"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more." This piece on AI by Cory Doctorow is spectactular. pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...

Dear newspaper TV reviewers. We get it. You don't really like sci-fi on tv unless it's super cerebral (aka Severance) or super nostalgia-feels (aka Stranger Things). BBC's 'War Between Land and Sea' is great - half-Torchwood tone, half-Pertwee politics. My opinion trumps yours. Lots of love. x

Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man - an absolute blast. Great writing, cinematography and performances. Surprisingly soulful in places. Worth a cinema seat rather than a Netflix binge.

Every new word in this sentence is worse than the last

Former Dulwich college pupil alleges Farage told him ‘that’s the way back to Africa’

Come on BBC. Do the right thing and follow the Spanish and Irish lead. Withdraw support for #Eurovision. This is a problem entirely of the EBUs making. The horror in Gaza and the gradual annexation of the West Bank continues. #gaychristmas

"...the decision to ballot stalled long-overdue joint work on reforming the salary spine, diversity-driven pay gaps, workload, and contract types..." i.e. opportunities to actually improve working conditions consciously squandered. wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...

This result should be a wake-up call for the union in how we plan and strategise, and also understand the nature of the precarious state of our sector. I suspect for some it won't be. But Dave Hitchcock lays things out much more eloquently than I could here. Have a read.

*aaand breathe* - UCU ballot result. In my view some serious errors of judgement were involved in pursuing this expensive and ultimately futile course of action. Glad to hear the GS and Pres Elect emphasising the need for moving into listening and collaboration mode going forward.

I like that last sentence. That should be inscribed on the cover page of every module handbook. And I speak as a relative advocate for incorporating AI into teaching and learning!

Feel free to sign, or not. Partic if you're in Ceredigion. Come on. We can beat Dwyfor Meirionydd surely!?! Geogers might be intrigued by the accompanying map. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

“Just three companies – DMG Media, News UK and Reach – control 90% of UK national newspaper circulation, a 20% increase in market concentration since 2014. Newsquest and National World – control 51% of the UK’s 882 local newspapers and local news websites” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

We all know he's trying to avoid saying, don't we?

Remember how we kept getting told that a European Army was a REALLY BAD idea?

Farage can now be easily boxed in to a corner where his only ‘defence’ becomes: “Yes I spouted Kremlin propaganda & Putin worship but, unlike Nathan Gill, I didn’t need bribes to do it.” It is, once again, a question of whether interviewers have the temerity to shut down his whining obfuscations.

Sounds about reich

Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage. www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...

*Pop*

Interesting as a summary of some things needed for an 'AI first HE institution'. The thing I think missing at the moment is a vision, an ability for institutions and their staff to visualise what an HE institution that embeds AI in its work actually looks like.

It makes me wonder whether Prescott actually consulted the original source himself & doctored it or simply took dictation from someone else. A person, for example, who had helped insert a right-wing lobbyist who hadn’t done journalism for over 20 years into such a potentially important position…

“His main theme was that the country was fucked. Largely because of Brexit. Weirdly, he has no memory of being the main architect behind the Brexit vote. He seems to think it happened in a world in which he played no part.” Farage - the foghorn of failure. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

As per usual the PCPSR latest public opinion poll of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank is worth a read. Lots of detail. And as per usual 66 year old Marwan Barghouti (now in prison and abused by the Israeli state for 23 years) remains the only unifying political figure. pcpsr.org/en/node/1000

"The sand in and around the city of approximately 400,000 is so caked with blood that you can see evidence of the RSF’s war crimes via satellite imagery, according to Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL)." Zeteo's Peter Rothpletz in today's First Draft morning newsletter, on Sudan:

Jesus. This is quite something. Who knew Len Deighton would be quite so prescient ?

We take no joy criticising a young left-wing UK political figure who has often spoken up for workers' rights and progressive causes. But these barely coherent comments from Zarah Sultana on Ukraine sum up much of what is wrong with her wing of the left www.instagram.com/reel/DQT62ys...

This is not exactly good news and will mean higher sea-level rise.

