Nicholas A. Christakis
@nachristakis.bsky.social
Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. Sociologist. Network Scientist. Physician. Author of Apollo's Arrow; Blueprint; Connected; and Death Foretold. Director of the Human Nature Lab: https://humannaturelab.net
Here I am with my daughter, Lenna Christakis, www.lennachristakis.com at the Beinecke Library in 2019. :-)
November 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Here I am with my daughter, Lenna Christakis, www.lennachristakis.com at the Beinecke Library in 2019. :-)
Georgia O’Keefe taking exactly zero crap: “People often wonder why I am reluctant to grant permission for such things; this situation is exactly the type that makes me feel this way.”
More fine letters in the holdings of @yale.edu Beinecke Library:
More fine letters in the holdings of @yale.edu Beinecke Library:
November 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Georgia O’Keefe taking exactly zero crap: “People often wonder why I am reluctant to grant permission for such things; this situation is exactly the type that makes me feel this way.”
More fine letters in the holdings of @yale.edu Beinecke Library:
More fine letters in the holdings of @yale.edu Beinecke Library:
Plus, a bonus: Kahlo mentions the frescos that 'Diego' was so 'happy' to be painting in Detroit. Which, oh, would be this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit...
November 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Plus, a bonus: Kahlo mentions the frescos that 'Diego' was so 'happy' to be painting in Detroit. Which, oh, would be this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit...
Two of the greatest painters of the 20th century, Kahlo and O'Keefe, and OF COURSE it would be hard for Kahlo to find the right flowers for O'Keefe (who, I think, was hospitalized for depression when Kahlo was writing).
November 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Two of the greatest painters of the 20th century, Kahlo and O'Keefe, and OF COURSE it would be hard for Kahlo to find the right flowers for O'Keefe (who, I think, was hospitalized for depression when Kahlo was writing).
On 3/1/33, Frida Kahlo wrote Georgia O'Keefe an incredible letter that I held in my hands at @yale.edu Beinecke Library in 2019.
This brought me to tears: "If you [are] still in the hospital when I come back, I will bring you flowers, but it is so difficult to find the ones I would like for you."
This brought me to tears: "If you [are] still in the hospital when I come back, I will bring you flowers, but it is so difficult to find the ones I would like for you."
November 15, 2025 at 4:31 PM
On 3/1/33, Frida Kahlo wrote Georgia O'Keefe an incredible letter that I held in my hands at @yale.edu Beinecke Library in 2019.
This brought me to tears: "If you [are] still in the hospital when I come back, I will bring you flowers, but it is so difficult to find the ones I would like for you."
This brought me to tears: "If you [are] still in the hospital when I come back, I will bring you flowers, but it is so difficult to find the ones I would like for you."
The UCSD math department administered a test to 138 students in a remedial math class, and 25% of them got this question wrong:
November 13, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The UCSD math department administered a test to 138 students in a remedial math class, and 25% of them got this question wrong:
The Turkish translation of Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society is now out.
Other translations include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Ukrainian, etc.
Other translations include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Ukrainian, etc.
November 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
The Turkish translation of Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society is now out.
Other translations include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Ukrainian, etc.
Other translations include Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, Dutch, Greek, Portuguese, Romanian, Ukrainian, etc.
Plus I did some of my own research on septate junction structure, in one of my first publications (1986): journals.biologists.com/jcs/article-...
I learned how to perform freeze fracture electron microscopy at age 20. And I learned a ton of neuroscience (cellular neuroanatomy).
I learned how to perform freeze fracture electron microscopy at age 20. And I learned a ton of neuroscience (cellular neuroanatomy).
November 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Plus I did some of my own research on septate junction structure, in one of my first publications (1986): journals.biologists.com/jcs/article-...
I learned how to perform freeze fracture electron microscopy at age 20. And I learned a ton of neuroscience (cellular neuroanatomy).
I learned how to perform freeze fracture electron microscopy at age 20. And I learned a ton of neuroscience (cellular neuroanatomy).
I was a darkroom technician for Tom Reese, and many of his classic papers have images I helped create (to optimize for stereoscopic viewing).
My duties also included packing up his lab at NIH every May and driving a huge truck to @mblscience.bsky.social. He taught me how to pack a truck, too.
My duties also included packing up his lab at NIH every May and driving a huge truck to @mblscience.bsky.social. He taught me how to pack a truck, too.
November 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I was a darkroom technician for Tom Reese, and many of his classic papers have images I helped create (to optimize for stereoscopic viewing).
My duties also included packing up his lab at NIH every May and driving a huge truck to @mblscience.bsky.social. He taught me how to pack a truck, too.
My duties also included packing up his lab at NIH every May and driving a huge truck to @mblscience.bsky.social. He taught me how to pack a truck, too.
New report by FIRE (a non-partisan organization defending free expression): "Sanctioned Scholars: The Price of Speaking Freely in Today’s Academy"
thefire.org/research-lea...
Being a target of temporally concentrated calls for cancellation has many challenging implications.
thefire.org/research-lea...
Being a target of temporally concentrated calls for cancellation has many challenging implications.
October 28, 2025 at 4:13 PM
New report by FIRE (a non-partisan organization defending free expression): "Sanctioned Scholars: The Price of Speaking Freely in Today’s Academy"
thefire.org/research-lea...
Being a target of temporally concentrated calls for cancellation has many challenging implications.
thefire.org/research-lea...
Being a target of temporally concentrated calls for cancellation has many challenging implications.
Fabulous conference via @undp.org and @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social on the crisis in worldwide youth mental health. Now featuring David Blanchflower and Jean Twenge.
October 27, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Fabulous conference via @undp.org and @dartmouthartsci.bsky.social on the crisis in worldwide youth mental health. Now featuring David Blanchflower and Jean Twenge.
