Dick Powis
@dtpowis.bsky.social
Living in Tampa or Dakar. Medical Anthropologist of/in Public Health. www.dickpowis.com / kuznitsa.media
Pinned
Dick Powis
@dtpowis.bsky.social
· Feb 18
The greatest threat to public health is a lack of imagination.
Reposted by Dick Powis
Huge congrats to @eyatesd.bsky.social for winning the Eileen Basker Memorial Prize for her book ‘Mal-Nutrition: Maternal Health Science and the Reproduction of Harm!’ #anthropology #MedicalAnthropology #AAA25
November 21, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Huge congrats to @eyatesd.bsky.social for winning the Eileen Basker Memorial Prize for her book ‘Mal-Nutrition: Maternal Health Science and the Reproduction of Harm!’ #anthropology #MedicalAnthropology #AAA25
Reposted by Dick Powis
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Study after study shows that using LLMs is bad for cognition, bad for learning, bad for understanding, bad for mental health. So why are our schools and universities still relentlessly pushing them?
Thanks to Nathan Fielder, I now hum Evanescence whenever I see two pilots walking together
November 20, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Thanks to Nathan Fielder, I now hum Evanescence whenever I see two pilots walking together
We're all just dogs wearing shock collars in the background of God's Twitch stream.
October 31, 2025 at 6:40 PM
We're all just dogs wearing shock collars in the background of God's Twitch stream.
Yesterday, my cat kicked a turd out of the litterbox and the robovac came and ate it up, so I'm kinda not worried about Skynet just yet
AI companies: The future of humanoid robots is here
Humanoid robot:
Humanoid robot:
October 31, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Yesterday, my cat kicked a turd out of the litterbox and the robovac came and ate it up, so I'm kinda not worried about Skynet just yet
I switched from a desktop computer to a laptop in 2003 and earlier this year I've made the switch back to a desktop. It's been very freeing, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because I want work to stay at work, and studio to stay in studio, but even this is fairly new in my life (since 2021).
October 31, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I switched from a desktop computer to a laptop in 2003 and earlier this year I've made the switch back to a desktop. It's been very freeing, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because I want work to stay at work, and studio to stay in studio, but even this is fairly new in my life (since 2021).
Always a joy to see my Women’s Health students do class presentations on books by my colleagues like @kateclancy.bsky.social and @ratnagiri77.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Always a joy to see my Women’s Health students do class presentations on books by my colleagues like @kateclancy.bsky.social and @ratnagiri77.bsky.social
Well, this was jarring to read
October 28, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Well, this was jarring to read
This would go hard as an album cover
September 3, 2025 at 1:28 AM
This would go hard as an album cover
Wow I’ve always wondered what the early days of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would look like if we had social media and AI and it is worse than I imagined
June 24, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Wow I’ve always wondered what the early days of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq would look like if we had social media and AI and it is worse than I imagined
Good news! The intro article for our special issue on SURVEILLANCE-CARE is now Open Access! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
April 8, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Good news! The intro article for our special issue on SURVEILLANCE-CARE is now Open Access! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The full special issue on SURVEILLANCE-CARE is out now in #MedicalAnthropology! Both the introduction and my article are OA, but don't hesitate to reach out (email or DM) if you need access to the other articles.
Check it out here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/gmea20/4...
Check it out here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/gmea20/4...
Medical Anthropology
SURVEILLANCE-CARE. Volume 44, Issue 3 of Medical Anthropology
www.tandfonline.com
April 3, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The full special issue on SURVEILLANCE-CARE is out now in #MedicalAnthropology! Both the introduction and my article are OA, but don't hesitate to reach out (email or DM) if you need access to the other articles.
Check it out here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/gmea20/4...
Check it out here: www.tandfonline.com/toc/gmea20/4...
Reposted by Dick Powis
Democrats Huddle To Decide How Best To Let Massive Republican Fuck-Up Slip Through Fingers
March 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Democrats Huddle To Decide How Best To Let Massive Republican Fuck-Up Slip Through Fingers
Wtf, I don’t even remember putting this in my calendar. Was this you? Do we have a meeting???
March 25, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Wtf, I don’t even remember putting this in my calendar. Was this you? Do we have a meeting???
New article just dropped with @adriennestrong.bsky.social
Over-looked spaces: theorizing surveillance care in reproductive health
At the 2022 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Seattle, WA, we organized a session called “Landscapes of Surveillance Care in Reproductive Health.” This introduction to o...
www.tandfonline.com
March 24, 2025 at 1:16 AM
New article just dropped with @adriennestrong.bsky.social
porque_no_los_dos.gif
If you are spending any time attacking Democrats rather than focusing on what Republicans are doing to destroy our democracy then you are wasting value time.
