Erica Weintraub Austin
@ericawaustin.bsky.social
Originator of the Media Literacy Theory of Chge, baker of award-winning Cougar Gold Cheese Coins, and fortunate family partner of talented musicians, a statistician, theoretical physicist and ball-chasing pup. My views may not reflect those of my employer.
Amazing photography
"Three celestial spectacles at different distances"
Closest are the snowcapped Meili Mountains, part of the Himalayas in China. In the middle is Comet Lemmon, and far in the distance on the left is the central plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
"Three celestial spectacles at different distances"
Closest are the snowcapped Meili Mountains, part of the Himalayas in China. In the middle is Comet Lemmon, and far in the distance on the left is the central plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Comet Lemmon and the Milky Way apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25112...
What did Comet Lemmon look like when it was at its best? One example is pictured here, featuring three celestial spectacles all at different distances. The closest spectacle is the snowcapped Meili Mountains of the Himalayas in China.
What did Comet Lemmon look like when it was at its best? One example is pictured here, featuring three celestial spectacles all at different distances. The closest spectacle is the snowcapped Meili Mountains of the Himalayas in China.
November 26, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Amazing photography
"Three celestial spectacles at different distances"
Closest are the snowcapped Meili Mountains, part of the Himalayas in China. In the middle is Comet Lemmon, and far in the distance on the left is the central plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
"Three celestial spectacles at different distances"
Closest are the snowcapped Meili Mountains, part of the Himalayas in China. In the middle is Comet Lemmon, and far in the distance on the left is the central plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
🚲 roll 🚲 models ❤️
“Once, after the group bought out a tamale vendor’s cart, that man found them days later to say immigration agents were spotted on his block just hours after. ‘You saved my life,’ Rosales said the man told them.” apnews.com/article/chic...
Chicagoans buy out street vendors amid a federal immigration crackdown
Across Chicago’s Latino neighborhoods, fear of a federal immigration crackdown has emptied the streets.
apnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:00 AM
🚲 roll 🚲 models ❤️
Yes! Encourage critical thinking and self discovery!
Far better than demonizing and trying to forbid tools that people like and will/must use. More great ideas in the comments.
#medialiteracy
Far better than demonizing and trying to forbid tools that people like and will/must use. More great ideas in the comments.
#medialiteracy
November 23, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Yes! Encourage critical thinking and self discovery!
Far better than demonizing and trying to forbid tools that people like and will/must use. More great ideas in the comments.
#medialiteracy
Far better than demonizing and trying to forbid tools that people like and will/must use. More great ideas in the comments.
#medialiteracy
Surprise, sources aren't always who they pretend to be.
And it's tough to keep up with the strategies they can use to mislead.
Check their sponsors, expertise, relevance. Verify "facts" with other trusted sources before acting or sharing.
#medialiteracy
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
And it's tough to keep up with the strategies they can use to mislead.
Check their sponsors, expertise, relevance. Verify "facts" with other trusted sources before acting or sharing.
#medialiteracy
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
November 23, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Surprise, sources aren't always who they pretend to be.
And it's tough to keep up with the strategies they can use to mislead.
Check their sponsors, expertise, relevance. Verify "facts" with other trusted sources before acting or sharing.
#medialiteracy
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
And it's tough to keep up with the strategies they can use to mislead.
Check their sponsors, expertise, relevance. Verify "facts" with other trusted sources before acting or sharing.
#medialiteracy
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Unfortunately we've now lost a human life to complications of bird flu, in WA state.
Public risk remains low, but it is useful to take relevant precautions.
The person had backyard birds.
An authoritative source of info and guidance about this situation is the WA State Dept of Health:
Public risk remains low, but it is useful to take relevant precautions.
The person had backyard birds.
An authoritative source of info and guidance about this situation is the WA State Dept of Health:
Grays Harbor County resident dies from complications of avian influenza
For immediate release: Nov. 21, 2025 (25-140) Contact: DOH Communications The person was infected with the H5N5 virus; the risk to the public remains low OLYMPIA – A Grays Harbor County resident who w...
doh.wa.gov
November 23, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Unfortunately we've now lost a human life to complications of bird flu, in WA state.
Public risk remains low, but it is useful to take relevant precautions.
The person had backyard birds.
An authoritative source of info and guidance about this situation is the WA State Dept of Health:
Public risk remains low, but it is useful to take relevant precautions.
