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The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science, and the Crisis of Belief by Richard Holmes
Pantheon Review by Walter Cummins The image of Alfred Tennyson I’ve carried for decades goes back to the childhood card game of Authors that depicts him with a stately continence sharpened by a jutting black beard. He’s formidable, his aura superior. Holmes opens his biography of the youthful Tennyson by describing the similar formality of the imposing Tennyson statue at Trinty College Cambridge, sharing the honor with other Trinity greats, including Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Holmes doesn’t want to chip away at that statue but rather reveal its inner youthful core of the man—tall, handsome, and talented but unformed, emerging from a disturbed family of addicted or insane male siblings and four unusual sisters struggling under a violent alcoholic clergyman father. Alfred was certainly statuesque, but would he end up a block of unformed stone like his equally promising brothers? He was youngest of three equally regarded Tennyson brothers at Cambridge, all bright, handsome, and talented, in fact Alfred regarded by some as less promising than his elders who also wrote poetry. Yet Alfred wrote one of his major poems, “The Kraken,” at twenty, revealing both his talent, his interest in geological forces, and the haunting creature that embodied his anxieties. While Holmes focuses on Tennyson of the 1830s and 1840s, he can’t tell his story without exploring his involvement with the Victorian intellectual upheaval. Tennyson was fascinated by new scientific perspectives, following the latest findings as soon as books and articles were published. He was especially taken with Charles Lyell’s deep studies of geology and the discovery of fossils and a timeline of the planet’s development that did much to question fundamental religious assumptions. The impact of these discoveries is reflected in Tennyson’s poetry and led to the crisis in belief he shared with so many contemporaries. He was especially taken by the cycles of destruction and renewal that informed the struggles he confronted in In Memoriam, Maud, and Idylls of the King. Tennyson was only one of the eventual major figures at Cambridge at the same time, young men just beginning to realize their potential. Charles Darwin was at Christ College, although there is no evidence that he and Tennyson even met as students or later in life. Yet evolution became significant in Tennyson’s thinking and the issues of his poetry. One of Tennyson’s best and most important Cambridge friends was Edward FitzGerald, who became the translator of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and in their on and off relationship served as Tennyson’s harshest critic. FitzGerald was also a friend of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, the two of them partying in Paris as undergraduates. That connection led to a friendship between Thackeray and Tennyson. Others who came to play significant roles in Tennyson’s life were Thomas Carlyle, the Brownings, and the Pre-Raphaelites. Tennyson’s deepest friend at college was Arthur Hallam, who at twenty wrote a glowing review of Tennyson’s first poetry collection, travelled on European adventures with him, and fell in love with his sister Emily. Hallam was also regarded as one more very promising Cambridge student. His sudden death at twenty-two in Vienna from a stroke while travelling with his father devastated many friends, but perhaps Tennyson most of all. He did not write immediate poems of grief but took years to compile those collected in In Memoriam A.H.H., published in 1850, almost twenty years after Hallam’s death For all of Tennyson’s early poetic successes and successes, Holmes reveals him as an often troubled young man suffering periods of depression, fearing planetary upheaval, concerned about supporting himself, disappointed in romances, and worried that he would inherit the family’s mental illness tendencies. Yet despite his seeming withdrawals, he was always writing poetry that he kept private and would not let go, constantly revising. 1850 became a transformative year for Tennyson. He finally consented to publishing In Memoriam with a last-minute prologue that acknowledged God and perhaps convinced the religious Emily Sellwood to marry him after years of pursuit.. He opened up to Emily, revealing his struggles with fears of depression and “weird seizures.” The devastating event of that time was the stillborn death of his unnamed first son. It shook him, but Emily’s faith brought them closer and convinced him to believe in an afterlife. Two later sons survived. With the death of William Wordworth in April of 1950, Tennyson was named poet laureate at age forty-one, reluctantly accepting. It’s as if Tennyson’s life split in half in that year. He lived another forty years, now a recognized success, with the prestige of being an official poet writing patriotic verse, wealthy and revered, no longer the insecure young man seeking an outlet for his immense talent. He earned a place in the Authors deck, now dignified and in 1884 elevated to the peerage as Arthur, Lord Tennyson. Richard Holmes is the author of twenty previous books on the Romantics and Victorians, several of which received awards. The Boundless Deep was shortlisted for the 2025 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. He captures the complex vicissitudes of Tennyson’s youth, illustrated by frequent excerpts from the poetry, placing that life in the full context of the shattering discoveries that led to an upheaval of thought in the Victorian age.
