Mark Honigsbaum
@honigsbaum.bsky.social
Journalist & historian of medicine; humanist, wannabe surfer.
www.markhonigsbaum.com
https://open.substack.com/pub/markhonigsbaum
www.markhonigsbaum.com
https://open.substack.com/pub/markhonigsbaum
Pinned
The new Netflix miniseries Death By Lightning based on the 1881 assassination of president James Garfield by a deranged office seeker is highly pertinent to our troubled times.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
The new Netflix miniseries Death By Lightning based on the 1881 assassination of president James Garfield by a deranged office seeker is highly pertinent to our troubled times.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
November 12, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The new Netflix miniseries Death By Lightning based on the 1881 assassination of president James Garfield by a deranged office seeker is highly pertinent to our troubled times.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
COVID vaccines may have averted thousands of hospital stays in infants, pregnant women over 18 months
www.cidrap.umn.edu
September 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Study in JAMA Pediatrics estimates that vaccinating pregnant women against COVID-19 prevented 7,000 hospitalizations in infants and 3,000 in pregnant women from January 2024 to May 2025.
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
#Medsky
www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/cov...
Some thoughts on the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and what the litany of campus shootings say about our violent, blood-soaked times.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/meridian-t...
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/meridian-t...
September 17, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Some thoughts on the shooting of Charlie Kirk, Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and what the litany of campus shootings say about our violent, blood-soaked times.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/meridian-t...
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/meridian-t...
www.thefp.com/p/sam-harris...
Sage advice from Sam Harris:-
Get off social media.
Read good books and real journalism.
Find your friends.
And enjoy your life.
Sage advice from Sam Harris:-
Get off social media.
Read good books and real journalism.
Find your friends.
And enjoy your life.
Sam Harris: Log Off
Charlie Kirk’s assassination lit a fuse. Social media turned it into a bonfire, writes Sam Harris.
www.thefp.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
www.thefp.com/p/sam-harris...
Sage advice from Sam Harris:-
Get off social media.
Read good books and real journalism.
Find your friends.
And enjoy your life.
Sage advice from Sam Harris:-
Get off social media.
Read good books and real journalism.
Find your friends.
And enjoy your life.
Charlie Kirk’s Killing and Our Poisonous Internet www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...
“While the internet’s rot once felt safely bottled…within a digital realm, this act of political violence may have punctured whatever barrier once existed”.
“While the internet’s rot once felt safely bottled…within a digital realm, this act of political violence may have punctured whatever barrier once existed”.
Opinion | Charlie Kirk’s Killing and Our Poisonous Internet
www.nytimes.com
September 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Charlie Kirk’s Killing and Our Poisonous Internet www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o...
“While the internet’s rot once felt safely bottled…within a digital realm, this act of political violence may have punctured whatever barrier once existed”.
“While the internet’s rot once felt safely bottled…within a digital realm, this act of political violence may have punctured whatever barrier once existed”.
When my beloved goldendoodle of 15 years died this summer I was overwhelmed with grief. Then something extraordinary happened: I took a hiatus from social media and began engaging with people in real life.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/murphys-gift
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/murphys-gift
Murphy’s Gift
What the death of my beloved goldendoodle taught me about empathy and the dangers of spending too much time online.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 2:10 PM
When my beloved goldendoodle of 15 years died this summer I was overwhelmed with grief. Then something extraordinary happened: I took a hiatus from social media and began engaging with people in real life.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/murphys-gift
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/murphys-gift
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
My worst nightmare is coming true. I am turning into Jay Bhattacharya. @reason.com is writing articles calling me a silenced and censored scientific dissident.
What have I done to myself. 😅
reason.com/2025/09/03/f...
What have I done to myself. 😅
reason.com/2025/09/03/f...
FDA official pressures YouTube into removing a channel for posting his own vaccine comments
Whether you agree with the censored channel or not, it is wrong and hypocritical for Vinay Prasad to silence his critics in this way.
reason.com
September 7, 2025 at 2:55 AM
My worst nightmare is coming true. I am turning into Jay Bhattacharya. @reason.com is writing articles calling me a silenced and censored scientific dissident.
What have I done to myself. 😅
reason.com/2025/09/03/f...
What have I done to myself. 😅
reason.com/2025/09/03/f...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
I am happy Gov. Kathy Hochul took action to defend COVID vaccine access in the face of the anti-science attacks from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his crank allies like Marty Makary and Jay Bhattacharya.
But I note that it’s only for ages 3 and up. The CDC’s original guidance was 6 months and up.
But I note that it’s only for ages 3 and up. The CDC’s original guidance was 6 months and up.
September 6, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I am happy Gov. Kathy Hochul took action to defend COVID vaccine access in the face of the anti-science attacks from Robert Kennedy Jr. and his crank allies like Marty Makary and Jay Bhattacharya.
But I note that it’s only for ages 3 and up. The CDC’s original guidance was 6 months and up.
But I note that it’s only for ages 3 and up. The CDC’s original guidance was 6 months and up.
