Titus Brown
@titus.idyll.org
I am not a deep man, but I have many shallows. ctbrown@ucdavis.edu, http://ivory.idyll.org/blog/.
Reposted by Titus Brown
This is perfect. The DOJ's embarrassing snafu with disappearing redactions was the fault of Elon Musk. Musk cancelled government subscriptions to Adobe programs that would have made the redactions permanent. What a pack of fools.
December 26, 2025 at 9:02 PM
This is perfect. The DOJ's embarrassing snafu with disappearing redactions was the fault of Elon Musk. Musk cancelled government subscriptions to Adobe programs that would have made the redactions permanent. What a pack of fools.
Reposted by Titus Brown
"I can't believe a third-party did it better than Bsky" is the wrong take bc that's the whole point of Bsky and ATProto.
More of this. Build better than what's been built.
More of this. Build better than what's been built.
December 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
"I can't believe a third-party did it better than Bsky" is the wrong take bc that's the whole point of Bsky and ATProto.
More of this. Build better than what's been built.
More of this. Build better than what's been built.
Reposted by Titus Brown
I wish this were true. I really do. But it's not.
In March of this year, 52% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
In December of this year, 53% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
Trump's base still loves the cruelty.
In March of this year, 52% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
In December of this year, 53% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
Trump's base still loves the cruelty.
December 25, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I wish this were true. I really do. But it's not.
In March of this year, 52% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
In December of this year, 53% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
Trump's base still loves the cruelty.
In March of this year, 52% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
In December of this year, 53% of white Americans approved of Trump's approach to "handling immigration."
Trump's base still loves the cruelty.
Reposted by Titus Brown
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Titus Brown
Social science research can help us to understand why doubt and disinformation find a landing strip in some communities. Community-level research and interventions will not alone overcome the political economy of disinformation and doubt fueling these trends.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/o...
Opinion | Three Experts on Vaccines, Measles and Kennedy
www.nytimes.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Social science research can help us to understand why doubt and disinformation find a landing strip in some communities. Community-level research and interventions will not alone overcome the political economy of disinformation and doubt fueling these trends.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/o...
Reposted by Titus Brown
Must say, while interviews with established PIs with deep cuts to their funding are important, the principal and longest term effects are on the trainees. An entire generation wiped of confidence.
December 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Must say, while interviews with established PIs with deep cuts to their funding are important, the principal and longest term effects are on the trainees. An entire generation wiped of confidence.
Reposted by Titus Brown
There's an audio recording of him, not an aide, asking for votes to swing a state in a Presidential election and that wasn't enough to get him locked up or even keep him from the White House
As people comb the Epstein files for some crime they can get Trump on I’m thinking about how he was found with boxes of stolen top secret files in his possession and somehow that ended up being impossible to prosecute.
December 24, 2025 at 12:17 AM
There's an audio recording of him, not an aide, asking for votes to swing a state in a Presidential election and that wasn't enough to get him locked up or even keep him from the White House
Reposted by Titus Brown
It’s really strange the vice president of the United States is a white supremacist, who says white supremacist slogans, who publicly praises and follows the work of white supremacists, and it’s simply not mentioned or discussed in political media
December 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
It’s really strange the vice president of the United States is a white supremacist, who says white supremacist slogans, who publicly praises and follows the work of white supremacists, and it’s simply not mentioned or discussed in political media
Reposted by Titus Brown
Great student reporting on why the Harvard Salient, revived to combat what leaders saw as a decline in “contrarian” thought, was abruptly closed earlier this year. (Hint: It was racism). www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
December 21, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Great student reporting on why the Harvard Salient, revived to combat what leaders saw as a decline in “contrarian” thought, was abruptly closed earlier this year. (Hint: It was racism). www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Titus Brown
Quanta is a fantastic publication
December 21, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Quanta is a fantastic publication
Reposted by Titus Brown
Quanta does some of the best science journalism on math that, as far as I can tell, no one else really does. Truly just trying to make modern advances easier to understand for those without a PhD.
December 21, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Quanta does some of the best science journalism on math that, as far as I can tell, no one else really does. Truly just trying to make modern advances easier to understand for those without a PhD.
Reposted by Titus Brown
I have a bachelors and masters in math and Quanta's math coverage is phenomenal
December 21, 2025 at 12:18 PM
I have a bachelors and masters in math and Quanta's math coverage is phenomenal
Reposted by Titus Brown
Haven't posted this on here yet
December 20, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Haven't posted this on here yet
Reposted by Titus Brown
A first for both of us, @alicemeadows.bsky.social! 🎉 In it, I talk about how ORCID is making it possible to share other types of research outputs relevant to the arts and humanities scholars (like musical compositions, imagery and film, and teaching materials.) info.orcid.org/new-work-typ...
It’s not every day (or ever actually!) that I get quoted in @nature.com - this piece about @orcid.org draws on my @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social post on our recent @morebrains.coop white paper 🥰
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
ORCID launched more than a decade ago, but has yet to fulfil its potential
Many author-identifier profiles are ‘empty’, making it difficult to track who’s publishing what.
www.nature.com
August 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
A first for both of us, @alicemeadows.bsky.social! 🎉 In it, I talk about how ORCID is making it possible to share other types of research outputs relevant to the arts and humanities scholars (like musical compositions, imagery and film, and teaching materials.) info.orcid.org/new-work-typ...
Reposted by Titus Brown
Also, the fact that City Journal doesn't present this "conversation" critically at all — not a hint of criticism, let alone shock, in showing young conservatives who voice a love of Hitler and a host of racist and authoritarian views — tells you everything.
I read through these (more in the comments) and hoped maybe this was some cheeky lefty publication that went looking for the most extremist nuts they could find to make the right look bad.
Nope. It’s City Journal, published by the far right Manhattan Institute.