How Trump Took the U.S. to War With Iran
In a series of Situation Room meetings, President Trump weighed his instincts against the deep concerns of his vice president and a pessimistic intelligence assessment. Here’s the inside story of how he made the fateful decision.
World's fattest parrot — on the verge of extinction 30 years ago — has record-breaking breeding season
Conservationists are celebrating the 105th kākāpō chick to hatch during the 2026 breeding season — the highest number reported since such records began 30 years ago.
Reduced medical residencies if governor approves cuts to public health budget
The 2026 Idaho Legislature is adjourned sine die, but the fate of some bills are still unclear. Among those still awaiting decision include a Health and Welfare
Will ‘The Runarounds’ Return for Season 2? Teen Drama’s Fate Revealed
The teen drama's fate has been revealed.
Mark Consuelos emotionally announces death of his father, Kelly Ripa calls him 'greatest person'
Mark Consuelos emotionally announced the death of his father Saul Consuelos during Monday's 'Live With Kelly and Mark,' while Kelly Ripa praised her father-in-law as 'the greatest person I've ever known.'
What the Nike CEO’s remarks reveal about rallying employees through turnaround fatigue
His employees are exhausted. So is he.
Lawmakers rethink school bus rules after fatal wreck: week in politics
The fatal Kenwood school bus crash made lawmakers rethink loosening safety rules. Plus, the House blocked a $20 million tax break for FedEx.
How simple choices boost health after 50
A mostly plant-based diet with healthy proteins and fats can help you thrive as you age.
Double Dragon Creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto Has Passed Away
"I hope you will continue to enjoy my father's works"
Wes Lee New Album ft. Mick Jenkins: Growth & Fatherhood
Inside the mindset and message behind the music | News-Talk 1380 WAOK
I watched The Godfather again at 64 and cried — not because the movie changed, but because I finally understood that the films we watched in our twenties weren’t just entertainment, they were instruction manuals for masculinity, family, and honor that shaped every major decision I ever made
Last week, I found myself alone in my living room, remote in hand, scrolling through streaming options when The Godfather appeared on screen. It had been years since I’d watched it. Decades, really. Something made me click play, and three hours later, I was sitting there with tears streaming down my face. Not because Sonny […]
Former Turnstile guitarist charged with attempted murder of bandmate’s father
A former guitarist of the Grammy-winning rock band Turnstile has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and assault after he allegedly struck the father of the group’s lead vocalist with
Former Turnstile guitarist charged with attempted murder of bandmate’s father
A former guitarist of the Grammy-winning rock band Turnstile has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and assault after he allegedly struck the father of the group’s lead vocalist with
Album Review: 6WA by BigXthaPlug & 600 Entertainment
BigXthaPlug spent eight months in Nashville making a country-rap album that debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, put “All the Way” with Bailey Zimmerman at No. 4 on the Hot 100, got him a Rolling Stone cover, and filled arenas with Jelly Roll. And then he came back to Dallas, rounded up four of his signees, and made a gangsta-rap record with N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton on the cover. 6WA is the second group release from 600 Entertainment, named after the 600 block of Meadowridge Street in Ferris, Texas, where BigX and his people grew up. The whole thing is loaded with West Coast samples. From N.W.A.’s “8Ball,” Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” and “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin’,” Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” and more. BigX is staking his name on the lineup he built—Rosama, MurdaGang PB, Yung Hood, KevanGotBandz, KaineMusic—and claiming a lineage from 1,400 miles away while insisting Dallas is its own thing. A million dollars in cash, split and handed straight to his mother. That’s the first place BigX goes on “From