Maryn McKenna
@marynmck.bsky.social
Journalist. Contributing Ed at Scientific American. Senior Fellow at Emory Univ's Center for the Study of Human Health. Books: BIG CHICKEN, SUPERBUG, BEATING BACK THE DEVIL. All my stories at https://authory.com/marynmckenna. No more diets only riots.
A good time to remember that the closest thing in the US to fully funded single payer healthcare
is the healthcare that members of Congress receive.
is the healthcare that members of Congress receive.
November 10, 2025 at 2:26 PM
A good time to remember that the closest thing in the US to fully funded single payer healthcare
is the healthcare that members of Congress receive.
is the healthcare that members of Congress receive.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
March 14, 2025 at 10:24 PM
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
Tonight was a very bad night.
November 10, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Tonight was a very bad night.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
so currently defectors are:
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
The kindest thing I can say about this story is that it was written too early in an unfolding disaster (maybe for the strategic reason of getting it in the Sunday report).
It absolutely does not reflect multiple in-system experiences traveling yesterday (including mine), nor real-time flight maps.
It absolutely does not reflect multiple in-system experiences traveling yesterday (including mine), nor real-time flight maps.
“The disruptions from federal restrictions on flying at the nation’s busiest airports were challenging, but relatively contained this weekend. But the cuts are expected to grow in the coming days, threatening to wreak havoc for airlines and travelers as Thanksgiving approaches.”
Airport Disruptions May Get Worse This Week
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The kindest thing I can say about this story is that it was written too early in an unfolding disaster (maybe for the strategic reason of getting it in the Sunday report).
It absolutely does not reflect multiple in-system experiences traveling yesterday (including mine), nor real-time flight maps.
It absolutely does not reflect multiple in-system experiences traveling yesterday (including mine), nor real-time flight maps.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Random personal testimony from shutdown air-travel chaos: 4-hour delays in Boston, lines for rebooking desks go halfway down concourses.
Complicated by severe weather in major hub ATL, flights diverted and just now coming back.
The system can usually absorb weather, but not with shutdown ATC cuts.
Complicated by severe weather in major hub ATL, flights diverted and just now coming back.
The system can usually absorb weather, but not with shutdown ATC cuts.
November 8, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Random personal testimony from shutdown air-travel chaos: 4-hour delays in Boston, lines for rebooking desks go halfway down concourses.
Complicated by severe weather in major hub ATL, flights diverted and just now coming back.
The system can usually absorb weather, but not with shutdown ATC cuts.
Complicated by severe weather in major hub ATL, flights diverted and just now coming back.
The system can usually absorb weather, but not with shutdown ATC cuts.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
Phew. This is the best thing I’ve read this week and is absolutely worth your time.
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 6:24 PM
Phew. This is the best thing I’ve read this week and is absolutely worth your time.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
AP: “A U.S. Senate investigation report released by @ossoff.senate.gov has uncovered dozens of credible reports of medical neglect and poor conditions in immigration detention centers nationwide…” apnews.com/article/immi...
November 2, 2025 at 3:13 AM
AP: “A U.S. Senate investigation report released by @ossoff.senate.gov has uncovered dozens of credible reports of medical neglect and poor conditions in immigration detention centers nationwide…” apnews.com/article/immi...
Prefacing this with, yes, I have been a journo a really long time:
ACA premiums are rolling out and causing sticker stock. People may abandon insurance. In 2006-7 I saw in a year-long project in ERs how unaffordable health insurance crippled healthcare in the US. We should not want that back again.
ACA premiums are rolling out and causing sticker stock. People may abandon insurance. In 2006-7 I saw in a year-long project in ERs how unaffordable health insurance crippled healthcare in the US. We should not want that back again.
www.nationalacademies.org
October 31, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Prefacing this with, yes, I have been a journo a really long time:
ACA premiums are rolling out and causing sticker stock. People may abandon insurance. In 2006-7 I saw in a year-long project in ERs how unaffordable health insurance crippled healthcare in the US. We should not want that back again.
ACA premiums are rolling out and causing sticker stock. People may abandon insurance. In 2006-7 I saw in a year-long project in ERs how unaffordable health insurance crippled healthcare in the US. We should not want that back again.
I am a born New Yorker and I think this is fucking great.
(Watch with sound up.)
(Watch with sound up.)
"We are African. We are New York City. And we are voters."
October 31, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I am a born New Yorker and I think this is fucking great.
(Watch with sound up.)
(Watch with sound up.)
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
Well, an acquaintance who relies on the ACA marketplace for insurance just received a notice explaining that their fee for coverage will be rising. Right now they pay $180 a month. The new price?
$2733.15 a month.
$2733.15 a month.
October 31, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Well, an acquaintance who relies on the ACA marketplace for insurance just received a notice explaining that their fee for coverage will be rising. Right now they pay $180 a month. The new price?
$2733.15 a month.
$2733.15 a month.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
Everyone knows that there was a “reverse Underground Railroad” too, right? That there were gangs hunting down Black people — some self-emancipated, some born free, didn’t matter — and dragging them to a slave state? That it wasn’t just Solomon Northup, it was tens of thousands of people? Because ⬇️
NEW: ICE is planning to build a shadow deportation network in Texas. A proposal outlines a 24/7 transport operation run by armed contractors—turning Texas into the logistical backbone of an industrialized deportation machine.
My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
My latest @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ice-is...