The person had backyard birds.
An authoritative source of info and guidance about this situation is the WA State Dept of Health:
"Fake news" led to real results:
Sen. Brian Schatz (D HI) noted the apparent contradiction in DHS’s framing of events: “So they are not approving the policy change that was in the works because the Washington Post reported about it. Good. But that means the reporting was accurate.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D HI) noted the apparent contradiction in DHS’s framing of events: “So they are not approving the policy change that was in the works because the Washington Post reported about it. Good. But that means the reporting was accurate.”
U.S. Coast Guard Backtracks After ‘Fake’ Report on Hate-Symbols Policy
The Armed Forces branch said it will review an upcoming policy change on swastikas and nooses after a Washington Post exposé that the Department of Homeland Security called “fake crap.”
time.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:46 AM
"Fake news" led to real results:
Sen. Brian Schatz (D HI) noted the apparent contradiction in DHS’s framing of events: “So they are not approving the policy change that was in the works because the Washington Post reported about it. Good. But that means the reporting was accurate.”
Sen. Brian Schatz (D HI) noted the apparent contradiction in DHS’s framing of events: “So they are not approving the policy change that was in the works because the Washington Post reported about it. Good. But that means the reporting was accurate.”
The CDC no longer is a trustworthy information source. People need easy access to other reliable, trustworthy sources.
e.g. www.who.int
More in the thread. Pls add!
But be careful: Some will take advantage of uncertainty to mislead and sell products and ideas that can do harm.
#medialiteracy
e.g. www.who.int
More in the thread. Pls add!
But be careful: Some will take advantage of uncertainty to mislead and sell products and ideas that can do harm.
#medialiteracy
World Health Organization (WHO)
The United Nations agency working to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.
www.who.int
November 20, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The CDC no longer is a trustworthy information source. People need easy access to other reliable, trustworthy sources.
e.g. www.who.int
More in the thread. Pls add!
But be careful: Some will take advantage of uncertainty to mislead and sell products and ideas that can do harm.
#medialiteracy
e.g. www.who.int
More in the thread. Pls add!
But be careful: Some will take advantage of uncertainty to mislead and sell products and ideas that can do harm.
#medialiteracy
There's always dreams
and they don't cost nothin
and in my dreams
I don't want nothin
but these days
it seems nobody's sleepin sound
until you put that payment down
🎶 released today 🎶
hotdamnscandal.bandcamp.com/track/i-wann...
and they don't cost nothin
and in my dreams
I don't want nothin
but these days
it seems nobody's sleepin sound
until you put that payment down
🎶 released today 🎶
hotdamnscandal.bandcamp.com/track/i-wann...
I Wanna Be Rich, by Hot Damn Scandal
track by Hot Damn Scandal
hotdamnscandal.bandcamp.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:16 AM
There's always dreams
and they don't cost nothin
and in my dreams
I don't want nothin
but these days
it seems nobody's sleepin sound
until you put that payment down
🎶 released today 🎶
hotdamnscandal.bandcamp.com/track/i-wann...
and they don't cost nothin
and in my dreams
I don't want nothin
but these days
it seems nobody's sleepin sound
until you put that payment down
🎶 released today 🎶
hotdamnscandal.bandcamp.com/track/i-wann...
"Nothing against the chains,” said Butch Alford Jr., 87, “but they’re a bunch of financial bastards.”
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
A startup incubator to save the newsroom
The family publishing The Lewiston Tribune in Idaho turned its production facility into a startup incubator, creating new businesses to sustain its newsroom.
www.seattletimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:35 PM
"Nothing against the chains,” said Butch Alford Jr., 87, “but they’re a bunch of financial bastards.”
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/a-st...
This is fun. It's also ridiculous. But I'm so old it's never occurred to me that most people have never seen a floppy disk.
Hear me out. Every time you share wrong answers you are helping to sabotage the LLMs that will eventually scrape your answer. But also it is a completely true thing that we used to store files in vending machines to keep them cold while away from home.
November 16, 2025 at 2:18 AM
This is fun. It's also ridiculous. But I'm so old it's never occurred to me that most people have never seen a floppy disk.
Happy sky news! 🌠
The Leonids meteor shower peaks Sun nt Nov 16 w fast meteors, at 44 miles per second, with bright, long tails.
The meteors can be spotted in the constellation Leo and can be seen from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/s...
