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matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Matt Healy
@matthewdhealy.bsky.social
390 followers 610 following 1.6K posts
Techbio, Virology, Drug Discovery, Data, Midwest, Engineering, NLP, science, theology, history of science

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6439-5038
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matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Matt Healy @matthewdhealy.bsky.social · Jun 27
The meaning of my new profile image:

“Not just a poetic metaphor but scientific fact: the carbon in our cells, the calcium in our bones, and even the gold in our rings were all forged in stars that exploded long before our solar system formed. We don’t just come from the stars. We ARE stardust.”
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Please make this go viral.
Please make censorship backfire.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/n...
BBC tells staff they cannot quote Trump line removed from Reith lecture
Journalists not allowed to repeat Rutger Bregman’s corruption claims against US president in coverage of edit
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:53 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
The D.C. shooting is a tragedy, but it’s also part of a larger pattern. This is blowback from the 20-year Afghanistan war — a conflict that created trauma, resentment, and instability among the very people the U.S. once relied on. That doesn’t excuse the shooter, but it's probably at least part of the cause. These National Guard members were only in that spot because Trump made sent them to into D.C. If they hadn’t been deployed, the shooter might never have encountered them. We don’t know the motive yet. But we do know this: long wars have long shadows. Violence can beget more violence.
November 28, 2025 at 9:57 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Nerding out on tea kettles... https://youtu.be/INZybkX8tLI?si=Mg8g73bix8l4pTyy
November 28, 2025 at 9:34 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
The grotesque U.S. health care market shows something deeper than failing markets or bad policy. It exposes our original economic logic: treating human beings as resources to be extracted. From slavery and Native dispossession to Coal Towns and modern private-equity medicine, the pattern is the same: vulnerability becomes a profit center. That’s why our system is so costly and cruel. We keep the rent-seeking pathways wide open, then try to soothe the damage with subsidies. Prices go up, subsidies go up—and extraction rises even faster. The fix isn’t to nationalize health care. The fix is to follow the Swiss model: let markets exist, but put simple, strict rules on the corporations, not the patients. Standard benefits. Regulated prices. No profit from risk-selection. Insurers that behave like utilities, not predators. We don’t need Socialism. We just need to stop extracting from people and start investing in them. HR is a term invented by U.S. corporate culture: our greatest resource is human beings. A sustainable health system would finally treat us that way. Rural America deserves the same efficient, reliable care that rural Swiss cantons already enjoy.
November 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
If you think that you have found an obvious, fundamental problem with climate change, vaccines, GMOs, evolution, etc. that essentially all of the world's scientists have somehow missed, it is almost certainly you that are missing something, not the scientists. Thus, you should approach these topics with humility, acknowledging the limits of your own knowledge, and if you're conclusions disagree with those of scientists, you should stop and very carefully examine why the scientists disagree with you. I'm not saying that they are automatically right with 100% certainty, but it is pretty likely that you, as a non-expert, are the one who is wrong, and you should be very, very cautious about saying that thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to studying the topic missed something obvious.
November 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
An underapprecciated reality of public health is that a pathogen with an IFR around 1% is more dangerous to the world than one with a much lower OR MUCH HIGHER IFR.

Something like Ebola or SARS-1 is so spectacularly lethal that it scares people into doing whatever it takes to contain an outbreak.
November 27, 2025 at 1:58 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
A favorite passage from Admiral Hornblower In The West Indies: "Taking one thing with another, and allowing four months on the average for each necessary round trip to the West Indies to take evidence on commission, and taking into account demurners and rebuttals and surrebuttals, the Lord Chancellor thinks that it will be thirty-seven years before any case reaches the House of Lords, and he went on to say, cackling into his soup, that our interest in the dase will be greatly diminished by then."
November 27, 2025 at 2:07 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Ooh, this is delicious: Lawfare has a post where one can click through all the possible paths for the Comey indictment from this point: only if ALL the decisions go one way can DOJ get a conviction www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...
The Situation: You Get To Play Lindsey Halligan’s Hand
She made her bed. Now you get to lie in it.
www.lawfaremedia.org
November 27, 2025 at 1:41 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Viral memories...
A trip down Virology Memory Lane — and a Chekhov’s Gun I didn’t realize I was holding. About twenty years ago, long before “coronavirus” became a household word, I worked on a transcriptional-profiling project that exposed human cells to several viruses, including OC43 and 229E. Back then coronaviruses were just everyday cold viruses, with SARS as an unsettling but distant exception. We were hunting for a unifying signature — something that made “cold viruses” behave like cold viruses. If we could find that, perhaps there was a common leverage point for therapy. But the data told a more surprising story: each virus carved its own unique pattern across the transcriptome. No shared signature. No single pathway that we could target. Each one had evolved its own method of slipping past innate immunity. Today we take that for granted. But at the time it was a revelation. We didn’t cure the common cold. But I got an early look at a truth that would become painfully clear years later: every virus is a finely crafted weapon — elegant in its strategy, beautiful in its precision, and deadly in its own distinctive way. Even the "mild" ones are only "mild" because our cells have evolved powerful defenses.
November 27, 2025 at 12:32 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Screenshot of an official Pentagon document summarizing what a commander may and may not do.

