Starre Vartan
@starrevartan.bsky.social
I'm a Science Journo & Author: The Stronger Sex (Seal Press/Hachette, 2025) Also: Weightlifter, Ceramic Sculptor, Wild swimmer, Ecstatic Dancer, Trailrunner 🇦🇺🇺🇸 dual citizen
Bylines: Nat Geo, WashPo, SciAm (+ pods), my book 👇
🔗 https://tinyurl.com/ye7nrwp7
Bylines: Nat Geo, WashPo, SciAm (+ pods), my book 👇
🔗 https://tinyurl.com/ye7nrwp7
I often play the game where President Harris makes a Trumpian move. Can you IMAGINE if Kamala were president and she moved the WWF Summerslam from Boise, Idaho because she called the Governor of Idaho, Brad Little, a fascist thug (which he is) and didn't like Idaho generally?
November 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM
I often play the game where President Harris makes a Trumpian move. Can you IMAGINE if Kamala were president and she moved the WWF Summerslam from Boise, Idaho because she called the Governor of Idaho, Brad Little, a fascist thug (which he is) and didn't like Idaho generally?
I'm so happy for NYC!!! So proud!! I just cried happy tears!!!
November 5, 2025 at 3:20 AM
I'm so happy for NYC!!! So proud!! I just cried happy tears!!!
Yeah, this is one of those things that I happen to weirdly know a lot about. The reason Connecticut (and Massachusetts, where the company I worked for was based) have such strong regulations around underground storage tanks is that they have SERIOUS dangers. AI overview is correct in this case:
November 3, 2025 at 5:24 AM
Yeah, this is one of those things that I happen to weirdly know a lot about. The reason Connecticut (and Massachusetts, where the company I worked for was based) have such strong regulations around underground storage tanks is that they have SERIOUS dangers. AI overview is correct in this case:
WHY does breastfeeding cut #breastcancer risk? A quick look into the immune mechanisms behind this new research I wrote abt in @nature.com . Good news for moms who can't/don't want to breastfeed AND women like me who are childfree. This research gets us closer to a breast-cancer vax. #womenshealth
October 24, 2025 at 12:23 PM
WHY does breastfeeding cut #breastcancer risk? A quick look into the immune mechanisms behind this new research I wrote abt in @nature.com . Good news for moms who can't/don't want to breastfeed AND women like me who are childfree. This research gets us closer to a breast-cancer vax. #womenshealth
Had so much fun alongside Felicity Nelson sharing our knowledge of Tiktok and how to make science-focused online videos for a variety of platforms at the Australasian Medical Writers Association!
September 22, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Had so much fun alongside Felicity Nelson sharing our knowledge of Tiktok and how to make science-focused online videos for a variety of platforms at the Australasian Medical Writers Association!
The fact that this is now a t-shirt available in my (thankfully very lefty) tourist town!!!
September 14, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The fact that this is now a t-shirt available in my (thankfully very lefty) tourist town!!!
I grew this beauty!! She's just perfect. When she's done blooming I will dry her petals and add them to my chamomile tea for color & flavor & summer's joy, captured.
September 9, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I grew this beauty!! She's just perfect. When she's done blooming I will dry her petals and add them to my chamomile tea for color & flavor & summer's joy, captured.
Why we write books! Love getting these notes so if you have read a book you liked or changed your pov, let the author know!
September 9, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Why we write books! Love getting these notes so if you have read a book you liked or changed your pov, let the author know!
I'm headed back to Australia to co-present a workshop at the Australasian Medical Writers Association on how to make great video content! We'll be teaching how to create effective, interesting, and useful science-based videos for Tiktok, Insta, etc. More: www.medicalwriters.org/events/confe...
September 8, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I'm headed back to Australia to co-present a workshop at the Australasian Medical Writers Association on how to make great video content! We'll be teaching how to create effective, interesting, and useful science-based videos for Tiktok, Insta, etc. More: www.medicalwriters.org/events/confe...
A beautiful morning low-tide beach #ecstaticdance on the Salish Sea - with a lovely mandala! and the fog lifted & the sun came out at the end! #danceeverywhere #beinghuman #summertime #beach
September 8, 2025 at 7:14 PM
A beautiful morning low-tide beach #ecstaticdance on the Salish Sea - with a lovely mandala! and the fog lifted & the sun came out at the end! #danceeverywhere #beinghuman #summertime #beach
The "100,000 Americans" he refers to are deaths due to fentanyl overdoses, right? But that's ALL drugs (there were abt 50K deaths due to opiods, about 83k total, and dropping from highs in 2022). So cocaine, benzos, meth, prescription and antidepressants. All of which are US-made.
September 5, 2025 at 7:09 AM
The "100,000 Americans" he refers to are deaths due to fentanyl overdoses, right? But that's ALL drugs (there were abt 50K deaths due to opiods, about 83k total, and dropping from highs in 2022). So cocaine, benzos, meth, prescription and antidepressants. All of which are US-made.
Absolutely fantastic piece by @meredithwadman.bsky.social on #endometriosis w/sobering (angering!) infographics and how this may be an autoimmune issue. ALSO: a GREAT illustration showing a menstrual cup which is a first for me to see in a magazine!): #womenshealth www.science.org/content/arti...
September 2, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Absolutely fantastic piece by @meredithwadman.bsky.social on #endometriosis w/sobering (angering!) infographics and how this may be an autoimmune issue. ALSO: a GREAT illustration showing a menstrual cup which is a first for me to see in a magazine!): #womenshealth www.science.org/content/arti...