October 30, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Everyone knows that there was a “reverse Underground Railroad” too, right? That there were gangs hunting down Black people — some self-emancipated, some born free, didn’t matter — and dragging them to a slave state? That it wasn’t just Solomon Northup, it was tens of thousands of people? Because ⬇️
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
one of my favorite things is when the subject of a piece threatens a journalist and the journalist responds by casually printing everything very matter of factly
October 30, 2025 at 2:11 PM
one of my favorite things is when the subject of a piece threatens a journalist and the journalist responds by casually printing everything very matter of factly
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
It's all hands on deck. I am shamelessly asking, one more time, for reposts and signal boost as this bird glides toward a landing in a few hours. It's gonna be a beautiful book, and there aren't going to be very many available afterwards!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...
Our Long National Nightmare by Tom Tomorrow
Relive the trauma of the last five years through the cartoons of Herblock Award winner and Pulitzer nominee Tom Tomorrow.
www.kickstarter.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:21 PM
It's all hands on deck. I am shamelessly asking, one more time, for reposts and signal boost as this bird glides toward a landing in a few hours. It's gonna be a beautiful book, and there aren't going to be very many available afterwards!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
I wrote a short piece on why you should hear this fun conversation between @marynmck.bsky.social and @starrevartan.bsky.social on all things strength and Vartan's new book "The Stronger Sex" 💪
News Team member Ananya Dash recommends the latest episode of Health Storytelling, featuring Starre Julia Vartan and her new book "The Stronger Sex".
Health Beyond the Blog: : Starre Julia Vartan’s “The Stronger Sex”
News Team member Ananya Dash recommends the latest episode of Health Storytelling, featuring Starre Julia Vartan and her new book "The Stronger Sex".
exploringhealth.org
October 29, 2025 at 5:09 PM
I wrote a short piece on why you should hear this fun conversation between @marynmck.bsky.social and @starrevartan.bsky.social on all things strength and Vartan's new book "The Stronger Sex" 💪
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I cannot tell you how many tech journalists at prominent media organizations do not understand this
In the WaPo, a Brit columnist warns New Yorkers that London's economy was DESTROYED by electing a South Asian-named, left-ish mayor, so don't do that.
Weirdly doesn't mention how Brexit chased away foreign investment. Nope, must have been the brown guy.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Weirdly doesn't mention how Brexit chased away foreign investment. Nope, must have been the brown guy.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | London’s sad decline is a warning to New Yorkers
In three terms as mayor, Sadiq Khan has crushed the economic life out of Britain’s capital.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:13 PM
In the WaPo, a Brit columnist warns New Yorkers that London's economy was DESTROYED by electing a South Asian-named, left-ish mayor, so don't do that.
Weirdly doesn't mention how Brexit chased away foreign investment. Nope, must have been the brown guy.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Weirdly doesn't mention how Brexit chased away foreign investment. Nope, must have been the brown guy.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
If I were running the DNC, there would be Democratic Party sponsored food relief banks across the country right now that specifically welcomed anyone regardless of party affiliation.
Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net
Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net
October 26, 2025 at 9:03 PM
If I were running the DNC, there would be Democratic Party sponsored food relief banks across the country right now that specifically welcomed anyone regardless of party affiliation.
Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net
Along with the food, there could be voter registration and links to runforsomething.net
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
The #ClimateEmergency and increasing #AMR - disturbing further evidence of a direct link
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Warming is Associated With More Encoded Antimicrobial Resistance Genes and Transcriptions Within Five Drug Classes in Soil Bacteria: A Case Study and Synthesis
The effect of warming on anti‐microbial resistance (AMR) genes in the environment has critical implications for public health but is little studied. We collected published soil bacterial genomes from the BV‐BRC database and tested the correlation ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
October 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
The #ClimateEmergency and increasing #AMR - disturbing further evidence of a direct link
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
#Cholera is spreading fast.
As for so many infectious diseases, we do have the tools to intervene… but poverty, neglect, disasters, and lack of real political buy-in perpetuate an epidemic ecosystem.
@who.int
@drtedros.who.int
#MedSky #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
As for so many infectious diseases, we do have the tools to intervene… but poverty, neglect, disasters, and lack of real political buy-in perpetuate an epidemic ecosystem.
@who.int
@drtedros.who.int
#MedSky #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Cholera is spreading fast, yet it can be stopped. Why haven’t we consigned it to history? | Hakainde Hichilema and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Vaccine production must be expanded to combat this ancient disease, especially in Africa, but a lack of political will is holding us back
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 9:41 PM
#Cholera is spreading fast.
As for so many infectious diseases, we do have the tools to intervene… but poverty, neglect, disasters, and lack of real political buy-in perpetuate an epidemic ecosystem.
@who.int
@drtedros.who.int
#MedSky #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
As for so many infectious diseases, we do have the tools to intervene… but poverty, neglect, disasters, and lack of real political buy-in perpetuate an epidemic ecosystem.
@who.int
@drtedros.who.int
#MedSky #IDSky #EpiSky 🧪
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Among the predictable failures of mainstream papers (I have worked at several) is a tendency to uncritically adopt, rather than interrogate, the language that people use for their actions.
A structure taller than its entire 4-story neighbor and 2 times its sq footage is not a “ballroom.” Come on.
A structure taller than its entire 4-story neighbor and 2 times its sq footage is not a “ballroom.” Come on.
He’s designing the ballroom with AI isn’t he www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
October 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Among the predictable failures of mainstream papers (I have worked at several) is a tendency to uncritically adopt, rather than interrogate, the language that people use for their actions.
A structure taller than its entire 4-story neighbor and 2 times its sq footage is not a “ballroom.” Come on.
A structure taller than its entire 4-story neighbor and 2 times its sq footage is not a “ballroom.” Come on.
Reposted by Maryn McKenna
The New York Times is bothsidesing the illegal destruction of half of the White House
beyond parody
beyond parody
October 24, 2025 at 4:39 AM
The New York Times is bothsidesing the illegal destruction of half of the White House
beyond parody
beyond parody