Stephanie M. Lee
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Stephanie M. Lee
@stephaniemlee.bsky.social
15K followers 1.2K following 230 posts
Senior writer at @chronicle.com, writing about scholarship, scholars, and society. stephanie.lee@chronicle.com / Signal: stephaniemlee.07 / stephaniemlee.com / San Francisco
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stephaniemlee.bsky.social
Stephanie M. Lee @stephaniemlee.bsky.social · Nov 12
Hi! I'm at The Chronicle of Higher Education, where I write about debates and interesting people in the world of academic research. I used to be an investigative science reporter at BuzzFeed News.

My latest story: www.chronicle.com/article/jona...

I'm always looking for ideas — DM/email me!
Jonathan Haidt Started a Social-Media War. Did He Win?
When a study challenged his bestselling book’s thesis — that social media harms kids — the New York University psychologist fired back. That was just the beginning.
www.chronicle.com
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
jim.londoncentric.media
I like how the caption on this photo reads as if he's making a claim that could not be independently verified.
November 6, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
malar0ne.bsky.social
I spoke to CNN about how demoralizing it was to watch Stanford leadership stay silent while contrarians on campus launched unscientific attacks to stifle Stanford researchers. Now, those attacks have gone nationwide and much of MAHA leadership have ties to Stanford.

www.cnn.com/2025/11/08/p...
The Trump-MAHA-Stanford nexus of US health policy | CNN Politics
In early 2022, Stanford medical student Santiago Sanchez set out to organize a campus debate with Jay Bhattacharya — a professor at the university whose outspoken denunciations of pandemic lockdowns m...
www.cnn.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
crampell.bsky.social
now they've done it www.wsj.com/world/europe...
Italian Pasta Is Poised to Disappear From American Grocery Shelves
The Trump administration is set to impose duties of 107% on Italian pasta imports, among most punitive of the tariffs it has levied.
www.wsj.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
carlzimmer.com
James Watson has died. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/s...
James Watson, Co-Discoverer of the Structure of DNA, Is Dead at 97
www.nytimes.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:43 PM
stephaniemlee.bsky.social
"Cornell is the fourth institution to achieve an agreement with the Trump administration to restore federal money, following Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Brown University." www.chronicle.com/article/corn...
Cornell Will Pay $60 Million and Provide Admissions Data in Deal to Restore Federal Funding
The university, which had seen hundreds of millions of dollars frozen, said the deal “will enable us to return to our teaching and research in restored partnership with federal agencies.”
www.chronicle.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
museumofloot.bsky.social
Denver Post confirms what we’ve been hearing: nearly all federal HSI agents with expertise on cultural property crimes have been reassigned to immigration duties in recent months.

Major loss of law enforcement capabilities in the world’s largest art market.

www.denverpost.com/2025/11/06/u...
The U.S. was a leader in cultural heritage investigations. Now those agents are working immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Investigations, the department’s investigative arm, once had as many as eight agents in its New York office investigating cultural property cases.
www.denverpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
adriennelu.bsky.social
Every faculty member should read this @bethmcmurtrie.bsky.social story on how faculty are and aren’t using AI www.chronicle.com/article/ai-h...
AI Has Joined the Faculty
More instructors are teaching with it. Is it making their courses better or dragging the profession down?
www.chronicle.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
condeunion.bsky.social
Breaking News: Late last night Conde Nast illegally fired 4 union organizers who asked company execs to explain the downsizing of Teen Vogue and continued layoffs. We’ve filed a grievance.
Statement from The NewsGuild of New York and Condé United on illegal firing of four union leaders who demanded answers about this week’s layoffs at Teen Vogue, other brands Late Wednesday night, Condé Nast’s VP of Labor Relations notified the Guild that the Company was immediately terminating four Condé United leaders for engaging in the protected concerted activity of gathering in their 1 World Trade Center office to demand answers on this week’s abrupt layoffs at multiple brands including WIRED and the consolidation at Teen Vogue. These egregious terminations are a flagrant breach of the Just Cause terms of our contract and an unprecedented violation of their federally protected rights as union members to participate in a collective action. Through these illegal terminations, Condé Nast management is attempting to intimidate and silence our members' advocacy for the courageous cultural and political journalism of Teen Vogue, as well as diverting attention away from the obvious lack of corporate leadership at the company. Condé United members illegally fired are: Alma Avalle: Writer, digital producer at Bon Appetit; NewsGuild of New York first vice president, trans activist, and union leader Jake Lahut: Wired senior reporter covering the Trump White House Jasper Lo: Senior fact checker at The New Yorker and US Army veteran: outgoing first vice chair of The New Yorker Union Ben Dewey: Videographer at Condé Nast Entertainment, former vice chair of the CNE unit “Management’s attempt at union-busting, using intimidation and grossly illegal tactics to try to suppress protected union activity, will not stand,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “The NewsGuild of New York has zero tolerance for bad bosses who harass, target and disrespect our fellow Guild members. We represent nearly 6,000 media workers across the tri-state area and we stand firmly in solidarity, ready to fight for the rights of our members illegally fired from their jobs at …
November 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
apnews.com
BREAKING: California voters have approved a new U.S. House map designed to boost Democrats in 2026, aiming to blunt GOP changes elsewhere.

