One Laptop Per Child, 10 years later: "we find no significant effects on academic performance but some evidence of negative effects on grade progression... computer access significantly improved students’ computer skills but not their cognitive skills" www.nber.org/papers/w34495

This will always and forever be the most on point and prescient thing that Fukuyama ever wrote.

I still find it a little bizarre that, for a lot of people, including plenty who work in the voluntary sector, the idea of charities “becoming more commercial” is somehow seen as distasteful or immoral - @martyndrake.bsky.social

Brilliant piece on what our children will and won't thank us for in the era of AI. Naomi is SO GOOD on all of this: naomialderman.substack.com/p/preparing-...

A quote for the ages, and not just in relation to the BBC.

Lord David Frost on taking a lead role at the "politically neutral" Institute for Economic Affairs... Peak double-speak?

Cool. What would you call the other wing then? www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/u...

Don't trust the dodgy data saying wealthy people are fleeing the country because of higher taxes. NEF chief exec @dhnnjyn.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk Cross Questions.

For more reasons to be positive, join me a week on Thursday in the excellent company of @lynnanneperry.bsky.social and @markrusselluk.bsky.social to learn how the incredibly impactful children's charities coalition came to be. Register here: binleydrake.com/event/in-goo...

Despite everything, there are plenty of reasons to be positive. And now, more than ever, we need to remind ourselves of them. Because ours is a sector that, at its best, offers a beacon of hope to millions of people. Remember that. @martyndrake.bsky.social

Minority representation on TV causes outrage From the new Private Eye, in shops now.

*gasp*

"Everyone goes on protest marches for their own unique reasons, but everyone gets the same three big psychological benefits from doing so: belonging, purpose and agency. The exact same benefits those same people could get from a great volunteering experience" - @martyndrake.bsky.social

If we ended and reversed immigration to UK today not a single person would be any better off while a lot would be a whole lot worse Let’s focus on the real problems facing communities across our country www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

What a weekend. Red roses winning the World Cup and Notts CCC taking the county championship. Fantastic.

Congratulations to England's Red Roses, the women's rugby world cup winners. A superb effort over six weeks and deserved winners.

"Trustees need to know, if they don't already, the pressure that third sector leaders are facing around the country right now." @markrusselluk.bsky.social on the important role for trustee boards in promoting the wellbeing of senior leadership teams. 🎧 Podcast: bit.ly/4mgVYk7

Absolutely delighted to hear @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social committing to tackling child poverty as top priority as a moral mission for this government We @childrenssociety.bsky.social fully back removing the punitive 2-child benefit gap to accelerate impact of new child poverty strategy

"You don't apply to be a chief executive unless you've got a certain sense of ego. And I admit I've got one too." @markrusselluk.bsky.social explains why his ego and the @childrenssociety.bsky.social brand both need to be set aside to enable social change. 🎧 Full podcast interview: bit.ly/4mgVYk7

I do worry that people like AI because it makes you feel cleverer than you really are, while simultaneously making you less clever than you actually were. And even those who develop it don't seem immune.

"Once you use ChatGPT, you don't want to think for yourself anymore" THAT IS A TERRIFYING SENTENCE

What a fantastic game between Notts and Surrey at the Oval. Absolute classic for the fans and a cracking performance from Notts right to the end. All comes down to the last round of games next week. Come on Notts 🤞

Lived experience isn’t baggage we bring to the table. It’s about what made us, what we’ve seen and felt, and how that enriches what we offer - @zoeamar.bsky.social

Shifting skills into DWP is interesting & potentially really positive move: bringing together the support people need to get into good jobs. Lots of chatter that Pat McFadden’s move means another push for welfare reform. We need it to be actual ‘reform’ - not just ‘cuts’. 1/3

“He's done everything he could to break down this country - now he's gone off to America to tell everyone how broken we are. "Well, thanks.” Nigel Farage has been busy slagging off the UK in Congress… of course Britain is broken, he broke it. www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/the-...

I see all the media organisations endlessly parroting the "free speech under threat" rhetoric of the right are now staying completely silent as Reform and the Conservatives openly ban news outlets that criticise them from covering their events bylinetimes.com/2025/09/04/k...

