Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com
Reporter at Guardian US. Ex-@APNews
Investigating the forces behind attacks on science and public health
Reach me on Signal: mrsmith.123
michelle.smith@theguardian.com
Based in Providence, Rhode Island
Investigating the forces behind attacks on science and public health
Reach me on Signal: mrsmith.123
michelle.smith@theguardian.com
Based in Providence, Rhode Island
Pinned
Michelle R. Smith
@bymichellersmith.com
· Oct 21
Anti-science bills hit statehouses, stripping away public health protections built over a century
More than 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections – vaccines, milk safety and fluoride – have been introduced in statehouses across the U.S. this year.
apnews.com
NEW: AP investigation finds over 420 anti-science bills attacking longstanding public health protections have been introduced in statehouses across the US this year, part of an organized, politically savvy campaign to enshrine a conspiracy theory-driven agenda into law. w/ @lauraungar.bsky.social
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first of at least 18 states to enact waivers prohibiting the purchase of certain foods through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
apnews.com/article/snap...
apnews.com/article/snap...
SNAP bans on soda, candy and other foods take effect in five states Jan. 1
Americans in five states who get government help paying for groceries will see new limits starting Thursday on soda, candy and other foods they can buy with those benefits.
apnews.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia are the first of at least 18 states to enact waivers prohibiting the purchase of certain foods through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
apnews.com/article/snap...
apnews.com/article/snap...
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Exclusive: A year after Tenet Media was busted for funneling Russian money to MAGA pundits like Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, a Trump administration effort involving State and the FBI has welcomed Tenet's founders back into the US. @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/lauren-che...
Trump Admin Scores Visa for Founder of Russian Propaganda Outlet
Tenet Media’s Lauren Chen is back—even though the illegal-influence and money-laundering investigation remains open.
www.thebulwark.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Exclusive: A year after Tenet Media was busted for funneling Russian money to MAGA pundits like Benny Johnson and Tim Pool, a Trump administration effort involving State and the FBI has welcomed Tenet's founders back into the US. @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/lauren-che...
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Lorraine and Puff. 💕 Photo from my collection, no date or other info.
December 28, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Lorraine and Puff. 💕 Photo from my collection, no date or other info.
Imran Ahmed says US companies are ‘corrupting the system’ of politics by seeking to avoid accountability
UK campaigner targeted by Trump accuses tech giants of ‘sociopathic greed’
Exclusive: Imran Ahmed says US companies are ‘corrupting the system’ of politics by seeking to avoid accountability
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Imran Ahmed says US companies are ‘corrupting the system’ of politics by seeking to avoid accountability
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
NEW: What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid, by @annamaria.bsky.social
What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid
Photographs tell a story of two mothers determined to help their babies gain enough weight to leave the hospital — only to face little to no food again.
www.propublica.org
December 23, 2025 at 12:53 PM
NEW: What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid, by @annamaria.bsky.social
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
BREAKING: Brown University president Christina Paxson has placed the campus police chief Rodney Chatman on leave and is hiring former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements on an interim basis
w/ @alexagagosz.bsky.social
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/m...
w/ @alexagagosz.bsky.social
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/m...
Brown president places police chief on leave, hires former Providence police chief - The Boston Globe
Hugh T. Clements Jr. will report directly to university president Christina H. Paxson during his interim leadership.
www.bostonglobe.com
December 23, 2025 at 12:15 AM
BREAKING: Brown University president Christina Paxson has placed the campus police chief Rodney Chatman on leave and is hiring former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements on an interim basis
w/ @alexagagosz.bsky.social
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/m...
w/ @alexagagosz.bsky.social
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/22/m...
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
"At the height of the South Carolina outbreak ...when more than 200 people were in quarantine, CHD published an article circulating anti-vaccine tropes and arguing that criticism of Kennedy ...was unfounded." via @theguardian.com @bymichellersmith.com
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr circulates false assertions amid measles outbreak
Children’s Health Defense using familiar playbook to defend health secretary as it downplays dangers of disease and exaggerate risks of vaccines, public health experts say
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:29 PM
"At the height of the South Carolina outbreak ...when more than 200 people were in quarantine, CHD published an article circulating anti-vaccine tropes and arguing that criticism of Kennedy ...was unfounded." via @theguardian.com @bymichellersmith.com
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
“We have said it very clearly before. Now we say it again: you cannot annex other countries,” Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a joint statement on Monday
Denmark and Greenland PMs censure Trump over special envoy appointment
Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen tell US in joint statement: ‘You cannot annex other countries’
www.theguardian.com
December 22, 2025 at 12:48 PM
“We have said it very clearly before. Now we say it again: you cannot annex other countries,” Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a joint statement on Monday
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
🧵 1 of 9
🧵 1 of 9
December 21, 2025 at 2:51 AM
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
🧵 1 of 9
🧵 1 of 9
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
In the wake of the tragedy at Brown, online conspiracists rushed to pin the horrific mass murder on an innocent Palestinian student. One of them was Shaun Maguire, a partner at leading VC firm Sequoia Capital.
www.fastcompany.com/91463942/seq...
www.fastcompany.com/91463942/seq...
Sequoia's Shaun Maguire accused an innocent Palestinian of being the Brown shooter. Then he doubled down
Online sleuthing is not, it turns out, among the noted VC's talents.
www.fastcompany.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:38 PM
In the wake of the tragedy at Brown, online conspiracists rushed to pin the horrific mass murder on an innocent Palestinian student. One of them was Shaun Maguire, a partner at leading VC firm Sequoia Capital.
www.fastcompany.com/91463942/seq...
www.fastcompany.com/91463942/seq...
