Karen Benjamin Guzzo

Trash Monster Tuesday! #legokaren

My wonderful coauthors @scottlgreer.bsky.social @hjarman.bsky.social @xrkulik.bsky.social and I have a new Lancet piece on the health policy effects of budgetary mechanisms under this Administration. It comes with my favorite spite graph I’ve ever made

The "protection" narrative promoted by Trump and far-right groups like Heritage is a dangerous fallacy. Trump's DOE has abandoned sexual assault investigations under Title IX. It has set rules that effectively put the survivors of rape on trial and that favor the men accused of victimizing them.

This is a great volume!

Too ghoul for school. #legokaren

My older daughter voted for the first time in her new state, and my younger daughter voted for the first time ever this year. In both places, poll workers cheered for them as new voters. That’s pretty cool, and they both felt special.

🗓️ 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬? On 12/3, I'm hosting a free, 1 hr. online seminar called, "Doing Better Survey Experiments" from 1pm - 2pm (ET). Please help spread the word if you can! 🙏 instats.org/seminar/doin...

36 years ago today, October 25, 1990, the original “Treehouse of Horror,” what has become annual tradition from #TheSimpsons, first aired on Fox.

Just as a private equity firm buys out a corporation and strips it for parts, a consultant class is raiding the Democratic Party and getting “generationally wealthy” along the way New from me and @adambonica.bsky.social newrepublic.com/article/2163...

Finding affordable, convenient childcare is already a huge challenge now. The US is not prepared for what’s coming in the not-too-distant future when there is a wave of home-based childcare center closures as their owners retire.

Early this year, I visited Ingram, a TX town of ~1,900, to check out a tip. The area was starting to recover from its worst flood in a century. But as Latino workers drove to jobsites to help rebuild, the tipster said, a cop in a black Dodge Charger kept stopping them ... 🧵

New w @pamherd.bsky.social: Trump's Bribe State is a mix of empty promises and real benefits. But watch how automation is used: to buy votes, or allow billionaires to buy off dissent via Trump accounts, even as Trump has made automation harder for Mediciad. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/automating...

Home is where the haunt is. #legokaren

“In a recent social media post, the Department of Homeland Security touted the drop in naturalization approvals as part of its attempts at “remigration” — a far-right term associated with expelling immigrants and non-Whites.” wapo.st/4yxGWfH

Helluva headline.

Tech isn’t the only thing trying to surveil and control you! #legokaren

I’m in a frustrated mood, so here’s a picture of my happy dog in case others need cheering up, too.

And there it is: the GOP views being victimized, especially through sexual assault, as permanently damaging in a way that negates their personhood. Victims - not the victimizers - are the problems.

The @uncpopcenter.bsky.social has a postdoc position available for those interested in biosocial research! Learn about our NICHD-funded training programs here: www.cpc.unc.edu/training/bio... Apply here by 11/20/26: unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/325...

Beautiful day to get outside and enjoy the fall weather and changing leaves - but beware of who else you might encounter!

This program is now open for next summer (iiasa.ac.at/early-career...). The IIASA Population and Just Societies program "particularly welcomes applications from candidates interested in population change, sustainable development, and well-being."

You know what? No. We can't survive this because these dudes are making damn sure we don't.

This pretty much sums up everything about Hegseth’s character and performance.

If it feels harder & more expensive to raise kids & give them a “normal” middle class lifestyle than in the past, that’s because it is. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

literally illegal

US exceptionalism is, once again, bad for the whole world.

TFW when you realize you’re the only one cosplaying at the werewolf meetup! #legokaren

NC folks: Mail-in ballots are being rejected at high rates, so vote in person if you can!

the idea that empathy is dangerous has been permeating right-wing spaces for a while, but it's not an actual element of their ideology as much as it's a defense mechanism against confronting the reality of their cruelty

One concern about Child Tax Credits is they may ⬇️ parental work. Our study using national data finds no meaningful impacts on several employment measures across numerous analyses. www.inet.ox.ac.uk/publications... @justinwhite.bsky.social @zparolin.bsky.social @itep.org @taxpolicycenter.bsky.social

BREAKING: The hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau "will not move forward," the lead researcher says. “The solution is clear here: Take the money and vaccinate as many kids as you can,” @pauloffit.bsky.social told me: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...

"Any successful city needs middle-class families and the jobs they tend to fill — including nurses, therapists, police officers, firefighters, teachers and bus drivers." I do wish the headline was different though. This isn't "gov't aid" - it's an *investment* in the city's families and people.

It’s Witchy Wednesday! #legokaren

I cannot emphasize enough how much anti-choice people side with rapists and wife beaters. Their whole movement is about subjugating women wholly to male violence.

Honestly sort of thought this was an earned media play, and they would point out that they never ran the ad. But, uh, no. They are 100% behind it, really going for the child rapist voters.

My brain cannot process this level of corruption. She was being paid $50 million to engineer a pardon from Trump *while working at the Justice Department* as a "Special Government Employee." And it worked. He got the pardon, and she got the money. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/u...

NEW: Orestes P. Hastings, "Even More Unequal Childhoods: 45 Years of Widening Income Gaps in Parental Investments in the United States" sociologicalscience.com/articles-v13...

We were promised Day 1 change. doggett.house.gov/issues/trump...