Sean Prall
@sprall.bsky.social
Anthropologist at UCLA
Health, reproduction, vaccination, mistrust
sprall.github.io
Health, reproduction, vaccination, mistrust
sprall.github.io
Reposted by Sean Prall
New paper out today with Zhian Chen.
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
When parental care hurts: Extended parental care and the evolution of overparenting
Abstract. In recent years, childrearing in high-income countries has become described as ‘relentless’ in its demands on parents. In response to growing del
academic.oup.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:53 PM
New paper out today with Zhian Chen.
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
We argue that modern intensive parenting is not only exhausting for parents, but in some cases disrupts healthy child development.
What is 'overparenting'? And can evolutionary theory help us understand how we got here?
academic.oup.com/emph/advance...
Reposted by Sean Prall
New paper out on the important role of social learning in breastfeeding! academic.oup.com/emph/article...
Social learning is critical to breastfeeding success: evidence from rural Namibian pastoralists
AbstractBackground and objectives. Lactation is one of the defining features of mammals, yet many humans struggle with breastfeeding. One reason for this i
academic.oup.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:21 PM
New paper out on the important role of social learning in breastfeeding! academic.oup.com/emph/article...
Reposted by Sean Prall
Simplistic stories about the dangers of polygamy can be compelling & intuitive, but what is the evidence that monogamous marriage is advantageous for society?
theconversation.com/rethinking-p...
theconversation.com/rethinking-p...
Rethinking polygamy – new research upends conventional thinking about the advantages of monogamous marriage
Simplistic stories about the dangers of polygamy can be compelling and intuitive. But new research suggests some arguments about its harms don’t hold up.
theconversation.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Simplistic stories about the dangers of polygamy can be compelling & intuitive, but what is the evidence that monogamous marriage is advantageous for society?
theconversation.com/rethinking-p...
theconversation.com/rethinking-p...
Reposted by Sean Prall
If one man marries two women, another man must go unmarried, right? No. Demography matters. If sex ratios are skewed towards women, then polygyny can exist alongside universal marriage for men (who want to marry women). If only more people understood demography 😊
🚨 The Economist has been telling you for years that polygamy causes civil war by locking men out of marriage. A new article with @rebeccasear.bsky.social and @anthrolog.bsky.social explains that the demography of marriage markets doesn't actually work that way. 🧵
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
High rates of polygyny do not lock large proportions of men out of the marriage market | PNAS
There is a widespread belief, in both the scholarly literature and the popular press,
that polygyny prevents large numbers of men from marrying by ...
www.pnas.org
October 6, 2025 at 5:02 PM
If one man marries two women, another man must go unmarried, right? No. Demography matters. If sex ratios are skewed towards women, then polygyny can exist alongside universal marriage for men (who want to marry women). If only more people understood demography 😊
Reposted by Sean Prall
"Public health is under siege in our country. This time it is not from fringe communities scattered across the nation but from our appointed leaders, who were nominated by our president and confirmed by our elected officials in the Senate."
A must-read anonymous piece
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
A must-read anonymous piece
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Struggling on in the US federal research system
In February The BMJ allowed me, a US federal researcher, to publish anonymously two accounts of the anger, despair, harm, and chaos we are experiencing in our work.12 They had to be anonymous, as is t...
www.bmj.com
September 9, 2025 at 9:44 PM
"Public health is under siege in our country. This time it is not from fringe communities scattered across the nation but from our appointed leaders, who were nominated by our president and confirmed by our elected officials in the Senate."
A must-read anonymous piece
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
A must-read anonymous piece
www.bmj.com/content/390/...
Reposted by Sean Prall
From a colleague:
NSF proposal received FOUR "excellent" ratings (the highest possible...that almost never happens).
Rated "highly competitive" in panel summary.
👎 ...but still rejected.
Likely reason: It studied a topic disfavored by this admin.
NSF proposal received FOUR "excellent" ratings (the highest possible...that almost never happens).
