Daniel Engber

Donald Trump's administration has taken a more active approach to animal welfare than any other president's in recent memory—which hints at something more widespread in right-wing, nationalist politics, @danengber writes: theatlantic.com/science/2026/0…

Trump is, of course, a man whose rise to power has been fueled by his denigration of people for being animal-like. The same politician who describes his political enemies as “vermin”—⁦@danengber⁩ theatlantic.com/science/2026/0…

I don't love how every story just turns into a media criticism story now - often by people who only read headlines. I've been writing about the risk of vaccine myocarditis in the Atlantic for years. theatlantic.com/health/archive…

Is there any lower form of journalism than the "holiday debunker"? Here I inaugurate a new series of holiday-debunker debunkers. First up: DON'T BELIEVE THE MYTH ABOUT THE MYTH ABOUT THE 'TURKEY COMA'

Last year, the Canadian government ordered a flock of ostriches to be killed after some contracted bird flu. The movement to save the birds became a right-wing cause célèbre—and sparked a standoff with authorities, @danengber reports: theatln.tc/myO2ARqE

Last year, the Canadian government ordered a flock of ostriches to be killed after some contracted bird flu. The movement to save the birds became a right-wing cause célèbre—and sparked a standoff with authorities, @danengber reports: theatlantic.com/science/2025/1…

This is an excellent article that explains these issues, and the ongoing assault on the FDA, and the perspectives of people like @reshmagar who have pushed to reform the FDA in their work but who are now fighting to save it from these depredations. nytimes.com/2025/07/08/mag…

Americans had a glimpse into the future of U.S. vaccine policy this week with the first meeting of RFK Jr.’s newly formed advisory committee. It was messy, to say the least, writes @danengber. theatlantic.com/health/archive…

Here's @antkaufman's very good reporting from earlier this week: documentary.org/online-feature…

PBS is really going for it. (gift link) theatlantic.com/culture/archiv… h/t to @antkaufman for breaking the story

The lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origins has become a central tenet of the Trump administration, despite scientific uncertainties, writes @danengber. theatlantic.com/science/archiv…

My Response to the @DOCNYCfest Monday Memo "correction"

PBS also pulled the website for the film from PBS.org, at least until shortly after I'd reached out for comment and the film was promptly rescheduled. Just to clarify, does this also happen to at least one film in every season for a variety of reasons? 4/4

The film's director, @JaneMWagner, told me that POV's executive producers were explicit about the fact that her film had lost its premiere date for political reasons-- a fact they subsequently confirmed to her by email. 3/

So @POVdocs has asked DOCNYC to provide "broader context" for its newsletter item about PBS's decision to pull the trans-themed film BREAK THE GAME from its scheduled slot on Apr. 7. 1/

@matthewremski creators.spotify.com/pod/show/rfkjr…

@danengber Source for this one? Thanks!

Joe Rogan has been promoting a podcast, "The Telepathy Tapes," that purports to prove that nonspeaking people with autism have supernatural powers...

I wrote about the podcast, and what it really tells us: theatlantic.com/science/archiv…

RFK Jr. has likened skeptics of "spelling," the communication tool these people use to show their psychic powers, to pediatricians who deny the harms of childhood vaccines.