Sumitra Badrinathan
@sumitra.bsky.social
assistant professor @AmericanU. working on countering misinformation in developing countries. @upenn.edu PhD in polisci & philly sports fan
📍washington, dc
https://sumitrabadrinathan.github.io/
📍washington, dc
https://sumitrabadrinathan.github.io/
bryce harper is going to miss the 2026 baseball season due to worms 🪱
November 15, 2025 at 4:05 PM
bryce harper is going to miss the 2026 baseball season due to worms 🪱
crisp winter morning rotation ❄️🎶
November 10, 2025 at 3:02 PM
crisp winter morning rotation ❄️🎶
doordashed a hoagie and it came to me from delaware. i live in dc. this should be illegal but im not complaining 🥰
November 8, 2025 at 7:01 PM
doordashed a hoagie and it came to me from delaware. i live in dc. this should be illegal but im not complaining 🥰
hiked old rag mountain over the weekend for the last bit of autumn and outdoor bouldering for 2025 🍁 🍂
November 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
hiked old rag mountain over the weekend for the last bit of autumn and outdoor bouldering for 2025 🍁 🍂
america’s national pastime 🔥 love to see it
October 25, 2025 at 12:01 AM
america’s national pastime 🔥 love to see it
philly fishtown bar hopping round
up from the weekend: milkcrate cafe, bardot, ortlieb’s, poison heart, druid’s keep ✨ 🍻
up from the weekend: milkcrate cafe, bardot, ortlieb’s, poison heart, druid’s keep ✨ 🍻
October 20, 2025 at 3:10 AM
philly fishtown bar hopping round
up from the weekend: milkcrate cafe, bardot, ortlieb’s, poison heart, druid’s keep ✨ 🍻
up from the weekend: milkcrate cafe, bardot, ortlieb’s, poison heart, druid’s keep ✨ 🍻
no kings in philly 👑
October 18, 2025 at 10:21 PM
no kings in philly 👑
And a village of people who’ve helped in various ways and given us feedback over the years.
truly a dream project come true 🥹
truly a dream project come true 🥹
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
And a village of people who’ve helped in various ways and given us feedback over the years.
truly a dream project come true 🥹
truly a dream project come true 🥹
Another cool result- kids took lessons home to talk to their families!!
We surveyed families of students and found that parents/guardians of kids in treatment groups ALSO showed improvements in discerning true from false info.
We surveyed families of students and found that parents/guardians of kids in treatment groups ALSO showed improvements in discerning true from false info.
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Another cool result- kids took lessons home to talk to their families!!
We surveyed families of students and found that parents/guardians of kids in treatment groups ALSO showed improvements in discerning true from false info.
We surveyed families of students and found that parents/guardians of kids in treatment groups ALSO showed improvements in discerning true from false info.
One of the more interesting findings- gender differences.
Boys were way more likely to report intentions to engage in misinfo countermeasures, while there was no effect on girls.
Suggests that if we want to change public behaviors around misinfo, much more work is needed
Boys were way more likely to report intentions to engage in misinfo countermeasures, while there was no effect on girls.
Suggests that if we want to change public behaviors around misinfo, much more work is needed
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
One of the more interesting findings- gender differences.
Boys were way more likely to report intentions to engage in misinfo countermeasures, while there was no effect on girls.
Suggests that if we want to change public behaviors around misinfo, much more work is needed
Boys were way more likely to report intentions to engage in misinfo countermeasures, while there was no effect on girls.
Suggests that if we want to change public behaviors around misinfo, much more work is needed
We custom designed the curriculum for this focusing on health misinfo.
Our classes were super interactive, including fun activities and modules (see example below). We trained and hired teachers for this.
Last pic is a treatment classroom in session in Vaishali, bihar 🧑🏫
Our classes were super interactive, including fun activities and modules (see example below). We trained and hired teachers for this.
Last pic is a treatment classroom in session in Vaishali, bihar 🧑🏫
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
We custom designed the curriculum for this focusing on health misinfo.
Our classes were super interactive, including fun activities and modules (see example below). We trained and hired teachers for this.
Last pic is a treatment classroom in session in Vaishali, bihar 🧑🏫
Our classes were super interactive, including fun activities and modules (see example below). We trained and hired teachers for this.
Last pic is a treatment classroom in session in Vaishali, bihar 🧑🏫
Our intervention was called BIMLI - the Bihar Information & Media Literacy Initiative. Snapshot below of what the treatment curriculum looked like.
To take into account student effort and attendance, we had a placebo control group receiving conversational English classes.
To take into account student effort and attendance, we had a placebo control group receiving conversational English classes.
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Our intervention was called BIMLI - the Bihar Information & Media Literacy Initiative. Snapshot below of what the treatment curriculum looked like.
