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porchdragon.bsky.social
Porchdragon
@porchdragon.bsky.social
170 followers 150 following 280 posts
Veteran Science Educator & Former NASA HUNCH Mentor | Championing Inquiry-Based, Hands-On STEM Learning
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porchdragon.bsky.social
And I guess that means I will stop listening to the show. I have listened to it for over 10 years. But I will not support a group who does not have everyone's backs.
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 8d
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 4:41 PM
porchdragon.bsky.social
Nothing has made me smile for the past few days since I have been sick. This definitely had me grinning. Hope she trounces everyone!
December 9, 2025 at 4:31 AM
porchdragon.bsky.social
I may be a little late to this video but @mattcolville.bsky.social did an awesome job of summarizing why moderating your community is so important. I used to do what he is saying back in my Twitter days. I miss our old community. www.youtube.com/watch?v=emdk...
Community
YouTube video by Matthew Colville
www.youtube.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
sumrtime.bsky.social
Okay space/science/book nerds, I've come up with a way to share ALL the @astrosociety.org books that are available for purchase: www.asplibraryproject.com 🧪 📚 🔭

Each bookcase is a blog post with photos of each and every shelf. If you see something you like, fill out the contact form!

#ASPLIbrary
ASP Library Project
www.asplibraryproject.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
ence.bsky.social
We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.

We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.

washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
November 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
sumrtime.bsky.social
#SciArt check out this amazing book I found in the #ASPLibrary! (now with all artist's names)

The Art of Space: The History of Space Art from the Earliest Visions to the Graphics of the Modern Era, by Ron Miller (2014)
Book cover for "The Art of Space" by Ron Miller with white text on black background with illustration of planet and rocket launching on the right.
November 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
porchdragon.bsky.social
As a veteran teacher, all I can say is that teachers and schools should be fighting this takeover with everything they have.
cwebbonline.com Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · Nov 17
This should alarm everyone.

On Thursday, Florida, by unanimous vote, became the first state in the country to adopt “The Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
It was written by the Heritage Foundation, the same group behind Project 2025.

THIS IS INDOCTRINATION
November 17, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by Porchdragon
aaronparnas.bsky.social
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.

Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
porchdragon.bsky.social
This thread is an important one to everyone in (or thinking of going into) the physics community. The not-so-well-guarded "secret" of why there are so few women in physics.
chanda.blacksky.app Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · Nov 16
Bsky hasn’t heard the story about the time that I was giving a virtual colloquium to the Aspen Center for Physics in September 2020 and Lawrence Krauss, Geoff Marcy, Christian Ott all attended as a group

ACP now has a policy that would prevent this from happening, because of that incident 🔭
November 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
artologica.net
#sfn #sfn25 #sciart
Art and science go together like gin and tonic, but you’d never know it from most scientific meetings, where they tend to serve the science straight. At many conferences, you’d be lucky to score a pen or a tote bag plastered with a corporate logo as a souvenir. Attendees of the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting (SfN), on the other hand, can bypass the standard swag and find a wide variety of fine art and craft items reflecting their love of all things brainy.
November 13, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
sumrtime.bsky.social
Hi Bluesky friends! I've been MIA for a while, but I'm coming back because I have some fun news...

I'm helping the Astronomical Society of the Pacific sell/rehome their library because they are downsizing their office space. There are sooooooo many cool finds. I'm going to share as many as I can! 🔭
Image of wooden bookshelf packed with space books. Three shelves are visiible with yellow and blue post-it notes on them.
November 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
sumrtime.bsky.social
@artologica.net can you help me reach the #SciArt community with this?

There are lots of old books/papers/atlases that I thought collage artists might be interested in...
sumrtime.bsky.social Summer @sumrtime.bsky.social · Nov 11
Hi Bluesky friends! I've been MIA for a while, but I'm coming back because I have some fun news...

I'm helping the Astronomical Society of the Pacific sell/rehome their library because they are downsizing their office space. There are sooooooo many cool finds. I'm going to share as many as I can! 🔭
Image of wooden bookshelf packed with space books. Three shelves are visiible with yellow and blue post-it notes on them.
November 11, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
afreeparticle.com
New this year, they also calculated the angle of the velocity vector at their ring and tilt the ring to be perpendicular to the velocity.

Link:
Rings of Fire
Rings of Fire afreeparticle.com A daredevil is shot out of a cannon and land in a basket at the same height they started. Your task is to place rings of fire along their trajectory at the correct heig...
docs.google.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
afreeparticle.com
This year's edition of Rings of Fire!

Students are given initial height and velocity of the launched marble. Each group has to calculate the height of their ring at their assigned horizontal distance.

#EduSky #iTeachPhysics
November 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
travelspud.bsky.social
You can start the series by noting the big picture role the NYTimes played in causing the research funding to be cut. The NYTimes normalized and sane washed the president, when it was obvious that he was exhibiting clear signs of early to early mid-level dementia.
Dementia.is is for sale at Atom!
Domain name Dementia.is encapsulates the profound impact of memory loss and cognitive decline. It evokes a sense of introspection, empathy, and the need for understanding in the face of a complex neur...
dementia.is
October 8, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
dmoren.com
Are there problems with the Catholic church? Sure are. But as far as this philosophy goes, the pope's got the goods.
October 9, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
genejm1017.bsky.social
Via @bigthink.com - Thousands of #NASA Employees bid farewell to the NASA they knew bigthink.com/starts-with-...
Thousands of NASA employees to bid farewell to the NASA they knew
As October begins, thousands of longtime NASA employees are leaving the agency. 4000+ will exit by January 9, 2026, changing NASA forever.
bigthink.com
October 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
rbreich.bsky.social
October 1, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by Porchdragon
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
MAMDANI: “.. we must use every tool at our disposal to send a message to Washington and corporate powers alike: our freedom to speech is not a bargaining chip.”

@variety.com $DIS
variety.com/2025/tv/news...
September 22, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
rbreich.bsky.social
Trump donor Larry Ellison’s Oracle will oversee TikTok’s algorithm.

His media company owns CBS News and is plotting a bid for Warner Bros., which owns CNN.

When billionaires take control of communication platforms, it’s not a win for free speech. It’s a win for oligarchy.
September 22, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
davidho.bsky.social
This is amazing.
September 20, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Porchdragon
genejm1017.bsky.social
It's both here and the Wallops Island Visitors Center, in Virginia. No other visitor center in the NASA system is shutting down. This isn't economics, this is spiteful. And we don't have a Barbra Mikulski like figure to stop this nonsense.
mkirschenbaum.bsky.social Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · Sep 14
Just a now routine little local bit of immiseration.
Sceeenshot of local news item: “NASA announced it intends to close the Goddard Visitor Center on Oct. 1. Located at 9432 Greenbelt Rd., the small visitor's center has long been a favorite spot for Route 1 families, with interactive exhibits about space and life-like NASA space models at an outdoor picnic area. It's long been an asset for home-schooled kids, with special science sessions throughout the year. It even has sensory-friendly hours, with lower lights and smaller crowds to help people who might find it stressful.”
September 15, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
sarahjeong.bsky.social
idk if you've seen this south korean editorial that ran a few days ago. google translate version scorched my eyebrows www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion...
Maga is fundamentally a populist white racism. The slogan "Make America Great Again" is more accurately described as "Make White America Greater." The fact that the tariff policy insisted on a 50% tariff only on steel and aluminum stems from the concentration of these groups in the Rust Belt. The massive crackdown on illegal immigrants at the Hyundai-LG Energy Solutions joint venture plant in Georgia must be understood in this context. The scenes of our workers being chained and escorted away were reminiscent of the dragging of African slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Department of Homeland Security boasted of "the largest single-site raid in history," and Immigration and Customs Enforcement even brazenly released footage of the raid, which was highly violating human rights, as if to boast of their "achievement." Far-right whites may have secretly rejoiced. Even politicians like the Georgia governor and local lawmakers, who had been active in attracting factories, have shifted their stance and sympathized with their grievances. This is likely because it's difficult to ignore the anti-immigrant sentiment of native Americans. Like the McCarthyism that swept through American society in the 1950s, irrational madness dominates American society. The recent visa issue, which could have been resolved diplomatically with advance notice from an ally, is difficult to explain beyond political maneuvering. The fact that they mobilized helicopters and armored vehicles for show, as if they had been caught, is difficult to explain.
September 14, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by Porchdragon
libradunn1.bsky.social
I hope these kids make a full recovery. This shit is way outta control 😔 also 😡

www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
Shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado leaves several students hurt; suspect among those injured
Three students were critically wounded on Wednesday in a shooting at Evergreen High School in the Colorado foothills. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says one of those students is the shooting s...
www.cbsnews.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM