SB Paxson
@sbpaxson.bsky.social
PhD in Sociology and my work focuses on lesbians, mental health, representation, social theory, social change, and ethics! Love tv and queer dance parties🦩🏳️🌈 She/they
Reposted by SB Paxson
I feel like the last couple decades of "is representation good or not?" discourse missed more important questions of "how fragile is representation?", "what do we do when multiple industries eliminate it as an intentional move against us?" and "how can we sustain queer artists when shit goes south?"
"According to the report, [...]during the 2024-25 television season, queer characters increased across platforms by 4%, bringing the total to 489. However, the Thursday report found that 41% of those characters will not return." www.thewrap.com/glaad-where-...
Nearly Half of All LGBTQ+ Characters Will Disappear From TV Next Season, GLAAD Study Finds
The 2024-25 TV season recorded 489 queer characters across broadcast, cable and screenings, but cancellations and plot find a deep decline to come
www.thewrap.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:13 AM
I feel like the last couple decades of "is representation good or not?" discourse missed more important questions of "how fragile is representation?", "what do we do when multiple industries eliminate it as an intentional move against us?" and "how can we sustain queer artists when shit goes south?"
I miss the Wheel of Time
I miss the Wheel of Time
I miss The Wheel of Time
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I miss the Wheel of Time
Reposted by SB Paxson
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 AM
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
Reposted by SB Paxson
Uncertainty is a feature of science, not a flaw.
Admitting uncertainty isn't the same as pretending both sides are equal.
Populists exploit this nuance to sow doubt on issues like medicine, climate and vaccines.
news.sky.com/video/n...
8/10
Admitting uncertainty isn't the same as pretending both sides are equal.
Populists exploit this nuance to sow doubt on issues like medicine, climate and vaccines.
news.sky.com/video/n...
8/10
Nigel Farage says 'science is never settled', reacting to Trump paracetamol claims
The Reform UK leader went on to say that 'when it comes to science' he 'doesn't side with anybody.'
news.sky.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Uncertainty is a feature of science, not a flaw.
Admitting uncertainty isn't the same as pretending both sides are equal.
Populists exploit this nuance to sow doubt on issues like medicine, climate and vaccines.
news.sky.com/video/n...
8/10
Admitting uncertainty isn't the same as pretending both sides are equal.
Populists exploit this nuance to sow doubt on issues like medicine, climate and vaccines.
news.sky.com/video/n...
8/10
Reposted by SB Paxson
Science thrives on openness to new evidence.
But that openness isn’t a license to ignore consensus or amplify fringe claims.
The burden of proof lies with challengers, not the scientific mainstream.
7/10
But that openness isn’t a license to ignore consensus or amplify fringe claims.
The burden of proof lies with challengers, not the scientific mainstream.
7/10
October 28, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Science thrives on openness to new evidence.
But that openness isn’t a license to ignore consensus or amplify fringe claims.
The burden of proof lies with challengers, not the scientific mainstream.
7/10
But that openness isn’t a license to ignore consensus or amplify fringe claims.
The burden of proof lies with challengers, not the scientific mainstream.
7/10
Reposted by SB Paxson
“Settled” doesn’t mean 100% certainty - it means overwhelming evidence.
The earth is round.
Vaccines save lives.
These aren’t 50-50 debates.
Uncertainty shouldn't be an excuse for false balance.
www.livescience.com/...
6/10
The earth is round.
Vaccines save lives.
These aren’t 50-50 debates.
Uncertainty shouldn't be an excuse for false balance.
www.livescience.com/...
6/10
'Vaccine rejection is as old as vaccines themselves': Science historian Thomas Levenson on the history of germ theory and its deniers
Live Science spoke with author Thomas Levenson about his new book on the history of germ theory.
www.livescience.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:37 AM
“Settled” doesn’t mean 100% certainty - it means overwhelming evidence.
The earth is round.
Vaccines save lives.
These aren’t 50-50 debates.
Uncertainty shouldn't be an excuse for false balance.
www.livescience.com/...
6/10
The earth is round.
Vaccines save lives.
These aren’t 50-50 debates.
Uncertainty shouldn't be an excuse for false balance.
www.livescience.com/...
6/10
Reposted by SB Paxson
“Science is never settled” sounds reasonable—but it’s often a rhetorical trick to undermine consensus on issues like vaccines or climate change.
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
There is such a thing as 'settled science' — anyone who says otherwise is trying to manipulate you
How bad-faith arguments sow doubt by weaponizing scientific humility.
www.livescience.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
“Science is never settled” sounds reasonable—but it’s often a rhetorical trick to undermine consensus on issues like vaccines or climate change.
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
Science evolves, but some things are overwhelmingly supported by evidence.
My latest for Live Science
www.livescience.com/...