Follow AP for live updates.
Live updates: US voters head to the polls in first general election since Trump's return to power
One year after Donald Trump retook the presidency, 2025 Election Day includes closely watched races for New York City mayor, New Jersey governor and California's Proposition 50.
bit.ly
November 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
nbcnews.com
BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC
November 5, 2025 at 2:33 AM
stephaniemlee.bsky.social
"More than 60 professors and others up and down the state say they are suppressing their work and feel anxious about causing political problems for their campus, or that their own teaching will lead to hostility against themselves. Some say it’s already happened." www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...
UC professors censor their own classes waiting for Trump’s crackdown, court filings show
New court filings reveal University of California professors are altering lessons, canceling talks and avoiding sensitive topics as the Trump administration’s crackdown intensifies.
www.sfchronicle.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
lizzylawrence.bsky.social
Story has more details now about Tidmarsh's feud with biotech investor Kevin Tang. Tang's company sued Tidmarsh today, accusing him of a "longstanding personal vendetta":
lizzylawrence.bsky.social Lizzy Lawrence @lizzylawrence.bsky.social · 8d
BREAKING: FDA’s top drug regulator George Tidmarsh has been placed on leave after being accused of abusing his regulatory authority - but also after he questioned the commissioner's plan to speed approvals, and clashed with Vinay Prasad. More here:
www.statnews.com/2025/11/02/f...
FDA’s top drug regulator placed on leave amid investigation
George Tidmarsh, the FDA's top drug regulator, has been placed on leave after being accused of abusing his regulatory authority, STAT has learned.
www.statnews.com
November 2, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
jasonleopold.bsky.social
🚨 EXPLOSIVE NEW investigation: We uncovered previously undisclosed details about an 18-month money laundering investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that took place alongside the 2007 sex crimes probe, according to emails obtained from Epstein's personal Yahoo account
🎁 www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
Jeffrey Epstein Went to War Over Money Laundering Probe in 2007 Sex Case
Federal prosecutors opened a financial-crimes investigation into Jeffrey Epstein in 2007 amid their larger sex-trafficking probe. The financier and his legal team waged a war against them, his emails ...
www.bloomberg.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
haleaziz.bsky.social
Alejandro Juarez was supposed to be transferred to an ICE facility in Arizona.

He has a court hearing in October.

Instead, DHS put him on the wrong plane -- and deported him to Mexico.

One of the craziest stories I've reported w/
@luisferre7.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/n...
How a Former Trump Golf Club Worker Was Mistakenly Deported to Mexico
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
sciencewriting.bsky.social
Covering federal science funding? Check out the tipsheet from our Connector Chat with @stephaniemlee.bsky.social, @katherinejwu.com, and @scott-delaney.bsky.social, which includes a recording, tips for navigating Grant Witness, and lots of online resources.

