Courtney Pollack
@cpollack.bsky.social
Here for Somerville politics, science, and social justice. Working to advance science. Runner, reader, lover of parks & pups. Opinions mine.
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
Honestly, it is always an honor to talk with @dahlialithwick.bsky.social on her show Amicus. She is so perceptive, brilliant, and curious all at once.
Here we are trying to g to make sense of another year, and ringing alarms early for the upcoming year.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Here we are trying to g to make sense of another year, and ringing alarms early for the upcoming year.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
December 14, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Honestly, it is always an honor to talk with @dahlialithwick.bsky.social on her show Amicus. She is so perceptive, brilliant, and curious all at once.
Here we are trying to g to make sense of another year, and ringing alarms early for the upcoming year.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
Here we are trying to g to make sense of another year, and ringing alarms early for the upcoming year.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...
One of my fave articles of the year came out just this week.
I have an essay in @theargument.bsky.social today, diving into the science on gender differences and making the case that, Mars and Venus style arguments aside, biological essentialism isn't well-supported by the evidence.
www.theargumentmag.com/p/the-forbid...
www.theargumentmag.com/p/the-forbid...
The forbidden truth about sex differences
Mars and Venus in retrograde
www.theargumentmag.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
One of my fave articles of the year came out just this week.
This is a great episode!
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:20 AM
This is a great episode!
Share far and wide!
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Share far and wide!
Someone can 'love America, love Israel, and love Jesus' and not love Jewish people. I think many conservative white Jews think they are in the club, but they are not. I wish more of them realized.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
November 2, 2025 at 3:12 AM
Someone can 'love America, love Israel, and love Jesus' and not love Jewish people. I think many conservative white Jews think they are in the club, but they are not. I wish more of them realized.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
One of the main things about not strongly & immediately opposing fascism is that normalizing it creates a permission structure for antisemites (racists, xenophobes, misogynists, etc.) to say & do the things they’ve always thought but were once too embarrassed to say & do in public. And here we are.
Wow: Beyond institutionalizing actual violence by ICE & the murders on the high seas, in terms of vibes we’ve gone beyond embracing the Nazi aesthetic & the hate speech and now we’ve moved onto school, kids celebrating Auschwitz itself!?!?! Had to look it up because I couldn’t believe it was true:
November 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
One of the main things about not strongly & immediately opposing fascism is that normalizing it creates a permission structure for antisemites (racists, xenophobes, misogynists, etc.) to say & do the things they’ve always thought but were once too embarrassed to say & do in public. And here we are.
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
Hey Somerville! If you haven't voted early or by mail, your last chance to do so is TUESDAY.
Please go out and do democracy while we still have it.
I've been thinking a lot about state power recently, and wanted to share a few of those thoughts. 1/?
Please go out and do democracy while we still have it.
I've been thinking a lot about state power recently, and wanted to share a few of those thoughts. 1/?
October 30, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Hey Somerville! If you haven't voted early or by mail, your last chance to do so is TUESDAY.
Please go out and do democracy while we still have it.
I've been thinking a lot about state power recently, and wanted to share a few of those thoughts. 1/?
Please go out and do democracy while we still have it.
I've been thinking a lot about state power recently, and wanted to share a few of those thoughts. 1/?
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
We know times are tough and money is tight right now. Please check out these local resources for food assistance if you find yourself in need. Solidarity, not charity.
Reach out to MAMAS if you need further assistance through our hotline: (339) 545-1315 or email us at: askyourmamas@gmail.com.
Reach out to MAMAS if you need further assistance through our hotline: (339) 545-1315 or email us at: askyourmamas@gmail.com.
October 30, 2025 at 1:42 AM
We know times are tough and money is tight right now. Please check out these local resources for food assistance if you find yourself in need. Solidarity, not charity.
Reach out to MAMAS if you need further assistance through our hotline: (339) 545-1315 or email us at: askyourmamas@gmail.com.
Reach out to MAMAS if you need further assistance through our hotline: (339) 545-1315 or email us at: askyourmamas@gmail.com.
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
I'm grateful for the endorsement of Senator @edmarkey.bsky.social in this race & to know that as Somerville's next mayor I will have the federal support necessary to best serve our community. This colloboration will be critical to defend our rights, fully fund our schools, & improve city services.
October 28, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I'm grateful for the endorsement of Senator @edmarkey.bsky.social in this race & to know that as Somerville's next mayor I will have the federal support necessary to best serve our community. This colloboration will be critical to defend our rights, fully fund our schools, & improve city services.
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
I made an image of all the art posted by US DOL on X since approximately Labor Day
October 26, 2025 at 1:07 AM
I made an image of all the art posted by US DOL on X since approximately Labor Day
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
Shutdown Assistance Map - Resources for Furloughed/Excepted Federal Workers - MyFEDBenefits myfedbenefitshelp.com/shutdown-ass...
Shutdown Assistance Map - Resources for Furloughed/Excepted Federal Workers - MyFEDBenefits
ShareTweetSharePin0 Shares
myfedbenefitshelp.com
October 26, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Shutdown Assistance Map - Resources for Furloughed/Excepted Federal Workers - MyFEDBenefits myfedbenefitshelp.com/shutdown-ass...