Have been thinking a lot about the AI Weiwei exhibit I saw wth @catbohannon.bsky.social this week. Ultimately I think its a master class in how to fight for good over decades, lifetimes, generations. And fail. And do it again anyway. @seattleartmuseum.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Have been thinking a lot about the AI Weiwei exhibit I saw wth @catbohannon.bsky.social this week. Ultimately I think its a master class in how to fight for good over decades, lifetimes, generations. And fail. And do it again anyway. @seattleartmuseum.bsky.social
Not every day that your book is featured in the cultural/arts weekly published by the progressive paper that helped topple a fascist regime! Egyptian journo Mervana Maher took the time to review my book & Q&A for ElDostor News's magazine. My 1st coverage in Arabic, my great-grandmother's language.
August 28, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Not every day that your book is featured in the cultural/arts weekly published by the progressive paper that helped topple a fascist regime! Egyptian journo Mervana Maher took the time to review my book & Q&A for ElDostor News's magazine. My 1st coverage in Arabic, my great-grandmother's language.
Had a deep & fun (how often do you get both?) convo w/Rosemerry and @cragcrest.bsky.social on the Emerging Form pod. I'm a regular listener to these discussions with authors & creatives, & every episode provides insights...I hope I did the same for others! emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-14...
August 25, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Had a deep & fun (how often do you get both?) convo w/Rosemerry and @cragcrest.bsky.social on the Emerging Form pod. I'm a regular listener to these discussions with authors & creatives, & every episode provides insights...I hope I did the same for others! emergingform.substack.com/p/episode-14...
I also swam in Crater Lake & the Williamson River and a hotel pool in Bend! I LOVE Oregon; lived there for 10 months and def my happiest on the West Coast.
August 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I also swam in Crater Lake & the Williamson River and a hotel pool in Bend! I LOVE Oregon; lived there for 10 months and def my happiest on the West Coast.
On my Oregon vacation I swam in McCredie Hot Springs in the Salt River where I had a great convo with a nudist lady abt local history!
August 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
On my Oregon vacation I swam in McCredie Hot Springs in the Salt River where I had a great convo with a nudist lady abt local history!
Incredible summer vacay in Oregon! Crater Lake National Park was a super-stunner!!!
August 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Incredible summer vacay in Oregon! Crater Lake National Park was a super-stunner!!!
I believe in the power of books. I STILL do, after all these years.
It's not just that books enlightened me & have made me cry & love & scream.
It's that when I wrote one stuffed w/my ideas, people around the world are considering them. NOTHING is more rewarding. From a China-based app Rednote:
It's not just that books enlightened me & have made me cry & love & scream.
It's that when I wrote one stuffed w/my ideas, people around the world are considering them. NOTHING is more rewarding. From a China-based app Rednote:
August 4, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I believe in the power of books. I STILL do, after all these years.
It's not just that books enlightened me & have made me cry & love & scream.
It's that when I wrote one stuffed w/my ideas, people around the world are considering them. NOTHING is more rewarding. From a China-based app Rednote:
It's not just that books enlightened me & have made me cry & love & scream.
It's that when I wrote one stuffed w/my ideas, people around the world are considering them. NOTHING is more rewarding. From a China-based app Rednote:
Just SO incredibly grateful for my Australian citizenship & my recently acquired healthcare there. I went without healthcare for 9 years in my 30s and early 40s. (I could only do that b/c I'm through luck/genes a healthy person.) W/out my Aussie healthcare I would no doubt be sans coverage again.
August 1, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Just SO incredibly grateful for my Australian citizenship & my recently acquired healthcare there. I went without healthcare for 9 years in my 30s and early 40s. (I could only do that b/c I'm through luck/genes a healthy person.) W/out my Aussie healthcare I would no doubt be sans coverage again.
It's my UK pub week! Sporting its gorgeous UK cover 🌺 (It will be out in October for Australia and New Zealand) Many thanks to @atlanticbooks.bsky.social and my wonderful team there! Some good coverage so far & more TK! #ukpubday #chuffed #unitedkingdom #scotland #wales #booklove #sciencejournalism
July 24, 2025 at 7:31 PM
It's my UK pub week! Sporting its gorgeous UK cover 🌺 (It will be out in October for Australia and New Zealand) Many thanks to @atlanticbooks.bsky.social and my wonderful team there! Some good coverage so far & more TK! #ukpubday #chuffed #unitedkingdom #scotland #wales #booklove #sciencejournalism
Well, it's never easy to read a critical review of your work, but it wasn't as bad as my 3am imaginings. And the Sunday Times reviewer also seemed to like the book, alongside her issues, so could be much worse from a center-right UK paper.
July 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Well, it's never easy to read a critical review of your work, but it wasn't as bad as my 3am imaginings. And the Sunday Times reviewer also seemed to like the book, alongside her issues, so could be much worse from a center-right UK paper.
To have my book featured in @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social is a dream come true! Happy weekend!
July 19, 2025 at 12:20 AM
To have my book featured in @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social is a dream come true! Happy weekend!
Wow! #1 in Physiology books! My doctor grandfather, great-grandfather, great uncle, other great uncle and EMT grandma (who my book is dedicated to!) are smiling down on me for this one!
July 18, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Wow! #1 in Physiology books! My doctor grandfather, great-grandfather, great uncle, other great uncle and EMT grandma (who my book is dedicated to!) are smiling down on me for this one!
I'm an amateur photog from a family that's half-visual artists (incl several professional photogs!) & half medical folk. So I did a little photoshoot in celebration of the book yesterday! Order here if you're interested in science-backed myth-busting abt female bodies. bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
July 16, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I'm an amateur photog from a family that's half-visual artists (incl several professional photogs!) & half medical folk. So I did a little photoshoot in celebration of the book yesterday! Order here if you're interested in science-backed myth-busting abt female bodies. bookshop.org/p/books/the-...