Laura Helmuth
@laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Freelance writer, editor, columnist & consultant. Formerly at Scientific American, Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian & Science. Past president of National Association of Science Writers. Birder.
Went to a great talk the other day where the speaker referred to "Watson, Crick, and Franklin" nucleotides & let's all adopt that terminology
November 10, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Went to a great talk the other day where the speaker referred to "Watson, Crick, and Franklin" nucleotides & let's all adopt that terminology
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
OSCAR ISAAC, on whether he'd return to "Star Wars":
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
Oscar Isaac Was ‘Not So Open to Working With Disney’ After Jimmy Kimmel Suspension, Said He’d Return to ‘Star Wars’ if Disney Does ‘Not Succumb to Fascism’
Oscar Isaac was not open to working with Disney after Jimmy Kimmel's suspension and will only return to 'Star Wars' if the studio avoids fascism.
variety.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
OSCAR ISAAC, on whether he'd return to "Star Wars":
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
".. Yeah. I mean, I’d be open to it, although right now I’m not so open to working with Disney. But if they can kinda figure it out and, you know, not succumb to fascism, that would be great."
@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/film/ne...
For @slate.com Plus members: Someone in academia worries about how to tell their mentor they're leaving academia.
Me: "You don’t have to apologize for leaving academia. Most people in academia leave academia. It’s a bit of a pyramid scheme, anyway..." slate.com/advice/2025/...
Me: "You don’t have to apologize for leaving academia. Most people in academia leave academia. It’s a bit of a pyramid scheme, anyway..." slate.com/advice/2025/...
I Purposefully Misled My Boss. The Lie Is Catching Up to Me.
I don't want him to feel tricked!
slate.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
For @slate.com Plus members: Someone in academia worries about how to tell their mentor they're leaving academia.
Me: "You don’t have to apologize for leaving academia. Most people in academia leave academia. It’s a bit of a pyramid scheme, anyway..." slate.com/advice/2025/...
Me: "You don’t have to apologize for leaving academia. Most people in academia leave academia. It’s a bit of a pyramid scheme, anyway..." slate.com/advice/2025/...
The NYTimes article on Mamdani at Bowdoin is "a wreck, but of a form so pure, so purely Timesian, you almost have to admire it. It certainly is instructive." lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:45 PM
The NYTimes article on Mamdani at Bowdoin is "a wreck, but of a form so pure, so purely Timesian, you almost have to admire it. It certainly is instructive." lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Jim Watson was a peevish bigot. He sold off his Nobel Prize medallion in 2014 (but got it back) because he was so mad that people objected to his bigotry. Please do speak ill of the dead. slate.com/technology/2...
James Watson Is Auctioning Off His Nobel Prize. Please Do Not Bid on It.
Jim Watson is one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. He is also a peevish bigot. History will remember him for his co-discovery of...
slate.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Jim Watson was a peevish bigot. He sold off his Nobel Prize medallion in 2014 (but got it back) because he was so mad that people objected to his bigotry. Please do speak ill of the dead. slate.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
This study by my colleagues at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa shows that deep sea mining waste to be released near the ocean surface would disrupt marine food webs.
The same would be true of grinding and spreading rocks in the ocean for CO₂ removal. 🌊
The same would be true of grinding and spreading rocks in the ocean for CO₂ removal. 🌊
Deep-sea mining discharge can disrupt midwater food webs - Nature Communications
Deep-sea mining in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone may release waste into midwaters that support diverse marine life. This study finds such discharges could dilute key food particles and disrupt trophic l...
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:18 AM
This study by my colleagues at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa shows that deep sea mining waste to be released near the ocean surface would disrupt marine food webs.
The same would be true of grinding and spreading rocks in the ocean for CO₂ removal. 🌊
The same would be true of grinding and spreading rocks in the ocean for CO₂ removal. 🌊
Pro tip for #sciwri #sciencewriters meeting: tie a knot in your lanyard so your name tag is near your face & won’t flip around & nobody has to do the awkward navel gaze to read it
November 7, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Pro tip for #sciwri #sciencewriters meeting: tie a knot in your lanyard so your name tag is near your face & won’t flip around & nobody has to do the awkward navel gaze to read it
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
10. The freedoms we take for granted – political, economic, sexual, individual - were won through a combination of extraordinary struggle and extraordinary luck. There’s nothing “natural” or inevitable about them. They are in fact highly anomalous. And we won’t know what we’ve lost till it’s gone.
November 7, 2025 at 6:42 AM
10. The freedoms we take for granted – political, economic, sexual, individual - were won through a combination of extraordinary struggle and extraordinary luck. There’s nothing “natural” or inevitable about them. They are in fact highly anomalous. And we won’t know what we’ve lost till it’s gone.
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
🧵
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November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
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🧵
Someone who just got laid off asks whether to make a major career change. (Their sign-off is "I Dream of Running a Bed and Breakfast Somewhere") Here's how to approach that decision. Plus advice for getting respect and using paid time off. slate.com/advice/2025/...
It Seems Like All My Colleagues Are Conspiring Against Me. I Know What It All Comes Down To.
I've tried everything.
slate.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Someone who just got laid off asks whether to make a major career change. (Their sign-off is "I Dream of Running a Bed and Breakfast Somewhere") Here's how to approach that decision. Plus advice for getting respect and using paid time off. slate.com/advice/2025/...