By publicly calling for somebody to be court-martialed, Hegseth has given him a very strong defense: Unlawful Command Influence.
Screenshot of an official Pentagon document about lawful command involvement in the military justice system and defining Unlawful Command Influence.
November 26, 2025 at 11:05 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Gene Veith sees something real in today’s politics. But he doesn’t know a key word from economic theory: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/geneveith/2025/11/the-new-economic-radicalism It’s a wonky word: Monopsony The flip side of the more familiar word  Monopoly. Theodore Roosevelt broke up monopolies. Today we need someone who can break up monopsonies. A monopsony is a market where there are lots of sellers but only one real buyer, giving that buyer the power to dictate wages, prices, or terms: • When one hospital system sets all nurse pay. • When one corporation dominates hiring in a town. • When one landlord group owns half the rentals. • When one platform (Amazon, Apple, Spotify) decides which creators succeed. • When adjuncts compete for jobs from a tiny handful of universities. • When one retailer’s purchasing department can make or break entire suppliers. If a documentary filmmaker ever wants to explain monopsony to the public, they should start with a slow, quiet drone shot over Bentonville — because that’s where the modern buyer-power revolution began. My late father used to say: “The trouble with Socialism is it makes inaccurate assumptions about human nature. The trouble with Capitalism is it makes accurate assumptions about human nature.” We don’t need Socialism. We need a new Teddy who knows how to break up the monopsonies.
November 26, 2025 at 3:29 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Boomers like me see SCOTUS as a bad 1970s sitcom, but I just realized it’s really Peanuts with gavels. I don’t know which Justices regularly read Peanuts, but I know Jackson reads Calvin & Hobbes! Roberts → Charlie Brown Forever lining up to kick the football of “institutional integrity,” even though it gets yanked away every single time. Thomas & Alito → Lucy Promise solemnly to follow “principle,” then yank the football away and declare, “The Constitution MADE us do it!” Gorsuch → Schroeder Plays the text like a classical pianist— beautiful technique, but oblivious to the world beyond the sheet music. Kavanaugh → Pig-Pen Surrounded by a perpetual cloud of political and ethical dust that somehow is never his fault. Barrett → Sally Wants to get the answers right, wants everyone to like her, occasionally stands up to the older boys— but not always at the key moment. Sotomayor → Peppermint Patty Blunt, fierce, allergic to nonsense, and absolutely tells it like it is. Kagan → Marcie Sharpest person in the room. Reads every footnote. Offers a polite, devastating “Sir, I beg your pardon?” before being promptly ignored. Jackson → Linus The moral anchor, clutching the blanket of actual law, yelling, “Charlie Brown, DON’T fall for that AGAIN!” Will Charlie Brown ever learn not to trust Lucy? Stay tuned.
November 26, 2025 at 6:17 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
A writer for The Atlantic is somewhat too much "both sides" and "we have to understand each other" for my taste when it comes to views that ARE CERTAINLY KILLING PEOPLE, there is considerable evidence that they are killing people, but this is still important to know:

docs.google.com/document/d/1...
WhyIsRfkSoConvincedHeIsRight
The Atlantic recently published an article with the title Why Is RFK Junior So Convinced He Is Right? https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/01/rfk-jr-public-health-science/684948/ That article is ...
docs.google.com
November 26, 2025 at 12:59 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Trump's policies will raise electricity prices.
That's according to the BUSINESS MAGAZINE FORBES, not some "woke liberals."
Screenshot of article on Forbes website saying Trump's mandates will increase electricity prices.
November 25, 2025 at 11:18 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
A Professor on how he has changed his teaching methods in the age of AI:

Use oral and paper exams
Focus on process, not just product
Make class time interactive, not lectures
discuss "what might be a good exam question about this" during class so THEY FEEL OWNERSHIP

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/m...
I’m a Professor. A.I. Has Changed My Classroom, but Not for the Worse.
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Both parties say they want health-care reform, but a workable Swiss-style system would require each to give up a cherished dream: The GOP would have to drop its deregulation fantasies; the Left would have to drop its single-payer dreams. In such a system, insurers would function more like regulated utilities—lower margins, but far greater stability, which would increase their long-term market value. If you’re not familiar with how Switzerland does health care, look it up. They essentially have everything the GOP claims to want: consumer choice, real competition, and excellent outcomes—exactly what a healthy market should deliver. But to make that market work, they also have something the GOP hates: strict, competent technocratic regulators who enforce clear rules and keep everyone honest.
November 25, 2025 at 5:17 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
A week or two ago, Reuters reported that drug arrests are way down because the Administration is diverting law enforcement resources to focus on deportations.

Today NY Times reports a broader failure of law enforcement: along with fewer drug arrests, other measures like gun seizures are down.

