Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
Historian of science & medicine and writer @ Johns Hopkins & Berkeley. Biography of James Watson coming soonish from Basic Books. Also rock climbing, roots music, tattoos, dogs, humor. My opinions are his –>
Pinned
Nathaniel Comfort
@nccomfort.bsky.social
· Mar 18
Hello world! I’m a historian of genetics who writes for both academic and gen’l audiences. Author of books on Barbara McClintock and medical genetics & eugenics + many articles. Currently writing a biog. of James Watson. Other loves= dogs, music around the world, inappropriate humor.
Ah think if we all pitch in at this, wec’ld get ‘er done right quick, dontcha?
#duckbutts4peace
#duckbutts4peace
Another year almost over and I still haven’t made any progress on my book project. Sigh. #birds
December 7, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Ah think if we all pitch in at this, wec’ld get ‘er done right quick, dontcha?
#duckbutts4peace
#duckbutts4peace
I grow old, I grow old,
I will wear one pantleg rolled
I will wear one pantleg rolled
“O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason”
And men have lost their reason”
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 7, 2025 at 4:30 AM
I grow old, I grow old,
I will wear one pantleg rolled
I will wear one pantleg rolled
Thank you for your service, @wellerstein.bsky.social
"#1 New Release in US Presidents" is probably the top of a very small hill. But I am pleased that I am beating out "A Trump Family Christmas."
December 6, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Thank you for your service, @wellerstein.bsky.social
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Put some green onions on that today for Steve Cropper, an architect and purveyor of Memphis soul. One of the greats. (gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/a...
Steve Cropper, Guitarist, Songwriter and Shaper of Memphis Soul Music, Dies at 84
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Put some green onions on that today for Steve Cropper, an architect and purveyor of Memphis soul. One of the greats. (gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/a...
I might humbly add my own Science of Human Perfection as a complement to Stern’s Telling Genes. Alex and I chased each other through some of the same archives as we were researching them.
December 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
I might humbly add my own Science of Human Perfection as a complement to Stern’s Telling Genes. Alex and I chased each other through some of the same archives as we were researching them.
Important thread 🧵 on what eugenics is and isn’t from @jackiantonovich.bsky.social. Thank you, Jackie!
Historian of eugenics here. I don't normally like to retweet bad arguments, but this is such a fundamental misunderstanding of eugenics, I think it's important to point out. I don't have time to debunk all of the ways this is inaccurate, but I'll highlight a few things and then recommend some books🧵
December 4, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Important thread 🧵 on what eugenics is and isn’t from @jackiantonovich.bsky.social. Thank you, Jackie!
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
To simplify: We don't call historical geocentrism (earth at the center of the universe) pseudoscience. That's just where science was at the time. People who believe in geocentrism *now* however are pushing pseudoscience.
1. Historically, eugenics was not a pseudoscience. It was *science* Almost every scientist, social scientist, academic, etc. believed in the validity of eugenics. You would have to search far & wide to find a scientist that didn't believe in some form of it. They taught it in college!
December 4, 2025 at 2:50 PM
To simplify: We don't call historical geocentrism (earth at the center of the universe) pseudoscience. That's just where science was at the time. People who believe in geocentrism *now* however are pushing pseudoscience.
Project 2028?
Maybe the wizards on Wall Street can put together a derivative that will allow investors to short the health of the American population with metrics such as the number of vaccine preventable illnesses such measles and hepatitis B.
a man in a suit and tie is looking at something in the distance
ALT: a man in a suit and tie is looking at something in the distance
media.tenor.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:39 AM
Project 2028?
The point here is not about Watson. It's about how science deals with Watson-like behaviour, of which there is still plenty around. And that includes Watsonian genetic determinism and quasi-eugenics (or not even quasi).
December 4, 2025 at 2:16 AM
"There were few people better placed to
know why notions of race-based differences in intelligence
have no scientific foundation; to sustain his beliefs in the
face of that demanded not just ignorance but active denial." @philipcball.bsky.social in @thelancet.com
know why notions of race-based differences in intelligence
have no scientific foundation; to sustain his beliefs in the
face of that demanded not just ignorance but active denial." @philipcball.bsky.social in @thelancet.com
I wrote an Opinion piece for @thelancet.com about James Watson. It's not an obituary - Georgina Ferry did that for them - but offers some thoughts on the problematic aspects of Watson's history.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
James D Watson: a cautionary tale
There was always going to be a complex reckoning in the obituaries of James D Watson
(1928–2025), the American geneticist who co-discovered the structure of DNA. For many
years, Watson was one of the ...
www.thelancet.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:15 AM
"There were few people better placed to
know why notions of race-based differences in intelligence
have no scientific foundation; to sustain his beliefs in the
face of that demanded not just ignorance but active denial." @philipcball.bsky.social in @thelancet.com
know why notions of race-based differences in intelligence
have no scientific foundation; to sustain his beliefs in the
face of that demanded not just ignorance but active denial." @philipcball.bsky.social in @thelancet.com
I think we’d be justified in calling this a classic.
For a detailed explanation of the origins of the "race suicide" rhetoric and its connection to US eugenics, see:
December 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I think we’d be justified in calling this a classic.
Ooh, I could have predicted this. It’s not going to end well.
People Are Uploading Their Medical Records to AI Chatbots. Despite privacy risks and inaccuracy concerns, people are feeding blood test results, doctor’s notes and surgical reports into ChatGPT and the like. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/w...
People Are Uploading Their Medical Records to A.I. Chatbots
www.nytimes.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Ooh, I could have predicted this. It’s not going to end well.