"How does one get respect at work?" That's the first question in my GOOD JOB column this week. In this case, I advise an "unfailingly polite" VP to politely make some colleagues squirm. slate.com/advice/2025/...
It Seems Like All My Colleagues Are Conspiring Against Me. I Know What It All Comes Down To.
I've tried everything.
slate.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
"How does one get respect at work?" That's the first question in my GOOD JOB column this week. In this case, I advise an "unfailingly polite" VP to politely make some colleagues squirm. slate.com/advice/2025/...
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
One big reason to support @wonkettemedia.bsky.social is their Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead obituaries.
open.substack.com/pub/wonkette...
open.substack.com/pub/wonkette...
Dick Cheney No Longer Still Undead
GTFO.
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
One big reason to support @wonkettemedia.bsky.social is their Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead obituaries.
open.substack.com/pub/wonkette...
open.substack.com/pub/wonkette...
After Dick Cheney shot a man, Eugene Robinson wrote one of my favorite opening lines:
"I told you people Dick Cheney was dangerous."
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opin...
"I told you people Dick Cheney was dangerous."
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opin...
November 4, 2025 at 1:00 PM
After Dick Cheney shot a man, Eugene Robinson wrote one of my favorite opening lines:
"I told you people Dick Cheney was dangerous."
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opin...
"I told you people Dick Cheney was dangerous."
www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opin...
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
So many people were detained extrajudicially, were tortured, or died because of Dick Cheney. You can't get to the danger we're in now without everything he did. The weapons he helped forge are ones we need to take away from U.S. presidents forever.
November 4, 2025 at 12:52 PM
So many people were detained extrajudicially, were tortured, or died because of Dick Cheney. You can't get to the danger we're in now without everything he did. The weapons he helped forge are ones we need to take away from U.S. presidents forever.
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
Dick Cheney did more than anyone else to build up expansive and destructive executive branch powers in the wake of 9/11; he lived to see another president turn those same powers against his own daughter.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
November 4, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Dick Cheney did more than anyone else to build up expansive and destructive executive branch powers in the wake of 9/11; he lived to see another president turn those same powers against his own daughter.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
He should be a warning sign to the GOP today but too many of them are in the cult.
Me self-justifying my carbon footprint: But @andrewhickey.500songs.com just dropped a new episode so I need to go on a drive long enough to listen to the whole thing
New episode just rolled out!
We’ve covered Tina; now it’s time for the steady, bluesy original. Andrew looks at “Proud Mary” and the brief but productive career of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Available to listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and via Andrew’s website: 500songs.com/podcast/2714/
We’ve covered Tina; now it’s time for the steady, bluesy original. Andrew looks at “Proud Mary” and the brief but productive career of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Available to listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and via Andrew’s website: 500songs.com/podcast/2714/
November 3, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Me self-justifying my carbon footprint: But @andrewhickey.500songs.com just dropped a new episode so I need to go on a drive long enough to listen to the whole thing
The first weekday after Halloween is the only time of year when it's better to work in an office than at home. Enjoy all the leftover fun-size snacks, everybody!
November 3, 2025 at 1:28 PM
The first weekday after Halloween is the only time of year when it's better to work in an office than at home. Enjoy all the leftover fun-size snacks, everybody!
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
On this day 225 years ago, John Adams moved into the still-not-quite-complete White House, becoming the first president to occupy it. His blessing was carved into the State Dining Room mantel in 1945: "May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”
November 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
On this day 225 years ago, John Adams moved into the still-not-quite-complete White House, becoming the first president to occupy it. His blessing was carved into the State Dining Room mantel in 1945: "May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”
One fun thing about talking to parks department staff is you can say, “could anybody identify this scat” and they all come over to you all excited. (Even better is when they confirm it’s a bear)
November 1, 2025 at 9:56 PM
One fun thing about talking to parks department staff is you can say, “could anybody identify this scat” and they all come over to you all excited. (Even better is when they confirm it’s a bear)
Just saw these humongous new flags in person and they make the White House look like a shady car dealership overcompensating for selling foreign cars www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Trump installs pair of 88-foot-tall new flag poles at the White House
President Donald Trump said the flags were a gift from him.
www.usatoday.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Just saw these humongous new flags in person and they make the White House look like a shady car dealership overcompensating for selling foreign cars www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
On the left, the refurbished Lincoln bathroom. On the right, picture I took in Saddam Hussein's palace in Basra in 2005.
October 31, 2025 at 5:57 PM
On the left, the refurbished Lincoln bathroom. On the right, picture I took in Saddam Hussein's palace in Basra in 2005.
Reposted by Laura Helmuth
You can define the start of autumn as the equinox, the first of September, Labor Day, or Hey the Juncos Are Back.
October 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
You can define the start of autumn as the equinox, the first of September, Labor Day, or Hey the Juncos Are Back.
The end of the year is a stressful time at work, what with holiday events, annual reviews, erratic schedules, year-end budget decisions, etc. You can ask for any type of work advice from me & @doreeshafrir.bsky.social in our GOOD JOB column: slate.com/advice/2025/...
My New Co-Workers Want to “Break the Ice” With Stories About the Past. I Don’t Think They Want to Hear Mine.
I have no idea how to handle this.
slate.com
October 30, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The end of the year is a stressful time at work, what with holiday events, annual reviews, erratic schedules, year-end budget decisions, etc. You can ask for any type of work advice from me & @doreeshafrir.bsky.social in our GOOD JOB column: slate.com/advice/2025/...