Michael Grass
@mgrass.bsky.social
WA via DC, NYC and MI | Assistant director for communications at @cip.uw.edu | Former journalist | Car-free living | 🚎 🚇 🏊♂️ ✍️ 🌲🗺
Attention prospective postdocs: Come work with our team in Seattle!
Priority deadline to apply is January 15. ⤵️⤵️⤵️
Priority deadline to apply is January 15. ⤵️⤵️⤵️
Our team at the @cip.uw.edu is currently seeking applications for up to two postdoctoral scholar positions. Applications received prior to January 15, 2026 will be given priority. Learn more about the positions, salary range, qualifications and application process: apply.interfolio.com/177901
November 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Attention prospective postdocs: Come work with our team in Seattle!
Priority deadline to apply is January 15. ⤵️⤵️⤵️
Priority deadline to apply is January 15. ⤵️⤵️⤵️
This morning in scam emails:
Subject line: "Save $300 on your auto insurance!"
Content of message: "Check out this AI tool to maximize your time-share investment!"
Subject line: "Save $300 on your auto insurance!"
Content of message: "Check out this AI tool to maximize your time-share investment!"
November 20, 2025 at 4:48 PM
This morning in scam emails:
Subject line: "Save $300 on your auto insurance!"
Content of message: "Check out this AI tool to maximize your time-share investment!"
Subject line: "Save $300 on your auto insurance!"
Content of message: "Check out this AI tool to maximize your time-share investment!"
Reposted by Michael Grass
NEW: US airlines (Delta, United, American, etc) will shut down a program in which it sold hundreds of millions of your flight records to government agencies, including ICE, FBI, ATF, more. Comes after intense lawmaker-pressure and 404 Media's months-long reporting
www.404media.co/airlines-wil...
www.404media.co/airlines-wil...
Airlines Will Shut Down Program That Sold Your Flights Records to Government
The move comes after intense pressure from lawmakers and 404 Media’s months-long reporting about the airline industry's data selling practices.
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
NEW: US airlines (Delta, United, American, etc) will shut down a program in which it sold hundreds of millions of your flight records to government agencies, including ICE, FBI, ATF, more. Comes after intense lawmaker-pressure and 404 Media's months-long reporting
www.404media.co/airlines-wil...
www.404media.co/airlines-wil...
November 18, 2025 at 2:14 AM
I'm visiting family in Michigan and this quote out of Cascade Twp isn't surprising: "The barbarians are the people that want to develop and put 7-story apartment complexes in, that want to have low-income housing, that want to have hotels and banks and truck stops.”
www.mlive.com/news/grand-r...
www.mlive.com/news/grand-r...
Residents oppose ‘restrictive’ zoning changes in affluent Grand Rapids suburb
The contentious proposal has residents and officials at odds over what types of businesses and housing density should be allowed in the community.
www.mlive.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:29 AM
I'm visiting family in Michigan and this quote out of Cascade Twp isn't surprising: "The barbarians are the people that want to develop and put 7-story apartment complexes in, that want to have low-income housing, that want to have hotels and banks and truck stops.”
www.mlive.com/news/grand-r...
www.mlive.com/news/grand-r...
Reposted by Michael Grass
Some undeniable truth about misinformation coverage, from @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
November 14, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Some undeniable truth about misinformation coverage, from @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social: www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
One of the strange physiological things that happens when you haven't driven in 5+ years and you're rarely in a car, it's easy to get motion sickness when visiting Michigan due to the "Michigan left" turn. Motorists drive way too fast and make too many sudden turns in this state!
November 14, 2025 at 6:16 PM
One of the strange physiological things that happens when you haven't driven in 5+ years and you're rarely in a car, it's easy to get motion sickness when visiting Michigan due to the "Michigan left" turn. Motorists drive way too fast and make too many sudden turns in this state!
Reposted by Michael Grass
What should worry us about Grokipedia is not that masses of people will come to believe right-wing conspiracy theories, but that far-right supporters will find new rationalizations for their views, writes Carolina Flores.
Grokipedia Won't Destroy Knowledge, but it Might Divide Us More | TechPolicy.Press
Grokipedia might well not dethrone Wikipedia, and media outlets should be wary of inflating its importance, Carolina Flores writes.
www.techpolicy.press
November 13, 2025 at 2:16 PM
What should worry us about Grokipedia is not that masses of people will come to believe right-wing conspiracy theories, but that far-right supporters will find new rationalizations for their views, writes Carolina Flores.
Reposted by Michael Grass
Spokane may adopt a 12% tax on surface parking lots and 6% on garages to fund road and sidewalk repairs. The plan aims to push redevelopment of downtown lots into housing and businesses, reducing blight and car dependence while boosting vibrancy and tax revenue.
rangemedia.co/spokane-city...
rangemedia.co/spokane-city...
