The commodification of play is a scandal. Indoor play areas that have to be driven to, soft play, trampoline parks, expensive 'experiences' that have to be booked & organised, & attended by adults for the duration. When all kids actually need is green space and a safe way to get to it.

Nina Jankowicz: “They’re not doing this because they have any evidence of censorship — they lost a Supreme Court case that made those claims… They’re doing this because the group of researchers and advocates have stood up to liars like Donald Trump and the platforms that enable them.”

This US administration is now completely losing any semblance of sanity in sanctioning "censorship masterminds". There's no other way to put it, this is tin pot dictatorship territory and must be called out as such. Including in the US.

Good morning, sunshine: The seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy is Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year www.science.org/content/arti...

Wow @thetimes.com, that’s impressive An entire article about “freak heat” in the Dolomites causing mayhem amongst skiers without once mentioning climate change…🤷🏼‍♀️ 🧵 1/5

Silver lining.

With road transportation accounting for almost one-fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions, it’s hard to see how the world will reach its net zero climate goals unless people give up their gasoline and diesel cars.

New year, new job? Join us at the Department of Sociology & Nuffield College. The post is open to candidates from different areas of empirical specialisation and at different levels of experience. Please consider applying! closes Jan 5th. www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/event/associ...

1/ In a recent @britishacademy.bsky.social video @rebeccasear.bsky.social from @brunelpsy.bsky.social takes a clear-eyed look at the 21st‑century rise of eugenics - an ideology that should have been left behind, yet is now re‑emerging in a number of troubling ways ⚠️🧬 🧪 Watch the full talk here 🎥👇

📢 Analytical sociology is coming home! Call 4 INAS26 is open 🌍 1-3Jul26 @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social and @sociologyoxford.bsky.social (☔) ☢️ Deadline: 1Feb26 🦹 Organisers: @aksoyundan.bsky.social , @kasimirdederichs.bsky.social, D Kretschmer, @awaldendorf.bsky.social Info: tinyurl.com/yc2tusjx

Reverence

This article on helping students spot disinformation (and talk to others about beliefs that aren’t true) features UMN sociologist Rob Warren and his new course on Calling BS. www.startribune.com/more-college...

There aren’t many things worse one can imagine than the loss of a child. But the loss of a child to a vaccine preventable disease is a pain no parent or family should ever have to bear. Sowing distrust about vaccines, arguably the greatest public health success of all time, is pure evil.

This is why: 1. Never stop writing. If you are using AI only use it as a light editor. 2. Politicians should write the first draft of all their speeches to organise their thoughts. 3. Prose is vital to democratic societies.

Political polarization on confidence in the scientific community accelerated in the 2024 General Social Survey, with moderates now showing a significant downturn. (Apologies if I missed this updated with 2024 data already) /1

“Can you imagine being that rich and that miserable?” I’m personally in favour of dreadful people all living in one place, far away from me, ideally somewhere with limited natural resources and no military protection

Someone who once worked for this guy told me he was at a party where everyone was in one way or another, economically dependent upon him. Under those circumstances you don't get much pushback for dumb statements. When they do encounter that pushback, they think its wokeness that must be destroyed.

Energy transitions can happen faster than we think: In 2000 almost 90% of Denmark's electricity was from fossil fuels. In 2024 less than 10% of Danish electricity was from fossil fuels.

Want a break from the budget? Good news! Across Europe, there are zebra crossings at side roads. They make it clear that people walking and wheeling have priority, rather than stopping every few metres. In the UK, governments haven't officially allowed them - until today 🧵

Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments. 🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Even @channel4news.bsky.social opens its budget coverage by asking "What will this do for Labour's position in the polls?" Polls are not even a good predictor of future elections. They're certainly not a test by which budgets should be measured. We have to break their cold, dead grip on politics.

On any average day in the last 35 years, about 115,000 people left extreme poverty behind. But based on current trends, progress against extreme poverty will come to a halt. Important slow news story on @ourworldindata.org ourworldindata.org/end-progress...

