I posted it to Patreon, but if you aren’t a subscriber, you’ll have to wait until 5pm Monday to watch it on YouTube. . I’ll post a transcript here for those of you who hat videos.

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

15.09.2025

Added a new spider to my life list

A ground crab spider, genus Xysticus. Say hi!

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

15.09.2025

They work so hard to climb so high

I told you we’ve got multiple monarch chrysalides decorating our house right now. They pig out on milkweed, and then they start wandering, and once they find a vertical wall they climb and cl…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

14.09.2025

For real, this time

This conversation, initially scheduled for last Saturday, was postponed. It will happen today, I promise!

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

13.09.2025

I am not surprised that the shooter was far right

I’ve been disturbed for the last day by all the unfounded speculation that Charlie Kirk’s killer was a far left fanatic, gay or trans, and that this was a hate crime against conservativ…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

13.09.2025

I’m starting to pity the milkweed

Our garden is full of monarchs — here are three at once chomping through the foliage. The caterpillars are doing great, but look at those poor leaves. They’re a wreck. Also, the eaves o…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.09.2025

Random thought

Hey, have you noticed that no one is talking about NFTs anymore? It’s like they all just fell into a pit and everyone is embarrassed to say anything about them. Can that happen to crypto and …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.09.2025

While we’re at it, we should condemn all assassinations

Did you know that Melissa Hortman’s murderer has still not been charged with domestic terrorism, despite the fact that he specifically targeted Democrats in Minnesota? Also, we still have no …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

12.09.2025

They do like their lists

Somebody is compiling a public list of people who “support political violence online,” which seems to mean only people who are insufficiently upset about the assassination of Charlie Ki…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

11.09.2025

Blissfully unaware

The evil cat stands among the containers full of baby bold jumping spiders — she is totally unaware that she is surrounded by her replacements. Bwahahahaha!

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

11.09.2025

Charlie Kirk shot

A single shot was fired at Kirk during one of his rants at Utah Valley University, striking him in the neck. Apparently, he’s still alive. No automatic or semi-automatic fire? No bump stock? …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

11.09.2025

This has got to go on my office door

Even though I know of nothing horrifying about spiders.

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

11.09.2025

An insufferable student

I would never want to teach in Texas…I wouldn’t even want to live in such a place. As an example, here’s a case of a dogmatic student objecting to the instruction in a class that mentio…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

10.09.2025

Epstein had some weird and creepy friends

The Epstein birthday book has been released, and you can read it all for yourself. The content is not very interesting, to be honest–lots of heavily redacted photos of Child Epstein, Epstein …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

10.09.2025

But will he pay it?

Trump went to court again, to claim that he should not have to pay the large sum he was expected to pay to E. Jean Carroll for sexual assault. He lost. A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a ci…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

10.09.2025

American science is screwed

There was an interesting op-ed in the NY Times today (it’s been a long time since I could say that): We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself, by Stephen Greenblatt. Can you gue…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

09.09.2025

The official cult mask

The MAGA or Mar-A-Lago face is the new costly signal for anyone who wants to be part of MAGA (or right-wing news), and it’s pretty darned creepy. It has a signature look. Defined by copious u…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

09.09.2025

“Renowned scientists and scholars” who deserve shaming

There’s a new book out to defend science, titled uncreatively The War on Science, by Lawrence Krauss. The theme is nothing new: I’d recommend instead The War on Science by Shawn Otto, o…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

08.09.2025

We’ve got lots of monarch caterpillars, but not for long

They’re beginning to metamorphose. Mary also took a photo of the same chrysalis, with her iPhone. Hers came out a little nicer, with more context, and shadows that weren’t as dramatic. …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

08.09.2025

I want to hug it and squeeze it and name it George…

Except that that would be a big mistake. We’ve got a great many dagger moth caterpillars nibbling on some of our trees. Mary brought in a branch with several of these things to show me. I had…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

08.09.2025

An American president wants to declare war on the American people

Put this post by Donald Trump on Truth Social front and center when he’s tried for treason. He thinks it is amusing to threaten an American city of almost 3 million people with apocalyptic de…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

08.09.2025

Soviet propaganda, or gay porn novel covers?

