Mikhail Popov
@mpopov.com
staff data scientist, autism dad, husband, former data science manager
pronouns: he/him
website: https://mpopov.com
disclaimer: views and posts are my own
pronouns: he/him
website: https://mpopov.com
disclaimer: views and posts are my own
Pinned
Mikhail Popov
@mpopov.com
· Dec 23
It's our 5th year writing an end-of-year newsletter to send to friends & family. I tried to communicate what I now do to people who have no idea how websites work, have never seen or heard the term "A/B test," or know what a product manager is. …I think this may be the best thing I've ever written?
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it
I genuinely cannot believe the degree to which we are pissing away this generational breakthrough, even given the fuckmuppets who are involved www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
FDA declines to review Moderna's mRNA flu shot
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration has taken an aggressive stance against mRNA technology.
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:22 AM
the rollout of the mRNA vaccines was one of the greatest public health triumphs in history and the end result has been the all-around triumph of the antivax movement and I will never get over it
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
Don't give anything an Emmy until it's as good as this.
February 11, 2026 at 12:43 AM
Don't give anything an Emmy until it's as good as this.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We Are The Art | Brandon Sanderson’s Keynote Speech
YouTube video by Brandon Sanderson
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 3:28 AM
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
“Please enjoy the museum”:
Relooted is OUT NOW!
Please share!
Relooted is OUT NOW!
Please share!
February 10, 2026 at 3:02 PM
“Please enjoy the museum”:
Relooted is OUT NOW!
Please share!
Relooted is OUT NOW!
Please share!
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
When someone tells me how old their child is I say "that's such a fun age" even if it's 37
February 10, 2026 at 1:42 AM
When someone tells me how old their child is I say "that's such a fun age" even if it's 37
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
Abolish.
You can’t bodycam this shit.
Abolish must be the hard red line.
You can’t bodycam this shit.
Abolish must be the hard red line.
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
February 8, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Abolish.
You can’t bodycam this shit.
Abolish must be the hard red line.
You can’t bodycam this shit.
Abolish must be the hard red line.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
Concentration camps:
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
Exclusive: Detention Center Captives Are Throwing Lotion Bottles Wrapped With Notes to Organizers Outside Otay Mesa Facility ~ L.A. TACO
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh," an Otay Mesa captive communicated through handwritten note. "We are all in one big room with no doors...
lataco.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Concentration camps:
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
I’m not arguing with no account defending AI. My grandmother lives in an area being environmentally compromised currently by an ai data center. I remember the color of the lake before they built it and the sludge I see in it when I go to see her. Shut the fuck up about “the benefits of AI” forever.
February 7, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I’m not arguing with no account defending AI. My grandmother lives in an area being environmentally compromised currently by an ai data center. I remember the color of the lake before they built it and the sludge I see in it when I go to see her. Shut the fuck up about “the benefits of AI” forever.
Can’t even be mad at our toddler who just poured some bubble solution into my wife’s freshly brewed tea because that’s hilarious.
February 7, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Can’t even be mad at our toddler who just poured some bubble solution into my wife’s freshly brewed tea because that’s hilarious.
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
“Well, it depends.”
“Well, it depends.”
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"It's not designed to work that way"
"It's not designed to work that way"
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"And how does that feel?"
"And how does that feel?"
February 7, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
“Well, it depends.”
“Well, it depends.”
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
'measles outbreak at the child prison' seems entirely avoidable, it's really the kind of thing that only happens if you do several unthinkably evil things on purpose all at once
Horrifying. ICE confirms measles outbreak at Dilley family detention center. www.cbsnews.com/news/ice-dil...
ICE halts "all movement" at Texas detention facility due to measles infections
The measles cases at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center were detected Friday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to CBS News.
www.cbsnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 4:31 AM
'measles outbreak at the child prison' seems entirely avoidable, it's really the kind of thing that only happens if you do several unthinkably evil things on purpose all at once
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
If you are a person who works in social media, and your job requires you to manage an account on Twitter/X, please ask your boss, in writing, to verify that you are required as a responsibility of your position to be on a platform that knowingly creates and monetizes child sexual abuse material …
January 29, 2026 at 6:46 PM
If you are a person who works in social media, and your job requires you to manage an account on Twitter/X, please ask your boss, in writing, to verify that you are required as a responsibility of your position to be on a platform that knowingly creates and monetizes child sexual abuse material …
It is messed up that I really like shrimp but I’m allergic, meanwhile my wife isn’t allergic and doesn’t like shrimp. Absence of allergy just completely wasted on her.
January 28, 2026 at 3:35 AM
It is messed up that I really like shrimp but I’m allergic, meanwhile my wife isn’t allergic and doesn’t like shrimp. Absence of allergy just completely wasted on her.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
"I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting," writes a woman now in hiding from the federal government for witnessing a state-sanctioned street execution
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
January 25, 2026 at 2:03 AM
"I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting," writes a woman now in hiding from the federal government for witnessing a state-sanctioned street execution
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
Genuinely the only thing keeping me going—but it really is keeping me going—is how good it is to see people link arms and push for this to end.
