Maddie Bender
@maddiebender.bsky.social
your friendly local public radio producer (based in Honolulu) | science journalist and co-founder @sequencermag.bsky.social
Bylines in NYT, SciAm, Slate, Smithsonian Mag, The Daily Beast, VICE, and others.
maddiebender.com
Bylines in NYT, SciAm, Slate, Smithsonian Mag, The Daily Beast, VICE, and others.
maddiebender.com
Reposted by Maddie Bender
On Hawai'i Public Radio: @hiokinai.bsky.social, author of "In Pieces," an essay published in Places as part of "An Unfinished Atlas," speaks with @maddiebender.bsky.social about the kuleana land her family inherited on O'ahu, and the frictions + fictions of land ownership and belonging in Hawai'i.
Hawaiian family in the diaspora hangs on to Oʻahu land they unknowingly inherited
Hiʻilei Hobart spoke with The Conversation's Maddie Bender about her journey receiving a bill for kuleana land that she and her siblings unknowingly inherited.
www.hawaiipublicradio.org
June 16, 2025 at 10:43 PM
On Hawai'i Public Radio: @hiokinai.bsky.social, author of "In Pieces," an essay published in Places as part of "An Unfinished Atlas," speaks with @maddiebender.bsky.social about the kuleana land her family inherited on O'ahu, and the frictions + fictions of land ownership and belonging in Hawai'i.
Reposted by Maddie Bender
BIG NEWS: @maxlevy.bsky.social's essay for @sequencermag.bsky.social, "I tried to train my color vision. Here's what happened." was selected by editors @jaimealyse.bsky.social and @susanorlean.bsky.social for inclusion in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025.
April 8, 2025 at 5:45 PM
BIG NEWS: @maxlevy.bsky.social's essay for @sequencermag.bsky.social, "I tried to train my color vision. Here's what happened." was selected by editors @jaimealyse.bsky.social and @susanorlean.bsky.social for inclusion in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025.
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Thank you to my editor @shaun505.bsky.social who didn't bat an eyelash when I filed a 2k-word draft though the assigned word count was 1k.
In my defense, who doesn't want to read about the funniest, sweetest, smartest, and most adorable mules and horses?
My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social:
In my defense, who doesn't want to read about the funniest, sweetest, smartest, and most adorable mules and horses?
My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social:
The horses and mules that moved mountains and hearts - High Country News
U.S. Forest Service stock animals are indispensable to trail work on public lands in the West. Trump’s radical upheaval is accelerating the death of a dying art.
www.hcn.org
April 3, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Thank you to my editor @shaun505.bsky.social who didn't bat an eyelash when I filed a 2k-word draft though the assigned word count was 1k.
In my defense, who doesn't want to read about the funniest, sweetest, smartest, and most adorable mules and horses?
My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social:
In my defense, who doesn't want to read about the funniest, sweetest, smartest, and most adorable mules and horses?
My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social:
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Our newest newsletter hits inboxes TOMORROW MORNING! It's overflowing with exciting updates, so be sure to subscribe at www.sequencermag.com today so you don't miss it.
April 6, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Our newest newsletter hits inboxes TOMORROW MORNING! It's overflowing with exciting updates, so be sure to subscribe at www.sequencermag.com today so you don't miss it.
*sung to the tune of Your Body is a Wonderland*
🎵 Your body is a wind instrument
www.sequencermag.com/body-mod-lin...
🎵 Your body is a wind instrument
www.sequencermag.com/body-mod-lin...
Body Modifiers Break the Science of Language
Rewriting the phonetic alphabet in the wake of new bodies and new biotechnology.
www.sequencermag.com
April 4, 2025 at 10:19 PM
*sung to the tune of Your Body is a Wonderland*
🎵 Your body is a wind instrument
www.sequencermag.com/body-mod-lin...
🎵 Your body is a wind instrument
www.sequencermag.com/body-mod-lin...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
I came across an article about school closures from 1958 in an old LIFE Mag. Was struck by the POVs of white students on integration.