Rated "highly competitive" in panel summary.
👎 ...but still rejected.
Likely reason: It studied a topic disfavored by this admin.
August 19, 2025 at 8:30 PM
From a colleague:
NSF proposal received FOUR "excellent" ratings (the highest possible...that almost never happens).
Rated "highly competitive" in panel summary.
👎 ...but still rejected.
Likely reason: It studied a topic disfavored by this admin.
NSF proposal received FOUR "excellent" ratings (the highest possible...that almost never happens).
Rated "highly competitive" in panel summary.
👎 ...but still rejected.
Likely reason: It studied a topic disfavored by this admin.
Reposted by Sean Prall
Fun fact: even as UCLA is being extorted for $1B by a fascist government, its administration is requiring all faculty to install a “security” program that surveils everything we do and shares that information with the federal government.
Summary of our concerns
1. Implementation Timeline
We have learned that the UC system has suffered numerous and increasingly frequent cyber attacks and security breaches. For years, the administration has done little to stud...
sites.google.com
August 9, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Fun fact: even as UCLA is being extorted for $1B by a fascist government, its administration is requiring all faculty to install a “security” program that surveils everything we do and shares that information with the federal government.
Very disappointed that we were forced to cancel our field season and return early, following the suspension of our NSF grant as part of Trump’s attacks on UCLA. Particularly sad for our students, who spent significant time and effort to join us this year.
August 9, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Very disappointed that we were forced to cancel our field season and return early, following the suspension of our NSF grant as part of Trump’s attacks on UCLA. Particularly sad for our students, who spent significant time and effort to join us this year.
Reposted by Sean Prall
Still a projection, but a devastating projection: 30-40% drop in international students at U.S. universities this fall
www.nafsa.org/about/about-...
Hard to wrap your head around the full implications of this for universities
www.nafsa.org/about/about-...
Hard to wrap your head around the full implications of this for universities
U.S. Economy Could Suffer a $7 Billion Loss from Precipitous Drop in International Students
NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange.
www.nafsa.org
August 8, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Still a projection, but a devastating projection: 30-40% drop in international students at U.S. universities this fall
www.nafsa.org/about/about-...
Hard to wrap your head around the full implications of this for universities
www.nafsa.org/about/about-...
Hard to wrap your head around the full implications of this for universities
Reposted by Sean Prall
My new paper "Post-pandemic inequalities: Evolutionary anthropological frameworks for long-term impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic" is now published in Evolutionary Anthropology!
Please check it out at the link below!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Please check it out at the link below!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 2, 2025 at 1:05 PM
My new paper "Post-pandemic inequalities: Evolutionary anthropological frameworks for long-term impacts of the 1918 influenza pandemic" is now published in Evolutionary Anthropology!
Please check it out at the link below!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Please check it out at the link below!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Sean Prall
Pleased to present our new preprint on sleep and circadian rhythms among the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
July 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Pleased to present our new preprint on sleep and circadian rhythms among the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
This is a fascinating system for exploring sleep biology. Lots of variation in light exposure, housing type, and subsistence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🧵 below.
Reposted by Sean Prall
Federal kindergarten vaccination data shows national rates for four major vaccines, which had held steady before the COVID-19 pandemic, have fallen significantly since.
In fact, measles vaccination rates were below herd immunity in most states in 2023.
➡️ Read more: propub.li/40KnM8n
In fact, measles vaccination rates were below herd immunity in most states in 2023.
➡️ Read more: propub.li/40KnM8n
July 9, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Federal kindergarten vaccination data shows national rates for four major vaccines, which had held steady before the COVID-19 pandemic, have fallen significantly since.
In fact, measles vaccination rates were below herd immunity in most states in 2023.
➡️ Read more: propub.li/40KnM8n
In fact, measles vaccination rates were below herd immunity in most states in 2023.
➡️ Read more: propub.li/40KnM8n
Reposted by Sean Prall
The university of California is a powerhouse of innovation, healthcare, and social mobility for California and the US.
