The Weekly Sift

As RFK Jr. dismantles American medical research and tries to reassemble it behind his crank ideas about vaccines and other hobby horses, I’ve been surprised that one historical comparison rarely comes up: Trofim Lysenko, who gained power over Soviet biological research during the Stalin years and ruthlessly pushed his own crank notions of LeMarckian evolution. Researchers who refused to abandon the scientific consensus around Mendel’s genetic theory might find themselves in labor camps or awaiting execution. Lysenkoism was not only a disaster for Soviet science, it contributed to famines and other public catastrophes.

Asking around, it turns out that few Americans know who Lysenko was or what he did. Maybe that’s why we’re so complacent about RFK Jr.’s destruction of American science. This week’s featured post “Lysenkoism Comes to America” is my attempt to fix that. It should be out by 10 EDT.

The weekly summary has a lot to report about Trump’s push towards authoritarianism and various attempts to push back. Chicago looks unlikely to submit meekly to the kind of military occupation Washington is experiencing, and Democrats in general seem to be finding their voices on this issue, putting aside their perpetual fears of seeming “soft on crime”.

An appeals court backed two other courts in declaring Trump’s tariffs illegal, teeing up yet another test of the Supreme Court’s partisanship. Trump tried out a new way to usurp Congress’ power of the purse: a pocket rescission. He’s also testing his ability to fire governors of the Federal Reserve. Alligator Alcatraz is closing after spending large amounts of money and abusing numerous detainees in such a short time.

I am admittedly light on non-Trump news this week, but I think that’s justified: A number of struggles seem to be coming to a head. I’ll try to get the weekly summary out by noon.