The Leonids meteor shower peaks Sun nt Nov 16 w fast meteors, at 44 miles per second, with bright, long tails.
The meteors can be spotted in the constellation Leo and can be seen from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/s...
How to Watch the Leonids Meteor Shower Reach Its Peak
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Happy sky news! 🌠
The Leonids meteor shower peaks Sun nt Nov 16 w fast meteors, at 44 miles per second, with bright, long tails.
The meteors can be spotted in the constellation Leo and can be seen from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/s...
The Leonids meteor shower peaks Sun nt Nov 16 w fast meteors, at 44 miles per second, with bright, long tails.
The meteors can be spotted in the constellation Leo and can be seen from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
🧪
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/s...
Thinking of veterans. My Dad served in Korea, the real M*A*S*H, a POW hospital. It fought a 6-wk mini-war news didn’t cover; his notes remained secret. He wrote a self-censored book, The War in the Wards in 1964; never told the full story until just before his death in 2019.
November 11, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Thinking of veterans. My Dad served in Korea, the real M*A*S*H, a POW hospital. It fought a 6-wk mini-war news didn’t cover; his notes remained secret. He wrote a self-censored book, The War in the Wards in 1964; never told the full story until just before his death in 2019.
Mr. Bell is a mensch and must be a great teacher, and supervisor-elect Drew is a role model for more young people to follow!
Reporting from @sopandeb.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Reporting from @sopandeb.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Virginia Teen Narrowly Defeats His Former Civics Teacher in County Election
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Mr. Bell is a mensch and must be a great teacher, and supervisor-elect Drew is a role model for more young people to follow!
Reporting from @sopandeb.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
Reporting from @sopandeb.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/u...
"the piece is...an orchestrated encounter. You’re gazing through a pane of glass. Only when you stand a little closer...there is zero, less than zero, stress put on the relation between those two “sides,” or their histories, or their sponsors, or their relative evidentiary authority"
#medialiteracy
#medialiteracy
Phew. This is the best thing I’ve read this week and is absolutely worth your time.
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM
"the piece is...an orchestrated encounter. You’re gazing through a pane of glass. Only when you stand a little closer...there is zero, less than zero, stress put on the relation between those two “sides,” or their histories, or their sponsors, or their relative evidentiary authority"
#medialiteracy
#medialiteracy
Makes me wonder if this will open up opportunities for others to serve Sam Altman w a subpoena when he shows up to testify. He apparently has been successfully avoiding this and might have a few issues people would love for him to discuss.
tribune.com.pk/story/257635...
tribune.com.pk/story/257635...
Sam Altman served with subpoena during live talk with Steve Kerr in San Francisco | The Express Tribune
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was served with a subpoena mid-event in San Francisco during a talk with Steve Kerr
tribune.com.pk
November 8, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Makes me wonder if this will open up opportunities for others to serve Sam Altman w a subpoena when he shows up to testify. He apparently has been successfully avoiding this and might have a few issues people would love for him to discuss.
tribune.com.pk/story/257635...
tribune.com.pk/story/257635...
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
I truly believe the reason we liked her was because we recognized her within ourselves. The multifaceted parts of her personality, her strength, her beauty, her warmth, her tenacity, and her honesty is who you are!
November 8, 2025 at 1:33 AM
I truly believe the reason we liked her was because we recognized her within ourselves. The multifaceted parts of her personality, her strength, her beauty, her warmth, her tenacity, and her honesty is who you are!
Love this article about how yellow-legged gulls have had "bad PR" but can bring multiple benefits to communities that don't persecute them. 🧪
NEW PAPER: As direct persecution declines, yellow-legged gulls abandon remote refuges for human-accessible habitats, driving new colony growth and fostering multispecies waterbird communities of unexpected conservation value.
➡️ vist.ly/4db9c
#ornithology #birds #colonisation 🪶
➡️ vist.ly/4db9c
#ornithology #birds #colonisation 🪶
November 7, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Love this article about how yellow-legged gulls have had "bad PR" but can bring multiple benefits to communities that don't persecute them. 🧪
It's easy to get confused when headlines, photos and ledes seem to contradict.
But the report explains context. Experts conclude there are "warning signs," people are "sour" and "anxious," but existing data are "still within typical bounds."
Multiple sources -> better info
#medialiteracy
But the report explains context. Experts conclude there are "warning signs," people are "sour" and "anxious," but existing data are "still within typical bounds."
