletter is about how life is being rewired by new med health tech, and changing ideas about health: overmatter.substack.com/subscribe
My newsletter is about how life is being rewired by new med health tech, and changing ideas about health: overmatter.substack.com/subscribe
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The American right is hallucinating over ibogaine.
A wave of conservative evangelism is colliding with one of the riskiest psychedelics in the medicine cabinet. A new post with Anne Phillipi, of The New Health Club Podcast.
Read, share, and let me know what you think.
A wave of conservative evangelism is colliding with one of the riskiest psychedelics in the medicine cabinet. A new post with Anne Phillipi, of The New Health Club Podcast.
Read, share, and let me know what you think.
I did an audio doc on Sex and space. At least you probably don’t need special equipment and Velcro on the moon.
February 9, 2026 at 5:46 PM
I did an audio doc on Sex and space. At least you probably don’t need special equipment and Velcro on the moon.
Few scientists even study it.
February 9, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Few scientists even study it.
Theoretically you are right. But politically I fear you may not be.
February 9, 2026 at 10:39 AM
Theoretically you are right. But politically I fear you may not be.
Media on both sides are stoking. Nobody in the media actually likes Starmer which makes him such a popular target. And a political crisis always grabs eyeballs.
February 9, 2026 at 10:38 AM
Media on both sides are stoking. Nobody in the media actually likes Starmer which makes him such a popular target. And a political crisis always grabs eyeballs.
We don’t know how to have babies safely off planet.
Today Musk is blathering on about building a moon city in two years.
Musk Faces A Reckoning
Sunday Briefing
open.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 10:34 AM
We don’t know how to have babies safely off planet.
At one level he is absolutely right. Mandleson was the perfect choice.
February 9, 2026 at 10:33 AM
At one level he is absolutely right. Mandleson was the perfect choice.
They all have an eye on the top jobs.
You know it was this sort of infighting and job swaps that killed the Conservative Party—which turned out to be a rather useful container for hard right types.
You know it was this sort of infighting and job swaps that killed the Conservative Party—which turned out to be a rather useful container for hard right types.
February 9, 2026 at 10:31 AM
They all have an eye on the top jobs.
You know it was this sort of infighting and job swaps that killed the Conservative Party—which turned out to be a rather useful container for hard right types.
You know it was this sort of infighting and job swaps that killed the Conservative Party—which turned out to be a rather useful container for hard right types.
At a transactional level Mandleson’s appointment as ambassador to Trump was a perfect fit.
February 9, 2026 at 10:29 AM
At a transactional level Mandleson’s appointment as ambassador to Trump was a perfect fit.
But good discussion BTW
February 9, 2026 at 10:27 AM
But good discussion BTW
You can’t solve any of these problems by having governments in a constant state of turmoil. Wealth inequality becomes a third order problem when the economy is tanking.
February 9, 2026 at 10:27 AM
You can’t solve any of these problems by having governments in a constant state of turmoil. Wealth inequality becomes a third order problem when the economy is tanking.
I just think we ought to have finally learned our lesson about the grass being greener after Liz Truss.
February 9, 2026 at 10:25 AM
I just think we ought to have finally learned our lesson about the grass being greener after Liz Truss.
Let’s agree to disagree on the effect of the leader. perhaps you are right with starmer but i would say leaders like Johnson and Blair and Cameron do *create* MPs through force of their personality. My main point is I think the effort to depose starmer is 🤮
February 9, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Let’s agree to disagree on the effect of the leader. perhaps you are right with starmer but i would say leaders like Johnson and Blair and Cameron do *create* MPs through force of their personality. My main point is I think the effort to depose starmer is 🤮
I just want a competent set of people in the top jobs who understand their briefs (like Wes) all this neoliberal blah blah is irrelevant to me. A reshuffle of the top jobs to the plotters whose only expertise is gossip would be hugely damaging. Stability is under rated.
February 9, 2026 at 9:38 AM
I just want a competent set of people in the top jobs who understand their briefs (like Wes) all this neoliberal blah blah is irrelevant to me. A reshuffle of the top jobs to the plotters whose only expertise is gossip would be hugely damaging. Stability is under rated.
