Eyepopping Bret Stephens column, summarizing a new study, argues (as the headline flatly states) that “Mask Mandates Did Nothing.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/21/opinion/do-mask-mandates-work.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Click over to the study itself and read that existing observational studies are flawed in ways that make it difficult to know whether masks did anything to slow spread of disease. (One example: Many people ignored mandates.)

Those are… really, really not the same thing.

For the first time in my career, I’ve been hearing graduate students talking about not applying for certain jobs because of the aggressive anti-intellectual rhetoric and behavior of governors and state legislatures.

In today’s academic job market, that says a lot.

“At the Manuscript Writing Café, people who aren’t facing a deadline cannot enter! I ask for your understanding and coöperation in order to maintain the tension in the café.”

This sounds like something Steve Martin dreamed up.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/coffee-with-a-side-of-deadline-hectoring

This is a fascinating little exchange. Tate taunting Thunberg is just red meat for his followers—hardly anything new in the attention economy. Her QT in response is surprisingly devastating.

His replies, about nine hours apart, prove that social media bullies can be really, really bad at defending themselves. Tate, a man who’s been banned elsewhere for misogyny and who makes a living kicking other people until they’re unconscious, just can’t control his rage. He can’t even hide it.