the Bottom.” He’d probably still be in the streets if he didn’t have his son and daughter. He only started rapping to make life better for Carter. Couldn’t start his car back then, now people get starstruck at Starbucks, and he throws the whole field away in one sentence: “How you think we competin’? You on the same bag, I just made me some millions off country.” Goyard bags off a Nashville payday, and he wants you to know exactly how far he’s come from everybody else. “Safe to Say” does something similar but looser. It’s a straight Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day” flip, and BigX nails it. Wakes up, checks both phones, nobody’s locked up, kid accounts look good. Gets pulled over, only catches a warning. Pulls up on the squad to liquor, ladies, and haze. Rosama takes the second verse and matches him. Wakes up to his girl cleaning his cuticles, twins playing peekaboo, pays off his car, calls a cousin, sees the opps and they don’t trip. Lawyer calls, he beat his case. Rosama is the strongest voice in the 600 camp after BigX, and “Life of a Gangster” is why. Third person, riding low, blacked-out windows, snub-nose revolver. A character who chose sticking people up over selling dope. “Quick eraser like a number-two pencil.” He never breaks character, and his delivery drops lower and slower than anything he does on the group cuts, like he’s telling you something at a cookout that he probably shouldn’t. Then on “Long Live Fre$h” he’s a completely different rapper. “Short-bus diamonds, these bitches retarded,” wide-body Durango he can’t even park. That kind of range matters on a group record. MurdaGang PB’s best verse is on the title track. Feds at his door at 6 AM, cameras busted, flushing dope, ram truck putting everybody on the floor. Yung Hood on “The Hottest” just lays out four reasons to keep hustling. Who wants to be broke, women cost money, you need bail, and home has to be straight. It’s funnier and more honest than most rappers get when they’re trying to explain why they sell drugs. KevanGotBandz on “Ain’t Never Slowin’ Down” talks about his father getting caught on the dope while he’s sitting on $300K somewhere in the hills, which is a specific kind of guilt that doesn’t usually make it onto crew tapes. KaineMusic, the newest signee, takes the back half of “Who Dunnit” and introduces herself in third person—“Took flight just to show these hoes how to perform”—but it’s too short to know if she can hold a full song. The flex tracks fill the middle of the LP and mostly run together. “I Go” is Rosama and PB trading brands, guns, and food punchlines. Rosama’s “anemic, my iron tucked low in this shirt” is a slick gun bar, PB fires back with “.223 with a clip ‘bout as big as a toddler” and “I go Burger King, stay with that whopper.” Quick, funny sometimes, but it’s all shopping lists. “Dopeman” is a chant. “6ixer Party” brings Snoop Dogg, who does exactly what you’d expect Snoop Dogg to do. BigX contributes the night’s wildest overshare: “She say she brought a friend too, well, I’m tryna put sausage on her dental.” These songs move fast and don’t overstay, but three or four of them could trade verses and nobody would catch it. Midway through, The D.O.C. shows up for a spoken-word interlude. Tracy Curry. West Dallas native, former N.W.A affiliate, co-writer on a lot of the records getting sampled on this very album. He thanks BigX for the tribute and then gets direct: “This your time, this DFW time. You need to do it like we do it down here.” Leave bread crumbs so everybody behind you can eat. Keep God in your life. It’s fatherly and generous, and it does raise the question of whether 6WA follows that advice. The album borrows heavy. The cover art, the Eazy-E samples, “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” opening with a direct “Boyz-N-The-Hood” lift, Yung Hood rapping “Flag on my left side, Crip until I die.” But the stuff that actually stays with you is Dallas. BigX talking about Pleasant Grove, Rosama calling himself a country boy, PB recounting a raid that could’ve been last Tuesday. The record smells most like itself when it smells like Ferris, Texas, and least like Compton. BigX on “The Hottest” says his father was the first person he knew who had chickens. Not the way rappers usually wave at