I’m not being facetious. The way MPs think they can just appoint the next PM by stoking outrage so we can get a chance at a top job is 🤮
February 9, 2026 at 9:33 AM
I’m not being facetious. The way MPs think they can just appoint the next PM by stoking outrage so we can get a chance at a top job is 🤮
I was attacking the argument not you. Your technical arguments are correct but everyone knows they are voting for one leader rather than another. It’s more democratic than the alternative you propose where MPs are using the media to gain power.
February 9, 2026 at 9:29 AM
I was attacking the argument not you. Your technical arguments are correct but everyone knows they are voting for one leader rather than another. It’s more democratic than the alternative you propose where MPs are using the media to gain power.
Everyone who isnt part pf the plot to replace Starmer needs to argue that he has to stay because his error of judgement isn’t like Covid parties in no10. He was elected. As for Reform—we will have to see. As a centrist it obviously worries me.
February 9, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Everyone who isnt part pf the plot to replace Starmer needs to argue that he has to stay because his error of judgement isn’t like Covid parties in no10. He was elected. As for Reform—we will have to see. As a centrist it obviously worries me.
We got lettuce PM from a stitch up organised by MPs. No thank you to whatever your mates are planning.
Many people on this platform just aren't getting it.
The jig is up.
The party's over.
Unless Labour MPs eject Starmer PDQ, recover Labour values, show how they'll fix our chronic problems, give us hope and inspiration instead of disappointment and frustration, they're finished.
No more denial. ⏰👃☕
The jig is up.
The party's over.
Unless Labour MPs eject Starmer PDQ, recover Labour values, show how they'll fix our chronic problems, give us hope and inspiration instead of disappointment and frustration, they're finished.
No more denial. ⏰👃☕
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 AM
We got lettuce PM from a stitch up organised by MPs. No thank you to whatever your mates are planning.
I have a two word smack down to that argument: Liz Truss. Sorry but your argument is just not credible
February 9, 2026 at 9:10 AM
I have a two word smack down to that argument: Liz Truss. Sorry but your argument is just not credible
👉 Labour MPs are playing a game of who to crown as new PM. With backstabbing and Machinations worthy of Mandleson.
Many people in the Labour Party are forgetting the lesson of the previous government. The electorate chooses the PM not a cabal of self interested MPs and their hangers on proclaiming public interest.
February 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM
👉 Labour MPs are playing a game of who to crown as new PM. With backstabbing and Machinations worthy of Mandleson.
What is happening is what happened under Con. MPs are deciding who to crown as new PM and getting leverage for favours and spreading stories in the media to damage Starmer. (I voted LibDem so no skin in this fight.) You have to realise this is all anti-democratic and just nasty.
February 9, 2026 at 8:58 AM
What is happening is what happened under Con. MPs are deciding who to crown as new PM and getting leverage for favours and spreading stories in the media to damage Starmer. (I voted LibDem so no skin in this fight.) You have to realise this is all anti-democratic and just nasty.
Many people in the Labour Party are forgetting the lesson of the previous government. The electorate chooses the PM not a cabal of self interested MPs and their hangers on proclaiming public interest.
February 9, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Many people in the Labour Party are forgetting the lesson of the previous government. The electorate chooses the PM not a cabal of self interested MPs and their hangers on proclaiming public interest.
All this fuss about Mandleson and he really was the perfect choice.
February 9, 2026 at 8:27 AM
All this fuss about Mandleson and he really was the perfect choice.
Yes to that. Fascinating question because two possible mechanisms of action. Insulin sensitivity. And altering reward pathways. Oh and inflammation possibly as a third.
February 6, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Yes to that. Fascinating question because two possible mechanisms of action. Insulin sensitivity. And altering reward pathways. Oh and inflammation possibly as a third.
Reposted by Natasha Loder
Back in 2024, I wrote for @economist.com about a then‑emerging idea: that metabolism and mental health are deeply intertwined. The brain is an energy‑hungry organ, and when energy pathways go awry, mood and thinking often do too. www.economist.com/science-and-...
Many mental-health conditions have bodily triggers
Psychiatrists are at long last starting to connect the dots
www.economist.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Back in 2024, I wrote for @economist.com about a then‑emerging idea: that metabolism and mental health are deeply intertwined. The brain is an energy‑hungry organ, and when energy pathways go awry, mood and thinking often do too. www.economist.com/science-and-...