March 7, 2025 at 11:11 PM
porque_no_los_dos.gif
My Letterboxd reviews are finally getting the recognition they deserve
March 7, 2025 at 2:58 AM
My Letterboxd reviews are finally getting the recognition they deserve
Reposted by Dick Powis
A New Present Tense is out: pieces by anthropologists meeting this moment featuring @anthrofuentes.bsky.social, Carolyn Rouse, Rayna Rapp, Faye Ginsburg, Gregory Warner, & me.
My piece, Binary Desires, on gender/sex, EOs, & queer joy, & the whole collection here:
americananthro.org/advocacy/pre...
My piece, Binary Desires, on gender/sex, EOs, & queer joy, & the whole collection here:
americananthro.org/advocacy/pre...
Death by Data Erasure - The American Anthropological Association
americananthro.org
March 6, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A New Present Tense is out: pieces by anthropologists meeting this moment featuring @anthrofuentes.bsky.social, Carolyn Rouse, Rayna Rapp, Faye Ginsburg, Gregory Warner, & me.
My piece, Binary Desires, on gender/sex, EOs, & queer joy, & the whole collection here:
americananthro.org/advocacy/pre...
My piece, Binary Desires, on gender/sex, EOs, & queer joy, & the whole collection here:
americananthro.org/advocacy/pre...
Reposted by Dick Powis
Wrote up something about Techdirt's recent coverage, and why (whether we like it or not) we need to be a "democracy blog" now, rather than just a "tech" blog (not that we've ever been just a tech blog).
This story is *the* story and it impacts everything else.
www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/w...
This story is *the* story and it impacts everything else.
www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/w...
Why Techdirt Is Now A Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It Or Not)
While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recogn…
www.techdirt.com
March 4, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Wrote up something about Techdirt's recent coverage, and why (whether we like it or not) we need to be a "democracy blog" now, rather than just a "tech" blog (not that we've ever been just a tech blog).
This story is *the* story and it impacts everything else.
www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/w...
This story is *the* story and it impacts everything else.
www.techdirt.com/2025/03/04/w...
This is the “opposition party” 🤡
Amid the fear and division in President Trump's address to Congress I heard no concrete plans to lower prices or better serve the people.
March 5, 2025 at 4:20 AM
This is the “opposition party” 🤡
Damn, I was hoping for a David Lynch-inspired dance number
March 3, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Damn, I was hoping for a David Lynch-inspired dance number
Gonna send my public health students for extra credit: events.berkeley.edu/bscm/event/2...
“The Danger Zone is Everywhere: How Housing Discrimination Harms Health and Steals Wealth”
George Lipsitz will discuss his latest book, “The Danger Zone is Everywhere: How Housing Discrimination Harms Health and Steals Wealth,” which ...
events.berkeley.edu
February 28, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Gonna send my public health students for extra credit: events.berkeley.edu/bscm/event/2...
Reposted by Dick Powis
My latest with @sciam.bsky.social "Politics, Not Biology, Is Driving Legal Efforts to Classify Sex". Please do read the linked Executive Orders and HS statements that this piece is in response to. I am hoping of a better dialogue on this... www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
Politics, Not Biology, Is Driving Legal Efforts to Classify Sex
Sex is not one single, simple, uniform biological reality, so biology cannot be invoked as a basis for “immutable” legal classifications
www.scientificamerican.com
February 25, 2025 at 2:45 PM
My latest with @sciam.bsky.social "Politics, Not Biology, Is Driving Legal Efforts to Classify Sex". Please do read the linked Executive Orders and HS statements that this piece is in response to. I am hoping of a better dialogue on this... www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...
Reposted by Dick Powis
hi! i wrote something for @rewirenewsgroup.com’s campus dispatch about student worker unions and repro justice!
it would make me very happy if you could read it and let me know what you think or, the greatest sign it was good: share it with others!
it would make me very happy if you could read it and let me know what you think or, the greatest sign it was good: share it with others!
Analysis: Student Worker Unions Are a Force for Reproductive Justice
In the post-Roe era, student unions are increasingly helping student workers secure access to reproductive health care.
rewirenewsgroup.com
February 24, 2025 at 10:39 PM
hi! i wrote something for @rewirenewsgroup.com’s campus dispatch about student worker unions and repro justice!
it would make me very happy if you could read it and let me know what you think or, the greatest sign it was good: share it with others!
it would make me very happy if you could read it and let me know what you think or, the greatest sign it was good: share it with others!