Well, there's a thing. New research from Oxford University says that misleading media coverage is shaping UK public debate on immigration, human rights and the European Convention on Human Rights #ECHR👇 🔗 www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09... via @bonavero.bsky.social

"It may be easier in the short term to do something on your own. But is it actually achieving the change you want to achieve?" Emma Revie on the need for organisations to work together in driving systems change. 🎧 Full podcast interview: bit.ly/3JXKRPe @trusselluk.bsky.social

This whole summer only one story has dominated our entire politics & it comes down to literally 30,000 people in hotels. Ridiculous. The government needs to get a GRIP it’s pathetic.

I think the phrase 'power sharing' is often misused and invariably misleading - @martyndrake.bsky.social

🎧 New podcast episode! How can charities drive systems change? @lrouse.bsky.social and Dami Adewale find out from Emma Revie @trusselluk.bsky.social and @martyndrake.bsky.social

Promotes freedom of speech then refuses to speak to local press. Nottingham Reform off to a solid start. www.nottinghampost.com/news/news-op...

If you want to do a particular degree in order to get a particular job when you graduate, but you can pass all the assessments for that degree using AI, then by the time you graduate the job you wanted will not exist, as it will be being done by AI.

It's very honest - the education technology is not the product, that's just the factory. The students and their life history is the product that they are going to sell.

"Following my column last month on leadership stress, I’ve had lots of conversations about how we address the issues I raised, which invariably leads us to talk about performance management" - @martyndrake.bsky.social

Imagine that I got MS or some other debilitating disease and tried to claim PIP. With these rules I could claim it if I was married to someone English or Welsh, but would lose it if I married an Irish woman. *quietly Googles the word eugenics*

This really is not getting the attention it should. The Tories' latest proposal is to exclude *any household that includes any foreign national from any benefit*. And when asked about it, they keep citing small boat crossings - a minute fraction of migration - to justify it. ~AA

Interesting stats: the six ducks in yesterday’s innings was the first time that’s ever happened to England in a test, but the ninth time overall. Bangladesh have done it three times, India twice, Pakistan, New Zealand and South Africa once each.

What comes next once you get serious about system change? This is what I’ll be finding out in my conversation with @mattdownie.bsky.social of Crisis and @lindseymac.bsky.social of @magicbreakfastuk.bsky.social in just two weeks’ time. Join us here: binleydrake.com/event/in-goo...

How do outstanding leaders, like @juliebentley.bsky.social of @samaritans.bsky.social and Emma Revie of @trusselluk.bsky.social navigate the balance between meeting the needs of people in crisis today, and the work of preventing these problems in future? Here in conversation: youtu.be/X-5X1uhiMu4

What comes next once you get serious about system change? This is what I’ll be finding out in my conversation with @mattdownie.bsky.social of Crisis and @lindseymac.bsky.social of @magicbreakfastuk.bsky.social in just two weeks’ time. Join us here: binleydrake.com/event/in-goo...

Today marks my one year anniversary at @gmmoving.co.uk 🥳 To be fully immersed in place-based whole-system working is incredible. You learn so much more (and quickly!) by participating & practising than simply writing or opining. It's not easy but it's *the way* to effect change and improve lives 🙏🏻

Under anything resembling normal times, this level of political self harm would be unimaginable, especially over a policy which does not have public support, is counter to expert opinion, will cause immeasurable harm to individuals, and will undermine the economy. These aren't normal times though.

My latest, a deep dive into the Stewart report into HS2.

The only way to sustainably reduce the number of people needing support from health and disability benefits is to tackle the underlying causes - poor health, rising poverty, crumbling public services and low-quality work  Read our analysis: neweconomics.org/2025/03/the-...

Honestly I still can’t stop laughing 😂😅🤣

There’s a set of skills and competencies that most people working in most charities now need to have. But few are recruiting for, developing, or even talking about them. And this blind-spot is causing increasing amounts of stress for charity leaders. binleydrake.com/critical-com...

"There’s a new challenge emerging, and it’s probably a big factor in why leaders are feeling more stressed than they used to" - @martyndrake.bsky.social

As today is World Parrot Day I’m bringing back to the timeline my favourite rendition of Whole Lotta Rosie by Tico (parrot) and Frank (non-parrot) of Tico and the Man (a truly great squawk n' roll band)