Spokane City Council considers taxing commercial parking lots – RANGE Media
The tax would add about $0.50 to a $3.85 parking fee and fund street repair. But it’s not just about revenue, it’s about increasing vibrancy downtown.
rangemedia.co
November 13, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Spokane may adopt a 12% tax on surface parking lots and 6% on garages to fund road and sidewalk repairs. The plan aims to push redevelopment of downtown lots into housing and businesses, reducing blight and car dependence while boosting vibrancy and tax revenue.
rangemedia.co/spokane-city...
rangemedia.co/spokane-city...
Reposted by Michael Grass
NEW on @indicator.media: A first *full-scale* comparison of Grokipedia v Wikipedia.
Last week the awesome @harold.bsky.social rocked up to my desk bearing gifts.
Hal had collected almost all 900K Grokipedia entries and compared them to their Wikipedia equivalents for text and citation similarity.
Last week the awesome @harold.bsky.social rocked up to my desk bearing gifts.
Hal had collected almost all 900K Grokipedia entries and compared them to their Wikipedia equivalents for text and citation similarity.
Grokipedia cites a Nazi forum and fringe conspiracy websites
A site-wide comparison with Wikipedia sheds light on what Elon Musk is trying to do
indicator.media
November 13, 2025 at 1:12 PM
NEW on @indicator.media: A first *full-scale* comparison of Grokipedia v Wikipedia.
Last week the awesome @harold.bsky.social rocked up to my desk bearing gifts.
Hal had collected almost all 900K Grokipedia entries and compared them to their Wikipedia equivalents for text and citation similarity.
Last week the awesome @harold.bsky.social rocked up to my desk bearing gifts.
Hal had collected almost all 900K Grokipedia entries and compared them to their Wikipedia equivalents for text and citation similarity.
Besides all the other annoyances with flying right now, there was someone at Beecher's at Sea-Tac Airport this morning demanding a fresh baguette with a large wedge of cheese they bought and was irked when there wasn't metal cutlery available to cut the cheese.
November 11, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Besides all the other annoyances with flying right now, there was someone at Beecher's at Sea-Tac Airport this morning demanding a fresh baguette with a large wedge of cheese they bought and was irked when there wasn't metal cutlery available to cut the cheese.
Reposted by Michael Grass
Nice piece, and consistent with our findings that misinformation exploits outrage to spread online www.science.org/doi/full/10....
November 11, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Nice piece, and consistent with our findings that misinformation exploits outrage to spread online www.science.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Michael Grass
Quoted supporting our counterparts and friends at the Alaska Earthquake Center. The cost of the U.S. tsunami warning and mitigation effort is really a pittance. None of it has ever been adequately funded in any administration, and now things are worse. ⚒️ www.nbcnews.com/science/tsun...
U.S. tsunami warning system, reeling from funding and staffing cuts, is dealt another blow
Seismic monitoring stations in Alaska are closing after a denied federal grant, risking delayed tsunami warnings for people living on the West Coast.
www.nbcnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Quoted supporting our counterparts and friends at the Alaska Earthquake Center. The cost of the U.S. tsunami warning and mitigation effort is really a pittance. None of it has ever been adequately funded in any administration, and now things are worse. ⚒️ www.nbcnews.com/science/tsun...
Reposted by Michael Grass
“Early calls” are a common focus of rumors about election integrity. They contribute to uncertainty and can feed conspiracy theories about politically motivated “calls” (from one side) and changed votes (from the other).
This is why you don't rush calls: King County has been very transparent (including on here!) about the number of ballots left, but then this happens and some will surely say something shady is happening.
Making calls shouldn't undermine trust! www.kuow.org/stories/kuow...
Making calls shouldn't undermine trust! www.kuow.org/stories/kuow...
November 8, 2025 at 12:31 AM
“Early calls” are a common focus of rumors about election integrity. They contribute to uncertainty and can feed conspiracy theories about politically motivated “calls” (from one side) and changed votes (from the other).
Reposted by Michael Grass
Perhaps relevant today, a framework for understanding how many election rumors mislead.
The 2024 election is upon us. Millions of ballots have already been cast. Mail-in ballots are being returned. Early voting is taking place. And dozens of rumors are spreading. So, let me re-introduce our framework for diagnosing how many “evidence-based” rumors mislead:
November 4, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Perhaps relevant today, a framework for understanding how many election rumors mislead.
Reposted by Michael Grass
25% of US GDP is recovering from climate disasters - but this isn't growth.
a trillion dollars a year spent on cleaning up & rebuilding from climate disasters is a trillion dollars not spent on driving down climate emissions. rebuilding also increases emissions
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
a trillion dollars a year spent on cleaning up & rebuilding from climate disasters is a trillion dollars not spent on driving down climate emissions. rebuilding also increases emissions
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Disaster Recovery Is an $8 Trillion Driver of US Growth
Investors are on the hunt for companies powering the disaster industrial complex, which are fueling US growth and outpacing the S&P 500
www.bloomberg.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:03 PM
25% of US GDP is recovering from climate disasters - but this isn't growth.
a trillion dollars a year spent on cleaning up & rebuilding from climate disasters is a trillion dollars not spent on driving down climate emissions. rebuilding also increases emissions
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
a trillion dollars a year spent on cleaning up & rebuilding from climate disasters is a trillion dollars not spent on driving down climate emissions. rebuilding also increases emissions
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Reposted by Michael Grass
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
October 24, 2025 at 12:47 AM
1. We ( @jbakcoleman.bsky.social, @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @jevinwest.bsky.social, and I) have a new preprint up on the arXiv.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
There we explore how social media companies and other online information technology firms are able to manipulate scientific research about the effects of their products.
