Hymowitz Family Professor of Global Health & Professor of Public Policy at Duke University. Director of the Center for Policy Impact in Global Health. DJ at WXDU (Thursdays, 4-6pm ET, wxdu.org). TIME columnist. He/him. Tallest Jew on Earth.
Genuine answer: 1️⃣ the published, peer-reviewed research evidence points to a zoonotic origin (as with previous viral epidemics & pandemics) 2️⃣ there are ongoing harms from promoting the lab leak hypothesis given the lack of peer-reviewed research to support it (see journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...)
Matthijs HollandersGenuine question, what's so crazy about lab leak?
Looking forward to reading @noupside.bsky.social’s book I greatly appreciate Prof DiResta’s work, which shines a light on anti-vaxx activists, conspiracy theorists, disinformation peddlers, & election deniers
Renee DiRestaInvisible Rulers is ab how influencers, algorithms, & crowds shape public opinion. The Twitter Files was profoundly impactful BS. Media never reckoned with what it really was: a very effective propaganda campaign led by election deniers to dismantle state capacity. Read more: invisiblerulers.com
There’s an entire online ecosystem that normalizes violence against women The “manfluencers” in this ecosystem are championed by MAGA & MAHA leaders—eg, see the friendship between Trump & Andrew Tate I discuss this MAGA-MAHA-manosphere merger in this new OpEd www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Opinion | The Manosphere and MAHA Have Merged. I Worry for My Pre-Teen Son.This culture is driving three main kinds of health riskswww.medpagetoday.comAaron RuparTAPPER: Hold on -- hold on, 'cause I'm not done with the list of women who have accused you of violence. Are all three of them lying? REP. MAX MILLER: Yes. And I'm not getting out of the race because in 2016, President Donald J Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the world ...
What an awful violation of privacy—not that Dr Paul cares
Margaret MantoExclusive: Sen. Rand Paul published Anthony Fauci's diary entries without redacting the names or medical details of over 20 people, including people with cancer, Ebola or HIV. www.notus.org/health-scien...
🤯🤯🤯 “Steven Quay, a pharma executive known for his books making the case Covid came from a Chinese lab, is on the verge of getting Anthony Fauci’s old job” A Big Pharma executive & lab leaker, what could possibly go wrong? www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
A lab-leak proponent is in line for Fauci’s old jobSteven Quay is in final vetting to run the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.www.politico.comEvery single time I think the MAGA/MAHA extremists can't stoop any lower, they shock me Now they're attacking Francesca Hong for her mental health history; how astoundingly cruel and stigmatizing
Julia Métraux"My own mental health journey has given me a much deeper sense of empathy,” @francescahongwi.bsky.social told me. I wrote about the ridiculous attacks by right-wing media on Francesca Hong's mental health history for @motherjones.com. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
As we previously argued, “Trans kids just want the same opportunities as their peers. They want to be on sports teams to have fun, get exercise, and hang out with their friends. Just like any other kid.” Let trans kids play sports! time.com/7296246/tran...
Letting Transgender Kids Play Sports Benefits All KidsStates with policies allowing trans girls to play sports have seen increased rates of sports participation by cis girls.time.comKevin M. KruseIf you're a cis person insisting that the prospect of trans children playing youth sports is not only "a problem" but in fact one of the biggest problems we currently face as a nation, I'd be happy to introduce you to literally a million other things that should be worrying you more.
As a physician who now works in public health & policy, & as the father of a pre-teen boy who will inevitably be exposed to messages from the manosphere, I'm concerned about how MAHA, MAGA, & masculinity influencers have merged Here's my new OpEd on the risks www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco...
Opinion | The Manosphere and MAHA Have Merged. I Worry for My Pre-Teen Son.This culture is driving three main kinds of health riskswww.medpagetoday.comMAGA/MAHA: imaginary quarantine camps would have been an assault on civil liberties! Also MAGA/MAHA: let's kidnap adults & kids, tear-gas & zip tie kids, torture them all in concentration camps, & also separate Black kids from their families & "reparent" them in camps (www.npr.org/2026/04/29/n...)!