connector.casw.org/tip-sheet-ho...
Tip Sheet: How To Cover Ongoing Chaos in Science Funding - CASW Connector
CASW Connector hosted a Chat, Oct. 9, 2025, on how journalists can cover science funding freezes, cuts and reinstatements during Trump 2.0.
connector.casw.org
October 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
caitlingilbert.bsky.social
I’m crying

www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
He is, instead, a 59-year-old Long Island wine importer named Bill DeBlasio, who merely responded to an email from a journalist seeking his views on Democrat Zohran Mamdani’s policies. “I’m Bill DeBlasio. I’ve always been Bill DeBlasio,” DeBlasio said in an interview conducted Wednesday evening through his Ring doorbell in Huntington Station, Long Island, from his current location in Florida. “I never once said I was the mayor. He never addressed me as the mayor,” DeBlasio told Semafor Wednesday evening. “So I just gave him my opinion.”
October 30, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
ddiamond.bsky.social
Scoop - Trump has fired all the sitting members on the Commission on Fine Arts, an independent agency expected to review his construction projects.
White House fires arts commission expected to review Trump construction projects
The moves comes as President Donald Trump pursues efforts to build a White House ballroom and a triumphal arch in Washington.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
gavinyamey.bsky.social
A must-read @politico.com piece about the man behind the Great Barrington Declaration & the Brownstone Institute, two groups that were foundational and central to RFK Jr’s rise and to his MAHA agenda (I was interviewed for the piece; there’s a quote from me)

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Meet the man who built RFK Jr.’s kitchen cabinet
Jeffrey Tucker, who elevated Covid contrarians now working for the health secretary, is building support for Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.
www.politico.com
October 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
ichotiner.bsky.social
New Interview: www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
October 27, 2025 at 8:37 PM
stephaniemlee.bsky.social
"Burning firewood does not produce oxygen.

That is an incontrovertible scientific fact, one of several a Fremont family spent six months fighting for, a battle they never thought they’d have to wage against their own school district." www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
A Silicon Valley family wanted their son’s science test graded fairly. It became a battle
The dispute centered on an honors chemistry exam. But what was really at stake, said parent Shilpa Viswanathan, was what was “right.”
www.sfchronicle.com
October 28, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
jaweedkaleem.bsky.social
UPDATE: Following court order, UC has posted the UCLA settlement proposal on its website: ucop.edu/communicatio...
October 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
jaweedkaleem.bsky.social
BREAKING: The California Supreme Court has DENIED the University of California's request that it block the release of a 28-page, $1.2-billion fine Trump administration UCLA settlement offer. UC is required to give a faculty group the document today. www.latimes.com/california/s...
UC must publicly release Trump administration's $1.2-billion settlement proposal
The California Supreme Court on Friday declined a request from the University of California to block the release of a roughly $1.2-billion Trump UCLA settlement. UCLA is required to share the document...
www.latimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
nidhisubs.bsky.social
life/work update: +1 baby, -1 job.
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
I’m deeply sad to share I was laid off last week along with several fiercely talented journalists on the WSJ Health and Science team. I’m proud of the work I did at the Journal, especially my… | Nidhi...
I’m deeply sad to share I was laid off last week along with several fiercely talented journalists on the WSJ Health and Science team. I’m proud of the work I did at the Journal, especially my front-pa...
www.linkedin.com
October 24, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
theopennotebook.bsky.social
Today is our 15th birthday! What started as a side project to create a small collection of story-behind-the-story interviews turned into a labor of love, which turned into what you know as The Open Notebook today. Help us stay strong for the next 15 years. Help us meet our goal to raise $10,000. 🧪
The Open Notebook's 15th Anniversary - The Open Notebook
For 15 years, The Open Notebook has been the trusted home for journalists worldwide who cover science. What started as an experiment to demystify the craft of science writing has grown into a vital, g...
www.theopennotebook.com
October 24, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Stephanie M. Lee
ddiamond.bsky.social
As Trump tears down the East Wing, we keep getting this question: Can anyone stop him?

The answer, many experts fear, is no.

And Trump's planned ballroom is likely to be approved by a panel stocked by his allies, too.

w @wapops.bsky.social @jonathanreports.bsky.social
‘Our hands are tied’: Can anyone stop Trump’s tear-down of the East Wing?
Many preservationists fear the answer is no. A pro-Trump review board is expected to approve the president’s planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom, too.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 22, 2025 at 7:00 PM