June 7, 2025 at 12:03 AM
The university of California is a powerhouse of innovation, healthcare, and social mobility for California and the US.
Reposted by Sean Prall
🚨🚨 Friday night news drop from National Science Foundation!! 🧪
NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**
🧵 on some highlights...
NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**
🧵 on some highlights...
May 30, 2025 at 11:16 PM
🚨🚨 Friday night news drop from National Science Foundation!! 🧪
NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**
🧵 on some highlights...
NSF just released its detailed budget request for next year: nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...
We knew it was going to be bad...and it lives up. Guts direct NSF support for a **quarter million people**
🧵 on some highlights...
Reposted by Sean Prall
Happy to see an update to this classic from the Wall Street Journal (Tynan DeBold, Dov Friedman), this time by @scientificdiscovery.dev and @spoonerf.bsky.social at @ourworldindata.org. 📊
New: a log chart, new colours and three relevant annotations.
Source: ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
New: a log chart, new colours and three relevant annotations.
Source: ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
May 19, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Happy to see an update to this classic from the Wall Street Journal (Tynan DeBold, Dov Friedman), this time by @scientificdiscovery.dev and @spoonerf.bsky.social at @ourworldindata.org. 📊
New: a log chart, new colours and three relevant annotations.
Source: ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
New: a log chart, new colours and three relevant annotations.
Source: ourworldindata.org/measles-vacc...
In other news, my engineer father has published a book! Looks like a spicy read!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
CMOS Plasma and Process Damage
This book provides an up-to-date, single-source reference on CMOS plasma and process damage, for engineers from all disciplines.
link.springer.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:02 PM
In other news, my engineer father has published a book! Looks like a spicy read!
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Reposted by Sean Prall
As grant money starts drying up, it's more important than ever not to waste it on paying publishers' open access "article processing fees" when we can host PDFs for free. Tom Morgan and I wrote a paper on this, forthcoming at Science and Public Policy. Accepted draft here: osf.io/preprints/os...
May 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
As grant money starts drying up, it's more important than ever not to waste it on paying publishers' open access "article processing fees" when we can host PDFs for free. Tom Morgan and I wrote a paper on this, forthcoming at Science and Public Policy. Accepted draft here: osf.io/preprints/os...
New paper on malaria in NW Namibia, highlighting significant differences between cultural models and biomedical ones that could be detrimental to malaria eradication efforts.
malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Erema po otjindjumba? Highlighting cultural models and knowledge gaps of malaria in rural Namibian pastoralists - Malaria Journal
Background As Namibia attempts to eradicate locally transmitted cases of malaria, epidemiological strategies, interventions, and outreach require a sound understanding of indigenous knowledge and prac...
malariajournal.biomedcentral.com
May 7, 2025 at 3:17 PM
New paper on malaria in NW Namibia, highlighting significant differences between cultural models and biomedical ones that could be detrimental to malaria eradication efforts.
malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
Reposted by Sean Prall
New at Can We Still Govern: An anonymous NIH employee maps out the GOP budget gameplan to permanently gut our most important science agency.
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
The NIH budget is on a fast track to disaster
An NIH insider explains what Republicans are likely to do next, and what we can do
donmoynihan.substack.com
April 28, 2025 at 12:50 PM
New at Can We Still Govern: An anonymous NIH employee maps out the GOP budget gameplan to permanently gut our most important science agency.
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
Impoundment, delay and red tape will create artificial "savings" that become the new benchmark for NIH budgets.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nih-bu...
Reposted by Sean Prall
A new study forecasts more than 850,000 measles cases over the next 25 years if US vaccination rates stay the same. Millions of infections are possible if rates drop. www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Find Measles Likely To Become Endemic in the US Over Next 20 Years
A new study forecasts more than 850,000 measles cases over the next 25 years if US vaccination rates stay the same. Millions of infections are possible if rates drop.
www.wired.com
April 24, 2025 at 4:58 PM
A new study forecasts more than 850,000 measles cases over the next 25 years if US vaccination rates stay the same. Millions of infections are possible if rates drop. www.wired.com/story/scient...
