Helena Brantley
helenabrantley.bsky.social
Helena Brantley
@helenabrantley.bsky.social
Curious. Spouse. Parent. Daughter. Sister. JerseyGirl in the #BayArea. #GoBirds 💚🦅
I work with academics who write books. 🧐📚🎤
👇🏿”Even small changes, such as explicitly noting “visa sponsorship available” (or not available) in job descriptions, can make a significant difference in promoting fairness and equity in hiring.” — @sonali-m-19.bsky.social and @abankston.bsky.social
Career Advice | From Training to Thriving: Building Systems That Support International Scientists

Universities and professional organizations can take practical steps to remove systemic barriers faced by international Ph.D. students and postdocs in their career planning. https://bit.ly/3LuxbfE
November 10, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
Excited to co-author a chapter on #systemic reforms and #policy change for the #academic #research community in @sonali-m-19.bsky.social's book supporting #international #scientists!

The book will be out Oct 28. Pre-order it @ucpress.bsky.social w/ 30% discount code UCPSAVE30: bit.ly/4oj7DjN.
October 11, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
Some doctoral programmes in the US are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding

go.nature.com/4o63boK
US PhD admissions shrink as fears over Trump’s cuts take hold
Some doctoral programmes are admitting no students at all amid uncertainty about federal science funding.
go.nature.com
October 22, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
In a 3-year journey into 🌍 of publishing, I learned about writing in a new genre, promotions and media literacy and even building a website from scratch- sonalimajumdar.com

🙏 to early praise and encouragement from Fanta Aw, @itaiyanai.bsky.social , Keith Yamamoto & Leonard Cassuto 2/2.
Sonali Majumdar, phD
My non-linear career in healthcare, scientific research and academic administration is undeterred by restrictive systems
sonalimajumdar.com
September 14, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
The pipeline for Ph.D.s out of U.S. universities is shrinking www.axios.com/2025/10/26/p...
The pipeline for Ph.D.s out of U.S. universities is shrinking
America graduates more Ph.D.s than any other country. They go on to invent things, cure diseases and win Nobel Prizes. But admission slots are disappearing.
www.axios.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
Career Advice | From Training to Thriving: Building Systems That Support International Scientists

