Ben Werdmuller

@ben@werd.social
9K Followers
4.3K Following
6.6K Posts

I lead technology at ProPublica and write speculative fiction. This is a personal account.

Every day, I write about tech, democracy, and society at https://werd.io.

More about me: https://about.werd.io

#indieweb #opensource #journalism #writing #fiction #blogs #blogging #startups #openweb #web #fediverse #socialweb #ethics #product #writingcommunity #philadelphia #sanfrancisco

Blog / Newsletterhttps://werd.io
Pronounshe/him
LocationPhiladelphia, PA
Signalhttps://signal.me/#eu/_ehMeopT5JeELrkt2lSk-R0V6d1AsGt_3Q98UOJhgBMTal5EGTdNIbZHB9H9CqBn
"Trump officials were told that cutting aid to South Sudan would exacerbate a deadly cholera epidemic. They did so anyway." And then they celebrated with cake. https://www.propublica.org/article/usaid-cholera-deaths-trump-humanitarian-aid-cuts-south-sudan
Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a result.

ProPublica
There is no “but” to antisemitism; like all racism and bigotry, it is evil.
"The format credited with making books more accessible via low prices and widespread availability will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks." With it comes a generational loss. #Culture https://werd.io/last-call-for-mass-market-paperbacks/
Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks

"The format credited with making books more accessible via low prices and widespread availability will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks." With it comes a generational loss.

Ben Werdmuller
If you have any intersection with software and how it is built and designed, this brilliant talk by @scottjenson is worth your time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fZTOjd_bOQ
Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? | Ubuntu Summit 25.10

YouTube
Sometimes the horror is overwhelming. Hate-driven shootings, continued bombings, victims including children. May all their memories be blessings. I think about my own son and how searing the pain must be. We need to be in active opposition to all this violence and suffering. We have to care and act.
"The Trump administration is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, substantially expanding its use of data sharing to expel people under deportation orders." #Democracy https://werd.io/t-s-a-is-providing-air-passenger-data-to-immigration-agents-for-deportation-effort/
T.S.A. Is Providing Air Passenger Data to Immigration Agents for Deportation Effort

"The Trump administration is providing the names of all air travelers to immigration officials, substantially expanding its use of data sharing to expel people under deportation orders."

Ben Werdmuller

One of the more fascinating things I’ve read recently!

https://www.wired.com/story/scientists-thought-parkinsons-was-in-our-genes-it-might-be-in-the-water/ or https://archive.vn/ZpiKS

“The health you enjoy or don’t enjoy today is a function of your environment in the past,” says Ray Dorsey, a physician and professor of neurology at the University of Rochester. Your “environment” could be the refinery a town over, the lead in the paint of your mother’s home, the plastic sheath of the Hot Pocket you microwaved in 1996. It is air pollution and PFAS and pesticides and so much more.

and

After a century of putting genetics on a pedestal, the geneticists have some surprising news for us: The vast majority of chronic disease isn’t caused by our genes. “The Human Genome Project was a $3 billion investment, and what did we find out?” says Thomas Hartung, a toxicologist at Johns Hopkins. “Five percent of all disease is purely genetic. Less than 40 percent of diseases even have a genetic component.”

h/t @mmalc @jgarber

#health

Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water

Parkinson’s disease has environmental toxic factors, not just genetic.

WIRED
Can't believe I chose to work in mission-driven technology instead of becoming a bread sommelier. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/best-of-srg-content/meet-switzerlands-first-female-bread-sommelier/90599427
Meet Switzerland’s first female bread sommelier

Gabi Meier is Switzerland’s first female bread sommelier – and the first woman to join Basel’s historic bakers’ guild.

www.swissinfo.ch
We're looking for a mission-driven director of product engineering for our product team at @ProPublica. Our journalists investigate abuses of trust and power in the public interest. This is a way to make a difference. (Must be US-based.) https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/propublica/jobs/4623874006?gh_src=0eh7t3h36us
Director, Product Engineering

New York City, United States; Remote, United States

At the end of every week I gather the links I thought were notable or interesting. Here's today's list - including Trump outlawing state AI regulations, social media surveillance at the border, and ten years of Let's Encrypt. https://werd.io/friday-links-december-12-2025/
Friday links: December 12, 2025

In the face of government oppression, it's time to encrypt.

Ben Werdmuller