This was less than 70 years ago
This was less than 70 years ago
March 13, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I came across an article about school closures from 1958 in an old LIFE Mag. Was struck by the POVs of white students on integration.
This was less than 70 years ago
This was less than 70 years ago
The Trump administration has fired thousands of probationary federal employees. I told the story of one — a plant restoration specialist with Fish and Wildlife who runs a beginner birdwatching program. He was fired on Valentine's Day.
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
In Hakalau Forest on Hawaiʻi Island, these birders of a feather flock together
We first reported the story of Eric-Preston Hamren. He was two months shy of permanent status at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — he got the bad news on Valentine's Day. HPR met him back in Decemb...
www.hawaiipublicradio.org
March 4, 2025 at 9:03 AM
The Trump administration has fired thousands of probationary federal employees. I told the story of one — a plant restoration specialist with Fish and Wildlife who runs a beginner birdwatching program. He was fired on Valentine's Day.
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
On our homepage @sequencermag.bsky.social, we've got a stellar Q&A with @carlzimmer.com about aerobiology and his new book, AIR-BORNE www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...
Carl Zimmer is an airhead. He think you should be one too.
In his new book Air-Borne, the prolific science journalist traces investigations into aerobiology, from famous scientists like Louis Pasteur to the husband-and-wife duo who discovered how bacteria spr...
www.sequencermag.com
February 25, 2025 at 9:19 PM
On our homepage @sequencermag.bsky.social, we've got a stellar Q&A with @carlzimmer.com about aerobiology and his new book, AIR-BORNE www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
NEW: @carlzimmer.com talks with @dsamorod.bsky.social about his new book AIR-BORNE: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE LIFE WE BREATHE, out today. They discussed COVID-19, biological warfare, and the crucial contributions sneeze powder has made to science.
www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...
www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...
Carl Zimmer is an airhead. He think you should be one too.
In his new book Air-Borne, the prolific science journalist traces investigations into aerobiology, from famous scientists like Louis Pasteur to the husband-and-wife duo who discovered how bacteria spr...
www.sequencermag.com
February 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
NEW: @carlzimmer.com talks with @dsamorod.bsky.social about his new book AIR-BORNE: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE LIFE WE BREATHE, out today. They discussed COVID-19, biological warfare, and the crucial contributions sneeze powder has made to science.
www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...
www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...
We're going through stellar applications rn, but please amplify in your #scicomm circles!!! I am lucky be part of a team with co-founders/rats-in-crime @maxlevy.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social who are walking the damn walk when it comes to training emerging science writers
WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT
SEQUENCER'S SCIENCE STORYTELLER MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
We are launching a mentorship program for new science writers. Get published @sequencermag.bsky.social! Learn about science writing at the funniest, coolest popsci magazine around!
www.sequencermag.com/scicomm-ment...
SEQUENCER'S SCIENCE STORYTELLER MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
We are launching a mentorship program for new science writers. Get published @sequencermag.bsky.social! Learn about science writing at the funniest, coolest popsci magazine around!
www.sequencermag.com/scicomm-ment...
Curious about scicomm? This mentorship program is for you!
We're offering scientists and students a chance to publish an article on Sequencer's website.
www.sequencermag.com
February 25, 2025 at 5:55 AM
We're going through stellar applications rn, but please amplify in your #scicomm circles!!! I am lucky be part of a team with co-founders/rats-in-crime @maxlevy.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social who are walking the damn walk when it comes to training emerging science writers
A huge legal hurdle for a $4 billion wildfire settlement in Hawai'i was cleared this week. I wrote about what that means for Maui fire survivors, and why some are now worried about a state-wide insurance crisis: www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
What comes next for survivors, insurers and HECO in $4B Maui wildfire settlement?
A major roadblock to the $4 billion global settlement for the Maui wildfires has been cleared. A lawyer representing victims says it could mean that survivors receive their first settlement payments b...
www.hawaiipublicradio.org
February 12, 2025 at 11:34 PM
A huge legal hurdle for a $4 billion wildfire settlement in Hawai'i was cleared this week. I wrote about what that means for Maui fire survivors, and why some are now worried about a state-wide insurance crisis: www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
OUT NOW:
@maxlevy.bsky.social on preparing for the *inevitable* next pandemic locally, at work, and scientifically.