Today, parakeets are a common sight in public parks. But in 1930 the birds sparked a worldwide panic when it was discovered their faeces contained a deadly bacterium.
Click on my Substack to read my new post on the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic of 1930.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/the-green-...
Click on my Substack to read my new post on the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic of 1930.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/the-green-...
August 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Today, parakeets are a common sight in public parks. But in 1930 the birds sparked a worldwide panic when it was discovered their faeces contained a deadly bacterium.
Click on my Substack to read my new post on the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic of 1930.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/the-green-...
Click on my Substack to read my new post on the Great Parrot Fever Pandemic of 1930.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/the-green-...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
Despite putting on her ‘happy face’ at the launch of Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS this morning, the British public are unlikely to forget Reeves’s visible anguish at PM’s questions in a hurry.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
When tears ran down her face...
We may never know what sparked Rachel Reeves's visible anguish in the House of Commons on Wednesday but the Chancellor's distress is likely to be remembered long after her tears have dried.
open.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Despite putting on her ‘happy face’ at the launch of Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS this morning, the British public are unlikely to forget Reeves’s visible anguish at PM’s questions in a hurry.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
Despite putting on her ‘happy face’ at the launch of Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS this morning, the British public are unlikely to forget Reeves’s visible anguish at PM’s questions in a hurry.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
When tears ran down her face...
We may never know what sparked Rachel Reeves's visible anguish in the House of Commons on Wednesday but the Chancellor's distress is likely to be remembered long after her tears have dried.
open.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Despite putting on her ‘happy face’ at the launch of Labour’s 10-year plan for the NHS this morning, the British public are unlikely to forget Reeves’s visible anguish at PM’s questions in a hurry.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
@mrjamesob.bsky.social @lbc.co.uk To judge by James O’Brien’s call-in on LBC radio today, sympathy for the Chancellor as the architect of her own misery was in short supply.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
When tears ran down her face...
We may never know what sparked Rachel Reeves's visible anguish in the House of Commons on Wednesday but the Chancellor's distress is likely to be remembered long after her tears have dried.
open.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM
@mrjamesob.bsky.social @lbc.co.uk To judge by James O’Brien’s call-in on LBC radio today, sympathy for the Chancellor as the architect of her own misery was in short supply.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
No one knows what sparked Rachel Reeves’s visible anguish on Wednesday, but for a moment at least she showed that she was human.That is something the public will likely remember long after her tears have dried.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
When tears ran down her face...
We may never know what sparked Rachel Reeves's visible anguish in the House of Commons on Wednesday but the Chancellor's distress is likely to be remembered long after her tears have dried.
open.substack.com
July 3, 2025 at 11:53 AM
No one knows what sparked Rachel Reeves’s visible anguish on Wednesday, but for a moment at least she showed that she was human.That is something the public will likely remember long after her tears have dried.
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
The idea that you can debunk your way out of a conspiracy theory is disproven over and over again. Better imo to ask people with an alternative point of view what their single strongest piece of evidence is and discuss that in depth. For "lab leak" those conversations don't last long.
July 2, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The idea that you can debunk your way out of a conspiracy theory is disproven over and over again. Better imo to ask people with an alternative point of view what their single strongest piece of evidence is and discuss that in depth. For "lab leak" those conversations don't last long.
1/ On average, respondents assigned a 77% probability to a zoonosis... However, only 22% of respondents said they were familiar with a 2018 research proposal known as DEFUSE, submitted by EcoHealth Alliance and partnering with the US labs and the Wuhan Institute of Virology...
A reason, probably not the most important, the public is misinformed about SARS2 originating as a lab leak is that apparent "expert consensus" is uninformed. The "average" expert in this survey gives a 21% chance to a lab leak - the right answer is <0.1%, & I'd consider any answer >10% uninformed.
July 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
1/ On average, respondents assigned a 77% probability to a zoonosis... However, only 22% of respondents said they were familiar with a 2018 research proposal known as DEFUSE, submitted by EcoHealth Alliance and partnering with the US labs and the Wuhan Institute of Virology...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
RFK Jr claims Ralph Baric developed a "seamless ligation" technique to hide the laboratory origins of a manipulated virus, as if its use were nefarious.
But its scientific point is to enable mutations to be precisely introduced, including making sure that one can introduce no mutations at all.
But its scientific point is to enable mutations to be precisely introduced, including making sure that one can introduce no mutations at all.
RFK Jr. gave a rambling interview on ‘The Tucker Carlson Show,’ accusing Anthony Fauci of “creating” COVID-19.
The Most Bats**t Moments From RFK Jr.’s Tucker Carlson Disasterclass
The health secretary accused Anthony Fauci of “creating coronavirus” and suggested the COVID-19 vaccine may have “killed” more people than it saved.
trib.al
July 2, 2025 at 11:08 AM
RFK Jr claims Ralph Baric developed a "seamless ligation" technique to hide the laboratory origins of a manipulated virus, as if its use were nefarious.
But its scientific point is to enable mutations to be precisely introduced, including making sure that one can introduce no mutations at all.
