In the News
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September 8, 2025
“Nothing is without risk in life, nothing. Getting on an airplane is not without risk. But the risks that have been pushed about vaccines are just so hyperbolic compared with the benefits of vaccinating,” said Pamela Rockwell, clinical professor of family medicine. “The real sad and unfortunate thing is I can no longer say the CDC is a trustworthy source.”
Detroit Free Press -
September 5, 2025
“If you’re going to spend $1 billion or $100 billion, you could either spend it on fewer people for a long period of time, or you can spend it on a lot more people for a shorter period of time,” said A. Mark Fendrick, professor of internal medicine and director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, who believes that if some people using GLP-1 drugs to lose weight were eventually transitioned off, more people could take advantage of them.
ABC News -
September 5, 2025
President Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve will damage the U.S. economy if they lead to a weakening of the U.S. central bank’s independence. “This is one area where most economists agree,” said Rüdiger Bachmann, professor of economics, adding that the Fed’s independence “leads to lower and more stable inflation and financial stability.”
Financial Times -
September 5, 2025
Fewer third and fourth graders are proficient in reading, continuing a years-long slide for Michigan’s youngest readers, recent test scores show. “If we really want to see scores ratchet up, we need to focus on comprehension. We need to be focusing on the complexity of reading as an act … on how one reads for meaning, and especially across longer and longer passages,” said Elizabeth Birr Moje, dean of the Marsal Family School of Education.
The Detroit News -
September 4, 2025
“It’s really about making a connection between two things that people usually have separated in their mind,” said Mark Clague, executive director of the Arts Initiative, about Michigan ArtsRx, a new clinical arts initiative to assist the mental health of students, U-M affiliates and Ann Arbor residents through arts programming. “We see the arts and emphasizing the social benefits of the arts as a way to really provide a different pathway for a healthy community.”
MLive -
September 4, 2025
“Gray rocking” — a communication tool that involves responding to goading comments with a blank expression and calm, neutral tone — can be effective in situations where you don’t feel unsafe but do have to interact with a difficult person, said Sandra Graham-Bermann, professor of psychology and psychiatry: “You don’t give extra attention; limit your engagement and protect yourself.”
The Washington Post -
September 4, 2025
“Sadness is associated with that feeling of being at the mercy of outside forces, usually nonhuman forces or external forces. Those feelings of a lack of control can keep the sadness going. Shopping is just a very common and tempting way to exert personal control,” said Scott Rick, associate professor of marketing, whose research suggests that retail therapy may actually reduce sadness.
MarketWatch -
September 3, 2025
“I think if I were to say there’s any single design feature that I would like to change, it would be to break away from this model of the isolated person speaking to the chatbot and find a way to make it more of a group conversation,” said Webb Keane, professor of anthropology, weighing in on “AI psychosis,” following recent high-profile cases of users losing touch with reality during conversations with bots.
KCRW Los Angeles -
September 3, 2025
“I wasn’t surprised by the onslaught of responsiveness from brands, but a part of me just sort of sighed,” said Marcus Collins, clinical assistant professor of marketing, on the reaction of myriad companies to capitalize on the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce engagement by offering well-wishes on social media and special online deals. “It comes to a place where it’s like, OK, there’s nothing sacred. It’s like we’re jumping on things to be opportunistic, not to contribute anything.”
National Public Radio -
September 3, 2025
“America may not be fully authoritarian, but by no means can we consider it to be a functioning democracy. There will be no announcement, no headline saying ‘America Not A Democracy.’ But if you are willing to look clear-eyed at the cumulative evidence, the inescapable conclusion is that our deeply held beliefs about American democracy no longer match our present reality,” wrote Don Moynihan, professor of public policy.
Substack