We're honored to co-publish this with our friends at @thesicktimes.bsky.social who have really led the way on COVID/LC reporting
www.sequencermag.com/inevitable-p...
@maxlevy.bsky.social on preparing for the *inevitable* next pandemic locally, at work, and scientifically.
We're honored to co-publish this with our friends at @thesicktimes.bsky.social who have really led the way on COVID/LC reporting
www.sequencermag.com/inevitable-p...
We Won’t Avoid the Next Pandemic. But We Can Still Prepare.
As the factors that drive outbreaks snowball and Trump dismantles public health institutions, preparedness can come from the ground up.
www.sequencermag.com
February 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
OUT NOW:
@maxlevy.bsky.social on preparing for the *inevitable* next pandemic locally, at work, and scientifically.
We're honored to co-publish this with our friends at @thesicktimes.bsky.social who have really led the way on COVID/LC reporting
www.sequencermag.com/inevitable-p...
@maxlevy.bsky.social on preparing for the *inevitable* next pandemic locally, at work, and scientifically.
We're honored to co-publish this with our friends at @thesicktimes.bsky.social who have really led the way on COVID/LC reporting
www.sequencermag.com/inevitable-p...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Today @thesicktimes.bsky.social & @sequencermag.bsky.social! Great piece by @maxlevy.bsky.social about the drivers of pandemics and how we can better prepare for the next one, even when federal institutions seem to go backward. thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...
We won’t avoid the next pandemic. But we can still prepare. - The Sick Times
When a pandemic begins, so does the blame game. Early days of COVID-19 pointed fingers at wild meat markets and debunked lab leak conspiracies, and that crystallized a long-running narrative that outb...
thesicktimes.org
February 7, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Today @thesicktimes.bsky.social & @sequencermag.bsky.social! Great piece by @maxlevy.bsky.social about the drivers of pandemics and how we can better prepare for the next one, even when federal institutions seem to go backward. thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
We won't avoid the next pandemic, but we can prepare. Yet another @maxlevy.bsky.social and @sequencermag.bsky.social banger , in partnership with
@thesicktimes.bsky.social
thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...
@thesicktimes.bsky.social
thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...
We won’t avoid the next pandemic. But we can still prepare. - The Sick Times
When a pandemic begins, so does the blame game. Early days of COVID-19 pointed fingers at wild meat markets and debunked lab leak conspiracies, and that crystallized a long-running narrative that outb...
thesicktimes.org
February 7, 2025 at 5:51 PM
We won't avoid the next pandemic, but we can prepare. Yet another @maxlevy.bsky.social and @sequencermag.bsky.social banger , in partnership with
@thesicktimes.bsky.social
thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...
@thesicktimes.bsky.social
thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Cool backstory here on how a student's efforts led to the designation of state snails in Hawaii. Ace science journalist @maddiebender.bsky.social reports. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
How a Hawaiian High School Student Inspired Nine New State Animals
Researchers hope the designation of several species of land snails, or kāhuli, will lead to conservation
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 28, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Cool backstory here on how a student's efforts led to the designation of state snails in Hawaii. Ace science journalist @maddiebender.bsky.social reports. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Kind of like my Dairy Queens, Ranked, article, it's always the dumbest most asinine articles I write that generate the most controversy
January 21, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Kind of like my Dairy Queens, Ranked, article, it's always the dumbest most asinine articles I write that generate the most controversy
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Enormous thanks to @caulfieldtim.bsky.social @drandrealove.bsky.social for chatting & to the lovely conference attendees
Thanks to my wonderful team @maddiebender.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social.
If you like the story, please sub free or support our independent work.
Thanks to my wonderful team @maddiebender.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social.
If you like the story, please sub free or support our independent work.