To take into account student effort and attendance, we had a placebo control group receiving conversational English classes.
To take into account student effort and attendance, we had a placebo control group receiving conversational English classes.
🚨 out at @apsrjournal.bsky.social 🚨
➡️ We ran a large media literacy experiment to fight misinformation
➡️ 13,500 students, 583 villages in Bihar, India
➡️Created custom misinfo curriculum of 4 months
➡️Partnered w the government to roll it out as an official course in classrooms
hopeful findings👇🏽
➡️ We ran a large media literacy experiment to fight misinformation
➡️ 13,500 students, 583 villages in Bihar, India
➡️Created custom misinfo curriculum of 4 months
➡️Partnered w the government to roll it out as an official course in classrooms
hopeful findings👇🏽
October 15, 2025 at 3:33 PM
🚨 out at @apsrjournal.bsky.social 🚨
➡️ We ran a large media literacy experiment to fight misinformation
➡️ 13,500 students, 583 villages in Bihar, India
➡️Created custom misinfo curriculum of 4 months
➡️Partnered w the government to roll it out as an official course in classrooms
hopeful findings👇🏽
➡️ We ran a large media literacy experiment to fight misinformation
➡️ 13,500 students, 583 villages in Bihar, India
➡️Created custom misinfo curriculum of 4 months
➡️Partnered w the government to roll it out as an official course in classrooms
hopeful findings👇🏽
celebrated the end of a beautiful era of phillies baseball last night with a bunch of homemade pasta, good wine, and even better company ❤️🩹 i’m not crying
October 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
celebrated the end of a beautiful era of phillies baseball last night with a bunch of homemade pasta, good wine, and even better company ❤️🩹 i’m not crying
real phillies fans are mad they are doing well tonight
October 9, 2025 at 3:35 AM
real phillies fans are mad they are doing well tonight
it’s the end of a pretty good era of phillies baseball. time to relax :)
October 7, 2025 at 1:32 AM
it’s the end of a pretty good era of phillies baseball. time to relax :)
LFG PHILLIES!!!!!!
October 4, 2025 at 10:52 PM
LFG PHILLIES!!!!!!
it’s RED OCTOBER folks 🔥
October 4, 2025 at 4:27 PM
it’s RED OCTOBER folks 🔥
phillies scrimmage. almost 5,000 more than the actual playoff game in cleveland today ♥️
October 2, 2025 at 1:38 AM
phillies scrimmage. almost 5,000 more than the actual playoff game in cleveland today ♥️
red october is coming so sorry in advance to my bluesky friends as i will probably post a version of this every other day
September 26, 2025 at 1:16 AM
red october is coming so sorry in advance to my bluesky friends as i will probably post a version of this every other day
so we tested whether framing misinfo as morally problematic from a religious standpoint can help dispel falsehoods
ie, if your religion itself tells you not to believe this stuff, maybe you won’t. sample treatment below using original verses from ancient hindu scriptures to back up corrections
ie, if your religion itself tells you not to believe this stuff, maybe you won’t. sample treatment below using original verses from ancient hindu scriptures to back up corrections
September 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
so we tested whether framing misinfo as morally problematic from a religious standpoint can help dispel falsehoods
ie, if your religion itself tells you not to believe this stuff, maybe you won’t. sample treatment below using original verses from ancient hindu scriptures to back up corrections
ie, if your religion itself tells you not to believe this stuff, maybe you won’t. sample treatment below using original verses from ancient hindu scriptures to back up corrections
using data from india, where religion is a *huge* cleavage, we find that belief in misinfo is strongly correlated w/ (hindu) religiosity. the most religious were nearly TWICE as vulnerable to misinformation 😳
September 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
using data from india, where religion is a *huge* cleavage, we find that belief in misinfo is strongly correlated w/ (hindu) religiosity. the most religious were nearly TWICE as vulnerable to misinformation 😳
🚨 new paper out w/ @simonchauchard.bsky.social in BJPS @bjpols.bsky.social on the link between misinformation and religiosity- does religious belief cause people to endorse more misinformation? And if so, what can we do about it?
thread below ⬇️
thread below ⬇️
September 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
🚨 new paper out w/ @simonchauchard.bsky.social in BJPS @bjpols.bsky.social on the link between misinformation and religiosity- does religious belief cause people to endorse more misinformation? And if so, what can we do about it?
thread below ⬇️
thread below ⬇️
i just got back from a hiking trip and went down a photo rabbit hole and now i want nothing more than to be back on the road again
not built for academia, not built to lock in
not built for academia, not built to lock in
September 25, 2025 at 1:36 AM
i just got back from a hiking trip and went down a photo rabbit hole and now i want nothing more than to be back on the road again
not built for academia, not built to lock in
not built for academia, not built to lock in