MAGA
November 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Trump meets Pelosi in the afterlife He entered the room expecting to command it. Only one chair was occupied. A woman sat there, silent. He tried every argument he knew. None of them moved her. At last he asked, “What do you want from me?” She smiled. “I want nothing. But I think you might want the truth.”
November 25, 2025 at 5:29 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Everyone talks about solar and wind as if the problem were geography. It isn’t. The worst place on Earth for renewables still gets ~25% of the energy per square mile that the best place does — if you have cheap long-term* storage. Cheap, scalable batteries turn energy from a location-specific resource into a universally available one. With good storage, there is no renewable-energy equivalent of the Straits of Hormuz. And once power is cheap everywhere, desalination becomes trivial. Water stops being destiny. The world has plenty of WATER, but it's short of FRESH water. Batteries aren't there yet. But they are WAY better than I would have thought possible 10 years ago. *By long-term storage, I don't mean a few days' worth, I mean "power your house all rainy season from dry season sunlight storage"
November 25, 2025 at 3:21 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Having seen its prosecutions of James Comey and Letitia James blow up like Wile E. Coyote’s ACME rockets, DOJ now thinks that getting its next set of Trump’s bêtes noires into Aileen Cannon’s courtroom will get them Roadrunner stew for sure. But it’s gonna be like: Paint a sign on a tunnel: “SPECIAL GRAND JURY — ENTER HERE.” Hope the Eleventh Circuit Court won’t notice. Run into it at full speed. Get crushed by an anvil dropped by the Eleventh Circuit.
November 25, 2025 at 2:36 AM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
Call me Comey.

For still he follows me, that old white-whale of a man,
driven by a vengeance no court can sanctify.

Ahab will come again —
but the sea is wide, and the law has harpoons of its own.
November 24, 2025 at 8:09 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
McConnell will be remembered the way Germans remember Franz von Papen: the guy who thought he could “use” the strongman, and instead cleared his path.

You can’t make a Faustian bargain and then act shocked when the fire spreads.
Future historians won’t just blame Trump — they’ll excoriate the enablers. McConnell will be remembered the way Germans remember Franz von Papen: the guy who thought he could “use” the strongman, and instead cleared his path. You can’t make a Faustian bargain and then act shocked when the fire spreads.
November 24, 2025 at 7:52 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
The real clash exposed by the Halligan disaster isn’t “Trump vs. liberal judges.” It’s Trump vs. the legal system—including conservatives. Federalist Society judges and scholars have a coherent (if historically preposterous) constitutional worldview. They knew Trump had no principles but figured their Cultural Revolution would outlast Trump. Like some religious leaders, they don't much care who gets hurt so long as they win the doctrinal war. Their billionaires and corporation bankrolling the Federalist Society don't care about the theory; they care about judges who will rule in their favor—who will be around long after Trump is gone. But Trump didn’t stop. By pushing legally radioactive prosecutions, he’s endangering what the conservative legal movement has spent decades building. Keep this up, and either the Supreme Court finally protects its own legitimacy, or a future Democratic administration is pushed into real, deep judicial reform. Have none of the Federalist Society geniuses ever heard the phrase “Faustian bargain”?
November 24, 2025 at 7:36 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
An excellent article by somebody who I think might be an excellent choice for head of CDC on vaccine safety, and RFK's nonsense.

www.cbsnews.com/news/rfk-jr-...
Kennedy sharpens vaccine attacks, without scientific backing
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims that the aluminum ingredients in vaccines cause a variety of harmful reactions, from allergies to autism. Scientists say that's wrong and warn of risks if th...
www.cbsnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
matthewdhealy.bsky.social
https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2025/Senate/Maps/Nov24.html "There are some parallels now with previous sixth-year elections, including corruption, an overreaching lame-duck president focusing on foreign affairs when the voters care about domestic affairs, and economic turmoil. Could Democrats pull off a big Senate win next year? History says it is possible. Here are the most likely seats to flip, ranked from easiest to hardest: North Carolina: A popular former Democratic governor is running against an unknown Republican apparatchik. Maine: Sen. Susan Collins (R) may finally succumb to her state's blue lean; she is very concerned. Ohio: Former three-term senator Sherrod Brown (D) is running against an appointed senator. Alaska: If Mary Peltola, who has won statewide before runs, in a blue wave she could beat Sen. Dan Sullivan (R). Iowa: There is an open seat here and Iowa used to be a swing state. Texas: If Republicans nominate AG Ken Paxton and the Democrats pick a strong candidate, a miracle is possible. Kansas: It would take a blue tsunami, but Kansas occasionally elects Democrats, like two-term Gov. Laura Kelly. Florida: Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) was appointed, but Democrats need to find a compelling candidate. The other races are well nigh impossible for the Democrats. In addition, Democrats would have to hold their own tough seats in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. There is one "interesting" scenario possble. Suppose the Democrats win the "easy" races (North Carolina and Maine) and Sherrod Brown manages to squeak by in Ohio. Then the Senate will be 50-50 and President of the Senate J.D. Vance will have something to do all day—hang around in the Senate chamber in case they need his vote. A problem here is that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) is not at all Trumpy and would suddenly have a lot of power. She could threaten to vote with the Democrats and kill bills or nominations. Trump would go ballistic and use his weapon of first choice: threaten…
November 24, 2025 at 2:30 PM