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    July 8, 2010

    Pardon Our Dust While We Move

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    As many of you know, I moved my blog Culture Dish yesterday from ScienceBlogs, where it’s been the past few years.  As Carl Zimmer pointed out in his post about PepsiGate and the many bloggers who relocated, moving a blog is no small undertaking.  Fortunately, I have a rockstar web designer who created this blog here yesterday and transferred my old Culture Dish archives to this site.  But we still have quite a bit of work to do, so pardon our dust.  The photos didn’t transfer from the old blog, and some of the formatting of the old posts and comments are wonky from the transition, as is some of the layout of the blog page.  And comment moderation is on because … well … I can’t figure out how to turn it off.  We’ll be fixing all of that and adding new features in coming days, but I wanted to throw this post up to welcome folks to the new Culture Dish, which may or may not be the permanent Culture Dish. I haven’t decided yet.

    I’ve been giving a lot of thought to whether I want to blog independently here, or as part of any number of wonderful media blogs out there. Many people have asked whether I’m considering starting my own blogging cooperative:  I’m not.  For now, I’ll be blogging here, and will post updates on the future when I have them.  And perhaps most importantly, as I figure out where I want Culture Dish’s virtual home to be, I will also be moving my actual home.  This blog move happened to come up just days before I move from Memphis to Chicago (Moving: Boo!  Chicago: Yay!).  So things may move a bit slowly as we get things moved both physically and virtually.  But the basics are ready:  You can subscribe to Culture Dish’s RSS feed either by clicking here, or scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking “Blog RSS.”  You can also post comments.  And I hope you do.

    Update:  I’ve turned off the comments feature until I can figure out how to address the flood of spambot comments that get posted here.

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    9 Responses to “Pardon Our Dust While We Move”

    1. Isis the Scientist says:
      July 13, 2010 at 2:47 am

      Best of luck in the new digs!!!

    2. Beryl Joel Rosenstein says:
      July 12, 2010 at 4:14 pm

      Dear Rebecca,

      I just finished your remarkable book on Henrietta Lacks and wanted to express my gratitude for your putting together such a compelling story that needed to be told. I was amazed by the details that you captured, especially relating to Hopkins. I have been in the Pediatrics Department at Hopkins since 1961 and was medical director of the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1994 to 2009 so I lived through much of the timeline of your book. I especially enjoyed reading about Victor McKusick, Howard Jones, Rick, Kidwell, Joann Rogers, Grover Hutchins, etc, with whom I have worked over the years. I have also served on one of Hopkins’ IRBs for many years and think that your summary of research issues regarding consent, tissue banking, etc. was right on target. I am going to suggest that all of the members of our IRBs read your book. As you know, all IRBs have to include a non-scientific community member. Any hospital in Memphis that has an IRB would be fortunate to have you as that representative.

      Congratulations again on a wonderfully researched and told story.

      Beryl Joel Rosenstein
      Johns Hopkins Hospital

    3. Keith W says:
      July 10, 2010 at 3:59 am

      Eric Roston writes of your book in The Washington Post that “It’s a deftly crafted investigation of a social wrong committed by the medical establishment, as well as the scientific and medical miracles to which it led. Skloot’s compassionate account can be the first step toward recognition, justice and healing.” If I purchase and read your book may I inquire of you regarding the social wrong and the injustice described within your book?

      (Pleased to learn after your C-SPAN interview that you resided in Memphis I can only presume now that Chicago is soon to be enriched.)

    4. Tsuyoshi says:
      July 10, 2010 at 12:04 am

      I did not know about ScienceBlogs and Seed Media until the Pepsico news came around, and I think it was the right decision to shutter that blog and partnership. And thank you for taking a strong position by moving your blog.

      Gaia Vince is claiming in her Guardian article that her article on Bhopal was rejected because ScienceBlogs was seeking an advertising contract with Dow Chemical.

      If this is true, and right now I have no reason to believe it is not, then shame on ScienceBlogs and its owner, Seed Media. Have people any idea how many thousands of people have died as a result of the disaster and the ongoing disaster (toxic contamination of the groundwater from the chemicals left behind)?

      If indeed what Gaia Vince says is true, then I think the whole group should shut down.

    5. Eric Michael Johnson says:
      July 9, 2010 at 3:40 am

      Wow, nice digs. Your decorator works fast. Great to see that your transition was so smooth. I’ll be following you and can’t wait for the HeLa movie.

    6. Rebecca says:
      July 8, 2010 at 8:33 pm

      Thanks. And yeah, that’s a definite possibility, EdYo … worse things have happened I suppose (I mean, the Discover offices *are* in NYC after all), but yeah, would be best if the actual boxes ended up in Chicago.

    7. Ed Yong says:
      July 8, 2010 at 8:30 pm

      You certainly don’t want to get confused and end up at the Discover offices with all your packing boxes ;-)

    8. Brian Switek says:
      July 8, 2010 at 8:24 pm

      Glad that you will be blogging here, if not ultimately elsewhere. It reminds me that I need to get my own house in order – the stress of the Sb controversy has really killed my productivity over the past 24 hours.

    9. Preston says:
      July 8, 2010 at 8:08 pm

      I think moving away from SEED was a good idea on your part. You are very much on the journalist end of the blogger-journalist continuum. Your reputation matters and you are right to take measures to protect it.

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