Sam Holtzen, PhD
@samholtzen.bsky.social
postdoc at caltech
he/they
opinions are my own
computers and biosensors
💻 https://samholtzen.github.io/
🏺 sellish.ghost.io
he/they
opinions are my own
computers and biosensors
💻 https://samholtzen.github.io/
🏺 sellish.ghost.io
Pinned
Hi everyone! My name is Sam and I'm a postdoc at Caltech working on developing high throughput screening methods for metabolite biosensors! 🧪
I'll be posting some post threads soon on fundamentals of fluorescence, FRET, and biosensors! ✨
I'll be posting some post threads soon on fundamentals of fluorescence, FRET, and biosensors! ✨
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
What GLP1s should teach people is that it was never about willpower and it isn't a moral issue. But people don't want to have that conversation.
Conservative and reactionary centrist media is trying to set up a narrative in which GLP-1s are some kind of existential threat to body positivity and fat activism.
It's bullshit. If you want to lose weight, go for it. But not everyone can or wants to — and they deserve equal treatment regardless.
It's bullshit. If you want to lose weight, go for it. But not everyone can or wants to — and they deserve equal treatment regardless.
February 17, 2026 at 9:49 PM
What GLP1s should teach people is that it was never about willpower and it isn't a moral issue. But people don't want to have that conversation.
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Today on Volts: I'm joined by the great @michaelhobbes.bsky.social to discuss "reactionary centrism," an intellectual tendency that's come to dominate US public life. You know the type: would never view themselves as conservative, yet finds voluntary pronoun use vastly more aggravating than fascism.
All about "reactionary centrism"
Michael Hobbes joins me to diagnose the pundit class's obsession with scolding the left while the right burns down the house.
www.volts.wtf
January 30, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Today on Volts: I'm joined by the great @michaelhobbes.bsky.social to discuss "reactionary centrism," an intellectual tendency that's come to dominate US public life. You know the type: would never view themselves as conservative, yet finds voluntary pronoun use vastly more aggravating than fascism.
i've been saying this for years. not enough clump
January 30, 2026 at 2:44 PM
i've been saying this for years. not enough clump
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Kudos to the NYT editor who took “Appears to” out of the lead headline (finally)
January 25, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Kudos to the NYT editor who took “Appears to” out of the lead headline (finally)
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Für die deutsche Perspektive relevant: Es gibt in der AfD mehrere Stimmen, die sich eine ICE-verwandte Truppe in Deutschland wünschen. Also die ICE, die Menschen auf der Straße erschießt, Kinder wegnimmt & Wohnungen ohne Beschluss stürmt. Ein aktuelles Beispiel aus Bayern. www.br.de/nachrichten/...
AfD-Fraktion will Abschiebe-Polizei nach Trumps Vorbild ICE
Die AfD-Fraktion im Bayerischen Landtag verschärft ihren Kurs: Zum Abschluss ihrer Klausurtagung in Oberbayern forderte sie eine Sonderpolizei zur schnelleren Aufgreifung und Abschiebung von ausreisep...
www.br.de
January 24, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Für die deutsche Perspektive relevant: Es gibt in der AfD mehrere Stimmen, die sich eine ICE-verwandte Truppe in Deutschland wünschen. Also die ICE, die Menschen auf der Straße erschießt, Kinder wegnimmt & Wohnungen ohne Beschluss stürmt. Ein aktuelles Beispiel aus Bayern. www.br.de/nachrichten/...
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
If you're interested in seeing how framing contests are taking shape after the ICE killing of another person in Minneapolis, here's a window into the conversation on X this morning.
Link to interactive graph: faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/Spot...
* I put this together quickly. Sorry for any errors
Link to interactive graph: faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/Spot...
* I put this together quickly. Sorry for any errors
January 24, 2026 at 8:56 PM
If you're interested in seeing how framing contests are taking shape after the ICE killing of another person in Minneapolis, here's a window into the conversation on X this morning.
Link to interactive graph: faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/Spot...
* I put this together quickly. Sorry for any errors
Link to interactive graph: faculty.washington.edu/kstarbi/Spot...
