This investigation in @TheNation about the downfall of Scientific American presents a neat parallel to the question of whether the downfall of the transgender rights movement can be blamed on its political excesses prompting a backlash, on cynical rightwing exploitation, or a combination of both. After @SciAm became nakedly leftwing in recent years under Laura Helmuth (who posted scathingly about Trump supporters after the 2024 election results came in and was pressured to resign), this attracted the ire of the Trump administration, which in turn put pressure on its corporate owner, which ultimately offloaded the company to a small firm, which proceeded to gut the magazine. Would none of this have happened had SciAm stuck strictly to the science and not come out swinging in the left-wing approach to the culture wars? We'll never know. thenation.com/article/societ…