Matt Motta
@mattmotta.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management. Boston University School of Public Health.
Author of Anti-Scientific Americans: https://a.co/d/7oSVhwP
Author of Anti-Scientific Americans: https://a.co/d/7oSVhwP
Reposted by Matt Motta
Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma’s Public Colleges, Governor Says
Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, directed the state’s two-dozen regional universities and community colleges to phase out the practice. Existing faculty members will be grandfathered in.
www.chronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...
Jailing journalists. Murdering protesters. Calling for a political party to run elections.
Democratic backsliding should be the top story on every single news outlet right now.
This is not normal. We cannot let it feel normal.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
Democratic backsliding should be the top story on every single news outlet right now.
This is not normal. We cannot let it feel normal.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
Trump says Republicans should 'nationalize' elections
During an appearance on former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino's podcast, Trump suggested Republicans should "take over" the voting process in some places.
www.nbcnews.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Jailing journalists. Murdering protesters. Calling for a political party to run elections.
Democratic backsliding should be the top story on every single news outlet right now.
This is not normal. We cannot let it feel normal.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
Democratic backsliding should be the top story on every single news outlet right now.
This is not normal. We cannot let it feel normal.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/ele...
Reposted by Matt Motta
Yes because if there’s anything my hunting fishing farming elderly dad in rural New Hampshire (who refuses to USE AN ATM CARD or own a smartphone) wants is to log onto his computer to visit HIS HOLOGRAM ROBOT DOCTOR.
Dr Oz on rural healthcare: "There's no question about it, whether you want it or not -- the best way to help some of these communities is gonna be AI-based avatars"
February 2, 2026 at 7:10 PM
Yes because if there’s anything my hunting fishing farming elderly dad in rural New Hampshire (who refuses to USE AN ATM CARD or own a smartphone) wants is to log onto his computer to visit HIS HOLOGRAM ROBOT DOCTOR.
Reposted by Matt Motta
BREAKING: Bernie Sanders is introducing an amendment to cut ICE’s $75 billion funding increase, and to use those funds to restore the federal cuts to health care.
January 30, 2026 at 8:31 PM
BREAKING: Bernie Sanders is introducing an amendment to cut ICE’s $75 billion funding increase, and to use those funds to restore the federal cuts to health care.
The lawyer that RFK Jr. tapped to "revolutionize" (in reality: gut) the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is someone could make a *lot* of money by overhauling it.
We need answers from HHS. Public health should not be for sale.
We need answers from HHS. Public health should not be for sale.
January 30, 2026 at 1:25 PM
The lawyer that RFK Jr. tapped to "revolutionize" (in reality: gut) the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program is someone could make a *lot* of money by overhauling it.
We need answers from HHS. Public health should not be for sale.
We need answers from HHS. Public health should not be for sale.
Reposted by Matt Motta
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has overhauled a panel that helps the federal government set priorities for autism research and social services, installing several members who have said that vaccines can cause autism despite decades of research that has failed to establish such a link.
Kennedy Overhauls Federal Autism Panel in His Own Image
The new panel, which advises the government on research and service priorities for people with autism, includes many members who have argued that vaccines cause autism.
nyti.ms
January 30, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has overhauled a panel that helps the federal government set priorities for autism research and social services, installing several members who have said that vaccines can cause autism despite decades of research that has failed to establish such a link.
Reposted by Matt Motta
Fan of #FaultInOurStars & @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social? Check out our conversation with him on @ghpoliticspodcast.bsky.social. He talks about his new @penguinbox1.bsky.social book Everything is #Tuberculosis podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s... @unaids.org @stoptb.bsky.social @stoptbusa.bsky.social
January 29, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Fan of #FaultInOurStars & @johngreensbluesky.bsky.social? Check out our conversation with him on @ghpoliticspodcast.bsky.social. He talks about his new @penguinbox1.bsky.social book Everything is #Tuberculosis podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s... @unaids.org @stoptb.bsky.social @stoptbusa.bsky.social
For the price of Melania, we could've funded 165+ National Science Foundation grants of an average size for the entire duration of each project.
