Lisa Wade

It's official! I'll be giving a talk to launch my new book at Octavia Books on Dec 8! EXPOSED: A COLLEGE IN CRISIS PUTS SCIENCE TO THE TEST is about the folly of leading w/ science and tech alone, w/ a rompish case study featuring students on campus during Covid. From @wwnorton.com! Link below!

New report from scientists at Imperial College on excess deaths from the scorching European heat waves of 2026: "We estimate 50,391 heat-related excess deaths across the 854 cities during the summer, with around two thirds of these attributable to anthropogenic climate change."

Using the new 2026 data (supplemental poverty), here's my update. Bringing every poor family w/ children in the US up to the poverty line would cost just $67.4 billion. We can do that with a 0.88% tax on incomes over (poverty line + $46,556). Here is the tax required per family, by income:

Cristobal Young pulled together data on the frats suspended at Cornell over the past 18 years. Together, we point at that data to argue that our current regulatory whac-a-mole strategy isn't working and we need to try radical reforms that amount to ending men-only residential frats.

Risk is constituent of fraternity life, not incidental to it. Or so I say in the @theglobeandmail.com today. I gift you this link:

And so, in the context of financial capitalism and its profit pressures, it can seem to men like this that their time is better spent building a device to replace the care work that women are asking of them, than committing long term to doing more of that work themselves.

You guys. I just spoke to a journalist in the Balkans about #Cornell. THE BALKANS. This story has legs. Who have you been talking to?

I made the same case for the impossibility of reforming historically White, generally wealthy fraternities a while back. (Hey TIME, I pitched you a follow up. Check your inbox.)

She brings the receipts.

I drive a 20-year-old car and if and when I buy another, I hope to have straddled the accursed screen era entirely.

I am begging journalists to put crimes of sexual violence in the larger context of some fraternities' criminality. Are they social clubs or crime hubs?

We need a serious reckoning when it comes to fraternities in the US I was in a sorority at UF and most of my male friends were in fraternities. The frats at that time were constantly making national news for their nefarious deeds 25 years later and NOTHING has changed

Thrilled to appear alongside fellow sociologist @nbedera.bsky.social in this very well-reported @chronicle.com story about the shape of the scandal at Cornell. As the calls from journalists are still coming in, I'm grateful each day that this story doesn't fade from the headlines.

And you know what, it's about time. "The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction." - Toni Morrison

I keep thinking about this. If the lesson we learned from #metoo is nobody cares, no amount of good data, accurate language, thoughtful education, or legal reform will help. We're going to have to defeat them.

You know what else is fratty? America.

Also, if I may add, since the 1930s or so the "frat boy" has been America's classic collegiate and the "frat party" its iconic college party. Many campuses are, just generally, fratty, whether there are frats there or not.

Today is a good day to follow news outlets that take a strong stand against Generative AI slop, btw: bsky.app/starter-pack...

This is despicable. Experts, beware.

#MeToo exposed the fact that many, many powerful men abuse women as a lifestyle. Looking back, I fear the lesson we've learned is that we're okay with that.

Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc

I’m seeing a lot of posts about talking to your sons in light of the Cornell article. And yes. Talk to your sons. Here are some things you should say, based on anti-violence research about what they need to hear:

This is crap for two reasons. 1: polls show, clear majorities of all parties support expanding childcare access 2: if parents are wary of childcare, it's because Reps spent four decades vilifying employed moms, stoking false fears of daycare, and underfunding programs in ways that limit care quality

"biology textbook authors describe plant reproduction through a set of habitually repeated stories that reliably draw on conventional gender stereotypes, reflecting those found in mainstream accounts of human reproduction. In doing so, they cast male plants and plant parts as active heroes..."

Years ago I wrote that it was a mistake to entrust colleges with sexual assault enforcement

Everything is gender part n of N. goodauthority.org/news/republi...

"If Rubin were actually sincere about not having sufficient evidence to make sweeping claims about the discipline, then she would not make such sweeping claims about the discipline. Yet she does. Over and over again." @juliango.bsky.social on the U Chicago responses to the Rubin report on sociology.

Study finds sharp decline in Black, Hispanic researchers receiving NIH funding Drop in those receiving grants and fellowships in 2025 shows impact of Trump administration rollbacks to diversity initiatives www.science.org/content/arti...

It’s very simple. AI isn’t independent or autonomous. It’s a tool being specifically programmed to commit crimes against humans and against rival businesses. But the fantasy of autonomy is an incredible facade that means total deniability and our political and media classes have already bought in.

New cat just dropped. Landed on its feet, it’s fine.

Oh hell no.

NEW: Our analysis found that from 2020 to 2025, the rate of deaths involving ectopic pregnancies nearly doubled compared with the previous six-year period. The uptick was steeper in states with abortion bans.

Happy 72nd Birthday to Ruby Bridges, who at the age of 6 desegregated the New Orleans public schools. She’s younger than 30 senators and our last two presidents—and only 7 years older than Barack Obama. The past isn’t past.

I love the dedication in My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinhem

On this day in 1967, the National Organization for Women protested the @nytimes.com for sex-segregating its help wanted ads. The protestors’ signs declared: “Women can think as well as type.” Meanwhile, the Times contended that its policy “helps achieve full employment.” #WeTheMen

Which do you think is a stronger indicator of people’s trust in universities: what people say (better yet, what some say other people say)or what people do? 🤔

Plenty to reflect about re: the Arday affair, but I'm going to repeat this one thing. The playbook the right used here is effective even though it's not especially sophisticated, as it relies on the audience to do the dirty work. I've been calling it "Trojan horse propaganda", let's go with that. 1/

It's never a bad time to remind ourselves that many flight attendants are not paid, or only paid a % of their wages, for time spent waiting on delays, even flights that get cancelled. So, when passengers are getting screwed, so are they. Be kind. #asa2026 #airtravel

Sociology, too! None of my outlines have ever survived the process of writing. I'm always surprised and often delighted by where the process takes me. It's one of the frustrations and joys of an intellectual life. #sociology #socpeptalks

One of the best parts of being a historian? Changing my mind. Sometimes one letter or one newspaper article sends me back to rethink everything I thought I knew. That's not failure. That's good history. 🗃️