Contributors—Asterisk

Dynomight writes about science and dispenses life advice at dynomight.net. Read: My Primal Scream of Rage: The Big Alcohol Study That Didn't Happen, Issue 02'

Scott Alexander is a writer and psychiatrist based in Oakland, California. He blogs at astralcodexten.substack.com. Read: Is Wine Fake?, Issue 01'

Xander Balwit is a writer and wildland firefighter from Portland, Oregon. Unremittingly interested in what kind of future will befall us, Xander explores the plausible, dismal, and hopeful in her work. Read: They May as Well Grow on Trees, Issue 01'

Ozy Brennan is a researcher at the Shrimp Welfare Project and a former researcher at Wild-Animal Suffering Research. They blog at Thing of Things. Read: The Virtue of Wonder: Martha Nussbaum’s Justice for Animals, Issue 02'

Christopher Leslie Brown teaches history at Columbia University. He is the author of Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism, which was awarded the 2007 Frederick Douglass Book Prize. Read: Making Sense of Moral Change, Issue 01'

Juan Cambiero is a Superforecaster. He placed first in multiple forecasting tournaments, including the IARPA FOCUS 2.0 COVID Forecasting Tournament, and is a biosciences analyst at Metaculus. He is also a graduate student in epidemiology at Columbia University and can be reached at juancambeiro1015@gmail.com. Read: What Comes After COVID, Issue 02'

Jake Eaton is the managing editor at Asterisk. Previously, he worked as a consultant in global health and international development for organizations including the WHO, USAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He holds a PhD in public health sciences. Read: Cows vs. Chemists: The Health Debates Over Plant-Based Meat, Issue 02'

Karson Elmgren is a Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), where he works on the AI Assessment team. Read: China’s Silicon Future, Issue 01'

Kevin Esvelt is an associate professor at the MIT Media Lab, where he leads the Sculpting Evolution Group in studying how ecosystems evolve and advancing biotechnology safely. Read: How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, Issue 01'

Stephan J. Guyenet, PhD is a former researcher in the fields of obesity and neuroscience and the current director of Red Pen Reviews. His book The Hungry Brain was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly and called “essential” by The New York Times Book Review. Read: Read This, Not That: The Hidden Cost of Nutrition Misinformation, Issue 02'

Jordan Hampton is a McKenzie Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and a veterinarian with broad research interests in wildlife management, animal welfare, toxicology, public health, and ethics. Read: Animal Welfare in the Anthropocene, Issue 02'

Mike Hinge is a Senior Economist at ALLFED — a non profit that researches and prepares for severe and neglected food shocks. His work primarily concerns how countries can prepare for and respond to disasters that disrupt over 10% of global food output, and the economic, political and social implications of such disasters. Read: Feeding the World Without Sunlight, Issue 02'

Fred Kaplan is the “War Stories” columnist for Slate and the author of six books, including The Wizards of Armageddon, The Insurgents (a Pulitzer Prize finalist) and The Bomb. Read: The Illogic of Nuclear Escalation, Issue 01'

Jared Leibowich is a forecaster for Samotsvety and the Swift Centre. He placed 1st out of 7,000 for the In the News 2021 Good Judgment competition and is currently ranked 1st for the In the News 2022 competition. He can be reached at jleibowich@gmail.com Read: Modeling the End of Monkeypox, Issue 01'

Prabhu L. Pingali is a professor at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management and in the division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. He is a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the founding director of the Tata-Cornell Institute. Read: Beyond Staple Grains, Issue 02'

Kelsey Piper is a senior writer at Vox’s Future Perfect. She writes about emerging technologies, global development, pandemics, effective altruism, and what it’ll take to make it safely to the 22nd century. Read: What We Owe The Future, Issue 01'

Georgia Ray is a biodefense researcher and fish enthusiast. She blogs at eukaryotewritesblog.com. Read: What I Won’t Eat, Issue 02'

Matt Reynolds is a senior writer at WIRED magazine, where he writes about food, climate change and biodiversity. His first book, How to Feed the Planet Without Destroying It was published in 2021. Read: Salt, Sugar, Water, Zinc: How Scientists Learned to Treat the 20th Century’s Biggest Killer of Children, Issue 02'

Stuart Ritchie is a senior lecturer in psychiatry at King’s College London. He is the author of a book, Science Fictions: Exposing Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science, and blogs about metascience at stuartritchie.substack.com. Read: Rebuilding After the Replication Crisis, Issue 01'

George Stiffman is the author of Broken Cuisine, a forthcoming book exploring how Chinese tofus can be incorporated into western cooking. Previously, he lived in China, working in traditional tofu production and Buddhist restaurant kitchens. Read: America Doesn’t Know Tofu, Issue 02'

Dietrich Vollrath is a professor and chair of the department of economics at the University of Houston. His work focuses on economic growth. He blogs at growthecon.com. Read: Why Isn’t the Whole World Rich?, Issue 01'

Robert Yaman previously led operations at the cultivated meat company Mission Barns, and recently started Innovate Animal Ag, a nonprofit that supports the development and adoption of new technologies that improve animal health and welfare. He blogs at robertyaman.com and can be followed on Twitter. Read: Is Cultivated Meat For Real?, Issue 02'