1/10
As someone who is doing research metric analysis right now, this is driving a lot of questions for admin. UF is changing the way it evaluates some faculty based off of this—setting up incentives for research published in Q1 journals with grad students as 1st author as an example
Quietly, many U.S. universities are shifting their evaluation of faculty research to align it with the Scopus database of Elsevier. Elsevier recently bought into the US News & World Report rankings used by students and their parents (and alumni, and *far* too many scholars). Why? In part, A.I. ...
October 27, 2025 at 6:59 PM
As someone who is doing research metric analysis right now, this is driving a lot of questions for admin. UF is changing the way it evaluates some faculty based off of this—setting up incentives for research published in Q1 journals with grad students as 1st author as an example
Reposted by SB Paxson
Quietly, many U.S. universities are shifting their evaluation of faculty research to align it with the Scopus database of Elsevier. Elsevier recently bought into the US News & World Report rankings used by students and their parents (and alumni, and *far* too many scholars). Why? In part, A.I. ...
October 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Quietly, many U.S. universities are shifting their evaluation of faculty research to align it with the Scopus database of Elsevier. Elsevier recently bought into the US News & World Report rankings used by students and their parents (and alumni, and *far* too many scholars). Why? In part, A.I. ...
Reposted by SB Paxson
I concur. Now more than ever I need to see an adorable baby in festive Autumn outfits—or sitting by a pumpkin. Or atop a barrel of apples. Or by a scarecrow.
I am sure it is hard on parents. But you have no idea what it means to many of us to see your babies and a pumpkin.
October 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
I concur. Now more than ever I need to see an adorable baby in festive Autumn outfits—or sitting by a pumpkin. Or atop a barrel of apples. Or by a scarecrow.
Reposted by SB Paxson
AI makes effective science communication more difficult and more important than ever.
More difficult because AI makes laypeople think they can bypass experts and interpret data for themselves.
And more important because AI's errors threaten to further erode laypeople's trust in science itself.
More difficult because AI makes laypeople think they can bypass experts and interpret data for themselves.
And more important because AI's errors threaten to further erode laypeople's trust in science itself.
I need more people to know about this nonsense happening in my comments…
Me: here’s a detailed review of this study.
Them: My AI says it’s trending towards significance, tho
Me: here’s a detailed review of this study.
Them: My AI says it’s trending towards significance, tho
October 20, 2025 at 5:01 PM
AI makes effective science communication more difficult and more important than ever.
More difficult because AI makes laypeople think they can bypass experts and interpret data for themselves.
And more important because AI's errors threaten to further erode laypeople's trust in science itself.
More difficult because AI makes laypeople think they can bypass experts and interpret data for themselves.
And more important because AI's errors threaten to further erode laypeople's trust in science itself.
Reposted by SB Paxson
More Sad news. #thereproductionofmothering
In memoriam of Sociology Professor Nancy Chodorow, a foundational feminist scholar - Berkeley News
An esteemed sociologist, psychoanalyst and professor emerita at UC Berkeley, Chodorow passed away on Oct. 14.
news.berkeley.edu
October 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
More Sad news. #thereproductionofmothering
Reposted by SB Paxson
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy passed away today according to the House of GG. She was a veteran of the Stonewall rebellion and a lifelong organizer for the safety and dignity of trans people, sex workers, and the incarcerated. She came from the same generation and milieu as Marsha and Sylvia. She was 78.
October 14, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy passed away today according to the House of GG. She was a veteran of the Stonewall rebellion and a lifelong organizer for the safety and dignity of trans people, sex workers, and the incarcerated. She came from the same generation and milieu as Marsha and Sylvia. She was 78.
Reposted by SB Paxson
Everyone who studies research methods just had an aneurysm
RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."
October 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Everyone who studies research methods just had an aneurysm
Reposted by SB Paxson
I say it all the time, but imma say it again: a lot of very book smart people lack the emotional education and communication skills that would allow them to generate the courage they want to embody in their work. They are incurious about their own emotional lives, and consequently, those of others.
October 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I say it all the time, but imma say it again: a lot of very book smart people lack the emotional education and communication skills that would allow them to generate the courage they want to embody in their work. They are incurious about their own emotional lives, and consequently, those of others.
Not something I generally post on main, but just finished this sapphic romance novel about an assistant professor who falls for her tenured mentor, and I can only describe it as delicious. Don’t read if you’re avoiding your own R&R as it gets the details about publishing/academia mostly correct lol
September 26, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Not something I generally post on main, but just finished this sapphic romance novel about an assistant professor who falls for her tenured mentor, and I can only describe it as delicious. Don’t read if you’re avoiding your own R&R as it gets the details about publishing/academia mostly correct lol
Symbolic violence is deadly
When we define violence only as physical harm, we overlook how ideologies and institutions not only enable violence but can themselves be violent.
