The hottest Academic Research Substack posts right now

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Whither the Humanities?

Justin E. H. Smith's Hinternet • 483 implied HN points • 15 Mar 26
🚌 Education Academic Research
  1. A free, online Hinternet Foundation Inaugural Summer School will run on Fridays and Saturdays in August 2026 and is limited to 15 participants.
  2. The program centers on the question "What Makes Us Human?" and will offer sustained reflection on the current state and future of humanistic inquiry, with each year taking a different approach.
  3. Thanks to a generous donation the course is offered at no cost, but applicants must apply by June 1; the program is run by a California-registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Effects of Delays and Chaos in Science Funding

Heterodox STEM • 64 implied HN points • 15 Feb 26
🔬 Science Academic Research
  1. Sudden federal funding cuts, freezes, and delays have created chaos and uncertainty for medical research, forcing project pauses and at least some layoffs and undermining the ability to plan long-term.
  2. Policy shifts like multi-year grants, caps on indirect costs, and heightened political scrutiny (including around DEI) will change how research dollars are allocated and could leave many investigators—especially early-career and international trainees—without support.
  3. Trust in the funding system has been damaged, so rebuilding stable support will require clearer public communication and political action, since there is no alternative funder on NIH's scale to sustain basic biomedical research.

Transparency Crisis: A Black Box of Overhead Spending & Academia’s Mission Creep from Rigorous Science

OpenTheBooks Substack • 121 implied HN points • 22 Dec 25
🚌 Education Academic Research
  1. Universities get growing federal research dollars plus large overhead payments that have fueled administrative bloat and pulled resources away from core scientific work.
  2. Science faces reproducibility problems and many recent graduates lack the practical job skills employers want, revealing a gap between academic priorities and workforce needs.
  3. Grant rules requiring “broader impacts” and targeted outreach (including DEI goals) shift money and faculty time toward programs and administration instead of direct research.

Media School Research: Sedatives, Politics, Somatic Healing, and Racial Justice

Heterodox STEM • 120 implied HN points • 27 Nov 25
🚌 Education Academic Research
  1. Researchers are examining somatic healing and so-called “sedative technologies” that soothe and regulate bodies in response to racial trauma. While these practices can calm individuals, they may also limit more disruptive, collective ways of responding to ongoing racial violence.
  2. A best-selling book popularized body-focused trauma therapies and helped spark widespread interest in somatic approaches. Many scientists, however, criticize the book’s claims as pseudoscientific, so its authority is contested.
  3. Media schools increasingly study topics like bodily regulation and trauma using qualitative case studies rather than traditional experiments, blurring lines with humanities and social science. Institutional shifts can also lead to conflicts over student journalism and administrative censorship when reputation is prioritized over reporting.

Our new book, Beyond Woke and Anti-Woke, is available for pre-order now!

The Path Not Taken • 176 implied HN points • 11 Aug 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Academic Research
  1. The book, 'Beyond Woke and Anti-Woke', aims to explain social justice ideology from a balanced perspective, acknowledging its unique aspects while avoiding bias.
  2. Demographic changes like increased education and diversity have influenced the rise of social justice ideology, especially among younger people.
  3. The book hopes to reach both academic and general audiences with its analysis and is available for pre-order, encouraging readers to help spread the word.
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Genesis, Quatrovision, War/Peace & Disclosure

Dr. Pippa's Pen & Podcast • 29 implied HN points • 26 Nov 25
đź•ą Technology Academic Research
  1. Genesis aims to open national labs and mix classified research with outside scientists, supercomputers, and AI to rapidly create huge breakthroughs—potentially including game-changing energy technologies.
  2. A long-standing "invisible wall" has kept many discoveries secret through NDAs, clearances, and control of publishing; once locked-away scientists meet external researchers, suppressed ideas will surface and become hard to control.
  3. Officials appear to be slowly releasing taxpayer-funded breakthroughs to test public reaction and boost the economy, a shift that could quickly rewrite textbooks and scientific norms.

Free Sociology

Bet On It • 246 implied HN points • 07 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Academic Research
  1. Sociology often seems aligned with progressive views, making it seem like sociology and libertarianism are opposites. However, there are ways for them to connect and have important discussions.
  2. Many classical liberal ideas can lead to important research questions in sociology, especially about how free markets can help reduce poverty. This perspective is different from the common focus on the inevitability of poverty in capitalism.
  3. There is a need for a different approach within sociology that appreciates freedoms like free speech and limited government, rather than just focusing on government regulation or anti-capitalist views.

March Madness Forecasts: FiveThirtyEight vs. Betting Markets

Mike’s Blog • 78 implied HN points • 07 Apr 23
đź’° Finance Academic Research
  1. Betting markets slightly outperformed FiveThirtyEight in predicting NBA, NFL, and MLB games.
  2. New data collected for March Madness shows both FiveThirtyEight and betting markets performed similarly, and neither significantly outperformed.
  3. Hypothesis: Both betting markets and experts may have worse accuracy in playoffs and tournaments compared to regular season games.

"Republic.com 2.0" is a terrible book title

Never Met a Science • 61 implied HN points • 06 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Academic Research
  1. Academic research often focuses heavily on citing previous works, sometimes forgetting to build on fresh ideas. It's important to also look forward and explore new questions.
  2. There’s a debate about how much theory should inform empirical research. Striking a balance between solid theory and real-world relevance is crucial for effective studies.
  3. The conventions of academic writing can limit exploration of current issues in digital media. Researchers should prioritize relevant topics instead of strictly following old academic norms.

And now for something completely different

New Things Under the Sun • 192 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
đź“š Literature Academic Research
  1. Existential Crunch is a living literature review discussing societal collapse and academic research on the topic.
  2. The field of societal collapse research is still early in its development and urgent given current warnings of potential collapse.
  3. Initiatives like living literature reviews can support the synthesis of academic research on policy-relevant topics.

Inside Alpaca: The Language Model from Stanford University that can Follow Instructions and Match GPT-3.5

TheSequence • 203 implied HN points • 06 Apr 23
đź•ą Technology Academic Research
  1. Alpaca is a language model from Stanford University that can follow instructions and is smaller than GPT-3.5.
  2. Instruction-following models like GPT-3.5 have issues with false information, social stereotypes, and toxic language.
  3. Academic research on instruction-following models is challenging due to limited availability of models similar to closed-source ones like OpenAI's text-davinci-003.

The Pathogenic Academic Lobby

A Biologist's Guide to Life • 99 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🔬 Science Academic Research
  1. The history of the COVID-19 pandemic traces back to controversial research on potentially pandemic pathogens conducted by influential scientists before the pandemic began.
  2. A group called Scientists For Science, formed by key researchers, lobbied for the continuation of risky research on enhancing potentially pandemic pathogens, prioritizing academic pursuits and funding over clear benefits or safety precautions.
  3. The public may not be aware of the ongoing conflicts of interest, power struggles, and lobbying efforts within the scientific community regarding high-risk research, highlighting the need for transparency, accountability, and ethical guidelines in handling dangerous pathogens.

Lecture 1: Categories, Functors, & Naturality

Quantum Formalism • 0 implied HN points • 07 Mar 23
🚌 Education Academic Research
  1. Category theory is important in various fields like functional programming, formal verification, machine learning, and quantum information science.
  2. Connecting with experts like Brian Hepler can provide valuable insights and opportunities in mathematical research.
  3. The course emphasizes sharing knowledge and encouraging more people to learn the language of Category theory.