Jack Iwashyna
@iwashyna.bsky.social
I work at Johns Hopkins to help patients + their loved ones heal from critical illness. I mentor clinicians and other scholars to become exceptional scientists.
Democracy is a Social Determinant of Health (#SDoH). Preserve it
Also #ICU #Baltimore
Democracy is a Social Determinant of Health (#SDoH). Preserve it
Also #ICU #Baltimore
Pinned
Jack Iwashyna
@iwashyna.bsky.social
· Jun 26
On Not Betraying Our Trainees, Especially Now | American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine | Articles in Press
www.atsjournals.org
“On Not Betraying Our Trainees, Especially Now”
I won an Extraordinary Achievement Award from the Critical Care Assembly last month
The @atscommunity.bsky.social premier journal @atsblueeditor.bsky.social TODAY published the remarks I made on that occasion
www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/...
I won an Extraordinary Achievement Award from the Critical Care Assembly last month
The @atscommunity.bsky.social premier journal @atsblueeditor.bsky.social TODAY published the remarks I made on that occasion
www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/...
"The time to stop writing for the day (or at least the session) is ten minutes before the headache commences, not ten minutes afterward"
While obviously everything @bcdreyer.social says is true, I still need to think about this one.
Related James SA Corey's quip about academic finches?
While obviously everything @bcdreyer.social says is true, I still need to think about this one.
Related James SA Corey's quip about academic finches?
For me—YMMV—the deadline for posting anything referring to the new year is January 5.
So getting in my last licks.
So getting in my last licks.
5 Easy Pieces
[your copyeditorial resolutions for 2026]
open.substack.com
January 4, 2026 at 5:25 PM
"The time to stop writing for the day (or at least the session) is ten minutes before the headache commences, not ten minutes afterward"
While obviously everything @bcdreyer.social says is true, I still need to think about this one.
Related James SA Corey's quip about academic finches?
While obviously everything @bcdreyer.social says is true, I still need to think about this one.
Related James SA Corey's quip about academic finches?
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
In authoritarian regimes, underlings signal loyalty to the ruler by publicly attesting to obviously false claims
January 4, 2026 at 5:20 PM
In authoritarian regimes, underlings signal loyalty to the ruler by publicly attesting to obviously false claims
“The president realized that the framework for governance that the Founding Fathers had laid forth…precluded an action... Viewing this encumbrance as unintended on their part, the president disregarded their erroneous guardrail and pressed on.”
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/new...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/new...
New York Times’ Style Guide Substitutions for “The President Violated the Constitution”
Our 22nd most-read article of 2025.
- - -Originally published June 3, 2025.
- - -“The president remained steadfast in his novel interpretation of ...
www.mcsweeneys.net
January 4, 2026 at 2:50 PM
“The president realized that the framework for governance that the Founding Fathers had laid forth…precluded an action... Viewing this encumbrance as unintended on their part, the president disregarded their erroneous guardrail and pressed on.”
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/new...
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/new...
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
YOUR FOES WOULD SEE YOU SLEEPLESS: RESIST AND REST.
January 4, 2026 at 1:10 PM
YOUR FOES WOULD SEE YOU SLEEPLESS: RESIST AND REST.
🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Around 100 residents of Baltimore & local organizers march through downtown to protest the Trump regime's lawless military invasion of Venezuela & kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro & his wife Cilia Flores this morning.
I'm on the ground for @therealnews.com
I'm on the ground for @therealnews.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:44 PM
“Let purpose preempt despair”
For democracy…
For democracy…
If you can't attend a protest, I would suggest speaking to your values in whatever ways you can, and attending to something *you can do*. Remember, many things are happening at once. They want to keep your head spinning.
Let purpose preempt despair.
Let purpose preempt despair.
January 3, 2026 at 11:35 PM
“Let purpose preempt despair”
For democracy…
For democracy…
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
Sen. Tammy Duckworth:
"The American people believed Donald Trump when he promised on the campaign trail that he would get our nation out of foreign wars, but this morning we awoke to another stark reminder that he is—and has always been—a liar who has never cared about keeping his promises."
"The American people believed Donald Trump when he promised on the campaign trail that he would get our nation out of foreign wars, but this morning we awoke to another stark reminder that he is—and has always been—a liar who has never cared about keeping his promises."
