Selena Simmons-Duffin

You cannot even imagine the galaxy-brain off-label shit we get up to in the rosacea community. We’re buying oral-dose horse dewormer at Tractor Supply and rubbing it on our faces. We’re using Afrin on the *outsides* of our noses. We’re putting eye drops in places you’ve never even heard of.

Some professional news: After 11 years of writing and podcasting at Slate, I worked my last day this week! No drama, just time for a change. I’m leaving with lots of gratitude for the people who filled the last decade of my work life with purpose, camaraderie, and excellent edits. I’ll miss it all.

Seriously though, this reporting by @monikae.bsky.social and @caleyfox.bsky.social is SO GOOD. Please read. www.npr.org/2026/10/14/n...

This is some GREAT reporting

Like so many others I'm grappling with being part of the global Jewish family during the campaign of annihilation that has not stopped since 10/7. thegoldenhour.substack.com/p/my-dysfunc...

Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulates the newest Nobel laureate, Anne Carson:

Here’s my latest: www.npr.org/2026/10/07/n...

President Trump is sending $500 to some ACA enrollees. Leaving aside the legal issues, it's important to get beyond the headline. The checks go to about 1 million out of 19 million ACA enrollees, and don't come close to the higher costs people face from expired premium subsides.

The IceCube neutrino detector has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics. The Trump administration has proposed slashing its budget in half in 2027.

TODAY (Monday, Oct. 5) is the deadline for registering to vote for the midterms in: AMERICAN SAMOA ARIZONA ARKANSAS FLORIDA GEORGIA INDIANA KENTUCKY LOUISIANA — in-person, mail (10/13 online) MISSISSIPPI MONTANA — mail (11/3 in-person) OHIO SOUTH CAROLINA — mail TENNESSEE TEXAS npr.org/vote

My latest: As of Oct. 1, refugees lost access to Medicaid because of H.R.1 Republicans passed last summer. "I spent these past two weeks just talking with so many of them, literally just terrorized by the reality that their children with disabilities are losing coverage" www.npr.org/2026/10/01/n...

To aspiring journalists, your reminder to just send that cold email today.

Russell Brand, who's awaiting trial in London next month on rape and sexual assault charges, will moderate a panel at DC's MAHA summit tomorrow on reforming a U.S. health agency

My latest on the teen pregnancy grant saga

NEW: When OpenAI claimed to solve one of the toughest problems in math earlier this month it promised the results would "benefit all of humanity." But mathematicians say they're still trying to figure out what the AI actually did to solve the problem. www.npr.org/2026/09/22/n...

This is one hell of a read by @gracesegers.bsky.social about the crisis that Washington isn't doing all that much about: kids' mental health. newrepublic.com/article/2149...

Covering the 2026 elections? We built the thing I wish every election reporter had: one place to ask vetted election officials, lawyers, academics and voting-tech experts the very specific questions that come up on deadline. The Votebeat Expert Desk is free: www.electionexpertdesk.com

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will give a keynote address at a Children’s Health Defense conference in the nation’s capital this week, embracing the anti-vaccine organization he once led. www.statnews.com/2026/09/14/r...

HHS recently released a report attempting to link “gender ideology” to leftwing authoritarianism and political violence. Scientists told me it was poorly done and “nakedly political”: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Mifepristone is in the news again today as the Fifth Circuit hears Louisiana v. FDA. The case has the potential to restrict telehealth abortion nationwide. How does telehealth abortion work? Listen in on a mock appointment with me in Tucson: www.npr.org/2026/09/08/n...

RIP, Dolly Parton. For the local angle, for the last decade Parton's Imagination Library has partnered with D.C. on the Books From Birth program, providing a free monthly books to kids from birth to 5. More than 3.6 million books to 103,765 children as of earlier this year. She was awesome.

What does the Trump E.O. on vaccines change? At this point, not much, explain @selenasd.com and @robsteinnews.bsky.social on @npr.org. www.npr.org/2026/08/11/n...

I wrote a newsletter yesterday for this morning, but in the back of my mind I knew I was rehashing things I've said before in an uninteresting way. This morning I woke up and deleted it. Then I wrote this story, which was after "schedule newsletter" on my to-do list for the day.

If you want to understand Trump's new Medicaid rule denying coverage of gender-affirming treatment for trans kids, read @matthewcort.land here: shouldntneedtobealawyer.com/posts/cms-mo...

Gift link -- no paywall. Stunning reporting here. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

SCOOP from me @npr.org: The Trump administration is abandoning its most aggressive attempt to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally www.npr.org/2026/07/13/n...

I wish more journalists would point out that Sen. McConnell and Rep. Tom Kean (missed 4 months of work) are/were essentially on paid sick & medical leave. The same employment protection they’ve spent their careers blocking other Americans from having.

It’s New Foods Day for the Minnesota State Fair and this, to me, is the promise of America www.mnstatefair.org/new/food

The Washington Post quoted trans sources in three out of their three stories. CBS included a trans source in one out of four stories. NPR had a trans person's perspective in two out of four stories. Only the New York Times produced five seperate stories without even quoting one trans person.

RIP Alan Greenspan who was a very good sport with this back when we did April Fools stories

Commemorating the passing of the legendary Alan Greenspan by posting the April 1, 2019 parody that my daughter @selenasd.com did @npr.org about the musical, "Greenspan." He even makes a cameo! Brilliant and fun! www.npr.org/2019/04/01/7...

Absolutely heart wrenching. By @gabrielleemanuel.bsky.social

Happy Pride to this Caravaggio self-portrait that made one man so gay he had to go to the hospital

"The Trump administration issued a rule that makes bad policy even worse."

The work requirements IFR is out: public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-11094.pdf (Reading now)

ICYMI, thread - key issues to look for with the release of the Medicaid work requirement IFR, expected this afternoon.

There's enough recently laid off journalistic talent to staff and run 3-5 midsize to large news organizations.

White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants. These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque. | Scientific American www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

Gutted to be losing people like Nell Greenfieldboyce, Joe Shapiro, and Don Gonyea -- all of whom I count as friends and also simply unparalleled journalists. This business, man. It's the literal worst sometimes. www.npr.org/2026/05/27/n...

it's a crushing day at NPR. we're losing some people i've been listening to since before i ever dreamed i'd do radio myself. it's a blow to NPR and i fear to journalism.

Here's how the Trump administration is chipping away at transgender health care access for adults With more than 30 interviews with trans adults, treatment providers, conservative activists and trans rights activists over the last two months. For @nbcnews.com: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...