Steve Senior
@stevensenior.bsky.social
Consultant in Public Health. Recovering policy wonk. Lapsed neuroscientist. Ex-paper boy and former donut stand operator. Ultracrepidarian. Denizen of West Yorkshire. Opinions my own, re-posts are not endorsements.
What's that? A Jackson & Livingstone style game book about William Shakespeare fending off the Old Ones?
November 10, 2025 at 1:41 PM
What's that? A Jackson & Livingstone style game book about William Shakespeare fending off the Old Ones?
Reposted by Steve Senior
I like how the caption on this photo reads as if he's making a claim that could not be independently verified.
November 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
I like how the caption on this photo reads as if he's making a claim that could not be independently verified.
Reposted by Steve Senior
I would not wish 1800s healthcare on my worst enemy.
November 9, 2025 at 9:00 PM
I would not wish 1800s healthcare on my worst enemy.
Reposted by Steve Senior
Poverty and death in the wealthiest of nations
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
2 studies are reminders of interplay between poverty, economic policy snd heealth outcomes
Swift
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Colvin
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
2 studies are reminders of interplay between poverty, economic policy snd heealth outcomes
Swift
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Colvin
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Poverty and death in the wealthiest of nations
The USA is a rich nation in poor health. Until about 1980, the mortality rate differed
little from other high-income nations; by 2019, it was 24% higher than peer nations.1
What happened in the interi...
www.thelancet.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Poverty and death in the wealthiest of nations
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
2 studies are reminders of interplay between poverty, economic policy snd heealth outcomes
Swift
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Colvin
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
2 studies are reminders of interplay between poverty, economic policy snd heealth outcomes
Swift
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Colvin
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Watched UHF with the kids.
The 8 year old has declared it the best film she's ever watched. Smart kid that one.
The 8 year old has declared it the best film she's ever watched. Smart kid that one.
a man with curly hair and glasses is sitting in a kitchen with a bag of gas in the background
ALT: a man with curly hair and glasses is sitting in a kitchen with a bag of gas in the background
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Watched UHF with the kids.
The 8 year old has declared it the best film she's ever watched. Smart kid that one.
The 8 year old has declared it the best film she's ever watched. Smart kid that one.
This was about Rumours.
Name other albums that meet this criteria.
I'll start:
Green Day - Dookie
Name other albums that meet this criteria.
I'll start:
Green Day - Dookie
It's one of the great records, because as you say there is no fat on it, every song is terrific, etc. etc.
November 9, 2025 at 4:15 PM
This was about Rumours.
Name other albums that meet this criteria.
I'll start:
Green Day - Dookie
Name other albums that meet this criteria.
I'll start:
Green Day - Dookie
Reposted by Steve Senior
Important for health journalists. I still remember during COVID how many people -- & even some reporters & medical professionals -- interpreted WHO's "no evidence of XX" to mean "Evidence that XX doesn't happen."
When climate scientists say an outcome is “unlikely,” do you hear “it probably won’t happen” or “scientists aren’t sure”?
A new study shows word choice can influence perception of scientific consensus
Does “a small probability” sound more confident to you?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A new study shows word choice can influence perception of scientific consensus
Does “a small probability” sound more confident to you?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Negative verbal probabilities undermine communication of climate science - Nature Climate Change
Effective communication of uncertainty is vital for public accurate understanding of climate science. Here the authors find that projections using positive probability terms (for example, a small prob...
www.nature.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Important for health journalists. I still remember during COVID how many people -- & even some reporters & medical professionals -- interpreted WHO's "no evidence of XX" to mean "Evidence that XX doesn't happen."
Reposted by Steve Senior
There are many companies offering dodgy blood testing (so they can sell you a ‘solution’). Testosterone is just one eg in a sea of fertility, menopause, ‘feeling tired’ nonsense. Yes it’s misinformation but also a slew of marketing that likely breaks ASA rules. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Social media misinformation driving men to seek unneeded NHS testosterone therapy, doctors say
Endocrinologists warn taking testosterone unnecessarily can suppress natural hormone production
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:11 AM
There are many companies offering dodgy blood testing (so they can sell you a ‘solution’). Testosterone is just one eg in a sea of fertility, menopause, ‘feeling tired’ nonsense. Yes it’s misinformation but also a slew of marketing that likely breaks ASA rules. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
One of the best things about autumn and winter : I get to cook chilli.