Katie MackAnd meanwhile the actual current HHS secretary is openly promoting sending children to work camps in lieu of mental health treatment but sure, imaginary quarantine camps that never happened are the real threat
The “8 glasses of water a day” advice is apparently a myth—not based on scientific research This piece argues it’s not one size fits all, and depends on “WUT” (weight, urine, thirst) And Big Water pushes 8 glasses/day to sell you bottled water/electrolyte water etc! www.inc.com/lucia-auerba...
Think You Need 8 Glasses of Water a Day? Scientists Say the Real Answer Is Much SimplerFor decades, we've been told to drink 64 ounces of water a day. A major peer-reviewed study suggests that's the wrong approach.www.inc.comI was lucky to be invited by @bmj.com to be a Guest Editor for a series on COVID in the US For one paper, I commissioned my brilliant Duke colleague @keishabentley.bsky.social to lead an analysis on "Race, racism, & covid-19 in the US: lessons not learnt" Read it at www.bmj.com/content/384/...
Race, racism, and covid-19 in the US: lessons not learntKeisha Bentley-Edwards and colleagues argue that systemic racism and economic inequality are at the root of disparity in covid-19 outcomes and suggest how to distribute resources more equitably.
The...www.bmj.comTrevon LoganBy late Summer of 2020, COVID was the third leading cause of death for Black people in the USA. It’s like everyone has just forgotten that…
America’s concentration camps must be shut down now They are sites of horror: torture, rampant spread of infectious diseases, inadequate sanitation, hygiene, & medical care, & a mounting death toll Just as “better training of guards” wasn’t the answer to Auschwitz, you can’t “reform” these camps
Shawn ConneryImmigrant Held at Delaney Detention Center Has Died, Officials Say The mayor of Newark identified the dead man as Edwin Lopez-Cornejo. The federal New Jersey center has been the focus of intense scrutiny for its treatment of detainees. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/n...
Yup. Also, Bhattacharya censored a CDC study because it showed that Covid vaccination works (this goes against MAHA ideology) & ended research that does not fit with Trump's anti-DEI ideology & put an NIH staffer on leave because she criticized the harms of his reforms. He hates freedom of speech!
Melody SchreiberThis is jaw-dropping from the administration that ordered mandatory hantavirus quarantine against CDC's advice and blocked Americans from returning home because of the Ebola outbreak
Here in the US, Republicans are going on prime TV even today to say Covid vaccines contain “baby parts” (this is a lie) and we have Trump’s actual Health Secretary, RFK Jr, saying the Covid vaccine is “the deadliest vaccine ever” (this is a lie), so, yes, the US is still stuck hearing kooky vaxx BS
Nicolas c GreyAnd my older brother, who doesn’t use social media anymore, when i last spoke with him, he literally couldn’t believe people were still talking about vaccines.
One of @dereklowe.bsky.social’s finest columns An essential columnist in this MAGA/MAHA era
Greg Folkers"...You seem to spend a fair amount of time on Fox News for someone who’s as busy as you must be, but I recall you saying some months ago there that your own supervisor, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is “devoted to the scientific method”. ..... Let’s just think about that one for a minute....."
Excellent time to read this www.science.org/content/blog...
An Open Letter to Jay Bhattacharyawww.science.orgIncredible The director of the CDC & NIH, who has a massive public platform, is *still* saying his feelings are hurt cuz scientists, health workers, & public health experts rejected his kooky Covid ideas Dude, you won—Trump & RFK Jr appointed you to punish the libs by dismantling public health 😢
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhDLet’s unpack this post by NIH and CDC Director and self-made victim Jay Bhattacharya. 1. This was not misreporting. This is what RFK Jr. said in his interview. 2. Free speech was not “suspended”. If it had been no one would know who Bhattacharya is.