When anthropomorphism becomes hubris...
“They’re bending traffic laws, getting impatient with pedestrians and embracing the idea that when it comes to city driving, politeness doesn’t pay… Waymo has been trying to make its cars “confidently assertive,” says Chris Ludwick, a senior director of product management with Waymo”
Self-driving Waymo cars are suddenly driving way mo like “an aggressive, New York taxi driver.”
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...
www.wsj.com/lifestyle/ca...
December 3, 2025 at 6:14 AM
When anthropomorphism becomes hubris...
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
This podcast just out:
relitigated.com/2025/07/16/1...
relitigated.com/2025/07/16/1...
#13 Reflections on Buck v. Bell: An Interview with Dr. Paul Lombardo - Relitigated Podcast
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Paul Lombardo, Regents’ Professor and Bobby Lee Cook Professor of Law at Georgia State University. He is a historian and legal scholar who has written on eugenics, m...
relitigated.com
July 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM
This podcast just out:
relitigated.com/2025/07/16/1...
relitigated.com/2025/07/16/1...
Holy shit just dropped from Alabama 3, "Sex Machine Learning." I dunno if dorky techno blues funk insanity is your jam, but it is mine.
#DNA #SexMachine #Genome
#DNA #SexMachine #Genome
Alabama 3 - Sex Machine Learning (Official Visualiser)
YouTube video by Alabama3akaA3
www.youtube.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Holy shit just dropped from Alabama 3, "Sex Machine Learning." I dunno if dorky techno blues funk insanity is your jam, but it is mine.
#DNA #SexMachine #Genome
#DNA #SexMachine #Genome
Ok folks, let’s supply a moral to this story.
My 90 yo mom is currently leading with, “Don’t go places where you’re not invited,” which is pretty sly
My 90 yo mom is currently leading with, “Don’t go places where you’re not invited,” which is pretty sly
Last week in our student reading group we read the portion of Wealth of Nations in which Smith comments on the way generally unedifying ways that young men spend their gap year/ study abroad/ grand tour time.
www.nbcnews.com/news/world/a...
www.nbcnews.com/news/world/a...
American Student Ends Up Trapped in Giant Vagina Sculpture
Firefighters embarked on an "extraordinary rescue mission" when an American exchange student got his leg trapped inside a giant vagina sculpture.
www.nbcnews.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Ok folks, let’s supply a moral to this story.
My 90 yo mom is currently leading with, “Don’t go places where you’re not invited,” which is pretty sly
My 90 yo mom is currently leading with, “Don’t go places where you’re not invited,” which is pretty sly
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
Everything old is new again, I get to recycle my Good Times with Francis Galton line again and again and again web.archive.org/web/20230608...
November 30, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Everything old is new again, I get to recycle my Good Times with Francis Galton line again and again and again web.archive.org/web/20230608...
Fascinating that the humanities seem to be getting a bump from those worried about Al.
Natural intelligence—what a concept!
Natural intelligence—what a concept!
December 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Fascinating that the humanities seem to be getting a bump from those worried about Al.
Natural intelligence—what a concept!
Natural intelligence—what a concept!
Unusual scene today atop the Oakland-Berkeley hills. Massive thule fog came up out of the Central Valley and was blown *west*. Here’s Mt. Diablo, up to its neck in fog, doing its best imitation of Mt. Fuji.
November 29, 2025 at 3:11 AM
Unusual scene today atop the Oakland-Berkeley hills. Massive thule fog came up out of the Central Valley and was blown *west*. Here’s Mt. Diablo, up to its neck in fog, doing its best imitation of Mt. Fuji.
I know I needed some good news this morning. Perhaps you could use some too
They did it again! NYC subway Thanksgiving 2025, via @scootercaster.com!
November 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
I know I needed some good news this morning. Perhaps you could use some too
Hi, I’m
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
REM
The Replacements
The Ramones
The Pixies
B52s
REM
The Replacements
The Ramones
The Pixies
B52s
Introduce yourself with 5 concerts you’ve seen
Run-DMC & Beastie Boys
Prince
The Hold Steady
boygenius
Car Seat Headrest
the last 20-odd minutes of waiting to take turkey out / put sides in suuuuuuuuuucks
Run-DMC & Beastie Boys
Prince
The Hold Steady
boygenius
Car Seat Headrest
the last 20-odd minutes of waiting to take turkey out / put sides in suuuuuuuuuucks
November 28, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Hi, I’m
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Led Zeppelin
Return to Forever
Doc Watson
Art Blakey
Emmanuel Ax
Looking for some music that’s appropriate for the holiday, is family friendly, and doesn’t suck?
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Giving thanks
open.spotify.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Looking for some music that’s appropriate for the holiday, is family friendly, and doesn’t suck?
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
If you have spotify, I got you covered.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Reposted by Nathaniel Comfort
I buy at least two books from this list every year! If you are a non-tenure-track historian and have a book coming out in 2025, please fill out this form to be included!
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I buy at least two books from this list every year! If you are a non-tenure-track historian and have a book coming out in 2025, please fill out this form to be included!
Anyone here use a Remarkable tablet? I ordered both the 2 and Pro models and am keeping the Remarkable 2.
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
November 24, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Anyone here use a Remarkable tablet? I ordered both the 2 and Pro models and am keeping the Remarkable 2.
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting
The Pro+kbd folio was as big & heavy as an iPad but less fnxnal. The 2 is so light and simple—it feels like a new kind of tool.
Interested in exps w/ these from readers and writers
#amwriting