Universities and professional organizations can take practical steps to remove systemic barriers faced by international Ph.D. students and postdocs in their career planning. https://bit.ly/3LuxbfE
November 10, 2025 at 2:29 PM
“Looking to the shifts within influencer culture can help us understand contemporary changes to labor conditions, compensation, and representation within art worlds.”-- Sophie Bishop, PhD
Happy publication day, @sophiebishop.bsky.social! #influencercreep
#happypubdate #ucpress
Influencer Creep by Sophie Bishop - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 28, 2025 at 1:30 PM
“Part of the Trump administration's online behavior may also be an extension of "influencer creep," said Sophie Bishop, an associate professor at The University of Leeds and feminist media researcher...” #InfluencerCreep
Trump administration wields X like a weapon
Trump cabinet members and his administration's departments use X to hurl insults and push their nativist agenda.
mashable.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:26 PM
“Influencer creep has a particular impact on artists, who in some respects resemble influencers: They both try to make a living by translating their aesthetic sensibility for audiences in distinctive or ingenious or familiar ways.” —Sophie Bishop, PhD. #InfluencerCreep
Influencer Creep — Real Life
Self-documenting and self-branding are becoming basic to all forms of work
reallifemag.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
The @rollingstone.com list of most influential creators is Influencer Creep in action! For many, content creation did not start as their main gig - for example a former Hamptons private chef (@wishbonekitchen.bsky.social) and a former Team USA rugby player ( @ilonamaher.bsky.social).
25 Most Influential Creators of 2025
From streamers and podcasters to OnlyFans models and TikTok megastars, here's the people shaping the culture of 2025.
www.rollingstone.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
“The authors look to #SouthAfrica and #NorthernIreland, both of which saw political change that had seemed unimaginable.” — Prof. Robert Gottlieb #FromApartheid2Democracy #UCPress
From Apartheid to Democracy – a ‘blueprint’ for a different future in Israel-Palestine
New book, published just before the ceasefire deal, describes in granular detail the conditions for dismantling apartheid in Israel-Palestine
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 6:29 PM
“We offer our plan with the utmost humility and deference to those on the ground in Israel-Palestine who have sacrificed and lost more than can be imagined in their struggle for self- determination and liberation from occupation and apartheid.”
— Sarah Leah Whitson and Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man
From Apartheid to Democracy by Michael Omer-Man, Sarah Whitson - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM
“Eventually..,I decided to take my extracurriculars and make them my curriculum.”
— Alex Werth, geographer, DJ, and housing advocate #onloop #ucpress #happypubdate #oakland #bayarea
On Loop by Alex Werth - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 21, 2025 at 2:10 PM
"For decades, privately owned detention centers along borders have made money by confining millions of migrants, then timing their release into low-paid jobs controlled by shadowy ecosystems of agencies." -- Susan Zieger, PhD #logisticsandpower
Logistics and Power by Susan Zieger - Hardcover
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 21, 2025 at 12:12 AM
"Sometimes logistical power betrays its alliance to the state, by moving illicit goods, people, and information without its approval, creating lucrative markets and accumulating even more wealth." -- Susan Zieger, PhD #logisticsandpower
Logistics and Power by Susan Zieger - Hardcover
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 21, 2025 at 12:09 AM
"Capitalism and militarism are the two forces capable of moving goods, people, and information at tremendous scale, speed and precision." -- Susan Zieger, PhD. #logisticsandpower
Logistics and Power by Susan Zieger - Hardcover
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
October 20, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
I think people adjacent to science (but who now find themselves deciding the fate of US science somehow) undervalue humility, valuing braggadocios hubris instead.
Yes it’s true that some scientific discoveries are complete paradigm changers, and we celebrate these. 1/
October 16, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
🙏 to @harmitmalik.bsky.social for sharing tips on mentoring and support international graduate students and postdocs (especially now) in my book 'Thriving As An International Scientist'.

Many international scientists have benefitted from his generosity of support when they most needed it.
This book has never been more timely. Thanks to @sonali-m-19.bsky.social for writing it and for sending me a copy.
October 10, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
Congratulations to new Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado for her courageous struggle to bring democracy to Venezuela.
Live Updates: María Corina Machado of Venezuela Is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
Just got the beautiful cover design of @alisonhopealkon.bsky.social and my companion to our 2011 'Cultivating Food Justice' published by @mitpress.bsky.social It's due out in February next year. Mark your calendars!
October 8, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
"Hope is what 'The Formula For Better Health' is best at giving us with its message that public health still has a place—and an important one—in creating a better world… Exactly what is needed at this moment in time." — @thelancet.com

Out now: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205096...
October 9, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
Bay Area! Join us and @litquake.org on Oct. 11 @ 7 pm at Telegraph Hill Books to celebrate the release of HAIR ON FIRE. This collection of 5 female Afghan Poets is a blazing tribute and a reminder of what we lose when voices are silenced. RSVP: www.catranslation.org/event/litqua...
October 3, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Helena Brantley
This is worth a few minutes of your time.
youtu.be/vOXOWAhFz0A?...
‘F--- them kids’: ICE agents drag children out of bed, ransack Chicago building
YouTube video by MSNBC
youtu.be
October 3, 2025 at 1:59 AM
“The Blueprint argues that the best way to resolve differing views on the future governance of Israel-Palestine should be through a democratic process in which every person in the Territory can participate.” —Michael Schaeffer-Omer Man and Sarah Leah Whiston #fromapartheidtodemocracy #ucpress
From Apartheid to Democracy by Michael Omer-Man, Sarah Whitson - Paper
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
September 30, 2025 at 11:46 AM
“I am offering something more valuable: a view of logistical power that is rooted in history, connected to the present, and aimed at improving the life of human communities and environments.” — Susan Zieger, PhD
#LogisticsandPower #UCPress
Logistics and Power by Susan Zieger - Hardcover
Scholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change.
www.ucpress.edu
September 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM