Talk:Laura Helmuth

Bibliography

I have commenced a tidy-up of the Bibliography section using cite templates. Capitalization and punctuation follow standard cataloguing rules in AACR2 and RDA, as much as Wikipedia templates allow it. ISBNs and other persistent identifiers, where available, are commented out, but still available for reference. This is a work in progress; feel free to continue. Sunwin1960 (talk) 11:05, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

Date & place of birth

We need date and place of birth. There seems to be no trace of them online. Anyone, something? -The Gnome (talk) 16:33, 8 October 2022 (UTC)

Yep, I came here for this important basic info, after seeing her accusations about "Generation X". 2A00:23C5:FE1C:3701:947F:B029:98CA:1E06 (talk) 13:43, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Indiana

She is from Indiana? Who are her parents? She attended Lawrence Central High School? FloridaArmy (talk) 15:56, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Backlash

Hi @ScienceFlyer: the sentence you removed in order to "tighten" the paragraph is in fact an important part of the story. The social media backlash helps explain why Helmuth apologized for her posts (right now it reads as if she apologized out of nowhere). In addition, the backlash is an important part of many WP:RS that cover Helmuth's resignation, so it is justified for inclusion per WP:DUE.

• The Guardian : Despite her apology, Helmuth’s posts gained traction among conservative voters online, with staunch Trump ally and X owner Elon Musk accusing her of being a political activist who has taken over a scientific institution.
• The New York Times : The posts, which have since been deleted, drew outrage from Trump supporters across social media. Many, including Elon Musk, accused her of failing to act as an impartial journalist and instead engaging in political activism. Some demanded her resignation.
• The Washington Post : A screenshot of her posts circulated on X, and one account called “The Rabbit Hole” asked its followers on Nov. 12 if Helmuth was “someone who is entirely dedicated to uncompromising scientific integrity?” or “a political activist who has taken over a scientific institution?” Elon Musk, owner of X and close ally of president-elect Donald Trump, reacted to the post four minutes later with “the latter” — which spawned thousands of comments, replies and likes.
• CNN : Her comments went viral on X and were criticized on the increasingly right-wing platform.
• NBC News : Helmuth became a target of some conservative commentators after a series of Bluesky posts on Nov. 5, in the wake of the election.

Astaire (talk) 01:02, 21 November 2024 (UTC)

Unsourced/undue/not notable

@Mundart I reverted your change because leaving a job after 4.5 years is normal and not notable. It certainly doesn't warrant a big heading. Helmuth has worked for a number of publications and there is no sourcing for why she made any career decisions. The amount of space dedicated to comments on the internet also seems incredibly undue. ScienceFlyer (talk) 19:56, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I agree that a separate heading just for her departure is unwarranted at this stage. This article could sorely use a section for her SciAm tenure though, and the paragraph could go in there. Astaire (talk) 21:22, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

Semi-related to this and the previous topic: Elon Musk is tweeting constantly about a wide range of people and topics. It's well-documented that his tweets get attention (often negative) from his followers. Is such attention notable enough to be major parts of biographies? Something to consider. Doubtless, Elon Musk's impact on our culture is massive. ScienceFlyer (talk) 21:38, 5 March 2025 (UTC)

Well, the sources above don't show that Musk was the one to initiate the backlash - only that he was one of the people reacting to the posts. Also, the backlash is limited to a single sentence and I think it would be undue to include much more, but it does provide needed context. Astaire (talk) 17:41, 6 March 2025 (UTC)