January 3, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Sen. Tammy Duckworth:
"The American people believed Donald Trump when he promised on the campaign trail that he would get our nation out of foreign wars, but this morning we awoke to another stark reminder that he is—and has always been—a liar who has never cared about keeping his promises."
"The American people believed Donald Trump when he promised on the campaign trail that he would get our nation out of foreign wars, but this morning we awoke to another stark reminder that he is—and has always been—a liar who has never cared about keeping his promises."
Back before my kids fell in love with Jacob Tierney for #HeatedRivalry, he created #Letterkenny
There was a recurrent minor character of the town’s hockey coach. He lost over and over again. In his tantrums, he kicks a trashcan while shouting “embarrassing”
I’ve thought about that, a lot
There was a recurrent minor character of the town’s hockey coach. He lost over and over again. In his tantrums, he kicks a trashcan while shouting “embarrassing”
I’ve thought about that, a lot
January 3, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Back before my kids fell in love with Jacob Tierney for #HeatedRivalry, he created #Letterkenny
There was a recurrent minor character of the town’s hockey coach. He lost over and over again. In his tantrums, he kicks a trashcan while shouting “embarrassing”
I’ve thought about that, a lot
There was a recurrent minor character of the town’s hockey coach. He lost over and over again. In his tantrums, he kicks a trashcan while shouting “embarrassing”
I’ve thought about that, a lot
Friends, I stand by these references as a good place for would-be clinician-leaders to grow their skills for standing up and being counted
This is not the US govt you trained in, and health care cannot be excellent without rule of law + science
www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
This is not the US govt you trained in, and health care cannot be excellent without rule of law + science
www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
![References
1.Glaude E., Jr. Begin again: James Baldwin’s America and its urgent lessons for our own. New York: Crown; 2021. [Google Scholar]
2. Fessel JP. With sadness and resolve: why I resigned as chief medical officer of an NIH institute and what comes next. Ann Am Thorac Soc . 2025;22:970–972. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202503-366IP. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
3.Appelbaum A. Autocracy, Inc.: the dictators who want to run the world. New York: Doubleday; 2024. [Google Scholar]
4.Owen-Smith J. Research universities and the public good: discovery for an uncertain future. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; 2018. [Google Scholar]
5.Snyder T. On tyranny: twenty lessons from the twentieth century. New York: Crown; 2017. [Google Scholar]
6.Chenoweth E, Stephan MJ. Why civil resistance works: the strategic logic of nonviolent conflict. New York: Columbia University Press; 2012. [Google Scholar]
7.Sharp G. Waging nonviolent struggle: 20th century practice and 21st century potential. New York: Extending Horizons; 2005. [Google Scholar]
8.Schulman S. Let the record show: a political history of ACT UP New York, 1987–1993. New York: Picador; 2022. [Google Scholar]
9.Pineda ER. Seeing like an activist: civil disobedience and the civil rights movement. New York: Oxford University Press; 2021. [Google Scholar]
10.Ruttenberg D.The good trouble checklist. 2025. https://www.lifeisasacredtext.com/goodtrouble/
11.King ML., Jr. Birmingham: University of Alabama at Birmingham; 1963. Letter from a Birmingham jail.http://purl.lib.ua.edu/181702](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kf7xrcveixz3q7vlk3r2wxpw/bafkreif5ocaagggodd5ruk6f36dq7vpfn3jgzbx4h2ml22oetkxyet5rxu@jpeg)
January 3, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Friends, I stand by these references as a good place for would-be clinician-leaders to grow their skills for standing up and being counted
This is not the US govt you trained in, and health care cannot be excellent without rule of law + science
www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
This is not the US govt you trained in, and health care cannot be excellent without rule of law + science
www.atsjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
Maryland senator…
Trump and his cronies can try to dress this up, but it is an illegal act of war to replace Maduro and grab Venezuela's oil for his billionaire buddies.
Full statement below:
Full statement below:
January 3, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Maryland senator…
Mood
January 3, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Mood
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
Can’t believe I skeeted this BEFORE he said that the U.S. is going to occupy Venezuela
thinking about how, in the Russian history elective I took in HS, every time a tsar was facing domestic weakness the teacher would turn to the assembled students and ask "so what is it time for?" and we would chant "stunning territorial annexation!" and she would respond "well, DUH, girls"
January 3, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Can’t believe I skeeted this BEFORE he said that the U.S. is going to occupy Venezuela
My “mood map” according to StoryGraph based on my book choices.
