Colleen Derkatch
@colleenderkatch.bsky.social
Professor/grump. Rhetoric of health & medicine. Books: Why Wellness Sells (Johns Hopkins); Bounding Biomedicine (Chicago). Co-Editor, Johns Hopkins Health Humanities (book series)
Get off the internet and get yourself a crew. Everything will be better.
May 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Get off the internet and get yourself a crew. Everything will be better.
Hahaha I posted and then deleted a reply to you about the Later Skaters. I started skating at 45 and now we old folks meet up all over the GTA most weakens in formal and informal meetups. Skate parks are the new bowling alleys. 🤘🏻
May 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Hahaha I posted and then deleted a reply to you about the Later Skaters. I started skating at 45 and now we old folks meet up all over the GTA most weakens in formal and informal meetups. Skate parks are the new bowling alleys. 🤘🏻
In the rare good-news department, I got an Instagram ad from the Ontario Government late last night promoting measles vaccines. After months of relentless awful news from the US, this official reminder from my own government that vaccines are safe and effective was a balm before sleep.
April 23, 2025 at 1:57 PM
In the rare good-news department, I got an Instagram ad from the Ontario Government late last night promoting measles vaccines. After months of relentless awful news from the US, this official reminder from my own government that vaccines are safe and effective was a balm before sleep.
The autism-as-epidemic discourse needs to stop. Autism is increasingly prevalent largely because it's now better recognized. And because neurodivergent people tend to cluster together, that probably leads to more neurodivergent babies. That's how genes work. (Love this meme, btw ⬇️)
April 17, 2025 at 4:18 PM
The autism-as-epidemic discourse needs to stop. Autism is increasingly prevalent largely because it's now better recognized. And because neurodivergent people tend to cluster together, that probably leads to more neurodivergent babies. That's how genes work. (Love this meme, btw ⬇️)
Just googled for a link to one of my articles and discovered that AI is now presenting pieces of my argument, my intellectual property, as unattributed, machine-digested facts. I hate this timeline.
March 28, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Just googled for a link to one of my articles and discovered that AI is now presenting pieces of my argument, my intellectual property, as unattributed, machine-digested facts. I hate this timeline.
Incidentally, I learned how to build an emergency snow cave and transport an injured person down a mountain this weekend. Escape plan = hatching.
January 6, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Incidentally, I learned how to build an emergency snow cave and transport an injured person down a mountain this weekend. Escape plan = hatching.
We found that the most common topics employed in the petition's arguments against supplement regulation included freedom, choice, health, greed, and nature. These argumentative topics revealed persistent public anxiety not only about health but, surprisingly, also individual agency and autonomy.
December 22, 2024 at 5:19 PM
We found that the most common topics employed in the petition's arguments against supplement regulation included freedom, choice, health, greed, and nature. These argumentative topics revealed persistent public anxiety not only about health but, surprisingly, also individual agency and autonomy.
Okay, wow. The protest was WAY bigger than I expected. And even though we blocked traffic along 3 major routes, people on the street + in cars cheered and waved us on.
November 23, 2024 at 9:12 PM
Okay, wow. The protest was WAY bigger than I expected. And even though we blocked traffic along 3 major routes, people on the street + in cars cheered and waved us on.
Good signs at this protest.
November 23, 2024 at 7:45 PM
Good signs at this protest.
More than 10 years after posting the first image in May 2014, my iPhone is still pretending to not know the word “abortion.” Tech and language are never neutral.
November 21, 2024 at 8:58 PM
More than 10 years after posting the first image in May 2014, my iPhone is still pretending to not know the word “abortion.” Tech and language are never neutral.
On the elusive hunt for balance in life, I was pretty psyched to have won both a research award and a skate contest medal this year. More proud of the latter, tbh.
November 27, 2024 at 8:06 PM
On the elusive hunt for balance in life, I was pretty psyched to have won both a research award and a skate contest medal this year. More proud of the latter, tbh.
Sometimes my research takes me to surprising places and sometimes they're not surprising at all. Somehow I'm going to connect all of this to wellness, health, and optimization. (And maybe I'll become a snowboard guide in the process.) Also, hi, it's been a while.
November 27, 2024 at 8:06 PM
Sometimes my research takes me to surprising places and sometimes they're not surprising at all. Somehow I'm going to connect all of this to wellness, health, and optimization. (And maybe I'll become a snowboard guide in the process.) Also, hi, it's been a while.
Super psyched about the @RhetSTM new books café at @NatComm next week! Come to Potomac 2 at 12:30 on Friday, Nov 17. Books by @SScottGraham_, @voxjohsu, @mm_kessler, me, and more!
November 27, 2024 at 9:41 PM
Super psyched about the @RhetSTM new books café at @NatComm next week! Come to Potomac 2 at 12:30 on Friday, Nov 17. Books by @SScottGraham_, @voxjohsu, @mm_kessler, me, and more!
Actual stalactite in a Toronto subway station. Low-tax city, bb
November 27, 2024 at 9:41 PM
Actual stalactite in a Toronto subway station. Low-tax city, bb
In public arguments against supplement regulation, we found that the most common topics employed include freedom, choice, health, greed, and nature. These topics reveal persistent public anxiety not only about health but, surprisingly, also individual agency and autonomy.
November 27, 2024 at 10:44 PM
In public arguments against supplement regulation, we found that the most common topics employed include freedom, choice, health, greed, and nature. These topics reveal persistent public anxiety not only about health but, surprisingly, also individual agency and autonomy.
The mothership.
November 27, 2024 at 10:44 PM
The mothership.
This morning I got promoted to full professor and then immediately tweaked my neck carrying laundry up the stairs. Everything evens out.
November 28, 2024 at 3:18 AM
This morning I got promoted to full professor and then immediately tweaked my neck carrying laundry up the stairs. Everything evens out.
Promotion application submitted last September. Faculty committee recommendation received April 21. Now awaiting final word from senior admin. I am good at lots of things but waiting isn't one of them.
November 28, 2024 at 3:18 AM
Promotion application submitted last September. Faculty committee recommendation received April 21. Now awaiting final word from senior admin. I am good at lots of things but waiting isn't one of them.
The Royal Ontario Museum has a sense of humour.
May 16, 2023 at 1:49 PM
The Royal Ontario Museum has a sense of humour.
Pretty psyched to be in the May issue of @harpersbazaarus. Check out @shayla__love’s “Ketamine’s Woo-Woo Rebrand” on newsstands now!
November 28, 2024 at 4:52 AM
Pretty psyched to be in the May issue of @harpersbazaarus. Check out @shayla__love’s “Ketamine’s Woo-Woo Rebrand” on newsstands now!
April 12 vs April 18. Couldn’t get close enough for a photo yesterday. 🤢 #LowTaxCity
November 28, 2024 at 5:20 PM
April 12 vs April 18. Couldn’t get close enough for a photo yesterday. 🤢 #LowTaxCity
Are American conservatives...ok?
November 28, 2024 at 10:33 AM
Are American conservatives...ok?
Hate to add to the ChatGPT noise but a colleague and I prompted it to write a hardcore punk song about our university and, well, here:
November 28, 2024 at 12:08 PM
Hate to add to the ChatGPT noise but a colleague and I prompted it to write a hardcore punk song about our university and, well, here:
This person burst out of the building throwing their books in the air as they ran off campus. No notes.
November 28, 2024 at 12:08 PM
This person burst out of the building throwing their books in the air as they ran off campus. No notes.