So, Poland's economy is decarbonizing FAST. I guess getting pissed at the Russians (from whom PL was buying gas and most of its coal, as domestic production was expensive and insufficient) and stopping imports from RU was the best incentive. See how much you can achieve with spite.

The scientific publishing is broken and open-access not only failed to fix it, it made it worse. If we do not address the parasitic nature of the for-profit (>30% margins!) publishing, we will not solve the problem. And if the funders (universities) do not intervene, it won't change. A must read:

I've noticed the opposing team's fans only cheer when the opponents score on us. To win those fans over, I recommend we score on ourselves repeatedly; that will surely make them so happy they'll start supporting us. And I'm sure all our fans will keep cheering for us—who else is there to cheer for?

An hour each way to the Polish store in Munich but I got my hands on the St. Martin Croissants they had delivered. They are traditional pastry for 11. Nov, when Poznań celebrates its patron saint. Were they as good as the ones I get at a certain bakery in Poznań? No. Did they make me happy? Yes.

„Nicht Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, Himmler und wie die alle hießen, haben mich verschleppt und geschlagen. Nein, es war der Schuster, der Nachbar, der Milchmann, der Postmann, die eine Uniform, Binde und Soldatenmütze bekamen... und dann waren sie die Herrenrasse." -Karl Stojka- 

Today I took an annual security training (I work as a civilian at a German military university) and one of the huge points was that if you have access to any sensitive information and have any financial trouble, you must report it immediately. Meanwhile the US is starving their entire troops abroad

Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf fänd ich ganz gut.

🗳️ New study (w @jessicakuhlm.bsky.social) on AfD success in integration council elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: AfD achieved significant results in councils elected exclusively by voters with migration backgrounds. It's not about economics—it's about political competition. (1/3)

During my times the PhD students workroom at the University of Wisconsin political science department, where Cheney started, but not finish his doctorate had a picture of him with the caption "You can always quit." Well, he eventually did.

Our next #IdentitiesEvent! 'Eastern Europe’s ‘Peripheral Whiteness’: Class and Gender Racialization among Polish Migrants and Returnees' In collaboration with University of Glasgow Central & East European Studies (CEES) @uofgsocsci.bsky.social @uofgsps.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk...

Across the West, political figures are using migration as a political instrument to overshadow other important challenges and test democratic values, writes @mireiafaro.bsky.social @ecfrpower.bsky.social https://bit.ly/3X0qhRH

I've met Klaus Scharioth in 2008 via the transatlantic fellowship program Humanity in Action. Later we both served in the board of the German branch of HIA. He was always kind. He spoke only when he needed to - but always with profound and useful remarks. He was one of the people I looked up to.

I grew up in a town in Pomerania, a 3rd Polish gen on the formerly German land. We had one cemetery, and it had a big old German section. It was common for preteens to tidy up the shared parts of the cemetery pre Nov 1 - as well as abandoned graves. We didn't know them but we cared for their graves

I cannot but wander what kind of absurd thing Habilitation is. I need a 2nd book in order to get my 'permission to teach'. How ✍️ a book will help me with that, no idea. Also, I have already taught 12 classes and have the Hochschuldidaktiaches Zertifikat, but THAT doesn't count. Make it make sense 🤷🏼‍♀️

Had anyone ever done an accounting of how much time/money we spend making research grant applicants and evaluating them? It’s a lot of work and most of it leads to nothing.

My working paper on possible tactics of democratic restoration, taking #Poland as a real-time laboratory and providing hands-on evidence is out this week, as part of the DI Working Papers. Wonderful to be in such great company of authors! democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/articles/mar...

Kennt Ihr diese Partei? Die Kinke? #typosfromhell

I love academia because when you consider the odds every success feels like an accident

The massive and absolutely out of proportion scale of this abomination of Trump's ballroom and the tacky all-gold style he champions makes it looks like some weird mix of Temu Versailles and drywall Welthauptstadt Germania

So viel zu: "Wir stellen dabei sicher, dass Sanktionen nicht die Falschen triffen". Das waren 11.115 Kinder allein im Juni 2025. Ich lass das mal für sich sprechen. taz.de/Buergergeld/...

Now out in Party Politics 🎉 Our study (@jbpilet.bsky.social)suggests that when a mainstream right-wing party signals willingness to rule with the radical right, support for the radical right rises — while the mainstream gains nothing. 👉 A legitimisation effect. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Die rassistische Provokationen von Merz sind keine Fauxpas, sondern Teil eines Musters. Er macht das wieder und wieder, und offensichtlich gezielt, um bestimmte Reaktionen zu wecken. Das sind keine ungeschickte Formulierungen. Das sind Wörter, die widerspiegeln, was er tatsächlich denkt.

Als blonde, blauäugige, weiße und allgemein unauffällige Migrantin will ich nur bescheid sagen, dass mir die Menschen, die zu sichtbaren Minderheiten gehören, in dem Stadtbild (und Staatbild) viel lieber sind als Friedrich Merz.