But its scientific point is to enable mutations to be precisely introduced, including making sure that one can introduce no mutations at all.
This is a good example of the sort of research that can help us detect the next pandemic virus before it can spread more widely. Such a shame that because of the distrust of science due to the obsession with the Covid lab/leak theory, more of this research isn’t being done.
Read the full story here to find out more about the innovative work (or, as @colincarlson.bsky.social put it, "cool and smart") to boost disease surveillance
Led by @eakarlsson.bsky.social, @jsiegers.bsky.social, Anna Fomsgaard & others at IPC & Cambodian MOH:
www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
Led by @eakarlsson.bsky.social, @jsiegers.bsky.social, Anna Fomsgaard & others at IPC & Cambodian MOH:
www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...
From coop to cave: Inside the high-tech hunt for H5N1 and Disease X
The Telegraph joined scientists in Cambodia’s vibrant wet markets and vast bat caves to test revolutionary new disease surveillance tools
www.telegraph.co.uk
July 2, 2025 at 9:21 AM
This is a good example of the sort of research that can help us detect the next pandemic virus before it can spread more widely. Such a shame that because of the distrust of science due to the obsession with the Covid lab/leak theory, more of this research isn’t being done.
It speaks volumes about the mentality of the fans who packed the West Holts arena that Bobby Vylan’s chant should be so readily adopted at a festival dedicated to love and peace. This is what happens when empathy becomes a substitute for moral thinking.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/hate-and-t...
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/hate-and-t...
Hate and the dangers of empathy
Whether or not the British rapper Bobby Vylan's call for the "death to the IDF" at Glastonbury constituted hate speech, the crowd's reflexive adoption of his chant is deeply worrying.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 5:20 PM
It speaks volumes about the mentality of the fans who packed the West Holts arena that Bobby Vylan’s chant should be so readily adopted at a festival dedicated to love and peace. This is what happens when empathy becomes a substitute for moral thinking.
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/hate-and-t...
markhonigsbaum.substack.com/p/hate-and-t...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
The report faults the governments of the United States and Germany for not sharing more information from their intelligence communities but reserves its strongest criticism for China.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
WHO panel favors natural origin of COVID-19 virus but decries missing evidence
New report doesn’t rule out that SARS-CoV-2 leaked from a lab in China, but says evidence for scenario remains “speculation”
www.science.org
June 27, 2025 at 10:51 PM
The report faults the governments of the United States and Germany for not sharing more information from their intelligence communities but reserves its strongest criticism for China.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Mark Honigsbaum
SAGO Report is out:
1️⃣ No new data in report
2️⃣ Not bioweapon, man-made, or engineered
3️⃣ All scientific evidence points to zoonosis
4️⃣ No evidence for lab leak
5️⃣ New evidence could swing the conclusion
In other words, what we concluded in April, 2020. Five years later.
share.google/4I8ac1DJMZOM...
1️⃣ No new data in report
2️⃣ Not bioweapon, man-made, or engineered
3️⃣ All scientific evidence points to zoonosis
4️⃣ No evidence for lab leak
5️⃣ New evidence could swing the conclusion
In other words, what we concluded in April, 2020. Five years later.
share.google/4I8ac1DJMZOM...
WHO Scientific advisory group issues report on origins of COVID-19
The WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO), a panel of 27 independent, international, multidisciplinary experts, today published its report on the origins of SARS-CoV-...
share.google
June 27, 2025 at 7:13 PM
SAGO Report is out:
1️⃣ No new data in report
2️⃣ Not bioweapon, man-made, or engineered
3️⃣ All scientific evidence points to zoonosis
4️⃣ No evidence for lab leak
5️⃣ New evidence could swing the conclusion
In other words, what we concluded in April, 2020. Five years later.
share.google/4I8ac1DJMZOM...
1️⃣ No new data in report
2️⃣ Not bioweapon, man-made, or engineered
3️⃣ All scientific evidence points to zoonosis
4️⃣ No evidence for lab leak
5️⃣ New evidence could swing the conclusion
In other words, what we concluded in April, 2020. Five years later.
share.google/4I8ac1DJMZOM...
No picture can do justice to the UK AIDS quilt or the sense of loss contained in the brightly coloured fabric. Walking beside the panels as shafts of sunlight fell on the soaring concrete walls of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall it felt as if I had entered a cathedral…
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
Displaying AIDS, Remembering pandemics.
The UK AIDS Quilt is the nearest thing we have to a memorial to the pandemic. All the more pity then that after a rare appearance at Tate Modern it has now been returned to storage.
open.substack.com
June 17, 2025 at 2:14 PM
No picture can do justice to the UK AIDS quilt or the sense of loss contained in the brightly coloured fabric. Walking beside the panels as shafts of sunlight fell on the soaring concrete walls of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall it felt as if I had entered a cathedral…
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
open.substack.com/pub/markhoni...
Chardon, Ohio, population 5242 in 2020 census, had approximately 400 people show up in the rain. #nokings
June 15, 2025 at 7:55 PM
