Learning a lot from this great article about Japanese railways.
For example, TIL Japan has privatized parking: “Before someone buys a car, they must prove that they have a reserved night-time space on private land, either owned or leased.”
worksinprogress.co/issue/why-ja...
Good all around plus it includes about 6 minutes of discussion of vaping at around minute 15.
#StayCurious
In case you missed it, Dr. Jess Steier joined the latest American Council on Science and Health podcast to talk about how viral pseudoscience spreads online and what it really takes to cut through fear-based health misinformation. More here: https://ow.ly/FwqU50YLpZ6
#HealthComm #SciComm Nerds!!
Please, please, do not read this if you're concerned that your instinct to help people may collide with some uncomfortable implications and you prefer binary, uncomplicated situations.
2/2
- Food Policy in FDA’s thinking
- What can THR learn from the Food Wars?
- Joe’s forecasts from 10yrs ago and today
*maybe I'm spending too much time with my GenZ children?
www.youtube.com/live/qJoYm1A...
Nicotine Nerds who also eat (a tight Venn Diagram!) may find today's #ShapingVaping at noon ET of interest.
Jim McCarthy and I will be joined by @conscienhealth.bsky.social and we're going to low-key lock-in* on getting less wrong on the following:
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#StayCurious
#StaySkeptical
Measured, careful, take from @gidmk.bsky.social.
Includes input via @sciencemediacentre.bsky.social from
@lionshahab.bsky.social.
#nicotine #vaping #cancer #evidence
In public health, we know what happens when people stop believing change is possible: they stop trying to make it so. Learned helplessness isn't just psychological; it's a public health risk. So holding onto the door isn’t naivete. It’s what keeps us in the fight.
But mostly, I’m thinking about the people sitting in the middle of the spectrum; not entrenched, just uncertain, trying to sort through years of confusing and often contradictory information. Those conversations are worth having. I hope this article helps in some small way to help you navigate them.
No one:
Literally no one:
Me: Let me share my thoughts about reliable knowledge generation in the field of nicotine and tobacco research!!
open.substack.com/pub/joegitch...
We all have to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
"Eliminate the tobacco industry", they said.
@clivebates.bsky.social has additional perspectives for you to consider.
substack.com/@joegitchell...
Closing 3 paras from https://source.washu.edu/2003/06/nicotine-inhalers-may-reduce-smokingrelated-illnesses/
Throwback Sunday.
Please see this @washumedicine.bsky.social summary of a 2003 @bmjtobacco-control.bsky.social paper by Dr Walton Sumner (link in ALT)
Twenty. Three. Years.
Oof does this hit.
@dkthomp.bsky.social @ezraklein.bsky.social @mattyglesias.bsky.social @jerusalem.bsky.social @jeffmightbwrong.bsky.social
Follow reco for @dingdingpeng.the100.ci. Chef's kiss on so many levels.
This just HITS.
#Trust
@brindabee.bsky.social
Why does transparency about our mistakes matter for maintaining trust?
youtube.com/shorts/E1aHE...
Something notable has shifted in Washington, DC. Heading into the midterms (officially now six months away), Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine skepticism is becoming a political liability, and the administration appears to be quietly stepping back from it.
New paper suggests the UK disposable vape ban may have unintentionally made vaping more affordable for young people.
The ban prompted vape manufacturers to introduce disposable-like reusable vapes with lower ongoing costs than disposable equivalents.
tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/earl...
I did some work on alli (the OTC version of orlistat), and there's real truth in your warning, but it is also really safe (not absorbed systemically) and users typically were able to manage the side effects over time.
Tagging in @conscienhealth.bsky.social in case I'm goofing anything up.
Thank you.
And if you prefer, we can take this to the comments in your blog?
Thanks, Stan.
A favor: can you please reply to my posts vs re-skeeting them? it makes following a discussion difficult.
If you're game for that, I do have some questions for you.
No worries, of course. As I've noted previously, satisfying my curiosity can be very low on your list!!
🙏
#StayCurious fo shizzzle!
Who's up for a big, messy food fight?
This administration figures it might be more popular than it was to burn down the CDC and rip up vaccine policies. Now, if only we can agree on the righteous way to eat, we might get somewhere.
HT: @emilystewart.bsky.social
conscienhealth.org/2026/03/29/s...
For at least one reason why people who smoke are not aware of the relative risks across the products, see this @nypost.com story (nypost.com/2026/03/26/h...) based, loosely (😜), on the scientific article pitched in this #EurekaAlert: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...?
@cochranetag.bsky.social
Benadryl blocks acetylcholine, a chemical that plays an important role in memory/thinking. In fact, Alzheimer’s disease involves changes in acetylcholine signaling. Because certain anticholinergics like Benadryl can cross into the brain, it’s biologically plausible that this could affect cognition.
Big props to @unbiasedscipod.bsky.social for inviting @mbsiegel.bsky.social on the pod to talk about smoking, nicotine, vaping, and how the tobacco control community may not be helping as much as they might.
If you're vulnerable to #DiscomfortOfThought, consider prophylactic analgesia!
