Duncan Watts

I don't always agree with @sapinker but this is a very sensible and balanced take on academic freedom and the value of universities nytimes.com/2025/05/23/opi…

No One Has Ever Defeated Autocracy From the Sidelines nytimes.com/2025/05/08/opi…

Adding my sincere thanks to the organizers for a fantastic conference! It was great to meet so many members of the CSS community this week and looking forward to seeing you again next year in Vermont!

That’s a wrap on IC2S2’25! 🎉 Thank you for an unforgettable week of ideas and discussions. Congratulations to our award winners, and safe travels home. Mark your calendars: #ic2s2 ’ 26 heads to Burlington, Vermont, in the US. See you next year!

With record-breaking submissions and our most competitive, gender-balanced program on record, #IC2S2’25 has officially started! Please check the updated program and plan your day. #ic2s2

I just became president of a scientific society and my first act was to disagree with one of my heroes...Arie Kruglanski gave a keynote arguing social psychology needs MORE Big Beautiful Theories. I think that's exactly backwards. Here's why...

My latest for @nytimes -- please repost so your followers can see this for free. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

New post in which I reflect on media trends: – Legacy media is in rapid decline – The media environment of 2025 is very different from ten years ago – In some ways, the US media landscape now resembles Brazil more than the UK – X remains highly influential (1/2)

🚨We are hiring an Engagement & Policy Manager at the Penn Center for Media, Technology & Democracy! 🚨 They will lead an event series, run an annual conference, manage research grants and write on the information ecosystem and its impact on society! wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiti…

The 17 fired members of ACIP, including me, have written an article in JAMA about our experience and our concerns. jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Penn's Center for Media, Technology and Democracy is looking to hire an Engagement and Policy Manager. Great opportunity for someone wanting to help build this exciting new center! wd1.myworkdaysite.com/en-US/recruiti…

Remarkable: Vulnerable House Republicans are quietly urging Trump to refocus deportations away from noncriminal migrants and only target criminals. With Trump admitted deportations hurt farmers, Rs know this is becoming a big problem for them. 1/ (link) newrepublic.com/article/196817…

“As the Trump administration continues to drastically defund and dismantle basic science in America, the United States is presenting other countries with opportunities to take the lead …” writes H. Holden Thorp in a new #ScienceEditorial. scim.ag/3ZYfA3U

One of the greatest deceptions of our time is the false narrative that we should be more concerned about a poor person misusing the welfare system or an immigrant being here illegally than we are about cruel people having unprecedented wealth and power over all of us.

I read it quickly and thought "This sounds like what we're already trying to do. What's the catch?" Well, here's the catch: theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

At @GeisingerHealth we have created a new team to conduct rigorous evaluations of important health system initiatives, programs, and interventions. I'm one of the faculty co-directors of this group and I'm happy to say we have two new positions open! (1/2)

Perseverance has its limits. Today I am resigning from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. I wrote about my decision in @TIME. time.com/7285045/resign…

A recent article in Time Magazine cites me as an example of someone “cultivated” by authoritarian leaders like Trump to “defend the authoritarian agenda.” Why? Because I’ve criticised some research into misinformation and disinformation. I’m a bit annoyed by this. 1/2

Wow this is great!

Penn State faculty position in computational social science/AI: psu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/PSU_Academic/j…