Holden Thorp

Welcome to BlueSky! I'm the editor-in-chief of Science and former college prez/provost. I used to tweet about everything over at the bad place, but it was bad for my soul. Here I post about science, neurodiversity, music, life in DC and central FL, and how to support the scientific community.

Important perspective - America is ceding the lead in creating the future | Science via @holdenthorp.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

“The global enterprise will adapt to the lack of American leadership, but the steep loss for the country itself is unambiguous. The United States will no longer have the same window into the technologies of the future that will allow it to shape and anticipate commercial and societal advances.”

Marcia McNutt has been saying that the US is doing a huge experiment with China as the control. The global scientific community will still produce knowledge. But not being in the lead has bad implications for US flourishing. My column: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

He's right. "Nothing short of devastating" By @holdenthorp.bsky.social @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@holdenthorp.bsky.social has been willing to stand up for science again and again. Thank you.

More from @holdenthorp.bsky.social in @science.org "A world where the United States is no longer leading the scientific enterprise will still benefit from science [...] The global enterprise will adapt to the lack of American leadership, but the steep loss for the country itself is unambiguous."

Will be interesting to see how much national coverage this gets. Would be huge in an earlier time.

Front page, NYT today Nothing has been proven to reverse Alzheimer’s disease, including this false claim gift link www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/w...

Autism is a spectrum and we are getting better at identifying it and helping people navigate life with it.

I oscillate daily between wishing we still have Steve Silberman's voice to offer some moral clarity in the midst of RFK Jr.'s lies about autism and thinking "Thank God Steve isn't alive to see this." NeuroTribes was an essential book for me understanding myself. I miss my friend so much.

I went through RFK’s famous autism press conference and compared what he said to the actual paper he was (supposedly) talking about. There were a few inconsistencies. @ericmgarcia.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/holdenth...

My interview on @nbcnews.com about Harvard and other higher ed/science attacks. (4 min mark) www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-pre...

US universities should welcome talent from all over the world, no doubt. But now might be a good time for law and business schools to stop running full pay masters programs to prop up their money losing JD and MBA programs. Just too fragile and rankings not worth it.

NEW: Judge Burroughs GRANTS Harvard's requested TRO against the Trump administration, blocking it from revoking Harvard's ability to enroll international students during early court proceedings.

Harley Kilgore finally gets what he wanted after 80 years. I guess we should be surprised it lasted this long.

thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Proud to know Sally. Duke school mom FTW.

Listen to @ericmgarcia.bsky.social for real talk about autism. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...

Success in academia often has more to do with luck, patronage and the job market than “hard work”. Good academics acknowledge this. I worked hard, but I was in the right place at the right time on occasion. Historians far more talented than I have fallen between the cracks.

The RFK Jr. version of health, where health creates health and healthy people don't get sick and the thing that keeps you healthy is /living the right way/ is very seductive to a lot of people. It also places the burden of illness back on the ill, which decreases the value of human life.

Was such a thrill to speak to the MD graduates at UAB medicine. holdenthorp.substack.com/p/doctors-ar...

People have said how important it was for Walz as a football coach to start a GSA alliance. It's also a pretty big deal to see a veteran, football coach and hunter to completely support his neurodivergent son showing emotion. I wrote this here. www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

“Poor man wanna be rich. Rich man wanna be king. The king ain’t satisfied ‘til he rules everything.”—Springsteen, Badlands

Had a blast at UAB medical school. They gave me an MD hood with Caltech colors so congratulations to Caltech on the launch of their medical school! (And no, I didn’t prescribe anything when I had it on.)

I had a blast at Olin College. Just the kind of engineers we need!! open.substack.com/pub/holdenth...

🚨 Our new paper is out in Science! We analyzed 2,723 high-coverage whole genomes from Brazilians to explore how five centuries of colonization, forced migration, and admixture have shaped genetic diversity and impacted health. 📄 science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🧵👇

Getting excited to talk to the graduates of Olin College of Engineering!!

Important efforts at communicating the value and importance of higher education to the public, by @holdenthorp.bsky.social and others. Higher education needs to do more of this! The more we share, the better Americans will feel about what we do. I believe that. #AcademicSky #EduSky

Beautiful and so true for so many. Moms whose kids were diagnosed contact me frequently. @ericmgarcia.bsky.social #actuallyautistic

Proud to sign this letter with my cherished colleagues to remind folks that public universities are carrying out the work of higher education in ways that benefit the citizens of their states and beyond. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Audra McDonald’s version of “Rose’s Turn,” in the latest Broadway revival of “Gypsy,” is reaching audiences on a deeper level than any other song being performed on Broadway at the moment, Ben Brantley writes.

Another scoop from Jeff Mervis (@policyhound.bsky.social): NSF's ~1400 grant terminations have disproportionately affected PIs from groups underrepresented in science: women, racial & ethnic minorities, & those with disabilities. 1/3 www.science.org/content/arti...

It is still true that @alondra.bsky.social is the leader we need. Perfection here. time.com/7285045/resi...

Huge loss for the Post—a giant talent and one of its top writers by traffic—is huge gain for the Atlantic. @petridishes.bsky.social is what my friends like to call an American original—a unique voice you can spot from a mile off www.theatlantic.com/press-releas...

Excited to talk to the graduates of UAB Medical School on Saturday!

Agreed. Go @usha.bsky.social

👀

Great illustration of the kind of support neurodivergent young people need and can benefit from.

"there are principles around which all scientists unite—those of evidence, independence, process, and inclusion. " #science #blackinstem #QueerinSTEM #TransinSTEM www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

ESPN doesn't mention this because they are a huge part of the problem here, but this is 100% downstream of MLB's (and all the other major sports') full-throated embrace of gambling. It's a cancer that's already ruining lives and it's only going to get worse.

"You said autistic children are a burden. That they ruin families. That they’ll never pay taxes or write poems. That they are, in essence, collateral damage. I’d like to introduce you to my daughter."