Horrifying.
Nope. It’s City Journal, published by the far right Manhattan Institute.
Horrifying.
Very cool!
December 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Also, the fact that City Journal doesn't present this "conversation" critically at all — not a hint of criticism, let alone shock, in showing young conservatives who voice a love of Hitler and a host of racist and authoritarian views — tells you everything.
Reposted by Titus Brown
one of our biggest problems is we spent decades coddling straight white male conservatives. we took their dumb as fuck ideas seriously, even though history, logic and science showed theyre completely unworkable. and now we're stuck with a bunch of dumbasses who have been coddled for too long
December 19, 2025 at 7:19 PM
one of our biggest problems is we spent decades coddling straight white male conservatives. we took their dumb as fuck ideas seriously, even though history, logic and science showed theyre completely unworkable. and now we're stuck with a bunch of dumbasses who have been coddled for too long
Reposted by Titus Brown
There are no shortcuts to affordability. stayathomemacro.substack.com/p/there-are-... My new piece argues that the challenge for policymakers now is to support stable, sustainable growth. No quick fixes or gimmicks. We need “some years” of good policy.
There are no shortcuts to affordability
As 2025 comes to a close, affordability is the lens through which all policymakers are being judged.
stayathomemacro.substack.com
December 18, 2025 at 3:13 AM
There are no shortcuts to affordability. stayathomemacro.substack.com/p/there-are-... My new piece argues that the challenge for policymakers now is to support stable, sustainable growth. No quick fixes or gimmicks. We need “some years” of good policy.
Random side thought: I showed someone a few of the very basic #sourmash plots from betterplot that we use regularly to look at relationships between piles of genomes - basic dist matrix/dendrogram, upset, etc. - and they loved them. Sometimes it's the simplest things...
GitHub - sourmash-bio/sourmash_plugin_betterplot: Improved plotting/viz and cluster examination for sourmash
Improved plotting/viz and cluster examination for sourmash - sourmash-bio/sourmash_plugin_betterplot
github.com
December 18, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Random side thought: I showed someone a few of the very basic #sourmash plots from betterplot that we use regularly to look at relationships between piles of genomes - basic dist matrix/dendrogram, upset, etc. - and they loved them. Sometimes it's the simplest things...
After switching my default search engine to @kagi.com, I keep on being surprised when I search for something and get back the beautifully simply kagi page with excellent results and no spammy/incorrect google "AI summary". Highly rec. Note, not a shareholder 😆
December 18, 2025 at 1:45 PM
After switching my default search engine to @kagi.com, I keep on being surprised when I search for something and get back the beautifully simply kagi page with excellent results and no spammy/incorrect google "AI summary". Highly rec. Note, not a shareholder 😆
Reposted by Titus Brown
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
The Americans Who Saw All This Coming—but Were Ignored and Maligned
Call them the Cassandras: the people—mostly not white and male—who smelled the fascism all over Trump from jump street. Why were they “alarmists,” and how did “anti-alarmism” become cool?
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:26 AM
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Reposted by Titus Brown
I'm not sure if people realize the murder strikes are taking place across a large region. It's quite staggering.
www.newsweek.com/map-us-strik...
www.newsweek.com/map-us-strik...
December 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I'm not sure if people realize the murder strikes are taking place across a large region. It's quite staggering.
www.newsweek.com/map-us-strik...
www.newsweek.com/map-us-strik...
Reposted by Titus Brown
So question for single-cell peeps. It seems that ParseBio is even more locked-down than 10x! Is it the case that if I'm not a "registered" ParseBio customer, I can't even access their splitpipe software? Is there any archived version of splitpipe available?
December 17, 2025 at 6:46 PM
So question for single-cell peeps. It seems that ParseBio is even more locked-down than 10x! Is it the case that if I'm not a "registered" ParseBio customer, I can't even access their splitpipe software? Is there any archived version of splitpipe available?
Reposted by Titus Brown
New preprint led by @annaschreck.bsky.social that capitalized on the wealth of publicly available 18S rRNA datasets to explore the oceanic distribution and diversity of understudied anaerobic ciliates. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
A meta-analysis of environmental sequencing data reveals the global distribution and hidden diversity of marine anaerobic ciliates
Anaerobic protists are diverse, ecologically important members of anoxic microbial communities, acting as grazers, nutrient cyclers, and partners in multi-domain associations, yet remain understudied ...
www.biorxiv.org
December 16, 2025 at 4:37 PM
New preprint led by @annaschreck.bsky.social that capitalized on the wealth of publicly available 18S rRNA datasets to explore the oceanic distribution and diversity of understudied anaerobic ciliates. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Titus Brown
I am still actively looking for postdoc positions — please lmk if you (or your friends and colleagues) need a hardworking postdoc with field, lab, and bioinformatic skills!
I am broadly interested in evolution in the ocean, conservation and population genetics, and rapid evolution.
I am broadly interested in evolution in the ocean, conservation and population genetics, and rapid evolution.
Successfully added a few letters to my name last month!!! Truly could not have done this with our villages upon villages 🫶🏼
December 11, 2025 at 1:08 AM
I am still actively looking for postdoc positions — please lmk if you (or your friends and colleagues) need a hardworking postdoc with field, lab, and bioinformatic skills!
I am broadly interested in evolution in the ocean, conservation and population genetics, and rapid evolution.
I am broadly interested in evolution in the ocean, conservation and population genetics, and rapid evolution.
Decided to try out @kagi.com search engine as one of my my Xmas/New Year's behavior changing resolutions. Already enjoying it greatly. So much cleaner than google!
December 17, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Decided to try out @kagi.com search engine as one of my my Xmas/New Year's behavior changing resolutions. Already enjoying it greatly. So much cleaner than google!