📣 Trinity College Dublin is hiring 2 #tenuretrack Assistant Professors in Sociology. 👉 Environmental Sociology. Closing Dec 1 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPH703/a... 👉 Gender and Sexuality. Closing Dec 2 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPI055/a... @tcdsociology.bsky.social @isa-rc28.bsky.social @eaps.bsky.social

What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation? Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8

SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten. "I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA

🌍 EAPS Child & Adolescent Development Autumn Seminar 🗓 Nov 17 | 14:00–15:00 CET |Online Theme: Climate Change, Inequalities & Youth Speakers: @mariarubiocab.bsky.social & Raya Muttarak Zoom link: unil.zoom.us/j/99171418150 Open to researchers/students! cc: @eaps.bsky.social @eapsphd.bsky.social

I'm biased, but this looks like a brilliant job opportunity to me. Join us at the Department of Sociology & Nuffield College. www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...

Assistant Professor in Environmental #Sociology, Trinity College Dublin. 5 year fixed term tenure track, full time. Closing Date: 12 Noon (Irish Standard Time), 01 December 2025 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPH703/a...

"You can’t reboot the planet if you crash it" | My commentary on Bill Gates' flawed new climate missive for @thebulletin.org: thebulletin.org/2025/10/you-...

Motherfucking wind farms…

In praise of fundamental research Our editorial this week argues that I n these financially straitened times, funders must recognize that great discoveries often arise from work that was looking for something completely different 🧪 @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41...

📢 We’re also holding an online info session for those considering applying for the MPhil in Sociology & Demography! 👨‍🎓 Sign up now to learn more ✨➡️ forms.office.com/e/DTt26zSjwL

FACTCHECK: The frontpage of today's Daily Telegraph has a very confused story about offshore wind, which is all sorts of wrong It says a technical change means higher subsidies & fewer new windfarms from the upcoming AR7 auction Oopsie! This is the opposite of the truth 🧵

As a scholar I rarely offer electoral guidance. But today I do: DO NOT USE AI CHATBOTS AS YOUR VOTE ADVICE APPLICATION AHEAD OF (THE DUTCH) ELECTIONS Full of errors, bias and lack of transparency. @ernesto-deleon.com @favstats.eu @theoaraujo.bsky.social and🙋unpack why algosoc.org/results/1-in...

✨CREST Sociology is hiring ✨ Assistant or Associate Professor in Computational Sociology Details here: www.shorturl.at/E57le

An important petition for Oxford better transport fans: a bus hub as part of the station redesign. Yes to more buses, no to more multi storey car parks. Do sign and share! c.org/pqTDg8jfjM

Pedal Power Remains Most Efficient Way To Travel, Confirms Scientific American www.forbes.com/sites/carlto...

Turns out hybrids are largely another scam concocted by the car industry to make them look greener than they are. Pollution from them is 5 times more than tested in the lab. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

New post just out: The relationship between Russia and the European radical right goes well beyond Reform's Nathan Gill being bribed. In this post I trace the history back to the 1990s and look at the threat it poses now. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/r...

Looks like a great opportunity for pop health researchers... #demography #episky jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

Great (paid) PhD opportunity. Excellent environment, conditions, and supervisors. And a topic close to my heart. (Selfish reason for promoting this: I fear there won't be enough concerts for retired me to go to. Geen dag zonder Bach.) vacatures.knaw.nl/job/The-Hagu...

There was certainly something recently which monopolised all public debate and paralysed all policy initiative in the UK for the better part of a decade, and I dont think it was trans rights.

Nice chart from @ourworldindata.org showing the contrast between what Americans die of (heart disease and cancer) v what the US media reports on (homicide and terrorism). This naturally leads to it being trickier to build a fact based world view ourworldindata.org/does-the-new...

A good news story! Have a great day. Renewables overtake coal as world's biggest source of electricity www.bbc.com/news/article...

The government want more coercive powers for the state against protests, and the main opposition party wants more coercive powers for the state against migrants. Our political-media culture continues in a loop where the response to every perceived problem is yet more coercive powers for the state.

A reminder that there is about 1 week left to apply for these 2 positions in Quantitative Social Science @sriucl.bsky.social! Application deadline: 10 October. Further details in the link below.

Retrospectively removing indefinite leave to remain would be immoral and economically damaging. It would tear families apart. Attacking it as ‘potentially illegal’ is completely beside the point. Argue with the (awful) idea. Don’t try ’well, actually you can’t do that’.

My new book is published today, and my cats highly recommend it. www.penguin.co.uk/books/462676...