January 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Enormous thanks to @caulfieldtim.bsky.social @drandrealove.bsky.social for chatting & to the lovely conference attendees
Thanks to my wonderful team @maddiebender.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social.
If you like the story, please sub free or support our independent work.
Thanks to my wonderful team @maddiebender.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social.
If you like the story, please sub free or support our independent work.
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Merry Christmas our dear little sequins. This is Sequencer's first holiday season and we just wanted to say thanks for your support and recap a few cool stories. First, @maxlevy.bsky.social and @seamus.bsky.social talk about the best chocolate in the world
www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...
www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...
Nobody is making chocolate like this
What happens when you turn cacao into a microbiology experiment? Some damn good chocolate.
www.sequencermag.com
December 25, 2024 at 5:07 PM
Merry Christmas our dear little sequins. This is Sequencer's first holiday season and we just wanted to say thanks for your support and recap a few cool stories. First, @maxlevy.bsky.social and @seamus.bsky.social talk about the best chocolate in the world
www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...
www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Please subscribe to the Sequencer newsletter, where you'll get thought-provoking writing about waking up covered in blood and what that has to do with science sent directly to your inbox
www.sequencermag.com
www.sequencermag.com
December 12, 2024 at 9:35 PM
Please subscribe to the Sequencer newsletter, where you'll get thought-provoking writing about waking up covered in blood and what that has to do with science sent directly to your inbox
www.sequencermag.com
www.sequencermag.com
this was a joy to edit, @maxlevy.bsky.social is a genius, etc etc. i've said it all before but read his latest!!!
Growing your own chocolate is more difficult than you might think.
To quote @seamus.bsky.social, who quoted the programmer's credo: we don't do these things because they're easy. We do them because we thought they were easy.
Me on *that* chocolate experiment
www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...
To quote @seamus.bsky.social, who quoted the programmer's credo: we don't do these things because they're easy. We do them because we thought they were easy.
Me on *that* chocolate experiment
www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...
Nobody is making chocolate like this
What happens when you turn cacao into a microbiology experiment? Some damn good chocolate.
www.sequencermag.com
December 24, 2024 at 5:02 AM
this was a joy to edit, @maxlevy.bsky.social is a genius, etc etc. i've said it all before but read his latest!!!
Reposted by Maddie Bender
Hat, hat, salmon hat, salmon hat, hat made of salmon, hat made of a salmon which is a fish, after 37 years
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
Salmon hats are back, baby!
We've waited 37 years for this moment.
www.sequencermag.com
November 28, 2024 at 8:01 PM
Hat, hat, salmon hat, salmon hat, hat made of salmon, hat made of a salmon which is a fish, after 37 years
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
Reposted by Maddie Bender
@dieworkwear.bsky.social what do you think
Happy turkey day, salmon hats are back in style (me for @sequencermag.bsky.social) www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
Salmon hats are back, baby!
We've waited 37 years for this moment.
www.sequencermag.com
November 28, 2024 at 8:00 PM
@dieworkwear.bsky.social what do you think
Reposted by Maddie Bender
And @maddiebender.bsky.social needs you to know that salmon hat is so back
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
"No easy way to hold a salmon stash. Therefore, overhead storage for a salmon carry-on."
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
"No easy way to hold a salmon stash. Therefore, overhead storage for a salmon carry-on."
Salmon hats are back, baby!
We've waited 37 years for this moment.
www.sequencermag.com
November 28, 2024 at 8:01 PM
And @maddiebender.bsky.social needs you to know that salmon hat is so back
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
"No easy way to hold a salmon stash. Therefore, overhead storage for a salmon carry-on."
www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
"No easy way to hold a salmon stash. Therefore, overhead storage for a salmon carry-on."
Happy turkey day, salmon hats are back in style (me for @sequencermag.bsky.social) www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...
Salmon hats are back, baby!
We've waited 37 years for this moment.
www.sequencermag.com
November 28, 2024 at 7:51 PM
Happy turkey day, salmon hats are back in style (me for @sequencermag.bsky.social) www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...