Definitely worth a read. Provocative and clear. I don't personally concur with the argument (I'm more 'genie and bottle') but it is exactly the sort of argument academics and academic institutions SHOULD be having ...

"Make no mistake this is a disastrous result for Reform." A late night analysis of the Caerphilly result. Lots of insights from Will Hayward as ever (and I'm sorry to hear of the harassment he's been receiving).

The weather is shite. The morning's drawing in. I've got no milk. I'm out of clean socks. And Plaid very convincingly WON CAERPHILLY, despite a media narrative of an unstoppable rise of Reform and non-stop culture war stories to support them. Da iawn Caerffili! What a lovely morning :)

I agree. There is a distinction between using software to help address specific learning differences and one that increasingly incorporates tools to re-write work to meet a brief and locates/inserts citations and references so you don't have to read them.

Hmmn. UK media discovers story about the precariousness of UK Higher Education whilst the government sticks its fingers in its ears and goes nyah nyah nothing to see here shocker. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"I have no regrets at all" Irish comedian Tadhg Hickey sends a message from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

So to recap: 🟣Farage made Gill Welsh UKIP leader 🟣Gill left UKIP 2 days after Farage and has admitted to his first count of Russian bribery THE SAME DAY 💎Gill joined Brexit party and re-elected to Brexit Party during the bribes period 💎Gill made Welsh Reform UK leader 11/14

Thanks to everyone who is chipping into this tonight. MSM is letting us all down. We’re growing the authentic news alternative… from the bottom up. See: chuffed.org/project/byli...

TLDR: Make racism shameful again. While you’re at it add fascism too.

Soooo. What's the best KPop: Demon Hunters song? And why is it Free. Asking for a friend.

Feels like now would be a perfect time for a successor to Rock Against Racism, not as a reaction or a ‘counter protest’ but an affirmation of something good

Some more direct incitement from Musk This man burned his sheep's clothing a long time ago and is now fully leaning into his right wing white supremacist nationalism

Any Conference Questions? #edchat #HigherEd #academia

This is a readable & logical analysis of the straits we face from @matthewbarnard.phd . There are no quick fixes, there is a fundamental reframing & rethinking of what higher education 'is' required to move the political dial. Question is who is leading that? blog.matthewbarnard.phd/this-governm...

I can only say O word so many times, but HE is already distorted and dominated by the interests of a small number of institutions. The very system and crisis situation it has created is a major driver for oligopoly in HE.

This is basically the plot of Grace and Frankie distilled into three images.

UCU will be balloting for strike action over pay - because clearly HEC have identified a large pot of money that providers who are currently laying off vast numbers of staff and closing courses could be using to sweeten the pay offer.

"paves the way" - almost as though it's the goal. HEC can vote for whatever it wants but the celebratory "yay!! It's a strike" statement is all a bit ... Uhm. Well. ... 6th form. UCU - UK wide ballot paves way for national strike action across university campuses www.ucu.org.uk/article/1416...

Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting of Aberystwyth UCU Branch When? – Tuesday 16th, 1pm Where? – D5 Hugh Owen Why? – Update members on developments, a new phase in the Professional Services Review consultation process and to consider actions

Jeepers but #BBCLaurak is incapable of scrutinising Nigel Farage, even the tetchy and tired Farage on display this morning. Pointless under researched detail light 'investigative' fluff.

Rep. Jamie Raskin tears into Nigel Farage as a "far-right pro-Putin politician" and a "Donald Trump sycophant and wannabe".

Nobody mention the Nottingham Live ban by Reform UK. www.nottinghampost.com/news/news-opinion/full-inside-story-nottinghamshire-live-10463224.amp

Things are a bit shite and racisty at the moment (for a bit). But The Ballad of Wallis Island is a wonderful reminder that given space to breathe, kindness is the dominant human trait.

Found this is a helpful insight into the conundrum facing HEC next week on balloting for industrial action. For what it's worth, and it will be no surprise, I agree with most of the logic and analysis here. The reasonable challenge to it will be 'so what DO we do?'