Alex Silver
@alexsilverlevy.bsky.social
Postdoc at Penn & Pitt playing with babies & studying how we learn math
Reposted by Alex Silver
BREAKING: The Supreme Court denied an attempt to challenge Obergefell v. Hodges, the case affirming marriage equality nationwide.
Our freedom to marry remains the law of the land.
Our freedom to marry remains the law of the land.
November 10, 2025 at 2:46 PM
BREAKING: The Supreme Court denied an attempt to challenge Obergefell v. Hodges, the case affirming marriage equality nationwide.
Our freedom to marry remains the law of the land.
Our freedom to marry remains the law of the land.
Reposted by Alex Silver
How about we shut down the government for this very popular and specific goal and then, hear me out, we hold out for like a month and a half and then, ok this part is important, after a watershed election where we ran the table, ONLY THEN, fold and don't get the one thing we said we wanted.
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
How about we shut down the government for this very popular and specific goal and then, hear me out, we hold out for like a month and a half and then, ok this part is important, after a watershed election where we ran the table, ONLY THEN, fold and don't get the one thing we said we wanted.
Reposted by Alex Silver
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
GitHub - hadley/genzplyr: dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap. Contribute to hadley/genzplyr development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Do you teach #rstats? Do your students complain about how lame and old-fashioned dplyr is? Don't worry: I have the solution for you: github.com/hadley/genzp....
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
genzplyr is dplyr, but bussin fr fr no cap.
Reposted by Alex Silver
Watching RFK jr run away from someone collapsing feels like a harbinger of things to come
November 6, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Watching RFK jr run away from someone collapsing feels like a harbinger of things to come
Reposted by Alex Silver
Reposted by Alex Silver
I love kids. I have two of them. They’re amazing. However, kids are the absolute least self aware, clumsiest little puffins on the planet.
Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times.
Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀
#PublicHealth
Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times.
Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀
#PublicHealth
October 31, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I love kids. I have two of them. They’re amazing. However, kids are the absolute least self aware, clumsiest little puffins on the planet.
Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times.
Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀
#PublicHealth
Please don’t drive tonight unless you have to, and if you do drive, drive super slow and pay 100% attention at all times.
Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 💀
#PublicHealth
Reposted by Alex Silver
Pennsylvania has an important Supreme Court race coming up on Tuesday, November 4. If you live in the Keystone State, or know someone who does, vote YES to retain three justices who will protect your fundamental rights and freedoms.
October 29, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Pennsylvania has an important Supreme Court race coming up on Tuesday, November 4. If you live in the Keystone State, or know someone who does, vote YES to retain three justices who will protect your fundamental rights and freedoms.
Reposted by Alex Silver
The Senate is still meeting and holding votes as normal despite the shutdown.
The House has not held a vote in a month and a half now solely because Mike Johnson wants to prevent the release of the Epstein Files.
They've killed our government to save their pedophiles.
The House has not held a vote in a month and a half now solely because Mike Johnson wants to prevent the release of the Epstein Files.
They've killed our government to save their pedophiles.
A quick reminder that the House is not in session because Speaker Johnson CANCELED it, not because of the current shutdown.
October 29, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The Senate is still meeting and holding votes as normal despite the shutdown.
The House has not held a vote in a month and a half now solely because Mike Johnson wants to prevent the release of the Epstein Files.
They've killed our government to save their pedophiles.
The House has not held a vote in a month and a half now solely because Mike Johnson wants to prevent the release of the Epstein Files.
They've killed our government to save their pedophiles.
Reposted by Alex Silver
New story up on the non-existent banned words from NIH grants (based on my grant title, word cloud analysis)
www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
1/3
Scientists had to change more than 700 grant titles to receive NIH funding. Health disparities researchers fear what’s next
The titles of more than 700 multi-year NIH grants have been changed this year, according to an analysis by Jeremy Berg, a former agency official
www.statnews.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM
New story up on the non-existent banned words from NIH grants (based on my grant title, word cloud analysis)
www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
1/3
www.statnews.com/2025/10/29/n...
1/3
Reposted by Alex Silver
"Vanderbilt is failing in its moral responsibility to push back against rising authoritarianism and political coercion."
My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy.
www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...
My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy.
www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...
Here's why Vanderbilt's response to the Trump higher ed 'compact' is not enough | Opinion
With the deadline looming for colleges to sign Trump's "compact," Vanderbilt must resist, says one university professor.
www.tennessean.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:32 PM
"Vanderbilt is failing in its moral responsibility to push back against rising authoritarianism and political coercion."
My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy.
www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...
My effort to convince Vanderbilt (and all universities) to take a stand for the rule of law, the Constitution, and our democracy.
www.tennessean.com/story/opinio...
Reposted by Alex Silver
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom
October 23, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Today, the White House Press Secretary told the country that this ridiculous damn ballroom is “the president’s main priority”…not reopening the government, not lowering the cost of groceries, not lowering the cost of housing, not lowering the cost of healthcare….building a ballroom
Reposted by Alex Silver
With millions at risk of losing SNAP in the coming days, a reminder: hunger doesn't happen in isolation. When food assistance disappears, families use rent money to eat. Then come evictions and homelessness.
