Erol Akçay | Lightnews

Erol Akcay

@akcay.theoretical.bio

3.9K followers 3.7K following 330 posts

Ecology, evolution, and social dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania. He/him
https://akcay.theoretical.bio

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Biology 27%

Sociology 16%

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Erol Akcay @akcay.theoretical.bio · Nov 6

I deleted my twitter/X account. I am now only on here and (rarely) on Mastodon.

Reposted by Erol Akçay

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 2d

Macedo and Lee misrepresent what happened during the pandemic and are unable to confront Covid's actual toll, presumably because it undermines their premise.

Congratulations, I guess.

joshuasweitz.substack.com/p/revisionis...

Erol Akcay @akcay.theoretical.bio · 2d

Congestion pricing for Philly now!

Mark D. Levine @marklevinenyc.bsky.social · 3d

Year 1 data on congestion pricing in Manhattan…

* Vehicle traffic: -11%
* Foot traffic: +3.4%
* Storefront vacancy: -0.9%
* Pollution: -22%
* Revenue for mass transit: $548M

So YES this has been a huge success.

Mark D. Levine @marklevinenyc.bsky.social · 3d

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Timothy Snyder, Kim L. Scheppele , and 29 more Anne Applebaum, Timothy Snyder, Kim L. Scheppele, Jan W. Mueller, Richard S.J. Tol, David M. Farrell, Tom Clark, Steve Peers, John McLaren, Rosemary A. Joyce, Jon Green, Martin Tomko, Bruce D. Baker, Robert C. Richards, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Robert Wolfe, Aaron Sojourner, Ben Tonra, Jacob T. Levy, Scott A. Imberman, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, Stephen P. Smith, Erol Akçay, Eric D. Knowles, Daryl Adair, Jeremy S. Pal, Susan Strasser, Karen L. Cox, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Timothy D. McBride

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 4d

Per NY Times’s Michael Grynbaum on X, this is Sharyn Alfonsi’s email to her “60 Minutes” colleagues in full:

News Team,
Thank you for the notes and texts. I apologize for not reaching out earlier.
I learned on Saturday that Bari Weiss spiked our story, INSIDE CECOT, which was supposed to air tonight. We (Ori and I) asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy/opportunity.
Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now-after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.
We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House, and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed
to kill the story.
If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we

have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient.
If the standard for airing a story becomes
"the government must agree to be
interviewed," then the government effectively gains control over the 60 Minutes broadcast.
We go from an investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state.
These men risked their lives to speak with us.
We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their
stories. Abandoning them now is a betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism: giving voice to the voiceless.
CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast. It took years to recover from that "low point." By pulling this story to shield an administration, we are repeating that history, but for political optics rather than legal ones.

We have been promoting this story on social media for days. Our viewers are expecting it.
When it fails to air without a credible
explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of "Gold Standard" reputation for a single week of political quiet.
I care too much about this broadcast to watch
it be dismantled without a fight.
Sharyn

Reposted by Erol Akçay

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 5d

The incompetence is funny right up until you remember they're covering up for pedophiles and sex traffickers

At least 16 files have disappeared from the DOJ webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein

The Justice Department’s webpage for documents related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is missing at least 16 of its files a day after they were released.

apnews.com

Reposted by Will Jennings, Victor Asal, Erol Akçay

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 5d

i uh. do not think this is how the swing Hispanic voter thinks

@Karl I just don’t really think this is a correct model of how people think or work. Imagine a young Hispanic guy living in South Texas. He doesn’t work directly in the oil and gas industry, but he knows that a lot of his customers do. He voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 because he was raised as a Democrat and because Trump seemed like a huge racist. He votes for Biden in 2020. But then in 2024, he flips to the GOP — as we know many Hispanics did — mostly angry about inflation and the cost of living, but also feeling that Democrats have become specifically hostile to the regional economic interests of South Texas. Now a year later, Trump hasn’t delivered on inflation and ICE is doing immigration enforcement in a way that involves a lot of racial profiling and is courting backlash. He’s open to flipping back to Democrats. But he wants to hear that Democrats care about the material welfare of his community and understand the role that energy plays in it.