Now THAT is a serenade. Louis Armstrong plays for his wife Lucille in Egypt, 1961. www.openculture.com/2013/07/loui...
October 20, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Now THAT is a serenade. Louis Armstrong plays for his wife Lucille in Egypt, 1961. www.openculture.com/2013/07/loui...
Fascinating talk at the 2025 NOMIS meeting by Markus Rex on the Mosaic arctic expedition (a year frozen in the ice in the pitch dark).
October 15, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Fascinating talk at the 2025 NOMIS meeting by Markus Rex on the Mosaic arctic expedition (a year frozen in the ice in the pitch dark).
Fascinating work on plant root chemosensing by @rootstrapping.bsky.social at NOMIS annual meeting.
October 15, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Fascinating work on plant root chemosensing by @rootstrapping.bsky.social at NOMIS annual meeting.
Inventive and cool 2020 paper on the universality of facial expressions (and emotions): the occurrence of 16 expressions in 6M videos from 144 countries was examined using machine learning: facial expressions had distinct associations with a set of contexts. nature.com/articles/s41...
@nature.com
@nature.com
October 11, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Inventive and cool 2020 paper on the universality of facial expressions (and emotions): the occurrence of 16 expressions in 6M videos from 144 countries was examined using machine learning: facial expressions had distinct associations with a set of contexts. nature.com/articles/s41...
@nature.com
@nature.com
My afternoon lecture at the Kyiv School of Economics, on Social Network interventions, was interrupted halfway through by an air raid, so we relocated to a subterranean bomb shelter, and simply continued, near some blast doors. This was a common experience for these students and teachers.
September 21, 2025 at 9:10 AM
My afternoon lecture at the Kyiv School of Economics, on Social Network interventions, was interrupted halfway through by an air raid, so we relocated to a subterranean bomb shelter, and simply continued, near some blast doors. This was a common experience for these students and teachers.
The rector, Tymofii Brik, and the President, Timofiy Mylovanov, are pushing this KSE on an impressive trajectory.
September 21, 2025 at 9:10 AM
The rector, Tymofii Brik, and the President, Timofiy Mylovanov, are pushing this KSE on an impressive trajectory.
I was honored to visit the Kyiv School of Economics #KSE this past week, and to talk about social AI and social network interventions. The energy and intelligence of the students was extraordinary — at times crammed into bomb shelters for their classes. And the faculty were creative and devoted.
September 21, 2025 at 9:10 AM
I was honored to visit the Kyiv School of Economics #KSE this past week, and to talk about social AI and social network interventions. The energy and intelligence of the students was extraordinary — at times crammed into bomb shelters for their classes. And the faculty were creative and devoted.
Free speech in the UK -- the origin of liberalism -- is taking a hammering. www.bbc.com/news/article...
September 8, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Free speech in the UK -- the origin of liberalism -- is taking a hammering. www.bbc.com/news/article...
This automated suggestion is entertaining to me in an indirect way.
August 22, 2025 at 2:23 AM
This automated suggestion is entertaining to me in an indirect way.
This quirky 1995 paper found that just as specialist doctors tend to reach for different technologies first in treating patients, they also reach for different ones first when ceasing treatment.
Each specialty preferred to withdraw its "own" form of life support.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Each specialty preferred to withdraw its "own" form of life support.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
August 16, 2025 at 3:20 PM
This quirky 1995 paper found that just as specialist doctors tend to reach for different technologies first in treating patients, they also reach for different ones first when ceasing treatment.
Each specialty preferred to withdraw its "own" form of life support.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Each specialty preferred to withdraw its "own" form of life support.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
In 2018 work, we showed that, during the 2010 financial crisis, when an alternative currency (SARDEX) was introduced in Sardinia, cycles allowing the flow of debt/credit among firms were associated with higher performance of firms and the network as a whole. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 16/
July 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
In 2018 work, we showed that, during the 2010 financial crisis, when an alternative currency (SARDEX) was introduced in Sardinia, cycles allowing the flow of debt/credit among firms were associated with higher performance of firms and the network as a whole. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 16/
Richer individuals are involved in more borrowing and lending cycles. Richer individuals are also more likely to increase their participation in cycles. Moreover, cycle composition (the wealth of alters on a cycle) is an indicator of current and future wealth. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 12/
July 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Richer individuals are involved in more borrowing and lending cycles. Richer individuals are also more likely to increase their participation in cycles. Moreover, cycle composition (the wealth of alters on a cycle) is an indicator of current and future wealth. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 12/
These ideas suggest the importance of geodesic cycle motifs compared to other popular network-based measures (such as centrality) for fully understanding social networks. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 7/
July 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
These ideas suggest the importance of geodesic cycle motifs compared to other popular network-based measures (such as centrality) for fully understanding social networks. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 7/
Social networks have intricate internal structures, including “motifs.”
A little-studied motif is geodesic loops or cycles, where a sequence of nodes in a network returns to itself: Tom–Dick–Suzy–Jane–Tom.
Cycles are important for the flow of information, money, cryptocurrency, or germs. 1/
A little-studied motif is geodesic loops or cycles, where a sequence of nodes in a network returns to itself: Tom–Dick–Suzy–Jane–Tom.
Cycles are important for the flow of information, money, cryptocurrency, or germs. 1/
July 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Social networks have intricate internal structures, including “motifs.”
A little-studied motif is geodesic loops or cycles, where a sequence of nodes in a network returns to itself: Tom–Dick–Suzy–Jane–Tom.
Cycles are important for the flow of information, money, cryptocurrency, or germs. 1/
A little-studied motif is geodesic loops or cycles, where a sequence of nodes in a network returns to itself: Tom–Dick–Suzy–Jane–Tom.
Cycles are important for the flow of information, money, cryptocurrency, or germs. 1/