January 3, 2026 at 5:36 PM
My “mood map” according to StoryGraph based on my book choices.
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
try to make sense of it
So fmr Honduran President Hernandez voluntarily surrendered, and was duly extradited, tried and convicted for drug trafficking, and Trump pardoned him 6w ago.
And this morning, Trump illegally attacks Venezuela and abducts its president and his wife purportedly to try them for drug trafficking.
And this morning, Trump illegally attacks Venezuela and abducts its president and his wife purportedly to try them for drug trafficking.
January 3, 2026 at 12:46 PM
try to make sense of it
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
Yes, Trump is the January 6th president, not only because of his own actions since that day, but because his coordinated, violent attack on democracy appealed to people who hate the US and its institutions, and because they now staff his administration.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
Opinion | Trump Is the Jan. 6 President
www.nytimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 6:22 AM
Yes, Trump is the January 6th president, not only because of his own actions since that day, but because his coordinated, violent attack on democracy appealed to people who hate the US and its institutions, and because they now staff his administration.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...
Sometimes deleting is easier than reposting with the typo corrected
January 3, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Sometimes deleting is easier than reposting with the typo corrected
New Rummikub set with new stands
January 2, 2026 at 11:22 PM
New Rummikub set with new stands
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
Maybe your 2026 resolution should be to move to Baltimore
January 2, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Maybe your 2026 resolution should be to move to Baltimore
“imitations of mind doomed to degradation and death like an animal fed nothing but its own waste”
~ James SA Corey (incl @abraham.bsky.social)
~ James SA Corey (incl @abraham.bsky.social)
January 2, 2026 at 5:21 PM
“imitations of mind doomed to degradation and death like an animal fed nothing but its own waste”
~ James SA Corey (incl @abraham.bsky.social)
~ James SA Corey (incl @abraham.bsky.social)
It’s 2026, and apparently I drink tea now
January 2, 2026 at 3:56 AM
It’s 2026, and apparently I drink tea now
“Finches: … lovely to look at, pretty to listen to, but if they get sick, they keep it hidden until they drop over dead. Academic researchers are all finches.”
~ James S A Corey is just throwing hands, man
~ James S A Corey is just throwing hands, man
January 1, 2026 at 9:42 PM
“Finches: … lovely to look at, pretty to listen to, but if they get sick, they keep it hidden until they drop over dead. Academic researchers are all finches.”
~ James S A Corey is just throwing hands, man
~ James S A Corey is just throwing hands, man
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
As of today, I am a FULL professor. I do not care much for occupational status markers. Still, it is not lost on me that only 2% of full professors are Black women. This goes beyond personal accomplishment. It is a responsibility to do as much as I can for others. That is exactly what I aim to do.
January 1, 2026 at 9:09 PM
As of today, I am a FULL professor. I do not care much for occupational status markers. Still, it is not lost on me that only 2% of full professors are Black women. This goes beyond personal accomplishment. It is a responsibility to do as much as I can for others. That is exactly what I aim to do.
Stranger Things was for my kids, not me, but watching the finale with ‘em while remembering watching the first season with them while remembering playing D&D ourselves with my brothers on the floor in our beach house is like an infinite regress of nostalgia
January 1, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Stranger Things was for my kids, not me, but watching the finale with ‘em while remembering watching the first season with them while remembering playing D&D ourselves with my brothers on the floor in our beach house is like an infinite regress of nostalgia
Reposted by Jack Iwashyna
In 2026, we are taking back our science. You don’t have to love all our tactics, but please trust me when I say @standupforscience.bsky.social is on the right side of history and we will remain so.
The original call out remains: GET IN, DORKS!
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
The original call out remains: GET IN, DORKS!
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
January 1, 2026 at 2:30 PM
In 2026, we are taking back our science. You don’t have to love all our tactics, but please trust me when I say @standupforscience.bsky.social is on the right side of history and we will remain so.
The original call out remains: GET IN, DORKS!
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...
The original call out remains: GET IN, DORKS!
open.substack.com/pub/sciencef...