Reposted by Erol Akçay

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 6d

Easy fix: 🚲

The Backlash Against Car Prices Is Here

There's plenty of blame to go around, and no easy fix.

www.theatlantic.com

Erol Akcay @akcay.theoretical.bio · 6d

“Politically exposed individuals”

Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 6d

🚨 "The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims. Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials. "

h/t @kleinmatic.bsky.social

Epstein files explode open as DOJ details discovery of powerful figures and more than 1,200 victims

EXCLUSIVE: More than a dozen people and government officials' names appear in the hundreds of thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files made public Friday, sources said.

www.foxnews.com

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Brendan Nyhan, Mark D. White , and 11 more Rebecca Solnit, Brendan Nyhan, Mark D. White, Jonathan Hopkin, Alan Richardson, Jacob T. Levy, Tom Griffin, Erol Akçay, Ann Bartow, Aviel Roshwald, Francesco Nicoli, Kevin Grant, Timothy D. McBride, David Darmofal

Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 6d

Epstein files explode open as DOJ details discovery of powerful figures and more than 1,200 victims

EXCLUSIVE: More than a dozen people and government officials' names appear in the hundreds of thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files made public Friday, sources said.

www.foxnews.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, David H. Kaye , and 7 more Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, David H. Kaye, Robert Black, James Grimmelmann, Alan Richardson, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay, Daxton R. Stewart, Stephen I. Vladeck

Jamal Greene @jamalgreene.bsky.social · 7d

NB: When I, a professor of law, profess that an act is unlawful, I am not doing it to inform the lawbreaker, but rather to inform you, the reader.

So the question “what, like you think he cares?” is inapposite. The question is whether *you* care. I think you should, which is why I bother.

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7d

These are the people who are willing to go on the record.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

Tina Davis, who modeled for Ford in the mid-1990s, said in an interview that her Ford booker instructed her to get dressed up and attend a Mar-a-Lago party in late 1994. Just 14 and new to Miami, she was told to “dress sexy,” according to her mother, Sandra Coleman, who had accompanied her to Florida. Eight or nine other models came along on the bus. “All the girls were really young,” Ms. Coleman recalled in an interview. “Some of them could have been in training bras.”

When they arrived at Mar-a-Lago, Ms. Coleman said, her daughter was promptly handed a glass of champagne. She took it away, but waiters kept offering more. Each time one of the middle-aged men at the party approached her daughter, Ms. Coleman would walk over and introduce herself as Ms. Davis’s mother.

During a trip to the bathroom, they ran into Mr. Trump’s new wife, whom they had met earlier. Ms. Maples clasped her hands, Ms. Coleman recalled, and looked her in the eye. “Whatever you do, do not let her around any of these men, and especially my husband,” she told Ms. Coleman. “Protect her.”

Reposted by Melanie C. Green, Erol Akçay

ACLU @aclu.org · 8d

BREAKING: The House of Representatives passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender youth under 18 and put doctors in prison for providing this care.

This bill is an unjustifiable threat to the well-being of trans youth and their families. The Senate must reject it.

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Erol Akçay

Brian O'Meara @omearabrian.bsky.social · 8d

U Wisconsin summarizes the new US travel bans: iss.wisc.edu/dec-16-2025-...

If your institution hasn’t done the same, make sure folks potentially affected know about it. I worry that some international offices might not be on top of this given breaks, yet many people are traveling

#AcademicSky

Reposted by Henry Farrell, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay , and 2 more Henry Farrell, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Stuart Shapiro

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 9d

New, from me: Recently Marc Dunkelman wrote "What the Left Could Learn From Trump’s Brutal Efficiency" in the Times.
I respond here, not to dunk on Dunkelman, but because it represents a mistaken view of governance that progressives are tempted to embrace. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/democrats-...

Democrats need a theory of power, but democracies need a theory of accountability