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein
The Justice Department’s webpage for documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is missing at least 16 of its files a day after they were released.
apnews.com
December 20, 2025 at 9:30 PM
At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
This story was already fascinating and then there is a dietary supplement & food vs. drug regulation angle!
www.sciencenews.org/article/vacc...
www.sciencenews.org/article/vacc...
He made beer that’s also a vaccine. Now controversy is brewing
An NIH scientist’s maverick approach reveals legal, ethical, moral, scientific and social challenges to developing potentially life-saving vaccines.
www.sciencenews.org
December 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
This story was already fascinating and then there is a dietary supplement & food vs. drug regulation angle!
www.sciencenews.org/article/vacc...
www.sciencenews.org/article/vacc...
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Our modern life
1) redditor offers key tip in Brown shooting
2) reporter highlights Reddit comment
3) national TV show uses reporter’s post, but drops some context
4) TV viewers congratulate reporter for being the tipster
1) redditor offers key tip in Brown shooting
2) reporter highlights Reddit comment
3) national TV show uses reporter’s post, but drops some context
4) TV viewers congratulate reporter for being the tipster
December 19, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Our modern life
1) redditor offers key tip in Brown shooting
2) reporter highlights Reddit comment
3) national TV show uses reporter’s post, but drops some context
4) TV viewers congratulate reporter for being the tipster
1) redditor offers key tip in Brown shooting
2) reporter highlights Reddit comment
3) national TV show uses reporter’s post, but drops some context
4) TV viewers congratulate reporter for being the tipster
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
South Carolina is dealing with a measles outbreak. Here is the latest (and first public health story!) from @bymichellersmith.com on how the anti-vaccine group RFK Jr led for years is coming to his defense www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr circulates false assertions amid measles outbreak
Children’s Health Defense using familiar playbook to defend health secretary as it downplays dangers of disease and exaggerate risks of vaccines, public health experts say
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
South Carolina is dealing with a measles outbreak. Here is the latest (and first public health story!) from @bymichellersmith.com on how the anti-vaccine group RFK Jr led for years is coming to his defense www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr circulates false assertions amid measles outbreak
Anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr circulates false assertions amid measles outbreak
Children’s Health Defense using familiar playbook to defend health secretary as it downplays dangers of disease and exaggerate risks of vaccines, public health experts say
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Anti-vaccine group once led by RFK Jr circulates false assertions amid measles outbreak
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
The CDC just announced a new study on hepatitis B vaccination on newborns in Guinea-Bissau – a move that researchers call “highly unethical” and “extremely risky”. Happy to team up with @katlay.bsky.social on this story:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
US plan for $1.6m hepatitis B vaccine study in Africa called ‘highly unethical’
Experts decry ‘neocolonialist’ Guinea-Bissau study after Trump administration changed advice for US babies
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The CDC just announced a new study on hepatitis B vaccination on newborns in Guinea-Bissau – a move that researchers call “highly unethical” and “extremely risky”. Happy to team up with @katlay.bsky.social on this story:
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
The Alliance Defending Freedom helped to overturn abortion rights in America. Now they are bringing the blueprint that has been very successful here around the world, with a special focus on Europe www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Conservative legal group aims to export its rightwing Christian mission beyond US borders
Alliance Defending Freedom has ramped up its global spending on litigation and other campaigns to push its ultra conservative Christian values
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
The Alliance Defending Freedom helped to overturn abortion rights in America. Now they are bringing the blueprint that has been very successful here around the world, with a special focus on Europe www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Authorities believe the MIT professor who was killed and the suspected Brown University shooter went to school together in Lisbon, Portugal
December 19, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Authorities believe the MIT professor who was killed and the suspected Brown University shooter went to school together in Lisbon, Portugal
Man suspected in shooting at Brown University has been found dead in New Hampshire, AP source says
Man suspected in shooting at Brown University has been found dead in New Hampshire, AP source says
A man who is suspected of killing two and wounding several others at Brown University has been found dead in New Hampshire storage facility, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.
apnews.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Man suspected in shooting at Brown University has been found dead in New Hampshire, AP source says
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
Police are investigating a link between the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, AP sources say.
Police are investigating link between Brown shooting and killing of MIT professor, AP sources say
Authorities are investigating a connection between the mass hooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
bit.ly
December 18, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Police are investigating a link between the Brown University shooting and the killing of an MIT professor, AP sources say.
Reposted by Michelle R. Smith
ICYMI: yesterday, I wrote an op-ed for the @thepvdeye.bsky.social that tried to capture how these last few days in Providence -- my beloved hometown -- have felt.
I also invited other PVD folks to share their own thoughts: voices@pvdeye.org.
I also invited other PVD folks to share their own thoughts: voices@pvdeye.org.
Grappling With A Mass Shooting on College Hill: “These are Dark Days for Providence.” - The Providence Eye
One of my goals as The Eye’s opinion editor is to help readers make sense of the city. But, this week, after a mass shooting at Brown University left two students dead and nine injured, that feels imp...
pvdeye.org
December 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM
ICYMI: yesterday, I wrote an op-ed for the @thepvdeye.bsky.social that tried to capture how these last few days in Providence -- my beloved hometown -- have felt.
I also invited other PVD folks to share their own thoughts: voices@pvdeye.org.
I also invited other PVD folks to share their own thoughts: voices@pvdeye.org.