Sumita Pahwa
@sumitapahwa.bsky.social
Social scientist, Bombayite, Californian, ex-Cairene. Mango maven. Cat lady. Teaches at Scripps College. Book: https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/5829/politics-as-worship/
This guy rose to fame by being a 'just asking questions' Covid skeptic on twitter. Many people I know nodded along to his arguments, and those of Monica Gandhi. He was always disingenuous and posturing.
Scoop: Top FDA official Vinay Prasad overruled the agency’s reviewers when he refused to accept Moderna’s application for a new influenza vaccine, STAT has learned.
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/m...
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/m...
Prasad overruled FDA staff to reject Moderna's flu vaccine application
The rejection is the latest instance of Vinay Prasad overruling career FDA scientists to place vaccines under harsher scrutiny.
www.statnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:43 PM
This guy rose to fame by being a 'just asking questions' Covid skeptic on twitter. Many people I know nodded along to his arguments, and those of Monica Gandhi. He was always disingenuous and posturing.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
ICYMI: Officials at the U.S. Forest Service knew gear worn by wildland firefighters contained potentially dangerous “forever chemicals” years before the agency publicly acknowledged the issue, according to internal correspondence obtained by @propublica. @abestreep.bsky.social
Firefighters Wore Gear Containing “Forever Chemicals.” The Forest Service Knew and Stayed Silent for Years.
As early as 2021, government officials were alerted to the presence of potentially dangerous chemicals known as PFAS in pants used by wildland firefighters, according to emails obtained by ProPublica.
www.propublica.org
February 11, 2026 at 3:07 PM
ICYMI: Officials at the U.S. Forest Service knew gear worn by wildland firefighters contained potentially dangerous “forever chemicals” years before the agency publicly acknowledged the issue, according to internal correspondence obtained by @propublica. @abestreep.bsky.social
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
I find this question about whether chatbots are “alive” to be truly, truly boring. You can torture a definition of “life” so that it includes chatbots or you can listen to actual, unequivocal flesh-and-blood people talking about harm it does them *right now*.
Experiments conducted with the A.I. system Claude are producing fascinating results—and raising questions about the nature of selfhood. Gideon Lewis-Kraus reports from inside the company that designed it, Anthropic. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/rOfXjg
February 11, 2026 at 3:13 PM
I find this question about whether chatbots are “alive” to be truly, truly boring. You can torture a definition of “life” so that it includes chatbots or you can listen to actual, unequivocal flesh-and-blood people talking about harm it does them *right now*.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
Every year the BLS does a benchmark revision which incorporates new and more detailed information. This year's revision suggests that 2025 was a far worse year than earlier estimates suggested, and total job growth was less than half that suggested by the initial estimates.
February 11, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Every year the BLS does a benchmark revision which incorporates new and more detailed information. This year's revision suggests that 2025 was a far worse year than earlier estimates suggested, and total job growth was less than half that suggested by the initial estimates.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
The home healthcare workforce is disproportionately comprised of immigrants, and it's certainly not because they take jobs US-born folks want. As a result, "a 25% increase in the steady state flow of immigrants to the US would result in 5,000 fewer deaths nationwide."
Is Immigration Good for Health? The Effect of Immigration on Older Adult Mortality in the United States
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
February 11, 2026 at 2:13 AM
The home healthcare workforce is disproportionately comprised of immigrants, and it's certainly not because they take jobs US-born folks want. As a result, "a 25% increase in the steady state flow of immigrants to the US would result in 5,000 fewer deaths nationwide."
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
This is the second time an ICE employee has been arrested in in a Bloomington, MN underage sex trafficking sting www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
Police in Bloomington, MN just announced that one of the guys they arrested in an underage sex trafficking sting was a **background checker for ICE agents.**
He had a high security clearance in the Trump administration... and he was caught trying to abuse children. Sickening.
He had a high security clearance in the Trump administration... and he was caught trying to abuse children. Sickening.