Funding scientific research isn't some unattainable goal. We just need to put our priorities in the right place.
Funding scientific research isn't some unattainable goal. We just need to put our priorities in the right place.
January 29, 2026 at 2:04 PM
For the price of Melania, we could've funded 165+ National Science Foundation grants of an average size for the entire duration of each project.
Funding scientific research isn't some unattainable goal. We just need to put our priorities in the right place.
Funding scientific research isn't some unattainable goal. We just need to put our priorities in the right place.
Reposted by Matt Motta
Around *half* of the ~19.6M who re-enrolled did so via *passive autorenewal,* which means millions of them were hit with sticker shock when they received their January premium invoice.
Multiple state exchanges are already reporting much higher cancellation/termination rates than usual.
Multiple state exchanges are already reporting much higher cancellation/termination rates than usual.
January 29, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Around *half* of the ~19.6M who re-enrolled did so via *passive autorenewal,* which means millions of them were hit with sticker shock when they received their January premium invoice.
Multiple state exchanges are already reporting much higher cancellation/termination rates than usual.
Multiple state exchanges are already reporting much higher cancellation/termination rates than usual.
Reposted by Matt Motta
Donald Trump's support from independents hits a new low.
(@dhmontgomery.com and @taylororth.bsky.social, @today.yougov.com)
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260128
(@dhmontgomery.com and @taylororth.bsky.social, @today.yougov.com)
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260128
January 28, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Donald Trump's support from independents hits a new low.
(@dhmontgomery.com and @taylororth.bsky.social, @today.yougov.com)
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260128
(@dhmontgomery.com and @taylororth.bsky.social, @today.yougov.com)
More, via Opinion Today:
opiniontoday.substack.com/p/260128
Pet wellness influencers and the MAHA movement have a *lot* in common.
I talked with @wsj.com about pet vaccine skepticism, raw food diets, and the potential public health impacts of the pet wellness movement.
www.wsj.com/health/welln...
I talked with @wsj.com about pet vaccine skepticism, raw food diets, and the potential public health impacts of the pet wellness movement.
www.wsj.com/health/welln...
My Accidental Journey Into the Wild World of Pet Wellness
I knew that people had strong feelings about kibble. But dog food was a gateway into a whole host of MAHA-esque ideas.
www.wsj.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Pet wellness influencers and the MAHA movement have a *lot* in common.
I talked with @wsj.com about pet vaccine skepticism, raw food diets, and the potential public health impacts of the pet wellness movement.
www.wsj.com/health/welln...
I talked with @wsj.com about pet vaccine skepticism, raw food diets, and the potential public health impacts of the pet wellness movement.
www.wsj.com/health/welln...
Reposted by Matt Motta
how many journalists and editors are being fired to pay salaries the big time health grifters
Turns out that Bari Weiss's all hands at CBS today is to announce she's bringing on some anti-vax guys and Niall Ferguson. www.axios.com/2026/01/27/b...
January 27, 2026 at 5:02 PM
how many journalists and editors are being fired to pay salaries the big time health grifters
Massive brain drain across federal agencies is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump presidency.
January 27, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Massive brain drain across federal agencies is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump presidency.
Reposted by Matt Motta
The NBA is cancelling games because a fascist secret federal police are executing Americans in the street; school systems, businesses, and museums are closing because of the threats from the federal government.
This is as grand an emergency as we have had in modern American life.
This is as grand an emergency as we have had in modern American life.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — NBA postpones Warriors-Timberwolves game at the Target Center 'to prioritize the safety and security' of the community.
January 24, 2026 at 8:35 PM
The NBA is cancelling games because a fascist secret federal police are executing Americans in the street; school systems, businesses, and museums are closing because of the threats from the federal government.
This is as grand an emergency as we have had in modern American life.
This is as grand an emergency as we have had in modern American life.
Reposted by Matt Motta
If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.
January 24, 2026 at 8:29 PM
If you're living somewhere outside the USA, one thing you can do is pressure your leaders to boycott World Cup and Olympic events here.
Reposted by Matt Motta
I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.
"In St. Paul, at least one-fourth of students from Spanish-speaking homes have missed every day of school since Dec. 12."
8 weeks under siege in Minnesota • Minnesota Reformer
Frank has a hard time explaining to his 8-year-old daughter why they rarely leave their home in the Twin Cities. Why she can’t go to school, and why he can’t work. “The only thing we tell her is that ...
minnesotareformer.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:05 PM
I am not being snarky. I need my colleagues who wrote on covid school lockdowns to engage with this. To be as loud as they have been about prior "learning loss." Hell, you can cite Tom & Mark's AERJ paper so you feel better that there's some econ somewhere in your argument.
I can't believe this needs to be said... but ending universal polio vaccination isn't "freedom of choice" (as Milhoan puts it).
Making all vaccines optional takes *away* our liberty, by putting all of us -- esp. those who can't vaccinate -- at risk of getting sick with vaccine-preventable disease.
Making all vaccines optional takes *away* our liberty, by putting all of us -- esp. those who can't vaccinate -- at risk of getting sick with vaccine-preventable disease.
Milhoan has more to say, not just on measles, but on polio.
The Chair of ACIP has no business being in this type of leadership position. As @apoorvanyt.bsky.social reports, HHS declined to comment on Milhoan's views.
Perhaps he whistled too loudly, even for RFK Jr.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
The Chair of ACIP has no business being in this type of leadership position. As @apoorvanyt.bsky.social reports, HHS declined to comment on Milhoan's views.
Perhaps he whistled too loudly, even for RFK Jr.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:56 PM
I can't believe this needs to be said... but ending universal polio vaccination isn't "freedom of choice" (as Milhoan puts it).
Making all vaccines optional takes *away* our liberty, by putting all of us -- esp. those who can't vaccinate -- at risk of getting sick with vaccine-preventable disease.
Making all vaccines optional takes *away* our liberty, by putting all of us -- esp. those who can't vaccinate -- at risk of getting sick with vaccine-preventable disease.
Reposted by Matt Motta
Milhoan has more to say, not just on measles, but on polio.
The Chair of ACIP has no business being in this type of leadership position. As @apoorvanyt.bsky.social reports, HHS declined to comment on Milhoan's views.
Perhaps he whistled too loudly, even for RFK Jr.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
The Chair of ACIP has no business being in this type of leadership position. As @apoorvanyt.bsky.social reports, HHS declined to comment on Milhoan's views.
Perhaps he whistled too loudly, even for RFK Jr.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
Rejecting Decades of Science, Vaccine Panel Chair Says Polio and Other Shots Should Be Optional
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Milhoan has more to say, not just on measles, but on polio.
The Chair of ACIP has no business being in this type of leadership position. As @apoorvanyt.bsky.social reports, HHS declined to comment on Milhoan's views.
Perhaps he whistled too loudly, even for RFK Jr.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
The Chair of ACIP has no business being in this type of leadership position. As @apoorvanyt.bsky.social reports, HHS declined to comment on Milhoan's views.
Perhaps he whistled too loudly, even for RFK Jr.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/h...
Withholding safe and effective vaccines from children at risk of Hep B infection isn't "gold standard science." It's a cruel and unethical perversion of the scientific method.
There's a time and place for placebo controlled trials. This is not it.
There's a time and place for placebo controlled trials. This is not it.
NEW: Kennedy's plan to study Hep. B vaccine in African babies has been suspended by Guinea-Bissau. Experts say the trial is unethical in a nation where 1 in 5 kids are exposed to Hep. B, which can take decades off their lives. HHS: the trial is "paused."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/h...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/h...
