sara m. b. simon
@sarambsimon.bsky.social
phd student in us history (quantification & government data, esp. vital statistics) • former newsroom software engineer & data journalist • she/her • chicago
smbsimon.github.io
smbsimon.github.io
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Well, unfortunately
Threat of victory looms large over Election Day as an ominous portent of a future that could leave Dems in array; party elders scramble to contain the risk
The framing of this is hilarious: Democrats deeply worried about the repercussions of a victory
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/m...
November 10, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Well, unfortunately
proud to be an onion subscriber this morning
November 10, 2025 at 1:33 PM
proud to be an onion subscriber this morning
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Giving thanks for the good nerds at the NWS this morning, as I can quickly pull up the latest (0211) detailed condition reports from the overnight team, square them w/transit alerts, and make an informed decision about my commute. They do this for us. They haven't been paid for a month.
Bands of intense lake effect snow are expected tonight into Monday near many of the Great Lakes areas highlighted in this image. Dangerous to impossible travel conditions are possible, including during the Monday Morning commutes for some. Get details for your area at weather.gov
November 10, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Giving thanks for the good nerds at the NWS this morning, as I can quickly pull up the latest (0211) detailed condition reports from the overnight team, square them w/transit alerts, and make an informed decision about my commute. They do this for us. They haven't been paid for a month.
where is the snow
November 9, 2025 at 5:17 PM
where is the snow
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
apnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Loving today's news that the mysterious "fedora man" outside the Louvre heist was actually a 15-year-old museum visitor who dresses like a 1940s French detective all the time, just because. apnews.com/article/louv...
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
This connection isn’t articulated often enough.
November 9, 2025 at 3:22 PM
This connection isn’t articulated often enough.
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
We are also currently hiring a curatorial fellow to work with the papers of Rosalind Franklin and others in the History of Molecular Biology Collection!
This is a 2-year staff position in the archive with a salary of $55k/year and full benefits:
www.sciencehistory.org/research/fel...
This is a 2-year staff position in the archive with a salary of $55k/year and full benefits:
www.sciencehistory.org/research/fel...
For those with a scholarly interest in Franklin, Watson, and other pioneering researchers in molecular biology, @sciencehistory.org has just opened our new landmark collection of their papers, and applications for research fellowships are currently open:
www.sciencehistory.org/hmbc
www.sciencehistory.org/hmbc
History of Molecular Biology Collection
This unparalleled collection includes Rosalind Franklin's historic 'Photo 51,' which revealed the double-helix structure of DNA.
www.sciencehistory.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:45 PM
We are also currently hiring a curatorial fellow to work with the papers of Rosalind Franklin and others in the History of Molecular Biology Collection!
This is a 2-year staff position in the archive with a salary of $55k/year and full benefits:
www.sciencehistory.org/research/fel...
This is a 2-year staff position in the archive with a salary of $55k/year and full benefits:
www.sciencehistory.org/research/fel...
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
I'm struck by how many Chicagoans have seemingly felt compelled to write and share reflections on "this is what it feels like in Chicago right now". We know we're going through something awful together and we want the world to understand it.
Threading several of these pieces below.
Threading several of these pieces below.
November 9, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I'm struck by how many Chicagoans have seemingly felt compelled to write and share reflections on "this is what it feels like in Chicago right now". We know we're going through something awful together and we want the world to understand it.
Threading several of these pieces below.
Threading several of these pieces below.
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
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 7:11 PM
What an amazing essay from the former chair of Africana Studies at Bowdoin. I'll share a few sections in the reply but seriously, read the whole thing. It's all insightful and beautifully written.
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Quite a headline.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Quite a headline.
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
I was thinking about Zohran’s transition team and today’s anti-feminist piece in the New York Times, and my mother’s book on the first generation of women to work in the city government in New York City.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
November 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I was thinking about Zohran’s transition team and today’s anti-feminist piece in the New York Times, and my mother’s book on the first generation of women to work in the city government in New York City.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
In late September, my family and I lost our matriarch, my abuela. I've been a bit all over the place since. My abuela moved to our hometown in the 70s. She loved it even as one of the first Mexican families there.
It's been targeted every day by ICE. I wrote about it.
buttondown.com/camrodriguez...
It's been targeted every day by ICE. I wrote about it.
buttondown.com/camrodriguez...
11/5/25: On repacking your unpacked funeral clothes
an obituary I couldn’t bring myself to volunteer to write; a walk through Chicano history; thoughts about grief and the government; photos from reporting trips.
buttondown.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:17 AM
In late September, my family and I lost our matriarch, my abuela. I've been a bit all over the place since. My abuela moved to our hometown in the 70s. She loved it even as one of the first Mexican families there.