February 10, 2026 at 9:26 PM
This is the second time an ICE employee has been arrested in in a Bloomington, MN underage sex trafficking sting www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/ne...
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
One of every thousand American residents has been taken into custody by ICE in the last year.
A stunning detail the ICE chief shared in this hearing that was supposed to be a brag, except it isn't: ICE has arrested 379,000 people between Jan. 2025-Jan. 2026 -- but only 8,700 were suspected gang members or known suspected terrorists.
That's 2%! www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
That's 2%! www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
Congresswoman Uses Simple Math To Show How Broken ICE Is
www.huffpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:11 PM
One of every thousand American residents has been taken into custody by ICE in the last year.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
the most important thing to understand about the Ring Cam ad that says they help find dogs is: we are all dogs
! @weratedogs.com com goes beyond what you've already heard about the Ring Cam ads and includes excellent reporting about ICE and, less surprisingly, about finding lost dogs
we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad
February 10, 2026 at 8:30 PM
the most important thing to understand about the Ring Cam ad that says they help find dogs is: we are all dogs
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
The choice to frame this rhetorically as a negotiation *with ICE and DHS* rather than, you know, a decision about their future made by their rightful superiors in the popularly elected legislature is, to me, incredibly grating.
Our DHS reform demands are exceedingly reasonable.
We're asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow.
Republicans, the ball is in your court. The clock is ticking.
We're asking ICE to do nothing more than follow the standards that the vast majority of law enforcement agencies already follow.
Republicans, the ball is in your court. The clock is ticking.
February 10, 2026 at 4:55 AM
The choice to frame this rhetorically as a negotiation *with ICE and DHS* rather than, you know, a decision about their future made by their rightful superiors in the popularly elected legislature is, to me, incredibly grating.
😅
February 10, 2026 at 4:36 AM
😅
Nods in California housing prices & food costs.
If a new car is too pricey, you can take a nicer vacation instead. But if, say, child care is more expensive, you can't just buy more groceries, or vice versa. In that sense a rise in the price of essentials effectively reduces your real income more than a rise in the price of non-essentials.
February 10, 2026 at 4:16 AM
Nods in California housing prices & food costs.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
A more subtle point is that demand for essential is less elastic than demand for non-essentials (food away from home, leisure & entertainment, durables, etc). So when the price of essential rises, people spend more of their income on them, rather than substituting to relatively less expensive goods.
February 10, 2026 at 3:59 AM
A more subtle point is that demand for essential is less elastic than demand for non-essentials (food away from home, leisure & entertainment, durables, etc). So when the price of essential rises, people spend more of their income on them, rather than substituting to relatively less expensive goods.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
Another very smart data post from @mtkonczal.bsky.social on inflation and affordability. Conventional calculations of real income or wages miss the fact that prices of "essentials" - food, shelter, utilities, transport - rose faster than overall prices. newsletter.mikekonczal.com/p/why-afford...
February 10, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Another very smart data post from @mtkonczal.bsky.social on inflation and affordability. Conventional calculations of real income or wages miss the fact that prices of "essentials" - food, shelter, utilities, transport - rose faster than overall prices. newsletter.mikekonczal.com/p/why-afford...
Everyone I've known who has been fascinated by AI has also been someone who once had people to wait on them, and clearly wants to have that again.
One day when I really want to burn it all down, I might write about the affect of this certain type of intellectual who engages with AI/LLMs/whatever like this. I’ve seen it up close and in person. They all have a empty eyed, hyper focused gaze — so far up their own asses they could shit a cough.
“She compares her work to the efforts of a parent raising a child. She’s training Claude to detect the difference between right and wrong while imbuing it with unique personality traits.”
February 9, 2026 at 3:12 PM
Everyone I've known who has been fascinated by AI has also been someone who once had people to wait on them, and clearly wants to have that again.
And this is for good reason: if you are exercising violence on behalf of the state, people need to have a badge number, identification, something to distinguish you from the local hoodlum.
Can someone give @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Scarborough the memo that you can't “doxx” public law enforcement b/c they are paid by taxpayers, we are their supervisors. No other law enforcement officials are allowed to wear masks bc ICE isn’t that, it’s a paramilitary secret “police” force.
REP. STEIL: Some Dems demands put at risk the safety of members of law enforcement
CNBC: You mean like taking off their masks and having a badge that shows who they are?
STEIL: Well, they're known to their supervisors
CNBC: No other law enforcement officials in the US are allowed to wear masks
CNBC: You mean like taking off their masks and having a badge that shows who they are?
STEIL: Well, they're known to their supervisors
CNBC: No other law enforcement officials in the US are allowed to wear masks
February 9, 2026 at 2:46 PM
And this is for good reason: if you are exercising violence on behalf of the state, people need to have a badge number, identification, something to distinguish you from the local hoodlum.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
Bad Bunny's historical advisor is an assistant professor at UW-Madison.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Not at all surprised to learn that Bad Bunny has a historical adviser. His halftime show was a reminder that our history and culture are deeply intertwined with the rest of the western hemisphere. We should think of his performance as part of #America250. #SuperBowl
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Bad Bunny's historical advisor is an assistant professor at UW-Madison.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Hell of a flex for your tenure file.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
I really do think this is an excellent metaphor for the moment.
I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.
VC, founder, dumbass
February 9, 2026 at 5:09 AM
I really do think this is an excellent metaphor for the moment.
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
thank you bad bunny for highlighting the importance of critical power distribution infrastructure bsky.app/profile/cost...
It’s the weekend everyone, so you know what that means. Time to drink two polar seltzers and do a thread on the power transformer shortage. Without transformers, we don’t get a clean energy transition. And as energysky knows, there’s been a shortage due to covid, supply chain, & labor constraints 🔌🔋
February 9, 2026 at 1:35 AM
thank you bad bunny for highlighting the importance of critical power distribution infrastructure bsky.app/profile/cost...
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
8/ For more on what kids are experiencing inside the Dilley detention center, read the full story by reporter @micarosenberg.bsky.social:
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:43 PM
8/ For more on what kids are experiencing inside the Dilley detention center, read the full story by reporter @micarosenberg.bsky.social:
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
5/ “I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals…going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here…”
From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
February 9, 2026 at 12:34 PM
5/ “I have already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals…going to the doctor and that the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here…”
From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
From 12-year-old Ender, detained 60+ days
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
3/ “I have never been separated from my siblings and its honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and sister.”
From 14-year-old Ariana V.V, whose U.S.-citizen siblings are 2 and 5 years old. Detained for 45+ days
From 14-year-old Ariana V.V, whose U.S.-citizen siblings are 2 and 5 years old. Detained for 45+ days
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
3/ “I have never been separated from my siblings and its honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and sister.”
From 14-year-old Ariana V.V, whose U.S.-citizen siblings are 2 and 5 years old. Detained for 45+ days
From 14-year-old Ariana V.V, whose U.S.-citizen siblings are 2 and 5 years old. Detained for 45+ days
Reposted by Sumita Pahwa
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
The cowboy hat is from ranchero culture.
American English incorporates Spanish loanwords to such a degree we often don't even think about it. Canyon, patio, rodeo, tornado, mustang, ranch, barbecue, stampede, vigilante, cargo, embargo, cafeteria, alligator, hurricane, mosquito. Brits only adopted those, if at all, by way of US influence.
February 9, 2026 at 5:25 AM
The cowboy hat is from ranchero culture.
Also note how much history - including political and economic history - is referenced here, and gives the performance and symbols their meaning.
Next time somebody tries to get me to justify the existence of the humanities, I’ll just point out how for the past two Super Bowls we’ve all jumped online and engaged in collective semiotics and hermeneutics of the half-time show as text.
February 9, 2026 at 5:19 AM
Also note how much history - including political and economic history - is referenced here, and gives the performance and symbols their meaning.