No, the Trump administration is not a model for how to get things done

donmoynihan.substack.com

Reposted by Katharine Hayhoe, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit , and 67 more Katharine Hayhoe, Elizabeth Saunders, Rebecca Solnit, Richard S.J. Tol, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Scott C. Doney, Brian J. Enquist, Joel A. Thornton, Kimberly A. Prather, Simon L. Lewis, David M. Schultz, Brigitte Nerlich, Will Jennings, Peter Thorne, Brendan Nyhan, Timon McPhearson, Arthur Geßler, Ben Bond‐Lamberty, Wim Thiery, Elizabeth A. Barnes, Ed Hawkins, Mathias Disney, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Baylor Fox‐Kemper, Julie L. Lockwood, Patrick A. Jansen, Rosie A. Fisher, Flavio Lehner, Jonathan A. Foley, Joshua S. Weitz, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, Alan de Brauw, David Johnson, Rosemary A. Joyce, Michael J. Allen, Fabián Muniesa, Gernot Wagner, Adam Gamoran, Daniel W. Drezner, Smith, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Robert Wolfe, Holger Hestermeyer, Dominique Meurs, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Bessma Momani, Suzanne de Cheveigné, Michael D. McDonald, Erol Akçay, David Murakami Wood, Kate Starbird, Jennifer A. Johnson, Mathias Frisch, Alessandro Rigolon, Leah Stokes, Larry W. Hunter, Jack Stilgoe, Richard M. Carpiano, Nathan Richardson, Xavier Molénat, Kate Jackson, Carlos Carroll, Jeannette Sutton, Clark Gray, Annalee Newitz, David Darmofal, Peter Jacobs, Jesse R. Lasky, Anne Hilborn

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 9d

Exclusive: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.

Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado

The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.

bit.ly

Reposted by Elena Litchman, Erol Akçay

Ben Allen @evodynamics.bsky.social · 23d

Hi everyone! I'm co-organizing this retreat/workshop June 15-19 for those looking to get started in mathematical/computational modeling of biological processes. Location is a beautiful farm in NC. Please share with students and others who want to build modeling skills. Interdisciplinarity welcome!

Reposted by Robert J. Geller, Andreas Ortmann, David W. Kerstetter , and 3 more Robert J. Geller, Andreas Ortmann, David W. Kerstetter, Erol Akçay, Daryl Adair, Bruce Buchan

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · Nov 22

🎵 “Join Ice” - @wellesmusic on Colbert

Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Steve Peers, Trevon D. Logan , and 8 more Lisa W. Fazio, Steve Peers, Trevon D. Logan, David R. Miller, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Erol Akçay, Kate Starbird, Olivier Mannoni, Magda Teter, Maria Sobolewska, David Darmofal

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · Nov 20

Any President who calls for the opposition party to be hanged should be immediately impeached and removed from office.

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Hisham Zerriffi

spruce van tree @derek.bike · Nov 19

good morning specifically to Claire Sharpe

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Woman refuses Cycling UK award over trans women being left out

Claire Sharpe says she disagrees with Cycling UK only naming biological women in their top 100 list.

www.bbc.com

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Elizabeth Saunders , and 38 more Joanna Bryson, Jan W. Mueller, Elizabeth Saunders, Nandita Sharma, Jonathan A. Eisen, Joe R. Feagin, Gavin A. Schmidt, Steve Peers, David H. Kaye, Tom Shakespeare, Rosemary A. Joyce, Diane Ravitch, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Anders Nilsson, Susan Hyde, Mary Corcoran, Kevin Carey, Daniel Stone, Daniel W. Drezner, Michael Kevane, Smith, Melanie C. Green, Janet Murray, Alan Richardson, Luis Garicano, John Palfrey, Caroline Fohlin, Erol Akçay, Jason Lyall, Nora V. Demleitner, Mark Rice, Paul Nightingale, Claire L. Adida, Daxton R. Stewart, Aviel Roshwald, Richard Moorhead, James M. Thomas, David Spurrett, Dunlap, David Darmofal, Monisha Bajaj

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · Nov 18

I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.

He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...

Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression

The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay

Mark Peifer (He, him) @peiferlabunc.bsky.social · Nov 18

The fight has come to NC, and it just hit close to home. Our daughter teaches in Durham public schools and she said almost all of the Latinx kids are not in school today. ICE is targeting everyone who "looks Hispanic", citizen or not. I am even more angry today-kids need to go to school!

wilbur looking at the web charlotte wove, with resist woven into it

Reposted by Daniel Webster, Mark D. White, David Rothschild , and 6 more Daniel Webster, Mark D. White, David Rothschild, James Goodwin, Erol Akçay, Brian Keegan, Dana R. Fisher, Mark Rice, Ann Bartow

Jesse Eisinger @jeisinger.bsky.social · Nov 18

NEW: The White House intervened in a DHS investigation.