the drug trade. He means his actual father, his actual family. On “600 Degrees,” Rosama compares his chopper’s stutter to a speech disorder, PB claims he still has the block on his back even after leaving the city. BigX closes that one saying he used to spin and smack, and now the plaques are platinum. Thirty-two minutes was right for this. Nobody overstays, Tony Coles and Rance and Charley Cooks keep the production punchy, and BigX gives his signees real room instead of crowding every song. 6WA doesn’t reinvent anything. Five rappers, good beats, short clock. Most of what they say you’ve heard before. Some of it—the million to his mother, the cuticles and peekaboo, the four reasons to hustle—you won’t forget. Solid (★★★½☆) Favorite Track(s): “Safe to Say,” “From the Bottom,” “The Hottest” Subscribe
Recurring fevers, mental fog left this father ‘praying for death’
Doctors were stumped by an Oregon man’s deterioration. Then an infectious disease specialist had an aha moment.
Woman, 41, Admits She Feels ‘Like a Ticking Time Bomb’ After Learning She’s a Carrier for Fatal Huntington’s Disease
A woman said she feels like a 'ticking time bomb' after she learned she carries a gene mutation for Huntington's disease, a rare illness affects an individual's ability to move and think, as well as their mental health.
Pope Leo's political voice and how much influence he holds
Pope Leo XIV is the first American to lead the Catholic Church, and after nearly a year of advocating for the poor and cautiously opposing controversial U.S. policies, Leo is offering a more public contrast with Trump. Compass Points moderator Nick Schifrin discusses the pope's first year and what his recent criticism says with Joseph Capizzi, Father Thomas Reese, Annie Selak and Stephen White.
Company backed by Trump sons looks to sell drone interceptors to Gulf states being attacked by Iran
The sales drive by Florida-based Powerus – which announced a deal last month to bring aboard Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. – positions the company to potentially benefit from a war that their father began.
Season on the brink: State of Luka Dončić's hamstring holds fate of Lakers' hopes, NBA honors
We Asked a Doctor If Omega-3 Supplements Can Support Heart Health
Omega-3 fatty acids are widely known to support heart health, but supplementing with them may not be as effective as getting them from food. Learn whether omega-3 supplements can help boost your heart health.
Scientists say BMI gets it wrong for over one third of adults
A new study suggests that one of the most widely used health metrics, BMI, may be getting it wrong for a large portion of the population. By comparing BMI classifications with precise body fat measurements using advanced DXA scans, researchers found that more than one-third of adults were placed in incorrect weight categories. Many people labeled as overweight or obese did not actually have the corresponding body fat levels, while others were missed entirely.
How to turn a passion for photography into a successful business
Ashley Gonzalez, a business management major at the University of Memphis, shows how you can turn pain into profit. A love for photography has led Gonzalez to start a business to honor her father's legacy and create safe spaces for others.
Rostrum Pacific’s FatBeats acquires physical distro company Traffic Entertainment, plus D2C store and label
The deal brings together three companies with a combined 50 years of experience in vinyl distribution, physical distribution, and premium catalog re-issues.
Doctors blamed her symptoms on motherhood. She actually had mold illness.
Kate Ames spent years battling chronic symptoms like fatigue and joint pain. She later learned there was mold in her home that was making her sick.
Tracking the fate of the dollar a year on from 'Liberation Day'
A year on from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs, the dollar looks in much stronger shape with its safe-haven credentials reasserted in the face of war in the Middle East.
Officials address response after woman fatally shot by LMPD during mental health crisis call
Police said the case did not qualify for Louisville’s crisis call diversion program because of the reported weapon and because other people were inside the home.
Poetry review: 'Universal Corner' shares a different Black coming-of-age experience
In "Universal Corner," Mitchell Douglas complicates the familiar monolithic narrative of Black coming-of-age by testifying at the altar of punk music and of a present Black father with a PhD.
Daniel Radcliffe shares why his 20-year-old self 'wouldn't recognize him'
Daniel Radcliffe opened up about his mental health and the joy of fatherhood in a panel following his performance in "Every Brilliant Thing."
Commute: Diamond sports see different fates on Tuesday
The morning commute for Wednesday, April 1st, 2026.
Cool Delaware things to do in April 2026
Whether you have an appetite for comedy, an art festival or cold drinks, we've got a menu of fun Delaware events you can munch on throughout April.
Fathom Entertainment Partners with Burns & Co. Entertainment to Bring JIMMY to Theaters Nationwide November 6
Burns & Co. Entertainment announced today that the company is partnering with Fathom Entertainment for U.S. theatrical distribution of Jimmy, based on the untold, true story of beloved American icon Jimmy Stewart. Starring KJ Apa as Jimmy Stewart, the movie will open nationwide with a traditional theatrical release beginning on November 6. The film brings […]
Lamar Odom's kids detail decision to skip his wedding to Khloé Kardashian: 'I never even met her'
Lamar Odom's kids LJ and Destiny detail their decision to skip their father's wedding to Khloé Kardashian in the Netflix documentary 'Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom.'
States are Beginning to Grapple with Federal Medicaid Cuts Impact on Rural Health Care
Visit the post for more.
The best headphones for flying, according to our frequent-flyer editors
Frequent flyers know great headphones aren’t optional; they’re essential. With more than 200,000 miles flown annually, I rely on them to block noise, reduce fatigue and make every flight more comfortable.
‘American Idol’ Contestants React to Elimination Shake-Up After Voting Crash
The singers won't learn their fate until next week's episode after issues with counting the Top 14 votes.
Student launches culinary business with help from fellow Gorilla, SBDC
A Pittsburg State University student who dreams of owning her own business is getting support and mentorship from a two-time Pitt State graduate with a business of her own.
Tirzepatide Boosts Metabolic Health in Partial Lipodystrophy
Tirzepatide significantly improves metabolic health and reduces insulin dependence in patients with partial lipodystrophy.
Barton outlines how politicians exploit voter information fatigue
Dona-Gene Barton, associate professor of political science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, was interviewed for a March 26 HuffPost article on how politicians on both sides of the aisle have taken advantage of Americans’ shortened attention spans to sway public opinion in their favor.
Russell father-daughter team raises the family business to new heights
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Violent video game spurred fatal attack on veteran at Minnesota mental health facility, lawsuit says
CBS just canceled two shows — see what’s not coming back
CBS has revealed the fate of two TV series
LMPD officers involved in fatal shooting of woman suffering mental health crisis identified
A woman suffering a mental health crisis was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police after charging at officers with a sharp weapon.
Why The Porsche 930 Is Known As The Widowmaker
The Porsche 930 is known as the Widowmaker because drivers couldn't handle it when it first released, causing crashes and fatalities.
Trump’s Iran war is at a fateful fork in the road
One month in, President Donald Trump’s war in Iran is at a crossroads.
Butterfat, Bots, and Bureaucrats: The Limits of Optimization
Across various fields, we constantly attempt to refine, control, and optimize complex systems. But whether it’s chatbots reshaping beliefs, cows engineered for more nutritious milk, drugs that suppress desire, or regulators chasing vanishingly small risks, each effort reveals the same tension: control involves tradeoffs. The issue isn’t whether optimization works—it’s what it costs and whether we notice it in time.
Zuckerberg meeting ‘a slap in the face,’ says father who lost son to suicide after online scam
In wrangling dark matter, some scientists find inspiration in religion
Father Adam Hincks, a Jesuit priest who teaches at the University of Toronto and serves as an adjunct scholar at the Vatican Observatory, believes that for some, contemplating dark matter and dark energy could elevate their minds to God.
BTS V's Father, Ex-MBC FD, Dreamed of Entertainment; V Succeeds
BTS Vs Father, Ex-MBC FD, Dreamed of Entertainment; V Succeeds
Book Review: ‘Transcription,’ by Ben Lerner
In “Transcription,” Ben Lerner considers a famous father, a loyal protégé and a distant son, bound by devotion and separated by miscommunication.
Cincinnati father, business owner detained by ICE; family pleads for release
A Cincinnati family is pleading for the release of a local business owner and father of two who has been held in ICE custody for nearly six weeks.
LMPD officers fatally shoot woman experiencing 'mental health' crisis
Two LMPD officers shot a woman while responding to a call about someone experiencing a \
LeBron & Bronny James make NBA history again
LOS ANGELES — For their first act, LeBron and Bronny James became the first father-and-son duo to play together on […]
Louisville police say officers fatally shot woman in 'mental health crisis' who charged at them with sharp object
It happened at 7:45 p.m. Friday in the 9800 block of Vieux Carre Drive, off Shelbyville Road and South Hurstbourne Parkway.
Woman suffering mental health crisis fatally shot by LMPD after charging at officers with ‘sharp object’
A woman suffering a mental health crisis was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police after charging at officers with a sharp weapon.
Angel father says Democrat politicians in his state abandoned daughter
Angel father Joe Abraham said that Democratic leaders in his home state of Illinois abandoned his daughter and his family.
Scientists discover a hidden system that turns brown fat into a calorie burner
Scientists have identified a key biological system that helps brown fat burn energy by building the networks it needs to function. A protein called SLIT3 splits into two parts, with each piece guiding the growth of blood vessels and nerves inside brown fat. These structures allow the tissue to pull in nutrients and rapidly convert them into heat instead of storing them as fat.
Maryland college student shares journey back to health after near-fatal car crash
Connecticut officer fired after shooting man in mental health crisis as others tried to de-escalate
Mayor of Hartford has fired a white police officer who fatally shot a Black man in a mental health crisis nine times
Officer fired after fatally shooting man in mental health crisis — as others tried to de-escalate
The mayor of Hartford, Connecticut, has fired a white police officer who fatally shot a Black man in a mental health crisis nine times. Mayor Arunan Arulampalam announced Friday that he terminated...
Tiger Woods has been involved in car crash in Jupiter Island, Florida
Tiger Woods involved in rollover crash, cops confirm – five years after near-fatal accident left him fearing hed lose leg
Maryland college student shares journey back to health after near-fatal car crash
IDF fatally shoots two Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Palestinian Health Ministry says
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Hartford mayor fires officer who fatally shot man in mental health crisis after calls for justice
The moves comes just days after the mayor’s state of the city speech was interrupted by protestors calling for the firing of officers involved in two separate fatal shootings.
No One UI 8.5 in April? Galaxy S25 update roadmap takes unexpected turn
It turns out that Samsung has no plans to roll out the Galaxy S25 family’s One UI 8.5 update in April. This isn’t an official confirmation or a leak, but a fact supported by evidence, suggesting a delay in the major update rollout. Samsung enthusiast Alfaturk discovered a potential April 2026 security update for the […]
Health-Care Costs Are Forcing Terrible Trade-Offs
Earlier this month, as I waited to pick up a prescription at my local CVS, I watched a man leave without his elderly father’s medication. The pharmacist had tried several tricks to lower the cost. It wasn’t enough. When the man heard the bottom line, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and, after a long, awkward silence, walked away.
"Godfather of Bay Area sports producers," former KPIX producer Art Dlugach dies in Texas
Pomegranate Market owners discuss challenges of transitioning family business
This entrepreneurial father-son duo opened up about transitioning the family business, as well as their vision for the future of Pomegranate Market.
Fathom Entertainment Announces Upcoming Retirement of CEO Ray Nutt
Specialty distributor Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt has shared with the company’s Board of Directors his plans to step down from his role and retire later this year after serving as the company’s lead executive for the past nine years. Currently anticipated to depart Fathom later this year, Nutt is expected to play an active […]
Founder grew restaurant chain, Fat Shack, from startup to $20 million
Tom Armenti, the founder of Fat Shack, started the chain fresh out of college with $5,000 in online poker winnings and grew it into a national empire.
Fatal collision highlights air traffic control challenges at LaGuardia
New York’s airports pose difficulties for an air traffic system already under strain.
Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt to Step Down
Ray Nutt is expected to retire later this year and a search for a successor is underway.
Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt to Retire
Specialty distributor Fathom Entertainment announced Wednesday that CEO Ray Nutt plans to step down from the company and retire later this year.
Fathom Entertainment CEO Ray Nutt to Retire; Search for Replacement Underway (EXCLUSIVE)
Specialty distributor Fathom Entertainment announced Wednesday that CEO Ray Nutt plans to step down from the company and retire later this year. Nutt, an exhibition vet who has served as chief executi...
Taproot Theatre’s ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’’ is a Fats Waller celebration
The high-energy musical revue celebrates the work of jazz piano legend Fats Waller.
I didn’t pay attention to politics. Then my house fell down
This Overland Park independent voter is reminded of his father’s advice, and applies it to our democracy. | Opinion
Language and the Politics of Power
Increasingly in our society and politics, the value of life has been subordinated to the aims and narratives of manipulative discourse. The Holy Father is right to warn us of this danger.
New Fathers Face Mental Health Challenges, Study Finds
By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTUESDAY, March 24, 2026 (HealthDay News) — New fathers might be proud poppas, but their mental health might be shaky as they adapt to their increased responsibilities, a new study says. Men have a 30% increased risk of depression and stress disorders by the end ...
Timeline: A Milwaukee father's fight for his son's mental health treatment
Pete Christiansen spent eight months trying to get Milwaukee authorities to commit his son for mental health treatment, also known as Chapter 51.
A three-generation store in business for 100 years is expanding in CT. Owner says they, ‘nailed it.’
The father-son business team says they plan to continue to grow, as “one of the satisfactions of our job is we’re helping people.”
John Fogerty, Cyndi Lauper, more join forces to say 'Thank You, NYPD'
The 'Thank You, NYPD' concert will feature John Fogerty, Cyndi Lauper and Fat Joe, comedians Chris Distefano and Sam Morril, and more.
A Veteran Group Jumps In for a Democrat in Iowa Senate Race.
VoteVets is the first super PAC to intervene in the race for Josh Turek, a state legislator who was born with spina bifida after his father was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.
STC HVACR student turns childhood lessons into vision for future business
Currently pursuing an associate degree in Heating, Ventilation, AC and Refrigeration (HVACR) at South Texas College, Cesar Bernal III said he was just 12 years old when he began watching his father turn determination and hard work into a small but thriving air-conditioning business in Weslaco.
Trump’s new red line could set the Iran war on a fateful course
On Friday, President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” his war with Iran. But a day later, he threatened to “obliterate” the country’s power plants in an escalation that could further tip the conflict out of control.
A promising fatty liver treatment may raise cancer risk
A surprising new study reveals that blocking a supposedly protective enzyme, Caspase-2, could actually backfire—raising the risk of chronic liver damage and cancer over time. Researchers found that without this enzyme, liver cells grow abnormally large and accumulate genetic damage, leading to inflammation, scarring, and eventually tumors, especially with age. While inhibiting Caspase-2 may offer short-term benefits, such as reducing fatty liver disease, the long-term consequences appear dangerous.
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. 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