September 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Symbolic violence is deadly
Reposted by SB Paxson
Glad Science collected this data (though the results are entirely unsurprising). GenAI cannot accurately summarize scientific papers, sacrificing accuracy for simplicity.
And shame on publishers who are pushing genAI summaries on readers. Great way to accelerate an epistemic apocalypse.
And shame on publishers who are pushing genAI summaries on readers. Great way to accelerate an epistemic apocalypse.
September 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Glad Science collected this data (though the results are entirely unsurprising). GenAI cannot accurately summarize scientific papers, sacrificing accuracy for simplicity.
And shame on publishers who are pushing genAI summaries on readers. Great way to accelerate an epistemic apocalypse.
And shame on publishers who are pushing genAI summaries on readers. Great way to accelerate an epistemic apocalypse.
Reposted by SB Paxson
Trans rights are not the rights of a tiny minority, trans rights are everyone’s rights to self-determination, control of our bodies, and a society where opportunity and aesthetics are not restricted by sex assigned at birth
You should support and defend trans people because trans people are people
You should support and defend trans people because trans people are people
September 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Trans rights are not the rights of a tiny minority, trans rights are everyone’s rights to self-determination, control of our bodies, and a society where opportunity and aesthetics are not restricted by sex assigned at birth
You should support and defend trans people because trans people are people
You should support and defend trans people because trans people are people
Reposted by SB Paxson
I’ve been thinking about how the white moderate think about free speech. Where calling for violence and the dehumanization of entire groups of people is merely supposed to be pluralism at work rather than an a threat to that pluralism.
September 11, 2025 at 10:44 AM
I’ve been thinking about how the white moderate think about free speech. Where calling for violence and the dehumanization of entire groups of people is merely supposed to be pluralism at work rather than an a threat to that pluralism.
Reposted by SB Paxson
Watching the “political violence has no place in America” language with interest.
I’m no historian, but our whole nation is founded on political violence. And has continued to be politically violent ever since.
Curious how “political violence” from a communication perspective shifts.
I’m no historian, but our whole nation is founded on political violence. And has continued to be politically violent ever since.
Curious how “political violence” from a communication perspective shifts.
September 10, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Watching the “political violence has no place in America” language with interest.
I’m no historian, but our whole nation is founded on political violence. And has continued to be politically violent ever since.
Curious how “political violence” from a communication perspective shifts.
I’m no historian, but our whole nation is founded on political violence. And has continued to be politically violent ever since.
Curious how “political violence” from a communication perspective shifts.
Reposted by SB Paxson
I just… love #OrphanBlack so much. AND it’s all about bodily autonomy, identity and found families. Rewatching it now is so intense and clarifying.
September 6, 2025 at 11:22 PM
I just… love #OrphanBlack so much. AND it’s all about bodily autonomy, identity and found families. Rewatching it now is so intense and clarifying.
Reposted by SB Paxson
Tatiana Maslany’s performance is staggering. I keep having to remind myself that these eight (?) different characters are being performed by the same actor. And often one character ends having to pretend to be another character and it still tracks. You’re never confused.
I’m rewatching #OrphanBlack and wow, it’s just so well written and performed.
September 1, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Tatiana Maslany’s performance is staggering. I keep having to remind myself that these eight (?) different characters are being performed by the same actor. And often one character ends having to pretend to be another character and it still tracks. You’re never confused.
I did interviews w/ land grant scientists last summer where they also had a problem conflating objectivity w/ neutrality.
Attacks against imagined bias have shifted the way that rational actors behave as they want to be trusted by the audience that has been inundated w/ claims of ideological bias
Attacks against imagined bias have shifted the way that rational actors behave as they want to be trusted by the audience that has been inundated w/ claims of ideological bias
This problem plagues journalism, where too often things are edited not for accuracy, but counter factually to avoid seeming biased. Those who preach “objective” journalism abandoning objective truth.
I love how accurately describing actually existing conservatism makes one sound totally unhinged and the people who get punished for this are not conservatives but the accurate describers.
August 18, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I did interviews w/ land grant scientists last summer where they also had a problem conflating objectivity w/ neutrality.
Attacks against imagined bias have shifted the way that rational actors behave as they want to be trusted by the audience that has been inundated w/ claims of ideological bias
Attacks against imagined bias have shifted the way that rational actors behave as they want to be trusted by the audience that has been inundated w/ claims of ideological bias
Reposted by SB Paxson
the flip side of no one studying humanities anymore is i regularly quote philosophers and literary giants and people think i just came up with those ideas on my own
October 22, 2024 at 8:30 PM
the flip side of no one studying humanities anymore is i regularly quote philosophers and literary giants and people think i just came up with those ideas on my own