New paper out exploring the relationship between medical mistrust and vaccination beliefs and decisions in Namibian pastoralists, with some COVID stuff thrown in for good measure
doi.org/10.1007/s406...
doi.org/10.1007/s406...
The Role of Medical Mistrust in Vaccination Decisions in Rural, Indigenous Namibian Communities - Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Objectives Substantial inequalities in access to healthcare are common in rural and marginalized populations in the Global South, and these inequalities can drive health disparities. Historical mistru...
doi.org
April 22, 2025 at 1:09 AM
New paper out exploring the relationship between medical mistrust and vaccination beliefs and decisions in Namibian pastoralists, with some COVID stuff thrown in for good measure
doi.org/10.1007/s406...
doi.org/10.1007/s406...
Reposted by Sean Prall
This statement from the NSF is insane.
Science is, in essence, designed to separate the true from the false.
Understanding how falsehoods spread is key to the scientific endeavor. It is not a violation of free speech to be proven wrong.
Science is, in essence, designed to separate the true from the false.
Understanding how falsehoods spread is key to the scientific endeavor. It is not a violation of free speech to be proven wrong.
April 18, 2025 at 8:51 PM
This statement from the NSF is insane.
Science is, in essence, designed to separate the true from the false.
Understanding how falsehoods spread is key to the scientific endeavor. It is not a violation of free speech to be proven wrong.
Science is, in essence, designed to separate the true from the false.
Understanding how falsehoods spread is key to the scientific endeavor. It is not a violation of free speech to be proven wrong.
Reposted by Sean Prall
I look at close to 100 stories a week and even more outside of work. I’ve done this ten years.
This is among the most horrific things I’ve ever read — testimony from dying children whose access to medicine has been cut off by the Trump administration.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
This is among the most horrific things I’ve ever read — testimony from dying children whose access to medicine has been cut off by the Trump administration.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Haunted by hopelessness: 12 Zambians share their stories as HIV drugs run out
Mothers and children, husbands and wives, doctors, truck drivers and religious leaders are all grappling with the fallout from the sudden U.S. cuts in aid.
www.npr.org
April 17, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I look at close to 100 stories a week and even more outside of work. I’ve done this ten years.
This is among the most horrific things I’ve ever read — testimony from dying children whose access to medicine has been cut off by the Trump administration.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
This is among the most horrific things I’ve ever read — testimony from dying children whose access to medicine has been cut off by the Trump administration.
www.npr.org/sections/goa...
Reposted by Sean Prall
Now there's a memorable stat!
"Colleges and universities are among America’s most competitive international exporters. In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined."
wapo.st/3EvzMCI
"Colleges and universities are among America’s most competitive international exporters. In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined."
wapo.st/3EvzMCI
Opinion | Trump is killing one of our strongest exports
The president wants to balance U.S. trade deficits? He can’t do it without this industry he hates.
wapo.st
April 15, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Now there's a memorable stat!
"Colleges and universities are among America’s most competitive international exporters. In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined."
wapo.st/3EvzMCI
"Colleges and universities are among America’s most competitive international exporters. In dollar terms, last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined."
wapo.st/3EvzMCI
Reposted by Sean Prall
The NYT has profiled Rufo repeatedly but never come close to asking the vital questions that Larry lays out so well here:
Rufo would "like to see that prototype [what's happened at Columbia and elsewhere] industrialized and applied to all of the universities as a sector" and that he would like "to reduce the size of the [higher education] sector itself."
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/p...
The Conservative Activist Pushing Trump to Attack U.S. Colleges
Christopher Rufo has helped inspire Republican messaging and bills on hot-button issues.
www.nytimes.com
April 11, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The NYT has profiled Rufo repeatedly but never come close to asking the vital questions that Larry lays out so well here: