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Health records from 68 adults link plant-based grocery support to lower blood pressure and weight
Providing people with nutritious foods can improve the management of chronic metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. However, most studies of "Food Is Medicine" programs have only ...
AkzoNobel to sell unit to Nippon Paint for over $1 billion, FT reports
Dulux paint maker AkzoNobel is nearing a deal to sell its Southeast Asian decorative paints business to Nippon Paint for well over $1 billion, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the matter.
KelpFest brings kelp science, art and food to Mendocino Coast • The Mendocino Voice
The five-day festival runs Oct. 8-12 in Fort Bragg and Mendocino. It celebrates the coast's bull kelp forests, most of them lost since 2014, and the people trying to bring them back.
On Fort Worth’s streets, a UNT Health professor remembers why he chose medicine
Through street medicine, Christopher Rheams cares for people without homes and teaches students to see the person before the patient.
Will Washington’s ‘millionaire tax’ drive people away? Business owners and lawmakers disagree
Supporters say the tax is needed to help fund education, tax credits for businesses and families, and other public programs. Opponents argue it could drive entrepreneurs, investors, and employers out of Washington.
Vivian Kobusingye Birchall: The People Behind the Global Health Catalyst Summit
Vivian Kobusingye Birchall: The People Behind the Global Health Catalyst Summit / Augustin Bancalari, cancer care, Cancer research, Gavriel Ngwa, Geminai LLC,
Business People: Dana McNabb promoted to CEO at General Mills
FOOD General Mills, Golden Valley, announced the election of Chief Operating Officer Dana McNabb to succeed Jeff Harmening as chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1. Harmening will become executive chair of the board of directors.…
Colorado residents fight back against Verdad's 22-well plan: 'It's about health and safety'
"People are upset about this site."
Mental health courts help divert people from jail. Why don’t more NY counties have them?
This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here (https://nysfocus.com/newsletter).
Mental health courts help divert people from jail. Why don’t more NY counties have them?
This story originally appeared in New York Focus, a nonprofit news publication investigating power in New York. Sign up for their newsletter here (https://nysfocus.com/newsletter).
The Science Behind a Simple Headache Trick People Swear By
A viral trend promoting the placement of hair claw clips on eyebrows has captivated millions seeking fast headache relief without prescription drugs. If you have spent any time scrolling social media lately, you have probably spotted people clamping plastic claw clips directly onto their faces. It looks like an eccentric comedy sketch, but videos demonstrating this unusual trick have racked up more than 9 million views. Desperate headache sufferers are flooding comment sections, calling the clip
Kansas City artist uses public installation to spark mental health conversations during awareness week
A Kansas City artist will pop up at Mill Creek Fountain during Mental Health Awareness Week to help people confront trauma and find help.
NAMIWalks Charleston brings community together to fight mental health stigma
People gathered at Palmetto Islands County Park on Saturday for NAMIWalks Charleston, an annual event focused on raising awareness, building community and expan
Ukraine’s Science Under Fire: Russia Is Targeting Knowledge, People and the Future
Russian strikes are killing scientists, destroying laboratories and equipment, and putting Ukraine’s scientific and technological capacity at risk.
Kansas City artist uses public installation to spark mental health conversations during awareness week
A Kansas City artist will pop up at Mill Creek Fountain during Mental Health Awareness Week to help people confront trauma and find help.
I'm a classic old school Conservative, says Kemi Badenoch
The Conservative leader tells the BBC the earnings threshold for government support stops people "working harder".
How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy
Hey all, Jason here. Money20/20 is still two weeks away, but I’ve already started packing (not procrastinating for once!). My calendar is already filling up with various sessions I want to catch, meetings, and of course happy hours, dinners, and other side events. If you’ll be in Vegas and want to catch up, let me know by replying to this email, and we can try to find a time amidst the chaos of the Venetian. A big if not totally unexpected piece of news dropped on Friday: the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade group that represents smaller U.S. banks, filed a lawsuit against the OCC and Comptroller Jonathan Gould, arguing that the regulator’s move to grant trust bank charters to firms seeking to use them to conduct substantial non-fiduciary activities exceeds the authorities granted to the OCC by Congress. I haven’t had time to fully digest the legal filing or speak to folks in my network about it, but you can expect to see coverage and analysis on it in next week’s newsletter. Subscribe or Support by Upgrading The NerdCon agenda just dropped. It’s stacked. Partner content: Nubank built an AI-first bank. Chime built its own banking core. Figure and Valon are rebuilding the mortgage stack. At NerdCon, you’ll hear from the people behind those bets: what they chose, what they learned, and what they’re still figuring out. The agenda is live, with leaders from Nubank, Chime, OpenAI, Remitly, Mercury, Figure, Valon and more. Follow the mainstage conversations, bring the problem your team is wrestling with to a hands-on workshop, or pull up a chair at a roundtable. Pick your quests. Meet us in San Diego, November 18–20. Fintech Business Weekly readers save 20% with code FBW20. Explore the Agenda Things To Know & Other Good Reads Federal Reserve Board finalizes changes to enhance the transparency and public accountability of its stress test and reduce volatility in its stress test-related capital requirements (Federal Reserve Board of Governors) FDIC Announces Conclusion of Independent Monitorship (FDIC) Modernizing Financial Regulation: Initial Observations from eSLR (Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman) The Data Version of Godzilla versus Kong: FRED Takes on AI (Fed Governor Christopher Waller) Financing the AI buildout (Brookings) Q3’26: Rules for Banks but Not for Crypto (Fintech Takes Banking) The Inevitability of Local Stablecoins (Lombard Notes) Delusions of AI Governance: The Human-in-the-Loop Comfort Blanket (Fintech Snark Tank) Stripe agrees to acquire Parafin to expand revenue opportunities for platforms and help small businesses grow (Stripe) Listen: Fighting Fraud in the Age of AI, with SEON’s Tamas Kadar (Fintech Business Weekly) How Americans’ Financial Health Is Faring In The “K-Shaped” Economy If there is one overarching theme across the economy and politics in the U.S. at the moment, it’s “affordability.” The term is vague enough to encompass a panoply of factors shaping Americans’ day-to-day lives: rising costs for the hallmarks of being “middle class,” including healthcare, housing, childcare, and education, inflation and rising interest rates, and a job market with the specter of AI hovering over it. At the same time, policy shifts under the Trump administration have resulted in reduced subsidies to those who get health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and new restrictions on qualifying for Medicaid and SNAP, the impacts of which have yet to be fully felt. These factors are contributing to declining consumer confidence and general dissatisfaction with the economy, despite continuing GDP growth and stock market records. This divergence is encapsulated in the idea of the “K-shaped” economy, in which a small proportion of Americans have seen their wealth balloon, while the majority of American households struggle to preserve the lifestyle they have. Perhaps the greatest determinant of which branch of the “K” a household is on is whether their wealth and income are primarily derived from employment vs. from assets. Nearly two decades of low interest rates and, more recently, elevated rates of inflation have benefited asset owners, while those whose income is primarily or solely derived from labor have largely seen real purchasing power stagnate or decline. This is reflected in recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing that labor share of U.S. GDP — the fraction of economic output that accrues to workers as compensation in exchange for their labor — dropped to just 52.8% in Q2 2026, the lowest since the BLS began keeping records. In 1947, approximately 2/3rds of economic output accrued to workers; even as recently as 2001, labor’s share of GDP was 64.1%. Against this backdrop, we’ve seen the rise of more credit and credit-like products: cash advance apps, “no-fee” overdraft, earned wage access, and buy now pay later, which are often used as small-dollar short-term borrowing mechanisms to meet immediate consumption needs or pay other bills (eg utilities, cell phone, other debt payments). With the markers of a middle class existence and, increasingly, basic financial stability seemingly out of reach for many, it should be no surprise there’s been an increase in “financial nihilism,” something industry peers like Alex Johnson and Frank Rotman have discussed and analyzed the roots of. The explosion of gambling and gambling-adjacent products and services — often marketed under the guise of being an “investment” — is inextricably intertwined with the rise of financial nihilism. Crypto, sports betting, and, more recently, prediction markets offer an escape or even hope of sorts, like a contemporary, digital version of a scratch-off lottery ticket, while leaving the overwhelming number of people who use such products worse off. Share of Households That Are Financially “Vulnerable” Ticks Up The Financial Health Network’s 2026 Financial Health Pulse® report adds context on how American households are faring. (I linked to this report in last week’s newsletter, but wanted to take time to further unpack the data in the report this week.) The Financial Health Network publishes the report annually, providing insight into how Americans’ financial circumstances are changing over time. The 2026 report is derived from a survey fielded in April and May 2026. The report leverages survey responses to assess indicators of financial health across spending, saving, borrowing, and planning/protecting and to determine a zero to 100 “FinHealth” score. Those with scores between 0 and 39 are considered “Financially Vulnerable,” consumers with scores ranging between 40 and 79 are defined as “Financially Coping,” and those with scores of 80 to 100 are “Financially Healthy.” The report found that moderate improvements in 2025 were reversed, with the share of respondents considered financially “vulnerable” rebounding to 17%. The longitudinal data reflect the impact of pandemic-era programs, like expanded unemployment, cash stimulus payments, and pauses of federal student loan payments. The positive impacts of those programs, as reflected in the Financial Health Pulse reports, had largely disappeared by 2023. While pandemic-era inflation — to be fair, in part caused by the various support and stimulus measures — had come down from as high as 9% in 2022, it has rebounded since the start of Trump’s second term, with tariffs and energy market disruptions owing to the war in Iran pushing prices back up. Specific indicators in the survey that deteriorated from 2025 to 2026 include the share of respondents spending less than their income over the past 12 months, the share paying all bills on time over the past 12 months, the share that have a manageable amount or no debt, the share that are “moderately” or “very” confident their insurance is adequate to cover them in an emergency, and the share that “somewhat” or “strongly” agree that their household plans ahead financially. Unsurprisingly, lower- and moderate-income households are more likely to struggle to pay their bills on time and have any funds leftover to save. The share of low-income households whose income exceeded their spending dropped from 35% in 2025 to 31% in 2026, while the share of upper-income households whose income exceeded expenses remained unchanged at 63%. Households with student loans or revolving credit card debt reported having “a bit more” or “far more” debt than was manageable at rates far higher than those not carrying these types of debts. The share of those with student loan debt indicating their debt load was too high to manage increased from 50% in 2025 to 55% in 2026, while the share of those with revolving credit card debt saying the same ticked up from 51% in 2025 to 54% in 2026. Households that had student loans were markedly more likely to be financially “coping” or “vulnerable” vs. those without student loans. In 2026, 27% of households with student loans were considered financially vulnerable, a jump of 6% points vs. 2025. Households without student loans saw just a 1% point increase (not statistically significant) in those considered financially vulnerable. Households’ perception of the affordability of categories of goods and services paints a stark picture, with less than one-fourth considering higher education affordable, about a third deeming childcare affordable, and less than half viewing healthcare as affordable. Fintech Business Weekly is made possible by the generous support of paying subscribers — bringing you independent analysis of banking, fintech, and crypto without fear or favor. You can support my work by becoming a paying subscriber if you aren’t already. Paying subscribers enjoy: access to the entire archive of nearly six years of newsletters extended versions of the weekly newsletter, with additional content and analysis and (for founding member tier) quarterly personal 1:1 fintech Q&A / strategy calls with me, tapping into my unparalleled knowledge of the intersection of banking and fintech and experience working in the sector, including helping to launch Goldman Sachs’ retail bank Marcus Support Fintech Business Weekly You can also support Fintech Business Weekly by sponsoring a newsletter or podcast, putting you in front of 93,000+ of the most influential decision makers in banking, fintech, and crypto. Learn more about sponsor opportunities or request a media kit by dropping me an email. Democratic Senate Report Highlights How Iran Uses Tether to Evade U.S. Sanctions Iran uses stablecoins, specifically Tether, to evade sanctions, fund regional proxies, and to purchase military drones, a report released last week by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations says. The report was authored by committee ranking member Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and the minority staff. Crypto and stablecoin proponents will often push back on criticism that criminals make use of these assets by arguing that, on an absolute dollar basis, far more illicit funds flow through traditional banking systems and payment rails than via crypto and stablecoins. And while that is likely true, it elides the reality presented in news story after news story: whether state actors — Russia, Iran, North Korea — or criminal groups, those looking to engage in illicit transactions increasingly favor stablecoins and, specifically, Tether (USDT). The report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released last week adds context to how Iran uses Tether has a lynchpin in its shadow banking system. The report analyzed 846 wallets that have been sanctioned or targeted for seizure, finding that 84% of them transacted exclusively or primarily in Tether. The ability to create near limitless, anonymous wallets and to move funds effectively instantaneously and irreversibly have made crypto a favored financial mechanism for bad actors. Stablecoins solved key drawbacks of bitcoin, namely, the original cryptocurrency’s highly volatile value in dollars. And while Tether (the company) has the technical ability to “freeze” or destroy funds, the company is often limited and reactive in its approach to doing so, the Senate report argues. Tether, which is nominally based in crypto-friendly El Salvador, “has stated that its compliance with OFAC sanctions is ‘voluntary’ and that it follows ‘OFAC guidelines,’” the Senate report says. Owing to these favorable attributes, Tether “became a primary cryptocurrency for Iran, Hamas, Hizballah, and the Houthis beginning in 2023 and has expanded in scale since,” according to the report. Tether’s role in Iran’s shadow banking system, the report says, is enhanced by crypto exchanges like Bybit, Kyrrex, OKX, Gate, and Binance, and through “over the counter” exchanges and hawala networks. The consequences of these financial flows aren’t hypothetical. The Senate report links Tether as a funds transfer mechanism to Iranian proxies in the region, including Hizballah, the Houthis, and Hamas. Tether has also been used to make payments to secure components necessary to manufacture drones, the report says. The report concludes by arguing that “[s]tablecoin issuers with a significant nexus to the United States, particularly those that offer dollar-denominated stablecoins, should be subject to American sanctions law rather than being allowed to hide behind foreign jurisdictions.” Stablecoin issuers like Tether must be held accountable for repeated failures to prevent illicit finance and sanctions violations by law enforcement, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and OFAC, the report argues. [Paying Subscriber Exclusive] OUSD Goes Live, Make Your Own Neobank, U.S. Sanctions Russia’s A7 Network As “Transnational Criminal Organization” OpenUSD, the stablecoin issued by the Open Standard consortium that includes Stripe, Visa, Mastercard, core providers, crypto firms, and numerous banks, went live last week. Social commerce platform Whop raised eyebrows in fintech by offering creators on its platform the ability to launch their own neobanks, which the company describes as “great businesses that are easy to run,” in just 15 minutes. And OFAC and FinCEN target Russia’s “shadow banking” A7 Network — more on these stories after the paywall.
Singing With Other People May Have Surprising Health Benefits
Skip the cold plunge. Join your local choir instead!
Saudi Arabia to cancel Joy Awards, its answer to the Grammys, amid budget cuts, sources say
By Timour Azhari Oct 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is set to cancel next year's Joy Awards, its star-studded answer to the Oscars or the Grammys, as financial strain and the Iran war hit the country's nascent entertainment sector, two people with knowledg...
Dark spider found in Idaho could reveal a remnant mountain ecosystem scientists nearly missed
"I think people assume that the U.S. has been pretty well picked over."
Mom of Teen with Autism Runs Pizza Business in Her Spare Time to Create Job Opportunities for Others with the Condition
Aparna Bangur launched Pizza Party, a business created to train and provide jobs for people with autism
Is there any candy for diabetics?
People with diabetes can still eat candy, but the type and amount of candy – and how it fits into their larger diet – matters.
I have ALS. The promise and potential perils of AI are personal
OPINION: While concerns over AI safety are warranted, the technology could help us design bigger, smarter and more inclusive trials for people with diseases like ALS, Kevin J. Morrison writes.
Where’s Blade? Fans wonder why Marvel Studios cutbacks seem to be landing on Black heroes
Mahershala Ali has said he’s moved on from the “Blade” reboot, making it another MCU project that’s fallen by the wayside. Black fans are asking whether Black characters are being purposely neglected and sidelined.
We Must Fight Health Misinformation With Empathy
People reported being more likely to take advice when they believe, first, that their concerns and experience have been taken seriously, writes Dr. Megan L. Ranney.
Opinion/Guest column: When politics, science collide over vaccination
These actions ignore the 300-plus-year history in the United States of prioritizing the health of people and communities.
Opinion/Guest column: When politics, science collide over vaccination
These actions ignore the 300-plus-year history in the United States of prioritizing the health of people and communities.
Opinion/Guest column: When politics, science collide over vaccination
These actions ignore the 300-plus-year history in the United States of prioritizing the health of people and communities.
Opinion/Guest column: When politics, science collide over vaccination
These actions ignore the 300-plus-year history in the United States of prioritizing the health of people and communities.
Opinion/Guest column: When politics, science collide over vaccination
These actions ignore the 300-plus-year history in the United States of prioritizing the health of people and communities.
Scientists Find First-Ever Cases of Feline Marfan Syndrome in Cat Siblings Gary and Shaggy. Here’s What That Means
The genetic condition, which is typically found in humans, typically causes symptoms like unusually long limbs and near-sightedness
Business People
Fayetteville-based Dallas Appraisal Group has announced the promotion of Mason Adams from appraisal associate to director of operations, as well as the hiring of Scotty Thurman as a real state agent.
Mum fundraises to install mental health bench in Wellingborough
The bench includes phone numbers and a QR link that offer support to people in need of help.
Inside the DC 'Power to the People' festival headlined by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen and other music legends delivered a powerful message at the “Power to the People” protest festival in Maryland
Inside the DC 'Power to the People' festival headlined by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen and other music legends delivered a powerful message at the “Power to the People” protest festival in Maryland | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
Inside the DC 'Power to the People' festival headlined by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen and other music legends delivered a powerful message at the “Power to the People” protest festival in Maryland | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
Inside the DC 'Power to the People' festival headlined by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen and other music legends delivered a powerful message at the “Power to the People” protest festival in Maryland | 1080 WTIC NEWSTALK
Inside the DC 'Power to the People' festival headlined by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen and other music legends delivered a powerful message at the “Power to the People” protest festival in Maryland.
People in Business: SLSO appoints; CMIT names; UniGroup adds; Le Meridien appoints
Catch up on local business appointments, awards, and hires.
Hundreds gather in Duxbury to raise awareness for perinatal mental health support
Hundreds of people came together in Duxbury Saturday to make sure parents struggling with their mental health know they don’t have to face it alone.
Nonprofit transporting residents to healthcare receives pivotal partnership
Quest Inc. is a nonprofit in Central Florida that provides transportation services to people with developmental disabilities. (COURTESY OF QUEST INC.) A Central Florida nonprofit assisting residents with development disabilities to access healthcare appointments was selected for a pivotal partnership with a local hospital that will help expand services. Quest Inc. is a nonprofit that provides
Culver City protesters demand Sony, Amazon, other studios defend democracy
LOS ANGELES — On a sweltering Saturday, around 100 people gathered in Culver City for a rally and march to deliver a message to several major media companies: Help us
Jagex Announces RuneScape 4, a New MMO Built in Unreal Engine
Jagex has announced a fourth RuneScape MMO at RuneFest 2026. It currently goes by the working title RS4, though most people are already calling it RuneScape 4. The game is being built in Unreal Engine, and Jagex hasn't said which version. It's the first numbered follow-up since RuneScape 3...
Trump’s spat with GOP lawmaker over Daylight Saving Time
President Donald Trump railed against Sen. Tom Cotton in a series of posts on Saturday, accusing the Arkansas Republican of holding up a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent and encouraging people to call the senator at his cellphone number.
Reporting on the science of saunas
For centuries people have sought out saunas and hot springs for their supposed healing properties. But the science behind those claims can be quite vague. So NPR science correspondent Will Stone headed to the International Sauna Congress in Norway to find out just what we know about the health benefits of saunas. This episode was produced by Gabriel Sanchez, with engineering by Eowyn Fain. Our director is Elena Burnett.It was edited by Adam Raney.Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dorning.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
Health Policy Watch | COVID-19 drops out of world’s top 10 causes of death for first time since pandemic began
The virus directly killed an estimated 0.9 million people in 2023, ranking 14th, as global life expectancy climbed back to near its pre-pandemic level.
New Flomaton bookstore aims to spark downtown growth amid vacant storefronts
FLOMATON, Ala. -- The town of flomaton's business landscape grew.With a population of just over 14-hundred people, it's downtown landscape is changing.Its done
Mormon leader decries explosion in sports betting, prediction markets
A leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says an explosion in online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed among young people
Mormon leader decries explosion in sports betting, prediction markets
A leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says an explosion in online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed among young people
Trump told aide to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him
Four spots have run, at a cost of about $5.5 million, and that is expected to grow, according to media tracker AdImpact and people familiar with the spending.
Hundreds gather to support Mental Health Awareness
MADISON, (WKOW) — More than 700 people gathered for a NAMIWalks event in Dane County, coming together to raise awareness about mental illness and support mental health resources in the
Conservatives pledge to scrap £100,000 childcare 'cliff edge'
Party leader Kemi Badenoch tells the BBC that she wants to see "people who work harder" not getting punished for doing so.
Trump posts GOP lawmaker’s phone number amid spat over Daylight Saving Time
President Donald Trump railed against Sen. Tom Cotton in a series of posts on Saturday, accusing the Arkansas Republican of holding up a bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent and encouraging people to call the senator at his cellphone number.
Mormon leader decries explosion in sports gambling, prediction markets
A leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says an explosion in online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed among young people
Mormon leader decries explosion in sports gambling, prediction markets
A leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says an explosion in online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed among young people.
Mormon leader decries explosion in sports gambling, prediction markets
A leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints says an explosion in online prediction markets and sports betting is fostering greed among young people.
LETTER: Thompson puts people before politics in response to MIDA concerns
Rep. Jason Thompson’s billboard on Logan’s Main Street shows the legislator with his family and reads “people before politics” in bold letters. This was demonstrated by Rep. Thompson’s rapid-fire response
Fulton County pairs deputies with mental health clinicians to help keep people in crisis out of jail
When a person is experiencing a mental health crisis, a call for help can bring law enforcement to the door. But in Fulton County, a new team is giving deputies another option before someone ends up in jail.
Fulton County pairs deputies with mental health clinicians to help keep people in crisis out of jail
Measles outbreak hits Lewis County: 11 cases confirmed in unvaccinated people
About nine out of 10 unvaccinated people who are exposed to measles will become infected, the health department said.
Federal Changes Will Put Hemp Industry Operators Out Of Business, Oregon Retailers And Suppliers Say
“The CBD products that people are expecting to be available to give to their dogs for arthritis or to give to their parents because they’re aging and have aches…they’re not going to have access to them anymore.” By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle Pet tinctures and topicals are the most popular products sold at Oregon […]
White House announces one-time $90 rebate for some Medicare users
Some 20 million people enrolled in Part B are eligible for the payments.
Spain: Massive protests after housing bills voted down
Organizers estimated that 500,000 people turned out in the streets of Madrid to demand affordable housing. Similar protests were held in around 50 other Spanish cities.
'It’s a mess': New Bedford businesses reel as ICE detentions escalate
The presence of federal agents on the streets have kept people away from going out and patronizing local businesses in the city.
Southern California micro businesses get boost from CIELO Fund
“We want people to know that a lot of what we do is ecosystem building.”
Southern California micro businesses get boost from CIELO Fund
“We want people to know that a lot of what we do is ecosystem building.”
Bernie Sanders’s 2016 Campaign Lit a Spark Beyond Elections
Electoral campaigns can feed workplace struggle by politicizing people, raising their expectations, bringing activists together, and giving them experience organizing others. Bernie Sanders’s presiden...
Former Nurse Quits Healthcare to Launch ‘Girly’ Scrubs Business, Says Traditional Design ‘Felt Like a Big Paper Bag on Me’
“I took every penny I had and put it into this,” Ramina Ashfaque said of her scrubs business
She left Vegas to live on a ‘Blue Zone’ island where people live past 100 years old
In our roundup of travel stories this week: a hiking trail through the “Mountains of Heaven,” why Champagne is getting boozier, plus a woman who found joy by moving from Las Vegas to an Italian island.
Opinion | Opinion: What the Cornell Lawsuit Reveals About Sexual Violence in America
The columnist David French argues that “we have privileged getting wasted over taking care of people.”
'Giant tusks from Siberia were thought to be the horns of the mythical unicorn': What medieval people made of fossils before vertebrate paleontology
In this excerpt from "The Story of the Mammals in 25 Discoveries," author Donald R. Prothero looks at a time when the idea of extinction was blasphemous.
It’s “Mean Girls” Day! See 13 Rarely Seen Photos from the Making of “Mean Girls”, from Lindsay and Lizzy to the Iconic Mall Scene
Go behind-the-scenes and back to 2004 with these photos from the set of the forever-favorite film
Can anything politicians say at Sunday’s election stop young people from leaving Bosnia?
They are the support base for non-nationalist parties but are voting with their feet and not on ballot papers
Weight Loss Drugs Give Restaurants a New Hurdle: Diners Who Eat Less
Fewer orders and higher costs are squeezing restaurants big and small as people on the weight-loss drugs eat and drink less when dining out.
Swiss scientist soils underpants, wins silly science prize
Franz Bender convinced a thousand people to soil their underwear. The Swiss soil ecologist and his team recruited 1,000 citizen scientists to bury and dig up underwear around Switzerland in an effort to better understand soil and soil health.
New UPS Store open in Cold Spring and Jesse Procter is ready for business
By Andy Furman NKyTribune staff writer Jesse Procter wanted a change of pace. “I wanted something exciting where I could meet people and serve their needs,” he told the Northern Kentucky Tribune.
NASCAR Drivers Shocked By Keselowski-RFK Split
Brad Keselowski's sudden split from his namesake NASCAR Cup Series organization not only left fans shocked; it left drivers and people within the sport shocked.
Ashley Allison on jobs report: ‘When America gets a cold, Black people get pneumonia’
In Alabama, Trump Relives His Glory Days (This Time With Some Empty Seats)
The Deep South was the birthplace of the mega MAGA rally. How do people on the Gulf feel about President Trump now?
Israeli strike kills four people in Gaza, medics say
An Israeli airstrike killed at least four Palestinians in an apartment building in Gaza City early on Saturday, the territory’s health officials said.
Metro Atlanta police department asks for more behavior health resources for crisis calls
This is a unit that the chief has championed for years - so much so that now he says he needs more people on it for people in crisis late at night when they need help the most.
Nightmare on Auburn Road to give downtown Utica businesses a boost
Nightmare on Auburn Road is expected to draw thousands of people Saturday for a day of Halloween activities.
Group Health Cooperative opens Pathways to Recovery program
The new program aims to expand substance use treatment to reach more people in need.
Cabell-Huntington Health Department hosts drive-thru flu shot clinic
A drive-thru clinic in Huntington gave people a quick way to get their flu shot as flu season approaches.
Food safety finds a place among ‘kitchen-table’ political issues
The summer was marred by a foodborne outbreak that sickened scores of people, turning the safety of the U.S. food supply into a topic of national conversation and a political cause.
Register to Vote by October 5 #AACTNow
Your vote is your choice. Make sure registration is on your calendar. October 5, 2026 is the Texas voter-registration deadline for the November 3 general election. AACT Now is sharing voter information and important election dates to help people prepare. Visit aactnow.org for resources. Presented by Texas Border Business and MeGustaTV.
Catering business shut down after football team suffers food poisoning before game
An unlicensed home-based catering business in Illinois has been ordered to cease operations after dozens of people were sickened.
Catering business shut down after football team suffers food poisoning before game
An unlicensed home-based catering business in Illinois has been ordered to cease operations after dozens of people were sickened.
Catering business shut down after football team suffers food poisoning before game
An unlicensed home-based catering business in Illinois has been ordered to cease operations after dozens of people were sickened.
Catering business shut down after football team suffers food poisoning before game
An unlicensed home-based catering business in Illinois has been ordered to cease operations after dozens of people were sickened.
Catering business shut down after football team suffers food poisoning before game
An unlicensed home-based catering business in Illinois has been ordered to cease operations after dozens of people were sickened.
Catering business shut down after football team suffers food poisoning before game
An unlicensed home-based catering business in Illinois has been ordered to cease operations after dozens of people were sickened.
Senate Republicans move cash from North Carolina to Kansas
The decision by the Senate Leadership Fund was disclosed Friday by four people with direct knowledge of the situation who insisted on anonymity to discuss internal strategy.
Downtown Astoria business owner: 'I just want my mail'
Over the course of the last few months, people have begun to stop in, send emails and call The Astorian with complaints of not being able to receive mail. In […]
Chicago expanding program meant to help those experiencing mental health crises
Chicago is expanding the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement program, which helps people experiencing mental health crises.
Studying Science in an Anti-Scientific Time
This Chronicle Review Deep Cut was first published in 2025. By Julianne Werlin Thanks for reading The Chronicle Review! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe The last two decades have not been kind to science studies. Already bruised and battered by the “science wars” of the 1990s, by the 2000s sociologists of science — who had long argued that science had to be understood in its human context — were encountering the funhouse-mirror version of their own views in right-wing critiques of climate scientists. It was enough to give some prominent scholars pause. “Was I wrong to participate in the invention of this field known as science studies?” asked Bruno Latour, the most famous sociologist of science in the world, in 2003. “Should we apologize for having been wrong all along? Or should we rather bring the sword of criticism to criticism itself and do a bit of soul-searching here: What were we really after when we were so intent on showing the social construction of scientific facts?” In response, Latour proposed a change of method and attitude. Science studies, now chastened and contrite, would no longer seek to strip facts of their authority, but to enrich and enhance them. What this meant in practice was never fully clear. But his diagnosis of problems resonated, even if his solutions did not. Latour’s exercise in public hand-wringing signaled a shift in mood. By 2016, with the first election of Donald Trump, the idea that skepticism of science was a right-wing position, not a left-wing one, had become a commonplace, discussed eagerly in The New York Times. For liberals, vaccine denial during the Covid era and Trump’s second-term attacks on the funding of scientific research, covered extensively in these pages, added a new urgency to the defense of science on both practical and principled grounds. There was little appetite for a sociology or philosophy of science that emphasized the messiness and missteps of the scientific process rather than its integrity and triumphs. The distinguished historian of science Peter Dear’s new book, The World as We Know It: From Natural Philosophy to Modern Science (Princeton University Press, 2025), which seeks to tell the story of 18th- and 19th-century science for a general public, may seem comfortably remote from these bitter contests. In its 16 short chapters, Dear draws swift, sure sketches of major discoveries from Newton to Einstein, ably guiding the reader through debates on stellar nebulae, animal taxonomy, atomic chemistry, evolution, and other flashpoints in the history of science. But though a work of history, Dear’s book must still negotiate our polarized present. In a blurb on its back cover, the historian of biology Lynn K. Nyhart alludes to the “present moment, when scientific knowledge is being swamped by misinformation and its institutions are under siege.” Dear himself, in his conclusion, refers to the “yard signs” and “bumper stickers” that proclaim “Science Is Real.” One antidote to both anti-science propaganda and to reductive slogans in science’s defense is a robust history and philosophy of science: exactly what Dear’s scholarship has long offered. But his new book illustrates how difficult such work has become. Dear, an emeritus professor of history at Cornell University, is best known as a creative and philosophically minded historian of the Scientific Revolution. His edited volume The Literary Structure of Scientific Argument (1991) analyzed the rhetoric of Galileo’s thought experiments to brilliant effect. Discipline and Experience: The Mathematical Way in the Scientific Revolution (1995) was a major contribution to the analysis of scientific experiments in early modern Europe and beyond, while Revolutionizing the Sciences: European Knowledge in Transition, 1500-1700 (2001), now in its third edition, remains one of the best overviews of the profound epistemological upheavals of 16th- and 17th-century science. But Dear has also ventured into later periods. Nearly two decades ago, in The Intelligibility of Nature: How Science Makes Sense of the World (2006), he turned to the 18th and 19th centuries to sketch a history and theory of scientific knowledge. Aimed at a generalist audience, Dear’s simple prose belied serious philosophical ambitions. Science, Dear argued, has two aspects: “natural philosophy,” the quest to understand the true nature of the universe, and “instrumentality,” the applied skills and technologies that allow us to manipulate the world for human advantage. Both strands are ancient, but the innovation of the phenomenon we call “science” was to yoke them together. As Francis Bacon wrote, “Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known, the effect cannot be produced,” an insight typically abridged to “knowledge is power.” Or, in Bertrand Russell’s characteristically blunt phrase, science has two functions, “1. to enable us to know things, and 2., to enable us to do things.” So far, so conventional. But Dear took issue with this familiar story in one respect. Bacon’s formula implied that theory and practice could be fused in a single method. In fact, Dear argued, the quest to understand nature and the desire to manipulate it were coupled only loosely. They could come together, but they could also pull apart. Focusing on natural philosophy, the “knowing” half of the scientific circle, he used a series of case studies from cosmology, taxonomy, chemistry, electromagnetism, and quantum theory to show how theories changed over time, in dialogue with practice, but never reducible to it. Take the case of matter, the basic substrate of the physical world. In the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists not only disagreed about what it was, but also about how well it could be known. In 1789, the chemist Antoine Lavoisier dismissed speculation about the atomic composition of chemicals as “discussions entirely of a metaphysical nature,” as he sought to orient chemistry away from philosophical abstraction and toward laboratory results. But in the 19th century, atoms returned with a vengeance in the atomic chemistry of John Dalton, who wanted to explain the underlying structure of nature. It was not just that Dalton and Lavoisier had a different set of experimental results, or even a different theory, Dear showed. What counted as an explanation had changed. In arguing that scientific theories depended on their intelligibility to human beings with complex arrays of beliefs and commitments, Dear was in sympathy with science studies. Key figures such as the sociologist Steven Shapin emphasized the importance of psychological mechanisms like trust in the formation and acceptance of scientific ideas. But in focusing on the scientific pursuit of knowledge, not its politics or economics, Dear resisted the more cynical perspective of some of his colleagues. The Intelligibility of Nature strikes a very different note than Shapin’s collection of a few years later, Never Pure: Historical Studies of Science as If It Was Produced by People With Bodies, Situated in Time, Space, Culture, and Society, and Struggling for Credibility and Authority (2010), to name just one example. Walking a very fine line, Dear depicted science as driven at once by complex social dynamics and by the intellectual power of real discoveries. It was a testament not only to his own acumen but also to the vitality of the field that he was able to do so. Nearly two decades later, The World as We Know It returns to the questions broached in The Intelligibility of Nature. Like Dear’s earlier study, it begins with the Newtonian cosmos and ends with debates between Einstein and Bohr on quantum physics. Beyond its terminal figures, many of the same characters appear in both studies, including the naturalists John Ray and the Comte de Buffon; the chemists Étienne François Geoffroy, Antoine Lavoisier, and John Dalton; as well as Charles Darwin and Michael Faraday, among others. Its subject is nearly identical: As in The Intelligibility of Nature, The World as We Know It considers natural philosophy as opposed to instrumentality, here defined as the “desire to create a picture of what the world is really like — the world as God knows it — rather than simply having instrumental or operational control over it.” The two books also overlap in insights — and sometimes even in language. The reader who has learned in The Intelligibility of Nature that Buffon’s method of classifying animals “reflected his belief in the importance of the senses and empiricism in learning about nature (a doctrine associated with Newton and the philosopher John Locke)” will experience a sense of déjà vu on reading, in The World as We Know It, that the classification “reflects Buffon’s commitment to the epistemological stance of Newton and his philosophical underlaborer John Locke, who stressed the role of the senses in creating natural knowledge.” Later in the passage, we read that, “because of its stress on