Hawaiian family in the diaspora hangs on to Oʻahu land they unknowingly inherited Hiʻilei Hobart spoke with The Conversation's Maddie Bender about her journey receiving a bill for kuleana land that she and her siblings unknowingly inherited.

On Hawai'i Public Radio: @hiokinai.bsky.social, author of "In Pieces," an essay published in Places as part of "An Unfinished Atlas," speaks with @maddiebender.bsky.social about the kuleana land her family inherited on O'ahu, and the frictions + fictions of land ownership and belonging in Hawai'i.

The cover of The Best American Science and Nature writing, with an abstract green pattern

A screenshot of the essay "I tried to train my color vision. Here's what happened."

BIG NEWS: @maxlevy.bsky.social's essay for @sequencermag.bsky.social, "I tried to train my color vision. Here's what happened." was selected by editors @jaimealyse.bsky.social and @susanorlean.bsky.social for inclusion in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025.

The horses and mules that moved mountains and hearts - High Country News U.S. Forest Service stock animals are indispensable to trail work on public lands in the West. Trump’s radical upheaval is accelerating the death of a dying art.

Thank you to my editor @shaun505.bsky.social who didn't bat an eyelash when I filed a 2k-word draft though the assigned word count was 1k.

In my defense, who doesn't want to read about the funniest, sweetest, smartest, and most adorable mules and horses?

My latest for @highcountrynews.bsky.social:

pleasse

Sick tattoo of *the cool S* and edited to say Subscribe 2day please

Our newest newsletter hits inboxes TOMORROW MORNING! It's overflowing with exciting updates, so be sure to subscribe at www.sequencermag.com today so you don't miss it.

Sequencer Decode the universe. A writer-owned popular science magazine

It's a testament to @sequencermag.bsky.social and our subscribers that we can offer this program. We want to scale this up, and honestly, we want to pay our writers more. To do that, we need your help. Forward our newsletter to a friend, or upgrade to a paid subscription! www.sequencermag.com

I couldn't be more proud of the Squeakquencers (@goesbykim.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social @maxlevy.bsky.social) for doing the damn thing. We've seen early-career opportunities steadily shrink, so we started a mentorship program that pays writers(!) because "getting paid in experience" is a scam.

Body Modifiers Break the Science of Language Rewriting the phonetic alphabet in the wake of new bodies and new biotechnology.

*sung to the tune of Your Body is a Wonderland*
🎵 Your body is a wind instrument
www.sequencermag.com/body-mod-lin...

I came across an article about school closures from 1958 in an old LIFE Mag. Was struck by the POVs of white students on integration.

This was less than 70 years ago

Hawaiʻi Island wildlife refuge's field staff cut in half under Trump orders The Trump administration has fired thousands of probationary employees from federal agencies. HPR's Maddie Bender reports on the impact on a Hawai’i Island forest and a beloved birdwatching program.

Part two: www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2... (y'all I filled an hour of radio you better bet I'm gonna post twice about it)

In Hakalau Forest on Hawaiʻi Island, these birders of a feather flock together We first reported the story of Eric-Preston Hamren. He was two months shy of permanent status at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — he got the bad news on Valentine's Day. HPR met him back in Decemb...

The Trump administration has fired thousands of probationary federal employees. I told the story of one — a plant restoration specialist with Fish and Wildlife who runs a beginner birdwatching program. He was fired on Valentine's Day.
www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...

Inside a reporter's notebook: giving the land a living skin Read an unpublished excerpt from Carl Zimmer's new book Air-Borne.

AND if that weren't enough, we also take a peek inside his reporter's notebook, a fun ongoing series we've been doing at Sequencer. H/T @dsamorod.bsky.social and @carlzimmer.com (Carl, let me know if you want to do a book event in Hawai'i!) www.sequencermag.com/inside-a-rep...

Carl Zimmer is an airhead. He think you should be one too. In his new book Air-Borne, the prolific science journalist traces investigations into aerobiology, from famous scientists like Louis Pasteur to the husband-and-wife duo who discovered how bacteria spr...

On our homepage @sequencermag.bsky.social, we've got a stellar Q&A with @carlzimmer.com about aerobiology and his new book, AIR-BORNE www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...

hahaha thanks for going with my headline

Carl Zimmer is an airhead. He think you should be one too. In his new book Air-Borne, the prolific science journalist traces investigations into aerobiology, from famous scientists like Louis Pasteur to the husband-and-wife duo who discovered how bacteria spr...

NEW: @carlzimmer.com talks with @dsamorod.bsky.social about his new book AIR-BORNE: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE LIFE WE BREATHE, out today. They discussed COVID-19, biological warfare, and the crucial contributions sneeze powder has made to science.

www.sequencermag.com/carl-zimmer-...

We're going through stellar applications rn, but please amplify in your #scicomm circles!!! I am lucky be part of a team with co-founders/rats-in-crime @maxlevy.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social who are walking the damn walk when it comes to training emerging science writers

What comes next for survivors, insurers and HECO in $4B Maui wildfire settlement? A major roadblock to the $4 billion global settlement for the Maui wildfires has been cleared. A lawyer representing victims says it could mean that survivors receive their first settlement payments b...

A huge legal hurdle for a $4 billion wildfire settlement in Hawai'i was cleared this week. I wrote about what that means for Maui fire survivors, and why some are now worried about a state-wide insurance crisis: www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversa...

We Won’t Avoid the Next Pandemic. But We Can Still Prepare. As the factors that drive outbreaks snowball and Trump dismantles public health institutions, preparedness can come from the ground up.

OUT NOW:
@maxlevy.bsky.social on preparing for the *inevitable* next pandemic locally, at work, and scientifically.

We're honored to co-publish this with our friends at @thesicktimes.bsky.social who have really led the way on COVID/LC reporting

www.sequencermag.com/inevitable-p...

We won’t avoid the next pandemic. But we can still prepare. - The Sick Times When a pandemic begins, so does the blame game. Early days of COVID-19 pointed fingers at wild meat markets and debunked lab leak conspiracies, and that crystallized a long-running narrative that outb...

Today @thesicktimes.bsky.social & @sequencermag.bsky.social! Great piece by @maxlevy.bsky.social about the drivers of pandemics and how we can better prepare for the next one, even when federal institutions seem to go backward. thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...

We won’t avoid the next pandemic. But we can still prepare. - The Sick Times When a pandemic begins, so does the blame game. Early days of COVID-19 pointed fingers at wild meat markets and debunked lab leak conspiracies, and that crystallized a long-running narrative that outb...

We won't avoid the next pandemic, but we can prepare. Yet another @maxlevy.bsky.social and @sequencermag.bsky.social banger , in partnership with
@thesicktimes.bsky.social

thesicktimes.org/2025/02/07/w...

How a Hawaiian High School Student Inspired Nine New State Animals Researchers hope the designation of several species of land snails, or kāhuli, will lead to conservation

Cool backstory here on how a student's efforts led to the designation of state snails in Hawaii. Ace science journalist @maddiebender.bsky.social reports. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

Thanks, Joe!

Kind of like my Dairy Queens, Ranked, article, it's always the dumbest most asinine articles I write that generate the most controversy

Enormous thanks to @caulfieldtim.bsky.social @drandrealove.bsky.social for chatting & to the lovely conference attendees

Thanks to my wonderful team @maddiebender.bsky.social @dsamorod.bsky.social @goesbykim.bsky.social.

If you like the story, please sub free or support our independent work.

Merry Christmas our dear little sequins. This is Sequencer's first holiday season and we just wanted to say thanks for your support and recap a few cool stories. First, @maxlevy.bsky.social and @seamus.bsky.social talk about the best chocolate in the world

www.sequencermag.com/nobody-is-ma...

A screenshot of text that reads: These are morning matters, pictures you dream as the final wave heaves you up on the sand to the bright fight and drying air. You remember pressure, and a curved sleep you rested against, soft, like a scallop in its shell. But the air hardens your skin; you stand; you leave the lighted shore to explore some dim headland, and soon you're lost in the leafy interior, intent, remembering nothing. That new article for Sequencer, which I’ll write about more below, I hope embodies this spirit a bit. We are waking now, covered in blood, which I know will one day wash away. I want to explore the dim headland, lost, remembering nothing. Only intent on the search for new knowledge, away from the everyday, from explanations, towards letting the cosmos wash over you. As always, please reach out if you have thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns. I'm at dan@sequencermag.com.

Please subscribe to the Sequencer newsletter, where you'll get thought-provoking writing about waking up covered in blood and what that has to do with science sent directly to your inbox

www.sequencermag.com

this was a joy to edit, @maxlevy.bsky.social is a genius, etc etc. i've said it all before but read his latest!!!

Salmon hats are back, baby! We've waited 37 years for this moment.

Hat, hat, salmon hat, salmon hat, hat made of salmon, hat made of a salmon which is a fish, after 37 years

www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...

@dieworkwear.bsky.social what do you think

Salmon hats are back, baby! We've waited 37 years for this moment.

And @maddiebender.bsky.social needs you to know that salmon hat is so back

www.sequencermag.com/salmon-hats-...

"No easy way to hold a salmon stash. Therefore, overhead storage for a salmon carry-on."