Fixed it for you Herr Bundeskanzler

Die Mensa der Universität der Bundeswehr München hat einen Sinn für Humor

I am very happy that there is a ceasefire and that the hostages returned home. Simultaneously, I am appalled by the discourse around it. "A great day for Israel", "an end to a nightmare". Well, how about the 70k Palestinians killed and many more starving? How about persecution for the responsible?

Nee. Was Chancen blockiert, sind Perspektivlosigkeit und ständiges Umbewerben. Projektstrukturen, d.h. Stückwerk ohne Nachhaltigkeit. Die Notwendigkeit, immer wieder neue Leute suchen und einstellen zu müssen. Ganz zu schweigen davon, dauernd denselben unsinnigen Pseudo-Argumenten zu widersprechen.

The neverending story of 🇵🇱 trying to fix the faulty legal system after PiS contaminated it it with anti-rule-of-law bills shows how hard it is to clean up after non-democrats. The looming prosidential veto also tells us that they are hardly ever fully gone - sth we'll likely see in 🇭🇺 if Orbán loses.

Genauso wie man den deutschen (deutschsprachigen) Sonderweg der Habilitation endlich aufgeben sollte, sollte man die Ausbeutung der Privatdozent*innen durch unentgeltliche Titellehre sein lassen. Sie ist ein Instrument der sozialen Auslese. Ich habe unterschrieben. Unterschreib Du auch!

My favourite bit of trivia about town twinning is that Dull, Scotland proposed a twinning to Boring, Oregon, USA, for no other reason that it would be hilarious. Then Bland, New South Wales, Australia asked to twin with them as well. And so, in 2013 they created the 'Trinity of Tedium'.

Now I can make it official: On October 1st I started a new job at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich. I have joined professor Julia Elad-Strenger at the Chair of Social and Conflict Psychology as a post-doc.

The feeling when a technician complements your power tools is like nothing else. (I had one over to check my Internet connection at the new place. My drill-driver was standing in a visible place, next to some to-be-assembled furniture. It was the same brand as the one he had in his tool box.)

Germany 🇩🇪 and Poland 🇵🇱 must bury the hatchet — I try to make some constructive suggestions in my latest @FT column (online today, in print edition tomorrow) 👇 www.ft.com/content/2471... via @ft

In Polish when someone provides false or unsubstantiated information with confidence, they are described as having taken it from IDzD. IDzD stands for Instytut Danych z Dupy (the Institute of Out-of-your-Ass Data).

Wenn man die Arbeitszeit erhöht und parallel die Pflegestufe 1 streichen will, ist das Ziel übrigens recht offensichtlich, dass Frauen wieder in traditionelle Rollenverhältnisse gedrängt werden sollen.

Very worth reading!

Do you have a word that you know the meaning of and still think it should mean something else? For me it's 'gingerly'. It sounds like an adjective you'd use to describe a little girl happily running with that little jumps, with her ponytail swinging from the movement. Well, nope.

Should third-party tracking cookies be killed? Another (100th?) approach of the European Commission to fix the ePrivacy mess. I worked on ePrivacy Regulation so I know this is tricky territory – years of lobbying wars left that proposal half-baked and eventually withdrawn.

Wir müssen alle Opfer für die Autoindustrie bringen.

How to establish dominance? Board a plane in Munich with a loud "Moin!"

The state of Poland, 2025.

Im Zusammenhang mit Dunja Hayalis Rückzug von den sozialen Medien lese ich immer wieder, es hätte einen „Shitstorm“ gegeben. Das ist grundlegend falsch. Es ist eine von rechts orchestrierte Hasskampagne, um Dunja Hayali mundtot zu machen und andere zu warnen. Bezahlt von Millionären.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the reason we think mass street protest during the Civil Right movement "worked" is that the role of the media is forgotten. We took it for granted to the point that it was invisible. But in recent years, we've seen what it looks like ...

Mein letzter Policy Paper bei MIDEM - am Donnerstag rede ich auch darüber in einem online Lunchtalk!

In case someone still thought that copying the far right and their talking points is a good strategy for the left-wing parties, here is some hard data why it's a terrible idea:

Ein sehr guter Freund (und ehm. Kollege) von mir, Giovanni de Ghantuz Cubbe, hat gerade seine Doktorarbeit als Buch veröffentlicht. Es geht um das Thema Territorialismus bei den Rechtsextremen, auf dem Beispiel von AfD (+Ostdeutschland) und Lega (+Norditalien). Leseempfehlung!

While packing boxes, I found my old ticket to Moscow's State Historical Museum. I've been to Moscow, hoped on Transsiberian rail till Irkutsk & saw Baikal Sea in 2009. I wanted to go back soon, to see St. Petersburg. Then Russia attacked Ukraine, so it never happened & will not happen for long.

Eh, I'm so tired of the EU being all bark and no teeth.

Neue Studie des @diw.de: Weniger Geflüchtete fühlen sich in Deutschland willkommen. Unsere Studie ⬇️ zeigt, wie die Solidarität (unter Erwerbspersonen) mit (Ukraine-)Geflüchteten in den letzten Jahren zurückging und sich die Einstellungen ihnen gegenüber deutlich eintrübten.