Housing, food, healthcare—it's all connected. Cut one thread and the whole thing unravels.
Housing, food, healthcare—it's all connected. Cut one thread and the whole thing unravels.
October 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
With millions at risk of losing SNAP in the coming days, a reminder: hunger doesn't happen in isolation. When food assistance disappears, families use rent money to eat. Then come evictions and homelessness.
Housing, food, healthcare—it's all connected. Cut one thread and the whole thing unravels.
Housing, food, healthcare—it's all connected. Cut one thread and the whole thing unravels.
Reposted by Alex Silver
Columbia Psych is hiring *two* junior faculty in Cognitive Science/Neuroscience this year! If you work on cognition (broadly defined), submit your application materials as soon as possible (review starts Nov 1). If you have questions you can reach out to me by email! apply.interfolio.com/175428
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Columbia Psych is hiring *two* junior faculty in Cognitive Science/Neuroscience this year! If you work on cognition (broadly defined), submit your application materials as soon as possible (review starts Nov 1). If you have questions you can reach out to me by email! apply.interfolio.com/175428
Reposted by Alex Silver
"you will be intellectually transformed by the process of reckoning with the knowledge these courses are about"
Essential reading about why learning is important even if/when you forget the specific content (and is especially important in these times)
Essential reading about why learning is important even if/when you forget the specific content (and is especially important in these times)
Newsletter subscribers should have it in their inbox by now news.chanda.science/archive/know...
Knowledge Is Worth Your Time
A few thoughts about why we must embrace the hard work of learning.
news.chanda.science
October 23, 2025 at 3:10 PM
"you will be intellectually transformed by the process of reckoning with the knowledge these courses are about"
Essential reading about why learning is important even if/when you forget the specific content (and is especially important in these times)
Essential reading about why learning is important even if/when you forget the specific content (and is especially important in these times)
Reposted by Alex Silver
VERY TROUBLING NEWS REGARDING NIH INSTITUTE DIRECTORS
A new appointment for NIEHS
1/3
A new appointment for NIEHS
1/3
October 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
VERY TROUBLING NEWS REGARDING NIH INSTITUTE DIRECTORS
A new appointment for NIEHS
1/3
A new appointment for NIEHS
1/3
Reposted by Alex Silver
There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.
America’s children deserve better than this.
America’s children deserve better than this.
October 11, 2025 at 4:51 PM
There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education.
America’s children deserve better than this.
America’s children deserve better than this.
Reposted by Alex Silver
Seeing a lot of celebration of this as a win.
But at NIH we have seen this exact play before.
It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture.
A 🧵:
But at NIH we have seen this exact play before.
It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture.
A 🧵:
Trump Administration Will Rehire Scores of Experts Fired in Error
www.nytimes.com
October 11, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Seeing a lot of celebration of this as a win.
But at NIH we have seen this exact play before.
It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture.
A 🧵:
But at NIH we have seen this exact play before.
It looks like it is the Vought strategy -and to stop the lawless firings we have to see the bigger picture.
A 🧵:
Reposted by Alex Silver
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
October 11, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
Reposted by Alex Silver
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.
It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.
He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’
During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...
chicago.suntimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
Reposted by Alex Silver
Everyone who studies research methods just had an aneurysm
RFK Jr on Tylenol and autism: "It is not proof. We're doing the studies to make the proof."
October 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Everyone who studies research methods just had an aneurysm
Reposted by Alex Silver
twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross
October 8, 2025 at 1:44 PM
twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross
Reposted by Alex Silver
I will not back down.
Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
October 8, 2025 at 1:44 PM
I will not back down.
Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.
What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Reposted by Alex Silver
🚨BREAKING NEWS: Congresswoman files articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. We've been sounding the alarm for months, sending 3k+ quack-o-grams, and collecting 25k petition signatures calling on our reps to impeach & remove RFK Jr.
We’re closing in on him. Help us WIN the fight. 🦆 zurl.co/vkZQV
We’re closing in on him. Help us WIN the fight. 🦆 zurl.co/vkZQV
September 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
🚨BREAKING NEWS: Congresswoman files articles of impeachment against RFK Jr. We've been sounding the alarm for months, sending 3k+ quack-o-grams, and collecting 25k petition signatures calling on our reps to impeach & remove RFK Jr.
We’re closing in on him. Help us WIN the fight. 🦆 zurl.co/vkZQV
We’re closing in on him. Help us WIN the fight. 🦆 zurl.co/vkZQV
Reposted by Alex Silver
800 detainees are missing after being held in Alligator Alcatraz in July, showing no record of their location in ICE’s database.
Other detainees have been mistakenly deported or sent to detention centers thousands of miles away.
The cruelty is the point.
Other detainees have been mistakenly deported or sent to detention centers thousands of miles away.
The cruelty is the point.
September 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
800 detainees are missing after being held in Alligator Alcatraz in July, showing no record of their location in ICE’s database.
Other detainees have been mistakenly deported or sent to detention centers thousands of miles away.
The cruelty is the point.
Other detainees have been mistakenly deported or sent to detention centers thousands of miles away.
The cruelty is the point.