Reposted by Michael Grass
We turned our pain into a research paper… documenting how our collaborative research team (which included researchers at a public university) navigated a slew of public records requests (by some of the same folks who have since turned their attention towards attacking academia more broadly).
I'll be at #CSCW2025 presenting a paper on the impact of public records (FOIA) requests on multi-stakeholder collaborations — co-authored with Rachel Moran, @emmaspiro.bsky.social, and @katestarbird.bsky.social: dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Privacy versus Transparency: Navigating Public Records Requests and Adversarial Dynamics in a Distributed Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration | Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Public records laws are standard for state and federal governments across the U.S.
Such laws rest on the core notion that transparency, enacted through access to governmental
documentation, will ensur...
dl.acm.org
October 17, 2025 at 4:31 PM
We turned our pain into a research paper… documenting how our collaborative research team (which included researchers at a public university) navigated a slew of public records requests (by some of the same folks who have since turned their attention towards attacking academia more broadly).
Reposted by Michael Grass
Check out this recent @seattletimes.com op-ed by @cip.uw.edu research manager @danielletomson.bsky.social ⤵️⤵️⤵️
In today’s @seattletimes.com, I share my concept of the Authenticity Gap, when our stories and experiences don’t align. Now more than ever, we need a new generation of sensemakers willing to explain things as they are, while roadmapping where we would like to go.
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/in-t...
www.seattletimes.com/opinion/in-t...
In today's world, we need real stories, not just facts | Op-Ed
Human beings want their explanations of the world to feel real. Yet that desire for authenticity, for something that feels true, can be easily exploited.
www.seattletimes.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Check out this recent @seattletimes.com op-ed by @cip.uw.edu research manager @danielletomson.bsky.social ⤵️⤵️⤵️
Reposted by Michael Grass
Our ability to comprehend daily events has been corrupted by a toxic info environment where political & attentional dynamics distort & manipulate our “collective sensemaking” processes. Our “official” sources are now products of that same environment. Reality fractures, along with the social fabric.
September 13, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Our ability to comprehend daily events has been corrupted by a toxic info environment where political & attentional dynamics distort & manipulate our “collective sensemaking” processes. Our “official” sources are now products of that same environment. Reality fractures, along with the social fabric.
Reposted by Michael Grass
The Federal Way Link is a southern extension of Seattle’s 1 Line. 2 Line’s connection to Bellevue will open in early 2026. At that point, will Seattle’s light rail become the nation’s most-ridden system? Right now it’s tied for #4 with SF Muni.
August 28, 2025 at 10:05 PM
The Federal Way Link is a southern extension of Seattle’s 1 Line. 2 Line’s connection to Bellevue will open in early 2026. At that point, will Seattle’s light rail become the nation’s most-ridden system? Right now it’s tied for #4 with SF Muni.
Reposted by Michael Grass
Hi Seattle! Come see my talk on the history of human-computer interaction. I'll explain U.S. gov funding of science has led to many of the innovations that power our economy & shape our lives — and call out the short-sightedness & hypocrisy of efforts to defund science in this field & so many others
Seattle! We're joining the Summer of Science with our first teach-in. Join us at Obec brewing and meet Dr. @katestarbird.bsky.social
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August 27, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Hi Seattle! Come see my talk on the history of human-computer interaction. I'll explain U.S. gov funding of science has led to many of the innovations that power our economy & shape our lives — and call out the short-sightedness & hypocrisy of efforts to defund science in this field & so many others
Reposted by Michael Grass
I wrote an unusually strongly worded thing about the transit crisis in Pennsylvania, which is coming soon to Oregon and Illinois. humantransit.org/2025/08/the-...
The Fall of Philadelphia — Human Transit
The Pennsylvania State Senate has decided that the transit system of America’s fifth largest city should be substantially destroyed. Similar dramas are playing out in Illinois, Oregon, and Rhode Isla...
humantransit.org
August 22, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I wrote an unusually strongly worded thing about the transit crisis in Pennsylvania, which is coming soon to Oregon and Illinois. humantransit.org/2025/08/the-...
Reposted by Michael Grass
I love how this NextDoor user singles out Mercer Street—Seattle’s premiere adaptive signals implementation—as a corridor in desperate need of signal synchronization.
August 14, 2025 at 10:44 PM
I love how this NextDoor user singles out Mercer Street—Seattle’s premiere adaptive signals implementation—as a corridor in desperate need of signal synchronization.