Multiple sources -> better info
#medialiteracy
Labor market continues to slow, private data shows
ADP’s monthly report shows private firms added jobs in October, for the first time since July. Meanwhile, Indeed data shows job openings slumped at the end of October.
www.marketplace.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:29 PM
It's easy to get confused when headlines, photos and ledes seem to contradict.
But the report explains context. Experts conclude there are "warning signs," people are "sour" and "anxious," but existing data are "still within typical bounds."
Multiple sources -> better info
#medialiteracy
But the report explains context. Experts conclude there are "warning signs," people are "sour" and "anxious," but existing data are "still within typical bounds."
Multiple sources -> better info
#medialiteracy
Verified with links to the original press releases at meidasnews.com/news/communi...
Wondering what the price difference would be for the 2024 version of the Thx meal.
#medialiteracy
Wondering what the price difference would be for the 2024 version of the Thx meal.
#medialiteracy
November 6, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Verified with links to the original press releases at meidasnews.com/news/communi...
Wondering what the price difference would be for the 2024 version of the Thx meal.
#medialiteracy
Wondering what the price difference would be for the 2024 version of the Thx meal.
#medialiteracy
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
As SNAP hangs in the balance for nearly 42 million people, misinformation is rampant. Myths of laziness and fraud persist when we should be talking about too low wages for workers, income inequality, and our threadbare social safety net.
In this guest post, Adam Chandler sorts fact from fiction:
In this guest post, Adam Chandler sorts fact from fiction:
SNAP benefits feed essential needs while still leaving many hungry for more
Journalist and author Adam Chandler explains what so much of the conversation about them gets wrong.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 1, 2025 at 1:57 PM
As SNAP hangs in the balance for nearly 42 million people, misinformation is rampant. Myths of laziness and fraud persist when we should be talking about too low wages for workers, income inequality, and our threadbare social safety net.
In this guest post, Adam Chandler sorts fact from fiction:
In this guest post, Adam Chandler sorts fact from fiction:
Reposted by Erica Weintraub Austin
Today is 105 year anniversary of Ocoee Election Day Massacre. On 11/2/1920 a white mob murdered 30 Black people, & burned 25 Black owned homes & Black churches—all b/c Black people dared exercise the right to vote
Ocoee's entire Black community was exiled. No Black American moved back in until 1980
Ocoee's entire Black community was exiled. No Black American moved back in until 1980
November 2, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Today is 105 year anniversary of Ocoee Election Day Massacre. On 11/2/1920 a white mob murdered 30 Black people, & burned 25 Black owned homes & Black churches—all b/c Black people dared exercise the right to vote
Ocoee's entire Black community was exiled. No Black American moved back in until 1980
Ocoee's entire Black community was exiled. No Black American moved back in until 1980
When data centers insatiable energy demands cause rolling blackouts during our favorite pastimes … we will almost be ready to address the issue.
NAU converts a 2 point try in the dark, the lights went out after the snap
November 1, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Inspiring about libraries.
When something is available, uplifting and enlightening, more people want in.
Libraries' power emanates from core values of openness, truth, and community accessibility. But this attracts threats.
Partnerships reduce vulnerability to isolated attack.
#medialiteracy
When something is available, uplifting and enlightening, more people want in.
Libraries' power emanates from core values of openness, truth, and community accessibility. But this attracts threats.
Partnerships reduce vulnerability to isolated attack.
#medialiteracy
November 1, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Inspiring about libraries.
When something is available, uplifting and enlightening, more people want in.
Libraries' power emanates from core values of openness, truth, and community accessibility. But this attracts threats.
Partnerships reduce vulnerability to isolated attack.
#medialiteracy
When something is available, uplifting and enlightening, more people want in.
Libraries' power emanates from core values of openness, truth, and community accessibility. But this attracts threats.
Partnerships reduce vulnerability to isolated attack.
#medialiteracy
In better news:
My Visa declined at the sweater store.
So the cashier had to ask for my cardigan
So the cashier had to ask for my cardigan
November 1, 2025 at 4:39 PM
In better news:
An apology from the Bishop is a decent start but a lot more needs to be said about this by a lot more people in leadership roles.
November 1, 2025 at 6:16 AM
An apology from the Bishop is a decent start but a lot more needs to be said about this by a lot more people in leadership roles.