November 8, 2025 at 5:23 PM
One of the best things about autumn and winter : I get to cook chilli.
Reposted by Steve Senior
Latest post, on digital twins and digital spin: kucharski.substack.com/p/can-langua...
Can language models tell us what populations are thinking and doing?
Digital twins and digital spin
kucharski.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Latest post, on digital twins and digital spin: kucharski.substack.com/p/can-langua...
Reposted by Steve Senior
The farming of men's anxieties is very lucrative business and one done with very little care for the actual men it targets. Mens wellbeing discussion often comes served with a huge side order of biological essentialism, often leaving out the actual wellbeing bit
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Social media misinformation driving men to NHS clinics in search of testosterone they don’t need
Endocrinologists warn taking testosterone unnecessarily can suppress the body’s natural hormone production
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:36 PM
The farming of men's anxieties is very lucrative business and one done with very little care for the actual men it targets. Mens wellbeing discussion often comes served with a huge side order of biological essentialism, often leaving out the actual wellbeing bit
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Steve Senior
You know what we don't talk enough about?
80's homoerotic pro wrestling vignettes.
Designed to introduce new 'heartthrob' wrestlers to an area, and especially to appeal to female fans to attend the live shows, promoters would make these vignettes to sell them and well... Judge for yourself.
80's homoerotic pro wrestling vignettes.
Designed to introduce new 'heartthrob' wrestlers to an area, and especially to appeal to female fans to attend the live shows, promoters would make these vignettes to sell them and well... Judge for yourself.
November 8, 2025 at 11:35 AM
You know what we don't talk enough about?
80's homoerotic pro wrestling vignettes.
Designed to introduce new 'heartthrob' wrestlers to an area, and especially to appeal to female fans to attend the live shows, promoters would make these vignettes to sell them and well... Judge for yourself.
80's homoerotic pro wrestling vignettes.
Designed to introduce new 'heartthrob' wrestlers to an area, and especially to appeal to female fans to attend the live shows, promoters would make these vignettes to sell them and well... Judge for yourself.
Reposted by Steve Senior
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The Rise in Early-Onset Cancer in the US Population - More Apparent Than Real
Epidemiology 101
All screening does harm, some screening does good etc
Here is a telling example of harm
And we wonder why there is a crisis in workload and workforce in cancer care
The Rise in Early-Onset Cancer in the US Population - More Apparent Than Real
Epidemiology 101
All screening does harm, some screening does good etc
Here is a telling example of harm
And we wonder why there is a crisis in workload and workforce in cancer care
November 8, 2025 at 9:36 AM
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
The Rise in Early-Onset Cancer in the US Population - More Apparent Than Real
Epidemiology 101
All screening does harm, some screening does good etc
Here is a telling example of harm
And we wonder why there is a crisis in workload and workforce in cancer care
The Rise in Early-Onset Cancer in the US Population - More Apparent Than Real
Epidemiology 101
All screening does harm, some screening does good etc
Here is a telling example of harm
And we wonder why there is a crisis in workload and workforce in cancer care
Reposted by Steve Senior
Almost 1 in 3 children in the UK grow up in poverty, harming their health, wellbeing and life chances.
This cannot continue. The child poverty strategy must deliver real action now, writes Senior Economist Amrik Arshi.
Read Amrik's blog ⬇️
https://bit.ly/47J3D59
This cannot continue. The child poverty strategy must deliver real action now, writes Senior Economist Amrik Arshi.
Read Amrik's blog ⬇️
https://bit.ly/47J3D59
November 8, 2025 at 8:15 AM
Almost 1 in 3 children in the UK grow up in poverty, harming their health, wellbeing and life chances.
This cannot continue. The child poverty strategy must deliver real action now, writes Senior Economist Amrik Arshi.
Read Amrik's blog ⬇️
https://bit.ly/47J3D59
This cannot continue. The child poverty strategy must deliver real action now, writes Senior Economist Amrik Arshi.