Kennedy Plan to Test a Vaccine in West African Babies Is Blocked
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Withholding safe and effective vaccines from children at risk of Hep B infection isn't "gold standard science." It's a cruel and unethical perversion of the scientific method.
There's a time and place for placebo controlled trials. This is not it.
There's a time and place for placebo controlled trials. This is not it.
Reposted by Matt Motta
The foreign policy of a personalist dictatorship.
January 21, 2026 at 6:22 PM
The foreign policy of a personalist dictatorship.
Reposted by Matt Motta
🚨(Software) Update:
In my PhD, I had a side project to fix an annoying problem: when you ask 5 people to label the same thing, you often get different answers. But in ML (and lots of other analyses), you still need a single aggregated answer. Using the majority vote is easy–but often wrong.
1/N
In my PhD, I had a side project to fix an annoying problem: when you ask 5 people to label the same thing, you often get different answers. But in ML (and lots of other analyses), you still need a single aggregated answer. Using the majority vote is easy–but often wrong.
1/N
GitHub - dirkhovy/MACE: Multi-Annotator Competence Estimation tool
Multi-Annotator Competence Estimation tool. Contribute to dirkhovy/MACE development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
January 20, 2026 at 10:12 AM
🚨(Software) Update:
In my PhD, I had a side project to fix an annoying problem: when you ask 5 people to label the same thing, you often get different answers. But in ML (and lots of other analyses), you still need a single aggregated answer. Using the majority vote is easy–but often wrong.
1/N
In my PhD, I had a side project to fix an annoying problem: when you ask 5 people to label the same thing, you often get different answers. But in ML (and lots of other analyses), you still need a single aggregated answer. Using the majority vote is easy–but often wrong.
1/N
Reposted by Matt Motta
Whole milk will not stop the out of control measles outbreaks across America.
Vaccines will.
www.nbcnews.com/video/massiv...
Vaccines will.
www.nbcnews.com/video/massiv...
Massive measles outbreak in South Carolina surges
Measles infections in South Carolina have soared to more than 550, and 500 other people are under quarantine. At least ten states have seen new measles cases this month amidst the height of flu season...
www.nbcnews.com
January 18, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Whole milk will not stop the out of control measles outbreaks across America.
Vaccines will.
www.nbcnews.com/video/massiv...
Vaccines will.
www.nbcnews.com/video/massiv...
Reposted by Matt Motta
The unsurprising next chapter in the drama that is the unraveling of US public health. 🛟 Health policy
www.ms.now/news/trump-c...
www.ms.now/news/trump-c...
Cassidy was the key vote for RFK Jr. Now, a group with ties to Kennedy is backing the senator's likely challenger.
MAHA PAC announced Sunday night it would help bankroll the expected Senate campaign of Louisiana Republican Rep. Julia Letlow, whom Trump endorsed.
www.ms.now
January 19, 2026 at 7:49 PM
The unsurprising next chapter in the drama that is the unraveling of US public health. 🛟 Health policy
www.ms.now/news/trump-c...
www.ms.now/news/trump-c...
Reposted by Matt Motta
Instead of applying for more #grants that you can’t get funded in order to keep your job, you need to spend your precious time doing espionage, which your science PhD totally prepared you for
The new directive asks USDA workers in the agency’s research arm to use Google to check the backgrounds of all foreign nationals collaborating with its scientists.
The names of flagged scientists are being sent to national security experts at the agency, according to records reviewed by ProPublica.
The names of flagged scientists are being sent to national security experts at the agency, according to records reviewed by ProPublica.
Trump Administration Orders USDA Employees to Investigate Foreign Researchers They Work With
The new directive asks workers to check the backgrounds of foreign nationals collaborating with the department’s scientists for evidence of “subversive or criminal activity.” Their names are being sen...
www.propublica.org
January 19, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Instead of applying for more #grants that you can’t get funded in order to keep your job, you need to spend your precious time doing espionage, which your science PhD totally prepared you for