* I put this together quickly. Sorry for any errors
the titanic, a ship that famously returned to port
Vance on the economy:
"You don't turn the Titanic around overnight"
"You don't turn the Titanic around overnight"
January 23, 2026 at 3:05 AM
the titanic, a ship that famously returned to port
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
"This is no longer a conversation about law enforcement or immigration policy. This is about authoritarianism."
Opinion | I’ve Covered Police Abuse for 20 Years. What ICE Is Doing Is Different.
www.nytimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 1:44 PM
"This is no longer a conversation about law enforcement or immigration policy. This is about authoritarianism."
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
The President telling a prime time network news host effectively "I got you this job" is not something you see every day.
DOKOUPIL: When I travel the country, they tell me they don't feel it because grocery prices are up--
TRUMP: They're going to now. I've only been here for 11 months. I inherited a mess. If she got in, you wouldn't have this job right now.
TRUMP: They're going to now. I've only been here for 11 months. I inherited a mess. If she got in, you wouldn't have this job right now.
January 14, 2026 at 1:32 AM
The President telling a prime time network news host effectively "I got you this job" is not something you see every day.
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Wake up babe new deranged import just dropped
January 6, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Wake up babe new deranged import just dropped
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
“What do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today. Not in the sense of being charming rogues or alluring antiheroes. We are the bad guys.”
We Are the Bad Guys
The swaggering threat to global stability is us.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:26 PM
“What do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today. Not in the sense of being charming rogues or alluring antiheroes. We are the bad guys.”
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
When the LAPD arrests a dude at a gas station they don’t take over the gas station and use it to gas up all the cop cars tho
STEPHANOPOULOS: Why wasn't congressional authorization necessary?
RUBIO: It wasn't necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn't occupy a country. This was an arrest operation.
RUBIO: It wasn't necessary because this was not an invasion. We didn't occupy a country. This was an arrest operation.
January 4, 2026 at 6:45 PM
When the LAPD arrests a dude at a gas station they don’t take over the gas station and use it to gas up all the cop cars tho
i find this so fascinating because, for the most part, we don't discuss Trump! we discuss how and why his policies and decisions are bad in the hopes of combating them. they think people documenting the flatly illegal activities of trump are running some sort of gossip column!!! unserious
Real "oh my god, she admit it" moment here. Trump is treated as an uninteresting figure without agency so we can dump endless criticism on liberals for how they react to his "natural disaster." He "doesn't participate in moral frameworks" lmfao
December 31, 2025 at 3:17 PM
i find this so fascinating because, for the most part, we don't discuss Trump! we discuss how and why his policies and decisions are bad in the hopes of combating them. they think people documenting the flatly illegal activities of trump are running some sort of gossip column!!! unserious
im deutschland frohe weihnachten
December 25, 2025 at 5:45 PM
im deutschland frohe weihnachten
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.
Congratulations to Stephen Macedo & Frances Lee, whose book In Covid's Wake has been recognized as:
⭐ A @newyorker.com Best Book of the Year
⭐ An @economist.com Book of the Year
⭐ A @wsj.com Best Book of the Year
Learn more about this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
⭐ A @newyorker.com Best Book of the Year
⭐ An @economist.com Book of the Year
⭐ A @wsj.com Best Book of the Year
Learn more about this eye-opening book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
December 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM
This is genuinely horrifying. Fact-free far-right agitprop given accolades by credible media across the political spectrum.
husband had a piano recital today :)
December 8, 2025 at 4:25 AM
husband had a piano recital today :)
"you're a bioengineer? are you working on Covid-20?" 😒
What’s the worst question someone can ask after you tell them your profession? For linguists, it’s definitely “how many languages do you speak?”, but I’m curious what else is happening to the rest of y’all out there?!
December 1, 2025 at 2:28 PM
"you're a bioengineer? are you working on Covid-20?" 😒
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Rare SCOTUS W
November 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Rare SCOTUS W
@notalawyer.bsky.social HAVE YOU SEEN IT youtu.be/-9CmFvGEXXk?...
ERIC ADAMS IS AN ICONIC GUEST | ZIWE INTERVIEW
YouTube video by Ziwe
youtu.be
November 8, 2025 at 2:09 AM
@notalawyer.bsky.social HAVE YOU SEEN IT youtu.be/-9CmFvGEXXk?...
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
Reposted by Sam Holtzen, PhD