Read Amrik's blog ⬇️
https://bit.ly/47J3D59
Reposted by Steve Senior
congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run
OVER A MILLION USERS
DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT
EVERY *WEEK*
what the fuck are we DOING here
DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT
EVERY *WEEK*
what the fuck are we DOING here
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run
Reposted by Steve Senior
When I lost the dictionary my wife asked if I looked upstairs
I was like, “I can’t look up anything!”
I was like, “I can’t look up anything!”
November 7, 2025 at 3:07 PM
When I lost the dictionary my wife asked if I looked upstairs
I was like, “I can’t look up anything!”
I was like, “I can’t look up anything!”
Wonderful news everyone! Future Man is coming to Netflix!
November 7, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Wonderful news everyone! Future Man is coming to Netflix!
You know that thing where people who've got problems with gambling can exclude themselves from betting shops? I need that but for buying custard creams from Aldi.
November 7, 2025 at 7:09 PM
You know that thing where people who've got problems with gambling can exclude themselves from betting shops? I need that but for buying custard creams from Aldi.
Never has Betteridge’s Law been more right.
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
Should facial analysis help determine whom companies hire?
A new paper suggests a photo can tell a recruiter much about an applicant’s personality
econ.st
November 7, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Never has Betteridge’s Law been more right.
A rare challenging take from Betteridge's Law. Probably right nonetheless. Could be mostly vibes but there's more to it than that.
Is the A.I. Boom Just Vibes?
Is the A.I. Boom Just Vibes? - Betteridge’s Law
No.
betteridgeslaw.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
A rare challenging take from Betteridge's Law. Probably right nonetheless. Could be mostly vibes but there's more to it than that.
Also not sure about #2 - at least in public health and other policy relevant fields. Often what policymakers need most is a really good review article. If we want evidence to inform policy specifically reducing that type of study wouldn't be where I'd start.
I am slow to react to this recent Stockholm Declaration on scientific publishing. A lot of it sounds good, but I don't see how we get from here to there. I worry nothing substantial will happen until the cost disease kills the host.
![3. Incentive systems to merit quality, not quantity
Reward scientific achievement based primarily on quality—not quantity measures of today’s ‘reputation economy’ metric system [8].
Discourage ‘salami-slicing’ of results to obtain ‘least publishable units’; reduce the abundance of review articles (meta-analyses) and commentaries that over-burden reviewers and can too easily be generated using AI.
Rankings of academic achievement with metrics such as citation counts, ‘journal impact factor’ (JIF) and ‘publication number’ must be used responsibly because they often do not correlate with research quality [9] (see also CoARA—Reforming Research Assessment). 7](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ta2whs6wjtpljvpqgs5leu36/bafkreieiasfhsrhanmpgthgdkcub5gsezdu5yy6ekaiv633gvvzygdwmxe@jpeg)
November 7, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Also not sure about #2 - at least in public health and other policy relevant fields. Often what policymakers need most is a really good review article. If we want evidence to inform policy specifically reducing that type of study wouldn't be where I'd start.
Reposted by Steve Senior
Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.
November 6, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.
Reposted by Steve Senior
The Liverpool City Region has been growing strongly in recent years – not too far behind Greater Manchester and third in the leaderboard of Northern productivity growth.
But why is this the case? And what can we learn for the UK productivity problem?
Short 🧵
1/5
But why is this the case? And what can we learn for the UK productivity problem?
Short 🧵
1/5
November 6, 2025 at 9:13 AM
The Liverpool City Region has been growing strongly in recent years – not too far behind Greater Manchester and third in the leaderboard of Northern productivity growth.
But why is this the case? And what can we learn for the UK productivity problem?
Short 🧵
1/5
But why is this the case? And what can we learn for the UK productivity problem?
Short 🧵
1/5
Reposted by Steve Senior
Not just that. Norway has a population more than ten times smaller than *England*, let alone the UK as a whole. Their GDP per capita is almost twice ours. Frankly, "it works in Norway" - whatever the policy being suggested - is only one away from "well, it worked in this novel I read"
November 6, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Not just that. Norway has a population more than ten times smaller than *England*, let alone the UK as a whole. Their GDP per capita is almost twice ours. Frankly, "it works in Norway" - whatever the policy being suggested - is only one away from "well, it worked in this novel I read"