The target? Sex offender Andrew Tate.

The WH person? Paul “Nazi Streak” Ingrassia.

Who was previously also Tate’s lawyer.

A banger from @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Shapiro

www.propublica.org/article/andr...

Reposted by Mark D. White, Rosemary A. Joyce, Erol Akçay , and 2 more Mark D. White, Rosemary A. Joyce, Erol Akçay, Ann Bartow, Kate Jackson

southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · Nov 18

I’m not going to pretend it’s easy to say something in the moment when you witness the president do this and you’re aboard Air Force One with all the uniformed officers and secret service and fancy wood accents, but this is really an instance where you should. people.com/donald-trump...

Donald Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Who Asks About Epstein Files: 'Quiet Piggy'

Donald Trump Says 'Quiet Piggy' to Female Reporter Asking About Epstein Files

people.com

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · Nov 18

"Quiet! Quiet, Piggy."

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Anna O. Law , and 5 more Joanna Bryson, Shannon Vallor, Anna O. Law, Rosemary A. Joyce, Erol Akçay, Stella M. Rouse, Dan Immergluck, David Darmofal

Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · Nov 16

Here’s a story for every national news outlet:

In N.C., churchgoers are literally running into the woods as federal agents descend on the property.

“Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken.”

www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politic...

6d Listen to this article
Congregants of an east Charlotte church scattered into the woods Saturday when masked federal agents arrived and detained one of their members, according to witnesses.
About 15 to 20 church members were doing yard work on the property off Albemarle Road while their children played games and their spouses cooked meals.
Agents parked just outside a closed gate leading to the church parking lot and ran into the yard, said the pastor, who did not want to identify himself or his church.

The agents asked no questions and showed no identification before taking one man away, whose wife and child were inside at the time, the pastor said. They attempted to grab others, too.
"Right now, everybody is scared. Everybody," he said. "One of these guys with immigration, he say he was going to arrest one of the other guys in the church. He pushed him."
Inside the church, women and children sobbed as they wondered whether their loved ones had been taken. Some yard workers fled into the surrounding woods when officials arrived, including 15-year-old Miguel Vazquez.

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Andrew Curry, Erol Akçay

Cool Bike Art @coolbikeart1.bsky.social · Nov 15

It says it all

Advertising poster promoting cycling for transport featuring four people in a row on bikes. At the top the text says, "You'd be better on a bicycle", and then in a bubble it says "Still [emphasized with big, red, italicized letters] the cheapest, handiest, healthiest way of getting about."

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Timothy D. McBride

🦃Tom Wambsgans’ Second Wife, PhD @drwambsgans.bsky.social · Nov 15

This is important context from Julie K. Brown.

With alt text.

julie k. brown
@jkbjournalist

Dershowitz, who helped Jeffrey Epstein get this sweetheart deal, knows full well that there were almost three dozen dozen girls, ages 13 to 17, who were named in a list that accompanied this plea deal. The final plea PAPERWORK was manipulated to pick just one victim -- and his lawyers made sure they chose the oldest one so that it didn't look so bad. But the girl who came forward first to police was 14 -- and the list of other victims attached to that deal included many young girls.

Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom, Rosemary A. Joyce, Erol Akçay , and 2 more Carl T. Bergstrom, Rosemary A. Joyce, Erol Akçay, Laurent Hébert‐Dufresne, Jesse R. Lasky

C. Brandon Ogbunu @cbo.bsky.social · Nov 14

"What James Watson got wrong about DNA"

By the great Sohini Ramachandran (@sramach.bsky.social) and your boy for The Boston Globe (@bostonglobe.com).

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/14/o...

What James Watson got wrong about DNA - The Boston Globe

The science he helped pioneer consistently undermines his view that genes determine everything about us.

www.bostonglobe.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Nicole Guenther Discenza

Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · Nov 12

I don't think legacy media is reading the room correctly on the Epstein Files. Many of us are asking why they have ignored this story for the last decade? Why did they dismiss all of us who were concerned that Trump might be compromised? And where is their fucking contrition and apology now?

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Erol Akçay, Carol J. Adams , and 1 more Anna O. Law, Erol Akçay, Carol J. Adams, Manisha Sinha

Matt Ford @mford.bsky.social · Nov 12

This isn’t even the stuff they’re trying to actually stop from getting out.

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