understanding the ways of life of animals in their environments, Buffon’s approach could almost be labeled (anachronistically) as ‘ecological.’” And again, “an anachronistic way of putting it would be to say that Buffon recommends an ecological mode of understanding.” Likewise, in The Intelligibility of Nature we read of Dalton that he was initially drawn to meteorology, and that: He did a bit of experimental work on these things, especially having to do with the water-holding capacity of gases, but his real interest lay in understanding what, at an underlying natural-philosophical level, was really going on physically.” Whereas, in The World as We Know It: He did experimental work on these things, especially concerning the water-holding capacity of gases — although not at a very refined level quantitatively — but he was continually trying to develop a theoretical conception of what was happening physically. The final full chapter of each book closes on the same resigned note. Intelligibility: These days, most serious work on the natural philosophical underpinnings and implications of quantum mechanics is performed not by physicists but by philosophers of science. Among scientific practitioners themselves, Bohr’s attempt to use instrumentality as sufficient grounds for a respectable science has met with a high degree of success. And again, in The World as We Know It: Bohr’s and Einstein’s concerns are now questions that are mostly discussed by philosophers of science rather than by physicists themselves. The marginalization of these sorts of questions amounts to the demise of natural philosophy, at least in physics, in the 20th century. Quantum mechanics “works,” and that’s good enough for most scientists who encounter it. Examples could be multiplied. When handling the same subject matter, some echoes are inevitable. Scholars should not feel that because they have written “Isaac Newton died in 1727” in one book, in the next they must describe him as perishing, expiring, or meeting his maker. But the repetitions of language and arguments (not to mention six reproduced images) threaded throughout The World as We Know It are more extensive than that. They should have been caught by Princeton University Press or its reviewers, and revised. Because the two books have so much in common, it is easy to see where they diverge. The World as We Know It is a less theoretical work than its predecessor. The sociology of knowledge that organized The Intelligibility of Nature has been reduced in scale and folded into readings and examples. The taut interplay between history and theory, which gave the earlier study so much interest, is there, but it is subtle. In the earlier book, the case studies demonstrated theoretical claims about the character and development of science. In the later work, each narrative of discovery is an end in itself. Insights emerge from the history, but they do not control the organization of the study. With the theory muted, it can be hard to understand the logic uniting Dear’s sprawling history of more than two centuries of scientific knowledge. The 16 brisk chapters cover an enormous amount of material. But the closer the volume edges to comprehensiveness, the more obvious the missing elements become. A chapter on “Institutions and Pedagogy,” describing the birth of the research university, illustrates the problem. Inserted roughly halfway through the book, the unnumbered chapter is designed as an “entr’acte,” in acknowledgement that it does not fit the study’s organization around scientific discoveries. Yet as Dear is well aware, no general history of the development of modern science can bracket its 19th-century institutionalization and professionalization. It was the 19th-century university, after all, that gave us the “scientist,” a term coined by the Cambridge philosopher William Whewell. Dear’s history of scientific discoveries implies a wider social and institutional history, but it remains largely subterranean, only occasionally extruded under the pressure of the narrative. It must be said that the balance is not all on the side of the earlier study. There are some advantages to the more historical, less theoretical organization of The World as We Know It. Dear’s accounts of paradigm shifts are remarkably lucid, no small accomplishment given that they span fields and centuries. He makes excellent use of the wealth of new scholarship on Darwin and his influences, to which he has himself contributed. It is satisfying to see puzzle pieces from Buffon’s natural history, Georges Cuvier’s animal taxonomy, Thomas Robert Malthus’s demography, and Charles Lyell’s geology recombined seamlessly in the Darwinian jigsaw. Likewise, Dear’s discussion of stellar nebulae, divided between chapters two and 15, shows vividly how Newton, Kant, Herschel, and Hubble reimagined insights and observations as they sought to discover whether the diffuse light that filtered through early telescopes was a glowing, gaseous substance or discrete but distant stars. Yet despite such pleasures, the book remains a more modest work than The Intelligibility of Nature. Dear has clearly not changed his views about the history of science. But in the two decades that have elapsed, the discipline and the world around it have changed, making it harder to write a sociologically and philosophically ambitious history of science for the general reader. That is a shame, because in the age of Silicon Valley and biotechnology, both the reciprocity and the tensions Dear identified between the epistemological and instrumental ambitions of science are more evident than ever. In recent years, some of the most exciting new books on the history of science in early modernity have focused precisely on this pressure point. Important studies such as Pamela H. Smith’s From Lived Experience to the Written Word (2022), James Poskett’s Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science (2022), and Vera Keller’s The Interlopers: Early Stuart Projects and the Undisciplining of Knowledge (2023) all shed new light on how early modern science negotiated the relationship between its instrumental and epistemological ambitions, or in Russell’s phrase, knowing and doing. There is every opportunity for a philosophically informed approach to draw new insights from this wealth of material. Dear, unfortunately, has not done so in The World as We Know It. But for future scholars of the history of science, his body of work over nearly four decades may provide just the model. Julianne Werlin is an associate professor of English at Duke University. 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