It's been targeted every day by ICE. I wrote about it.
buttondown.com/camrodriguez...
It's been targeted every day by ICE. I wrote about it.
buttondown.com/camrodriguez...
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
I like to think that I personally ruined the workplace.
November 6, 2025 at 1:27 PM
I like to think that I personally ruined the workplace.
hi bucktown, if you are missing your sweet little brown cat with a pink collar, they just darted across the 606 and are now hiding behind some bushes. i couldn't get close enough to read the tag on the collar but hopefully the bud gets home safe soon
November 6, 2025 at 2:27 PM
hi bucktown, if you are missing your sweet little brown cat with a pink collar, they just darted across the 606 and are now hiding behind some bushes. i couldn't get close enough to read the tag on the collar but hopefully the bud gets home safe soon
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
connect the dots on attacks on education, the AI grifter bubble, and consolidating authoritarianism
"I have to believe that we can still push back, that creative people can find the means to defy the ruling class and keep on creating."
"I have to believe that we can still push back, that creative people can find the means to defy the ruling class and keep on creating."
I wrote about why I can't sleep at night: the devaluation of so many things (critical thinking, creativity) I thought were paramount. lithub.com/when-we-deva...
When We Devalue Art (Books!) We Devalue the Future
When you’ve spent your whole adult life working in and around book publishing you get used to hearing that people don’t read anymore and that the industry is on its last legs. There is always a cri…
lithub.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:38 PM
connect the dots on attacks on education, the AI grifter bubble, and consolidating authoritarianism
"I have to believe that we can still push back, that creative people can find the means to defy the ruling class and keep on creating."
"I have to believe that we can still push back, that creative people can find the means to defy the ruling class and keep on creating."
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
the future takes transit
Zohran Mamdani's focus on public transportation - and on affordability in general - paid off in a big way. Lots of fascinating insights in this map (free link)
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
November 5, 2025 at 10:06 PM
the future takes transit
what is a good collective noun for a group of librarians? if there was ever a question for bluesky, this feels like it
November 5, 2025 at 2:51 PM
what is a good collective noun for a group of librarians? if there was ever a question for bluesky, this feels like it
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
it's almost 9pm and i am just sitting down to write a short paper but at least it will be a far earlier bedtime than those i used to have when i worked election nights in journalism
November 5, 2025 at 2:53 AM
it's almost 9pm and i am just sitting down to write a short paper but at least it will be a far earlier bedtime than those i used to have when i worked election nights in journalism
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
I do have a bit of beef with the critical tech movement in that it largely operates as an academic research movement for advancement of phds to talk about surveillance and labor instead of as a practitioner-led movement to create alternative work pathways for tech workers to do things that dont suck
November 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
I do have a bit of beef with the critical tech movement in that it largely operates as an academic research movement for advancement of phds to talk about surveillance and labor instead of as a practitioner-led movement to create alternative work pathways for tech workers to do things that dont suck
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
I am a very good information hound. If it exists, I can usually find it.
But sometimes I can't. And when that happens I just write a tiny bit of information in 5-6 form fields, and in a few days it appears in my hands. For free.
Libraries! What a concept. What a pinnacle of human achievement.
But sometimes I can't. And when that happens I just write a tiny bit of information in 5-6 form fields, and in a few days it appears in my hands. For free.
Libraries! What a concept. What a pinnacle of human achievement.
November 4, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I am a very good information hound. If it exists, I can usually find it.
But sometimes I can't. And when that happens I just write a tiny bit of information in 5-6 form fields, and in a few days it appears in my hands. For free.
Libraries! What a concept. What a pinnacle of human achievement.
But sometimes I can't. And when that happens I just write a tiny bit of information in 5-6 form fields, and in a few days it appears in my hands. For free.
Libraries! What a concept. What a pinnacle of human achievement.
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
Teen Vogue took young people seriously. It's impossible to overstate how important, how rare, and how profoundly needed that is.
November 3, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Teen Vogue took young people seriously. It's impossible to overstate how important, how rare, and how profoundly needed that is.
Reposted by sara m. b. simon
One thing that's notable to me in this video is that Mamdani is _always_ dressed in a suit and tie. He doesn't pander or talk down or adopt "working class" signifiers, which would likely be read as inauthentic in a second. But that doesn't stop the outpouring of enthusiasm for him.
A few days after the presidential election one year ago, we went to Fordham Road in the Bronx.
It was a little different last week.
It was a little different last week.
November 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM
One thing that's notable to me in this video is that Mamdani is _always_ dressed in a suit and tie. He doesn't pander or talk down or adopt "working class" signifiers, which would likely be read as inauthentic in a second. But that doesn't stop the outpouring of enthusiasm for him.