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2 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
In times of uncertainty, repetition often masquerades as truth. Messaging becomes a proxy for consensus, and uniformity of language is mistaken for a deliberative process. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the growing wave of statements and calls for resignation surrounding Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.
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2 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
Have you seen what we’ve been doing? I get emails nearly every day email with compliments on how our in-depth analyses help people understand nuances and context of current events. It’s an honor to help. You won’t find articles like this anywhere else. Below are some hard-hitting pieces highlighted for your enjoyment. Sharing will help us increase our reach and impact!PLEASE ALSO consider helping us launch MEDICAL ADVANCES TODAY.
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2 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
Over the last week, we have had >150K reads. Very good work, Popular Rationalists who share and comment. Notice we have no paywall. Informed readers like you understand we can only continue if sufficient revenue comes in each month. If you have found us useful and reliable, a paid subscription obviously will help secure continued analyses and publication. Let’s see if we can reach 150K reads PER DAY! ARE YOU IN? Popular Rationalism is a reader-supported publication.
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
On June 6, 2025, MedPage Today published an article titled “Infectious Disease Docs Slam New COVID Vaccine Recommendations.” It paints a picture of chaos: pharmacies refusing pregnant women COVID vaccines, infectious disease specialists decrying federal reversals, and professional societies urging clinicians to ignore updated HHS guidance. The core assertion? That the evidence supporting COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy is “abundantly clear.”It is not.
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
In science, paradigm shifts often begin with a quiet “that’s odd.” But in the political economy of biomedical innovation, the most damning truths begin with: “Everyone knows this.”Everyone knows that American universities—funded by taxpayers—perform the foundational research that leads to most new drugs. Everyone knows pharmaceutical companies swoop in once the risk is gone, license the discoveries, and monetize them with monopolies.
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
Here are the facts as can best be found in the scientific record. The exonerating studies on pertussis vaccines and SIDS have problems. In the early 1970s, Japan’s routine immunization schedule included the combined diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) vaccine beginning in infancy (around 3 months of age). During this period, reports of serious adverse reactions to the whole-cell pertussis component of DTP began to alarm the public.
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on June 5 that a woman who believes she was denied promotions because she is straight should have the chance to prove her case in court. The ruling removes a legal barrier that had made it harder for people in majority groups—like straight or white employees—to bring discrimination claims under federal law. Marlean Ames worked for the Ohio Department of Youth Services. She applied for two promotions but didn’t get either one.
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
This opinion piece by Rosenbaum and Hughes is a remarkable exercise in rhetorical inversion — a projection of precisely the critique it seeks to level at HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Let’s rebut the illogic step by step, with clarity and without appealing to ideology or authority. The June 4, 2025 STAT article by Sara Rosenbaum and Richard Hughes IV, titled “HHS Secretary Kennedy Told Us Not to Listen to Him. We Agree”, is a textbook case of institutional projection and rhetorical inversion.
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3 weeks ago | 
popularrationalism.substack.com | James Lyons-Weiler
In 2025, science communication stands at a precipice—not because truth has vanished, but because courage has. The problem is not that scientists and clinicians have “gone silent” out of some noble fear of doing harm, as some writers suggest. It’s that too many have learned to speak only in scripts. Words are not being withheld out of moral responsibility—they are being shaped, softened, and sanitized by institutional directives that value political conformity over empirical fidelity.