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
For those who don’t intimately understand how news works and why Bari Weiss’s unearned elevation to head of CBS News matters, I’d recommend watching this in entirety. Also, will forever point out irony of how an admitted DEI hire thinks her hire was meritorious while Black people’s aren’t.
Holy shit go off John Oliver youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ?...
Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
YouTube video by LastWeekTonight
youtu.be
October 13, 2025 at 2:32 PM
For those who don’t intimately understand how news works and why Bari Weiss’s unearned elevation to head of CBS News matters, I’d recommend watching this in entirety. Also, will forever point out irony of how an admitted DEI hire thinks her hire was meritorious while Black people’s aren’t.
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
♥️ Not even a nor’easter can stop us!
Another incredible, intergenerational HONK! parade, marching for affordable housing with the Somerville Community Land Trust.
Another incredible, intergenerational HONK! parade, marching for affordable housing with the Somerville Community Land Trust.
October 12, 2025 at 6:46 PM
♥️ Not even a nor’easter can stop us!
Another incredible, intergenerational HONK! parade, marching for affordable housing with the Somerville Community Land Trust.
Another incredible, intergenerational HONK! parade, marching for affordable housing with the Somerville Community Land Trust.
This is the way
This is the genius of the Portland protests - they make the claims of lawlessness look not just wrong, but comical
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
October 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
This is the way
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
This piece is just an essential, important and excellent intervention as Coates' Vanity Fair essay was. One NYT column isn't that important, but an accommodationist mindset has spread in center-left elite circles. And it should be rejected forcefully. democracyamericana.com/posts/c5d024...
Where Is the Line?
On Ezra Klein, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and the struggle to define the boundaries of what is acceptable in America
democracyamericana.com
October 5, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This piece is just an essential, important and excellent intervention as Coates' Vanity Fair essay was. One NYT column isn't that important, but an accommodationist mindset has spread in center-left elite circles. And it should be rejected forcefully. democracyamericana.com/posts/c5d024...
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
This year we observe banned books week from October 5th-11th to draw attention to the harmful rise of book censorship across the country. Pictured here are just some of the challenged titles of the thousands being removed from schools and libraries in the US. Read banned books!
October 6, 2025 at 12:15 AM
This year we observe banned books week from October 5th-11th to draw attention to the harmful rise of book censorship across the country. Pictured here are just some of the challenged titles of the thousands being removed from schools and libraries in the US. Read banned books!
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
ICE is running around Chicago harassing people for not being white.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
South Shore Residents Return To Ransacked Apartments After ICE Raid: 'It Looks Like Hell'
A "now renting" sign outside touts granite countertops. Inside, residents are trying to make sense of the raid that made their already neglected building even worse.
blockclubchicago.org
October 2, 2025 at 11:58 PM
ICE is running around Chicago harassing people for not being white.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
Just a year ago, that was illegal in the United States and now it’s commonplace.
That’s not making America great again.
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
Haven’t read the piece yet. But it may be he best description I’ve heard of Klein generally.
I really appreciated this thoughtful piece about Ta-Nehisi Coates & Ezra Klein. Andrea Pitzer says “lost” folks like Klein “don’t have a clear idea how this moment fits into history and what it is exactly that they’re doing”. [degenerateart.beehiiv.com]
You don’t have to swallow frogs
Klein and Coates show that if you don’t know what your core beliefs are, you’re going to get played.
degenerateart.beehiiv.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Haven’t read the piece yet. But it may be he best description I’ve heard of Klein generally.
I'm beyond excited that Thomas Zimmer is back. His analyses are always excellent. Check out his work!
steady.page/democracyame...
steady.page/democracyame...
September 25, 2025 at 11:58 AM
I'm beyond excited that Thomas Zimmer is back. His analyses are always excellent. Check out his work!
steady.page/democracyame...
steady.page/democracyame...
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
This weekend marked an “acceleration of ICE activity,” according to city spokeswoman Denise Taylor.
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social
Amid ICE surge, Somerville becomes a focal point for arrests
City officials say federal agents are targeting the local Brazilian community.
www.wgbh.org
September 23, 2025 at 9:38 PM
This weekend marked an “acceleration of ICE activity,” according to city spokeswoman Denise Taylor.
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2... @gbhnews.bsky.social
Reposted by Courtney Pollack
For the past 53 hours we have been trying to identify the man who was racially-profiled and abducted by ICE agents in East Somerville this past Saturday — his family and co-workers have now come forward to identify him as Magdaleno Pineda Avelar. More here: www.cambridgeday.com/2025/09/20/s...
Somervillian here legally stayed to talk with Ice and was taken anyway, state and local officials say (updated) - Cambridge Day
A federal agent is heard on video saying a man “fit exactly the description of the problem we’re here to address” before taking him away. A protest is planned for Saturday night at the hotel where age...
www.cambridgeday.com
September 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
For the past 53 hours we have been trying to identify the man who was racially-profiled and abducted by ICE agents in East Somerville this past Saturday — his family and co-workers have now come forward to identify him as Magdaleno Pineda Avelar. More here: www.cambridgeday.com/2025/09/20/s...
Is the City of Somerville making our lives better? Yes! One way is with accessible crosswalks.
September 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Is the City of Somerville making our lives better? Yes! One way is with accessible crosswalks.