None of the above! These are actual posters from the US Department of Labor. To be honest, the Soviet propaganda had a lot more style and sincerity. The modern American stuff just looks like AI slo…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

07.09.2025

Only the heterosexuals are safe

Wait, no, that’s not true — the Republicans are gunning for everyone who is tolerant of other people’s sexual orientation. The gays are just next in line. This is reminding me of …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

06.09.2025

The FtB Podcast tomorrow

Tomorrow at 2pm Pacific Time, the crew here at Freethoughtblogs are going to talk about some of the books we’ve read, with a focus on what we can learn for our own societies from them. (Note:…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

05.09.2025

Chorus: a very very bad idea

I’d heard a few rumors about this program, Chorus, in which pro-Democrat ‘influencers’ formed a bloc to coordinate their support for liberal policies, which superficially sounded …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

05.09.2025

Epstein was a window into the privileged elite

We don’t have the Epstein files, but back in 2015 the contents of his little black book were published, and now New York Magazine has gone through his list of contacts and summarized them. Mo…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

05.09.2025

Never learn anatomy from social media

It’s another anatomical atrocity from the bowels of the internet. Be amazed at the magnitude of the physical differences between men and women (although I hope this was exaggerated by some on…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

05.09.2025

They’re feminizing dinosaurs now!

So much of the nonsense about the gender binary is projection, and imposition of cultural biases on top of biology. Case in point: this very silly post that claims that putting feathers on dinosaur…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

05.09.2025

Quick! Time to mobilize the 2nd amendment-worshipping gun fondlers!

They’re coming to take away the guns! “In the wake of the Minneapolis Catholic church shooting, senior Justice Department officials are weighing proposals to limit transgender people’s right …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

04.09.2025

It’s true — in Minnesota, we’re all above average

Welcome to Minnesota, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average. The thing is, we occupy the headwaters of the Mississippi, and we’r…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

04.09.2025

Antithetical to good science

When capitalism trumps science…this is Donald Morisky. He developed a useful tool called the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, a questionnaire you can use to determine the likelihood someone will…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

04.09.2025

How did Dennis Prager become the leader of American education?

Now you too can take the Oklahoma teacher test without giving your name to PragerU. The list of 34 questions has been revealed! These guys are obsessed with religion and sex, the stuff teachers don…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

03.09.2025

They’ve never been funny

Nathan Robinson explains why the pundits and far-right apologists are not funny — they’re horrifying. The breaking point for him was how these horrible people, like Bret Stephens and Ba…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

I tried sorting out spiders. They were not cooperative.

This afternoon, I tried to sort out the newly emerged Bold Jumper spiderlings, with limited success. Unfortunately, they were faster and more eager to flee than I expected. I got most of them, but …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

A historical perspective, and the long view

Andrea Pitzer examines our prospects — what is likely to happen when Trump drops dead (the sooner the better), and how we’ll have to struggle to overcome his legacy. I don’t know …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

They’re talking about me!

I can relate to this story: Why more and more people are tuning the news out: ‘Now I don’t have that anxiety’. I feel the same way! “Now that I don’t watch the news, I just don’t have that anxiety.…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

I told you I was going to check out the front yard today

Mary found this lovely lady hiding in the shrubbery — it’s the shamrock orbweaver, Araneus trifolium, and it was sheltered inside a folded leaf stitched together with silk. In case you …

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

Oh, what a lovely graveyard

The Republicans are great at counterfactual naming. They recently gave us the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which was anything but — it was the gutting of social services all across the c…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

I didn’t even know she was pregnant

It’s Friday, feeding day in the lab, and I went in this morning to throw wingless flies and mealworms at the horde, all the Steatoda borealis and Latrodectus mactans. I also have one adorable…

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula

02.09.2025

We got your monarchs right here

They’re all over my yard.

home›Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula›Science

Free Thought Blogs Pharyngula - Science

I made a video!

Added a new spider to my life list

They work so hard to climb so high

For real, this time

I am not surprised that the shooter was far right

I’m starting to pity the milkweed

Random thought

While we’re at it, we should condemn all assassinations

They do like their lists

Blissfully unaware

Charlie Kirk shot

This has got to go on my office door

An insufferable student

Epstein had some weird and creepy friends

But will he pay it?

American science is screwed

The official cult mask

“Renowned scientists and scholars” who deserve shaming

We’ve got lots of monarch caterpillars, but not for long

I want to hug it and squeeze it and name it George…

An American president wants to declare war on the American people

Soviet propaganda, or gay porn novel covers?

Only the heterosexuals are safe

The FtB Podcast tomorrow

Chorus: a very very bad idea

Epstein was a window into the privileged elite

Never learn anatomy from social media

They’re feminizing dinosaurs now!

Quick! Time to mobilize the 2nd amendment-worshipping gun fondlers!

It’s true — in Minnesota, we’re all above average

Antithetical to good science

How did Dennis Prager become the leader of American education?

They’ve never been funny

I tried sorting out spiders. They were not cooperative.

A historical perspective, and the long view

They’re talking about me!

I told you I was going to check out the front yard today

Oh, what a lovely graveyard

I didn’t even know she was pregnant

We got your monarchs right here

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