I cannot stop thinking about how much love people can have for their neighbors, and how much work and money is poured into breaking that love apart.
I cannot stop thinking about how much love people can have for their neighbors, and how much work and money is poured into breaking that love apart.
January 24, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Genuinely the only thing keeping me going—but it really is keeping me going—is how good it is to see people link arms and push for this to end.
I cannot stop thinking about how much love people can have for their neighbors, and how much work and money is poured into breaking that love apart.
I cannot stop thinking about how much love people can have for their neighbors, and how much work and money is poured into breaking that love apart.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.
January 24, 2026 at 4:45 PM
At the end of the day, the Black Lives Matter era was about whether people should be killed in the street, and lots of people decided yeah and put those little blue flags on their cars. It spread to everyone because it stopped for no one.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
ICE just shot another one of my neighbors. They had the person on the ground, being beaten by several agents, and then fired multiple shots. In front of the donut shop where we like to get donuts for our kids.
January 24, 2026 at 3:46 PM
ICE just shot another one of my neighbors. They had the person on the ground, being beaten by several agents, and then fired multiple shots. In front of the donut shop where we like to get donuts for our kids.
My FYP feed just served me SEVERAL “this initial now owes you tacos” reels where the initial was M
And you know what? That guy M does owe me some tacos.
And you know what? That guy M does owe me some tacos.
January 24, 2026 at 1:54 AM
My FYP feed just served me SEVERAL “this initial now owes you tacos” reels where the initial was M
And you know what? That guy M does owe me some tacos.
And you know what? That guy M does owe me some tacos.
After 15 years of video game podcast hosts mixing up “asynchronous” and “asymmetric” The Universe said that’s not enough and has made them refer to all detective games as social deduction games.
January 23, 2026 at 12:18 PM
After 15 years of video game podcast hosts mixing up “asynchronous” and “asymmetric” The Universe said that’s not enough and has made them refer to all detective games as social deduction games.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
In our conservative estimate, 41 percent of Grok’s images — or 1.8 million — were sexualized depictions of women. Separately, CCDH analyzed how many were sexualized images across genders and ages. Their findings: an estimated 3 million images, including more than 23,000 of children.
January 22, 2026 at 3:01 PM
In our conservative estimate, 41 percent of Grok’s images — or 1.8 million — were sexualized depictions of women. Separately, CCDH analyzed how many were sexualized images across genders and ages. Their findings: an estimated 3 million images, including more than 23,000 of children.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
I just thought everyone should see this
January 22, 2026 at 11:02 PM
I just thought everyone should see this
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
me looking at Massie's name on this list like Ted Danson in that Good Place "JASON figured it out??" meme
NEW: DHS appropriations bill funding ICE passes 220-207
7 Democrats voted YES on the bill:
- Jared Golden
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
- Henry Cuellar
- Tom Suozzi
- Laura Gillen
- Don Davis
- Vicente Gonzalez
One Republican voted NO: Thomas Massie
7 Democrats voted YES on the bill:
- Jared Golden
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
- Henry Cuellar
- Tom Suozzi
- Laura Gillen
- Don Davis
- Vicente Gonzalez
One Republican voted NO: Thomas Massie
January 22, 2026 at 10:00 PM
me looking at Massie's name on this list like Ted Danson in that Good Place "JASON figured it out??" meme
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional!
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
January 21, 2026 at 10:00 PM
🚨HOLY CRAP. An ICE whistleblower just revealed a secret memo authorizing ICE officers to break into homes without a judicial warrant, which DHS's own legal training materials say is unconstitutional!
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
ICE then hid the memo from the public, passing it along by word of mouth and private conversation.
Reposted by Mikhail Popov
I was present for the birth of the web, the explosion of personal sites, and the blogging revolution, and you know what we never had to do? Beg people to use our shit.
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
Big tech boss tells delegates at Davos that broader global use is essential if technology is to deliver lasting growth
www.irishtimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:19 AM
I was present for the birth of the web, the explosion of personal sites, and the blogging revolution, and you know what we never had to do? Beg people to use our shit.
“An innocent looking driveway covered in thick fluffy snow that masks its bloodlust. A quartet of evergreens stand shrouded in heavy snow, branches bowing toward the ground.”
Now THAT is some 5-star alt-text 👏🏻
Now THAT is some 5-star alt-text 👏🏻
MK may have broken her arm slipping on the icy driveway yesterday but for views like this I’d let her break BOTH her arms.
January 19, 2026 at 2:20 PM
“An innocent looking driveway covered in thick fluffy snow that masks its bloodlust. A quartet of evergreens stand shrouded in heavy snow, branches bowing toward the ground.”
Now THAT is some 5-star alt-text 👏🏻
Now THAT is some 5-star alt-text 👏🏻