Debt Trap Nation -- a very powerful book. Come and see @kbrickell.bsky.social and Mel Nowicki discuss the book on the 22nd of October (4-6pm) Dept of Geography, Cambridge

If you’re in Cambridge on Oct the 4th/5th, delve into Menagerie Theatre’s public art project on Democracy – “If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu” – plays, workshops, art installations, and talks exploring what democracy might mean.

Don’t miss this! A theatre company with a brilliant knack of engaging with the major political and practical issues of the day.

📢ARTIST REQUIRED📢Love working with young people & families? We're seeking an artist/facilitator to lead some workshops & create an art installation, film or animation, on the theme of climate change & the Ice Ages! ❄️ Apply by Mon 6 Oct 🙂@camunivmuseums.bsky.social ow.ly/llRt50X05P3

A short plug for my local Filipino bakery, Kanto. Absolutely delicious baked goods and coffee. Gorgeous Ube Pandesal – purple yam doughnut (plum jam?). Always a queue, but worth it if you're in Cambridge.

Our new paper on "Place-based solidarity: Crisis, austerity and the devolution of responsibility" authors: Coco Huggins and Mia Gray is now available free online: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Couldn’t agree more. It’s a myth! And one we cover in our new book ‘Debt Trap Nation’ out with Agenda www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

📣 I'M HIRING! Please spread the word 📣 🔎 Looking for a 1-year postdoctoral research associate to support @sensory-lives-prj.bsky.social & UK-wide tour of a playhouse tent communicating neurodivergent children’s experiences of Temporary Accommodation. 🛜 www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOL488/p...

Labour geographer (and my PhD student), Jon White, on University Challenge Monday Sept the 8th!

I'm not sure if I'll go to the next AAG conference (2026) in San Francisco ... but I can say the AAG really needs to update their online "information on digital privacy at the US border" section to reflect the increased risk many geographers will face in entering the US. @geographers.bsky.social

Big increase in the number of UK’s official socioeconomic data series decertified due to data problems. Incompetence (UK) rather than political machinations (US), but just as troubling for academics and policy makers. I still miss the ONS's Neighbourhood Statistics. www.ft.com/content/c046...

Big increase in the number of UK’s official socioeconomic data series decertified due to data problems. Incompetence (UK) rather than political machinations (US), but just as troubling for academics and policy makers. I still miss the ONS's Neighbourhood Statistics. www.ft.com/content/c046...

Coming soon. The Citizen and the Vagabond. A Politics of Mobility.

The Cameron-Osborne years offer an important reminder that it is possible to excel at the theatre of politics - to "look prime ministerial", to dominate the "media narrative", to project "competence" and to communicate a clear political "story" - while being strikingly inept at governing.

🚨Abstract Deadline Day for 2025 Regional Futures Conference 🚨 ⌛18 August Join the RSA community in 🌎London, UK 🗓️13-14 November. For more information and to submit your abstract: 🔗 bit.ly/4lgfLj3 😀🔁

How Spain put up wealth taxes - without chasing away the billionaires. Yet the 'don't tax the rich' brigade constantly scare people. Wealth tax isn't just about revenued. It reduces inequalities, capacity of the rich to bribe, pollute, hijack democracy, hold governments to ransom.

Despite all the naysayers, we can tax the rich ... and they won't all leave the country. New tax data from HMRC allays fears of non-dom exodus from UK - on.ft.com/4fzPXgF via @FT

Living standards declined under the last government, for the first time on record - according to our new analysis Today, our report shows how this government can do better And we argue next week’s spending review must pass the “living standards test” Now...some charts!

🚨Reminder: we're recruiting research roles!! 🚨 @thefabians.bsky.social Not long left to apply now - closes 22 August... fabians.org.uk/about-us/rec...

Reading an excellent & important research report on the need to end austerity economic, and develop sustainable long-term economic and social policies for coalfield areas. It's by David Etherington, Mia Gray, and Lisa Buckner and well worth a read. 👇 www.staffs.ac.uk/news/2025/04...

I am thrilled and grateful to @mia-gray.bsky.social and the @regstud.bsky.social for the 2025 Paul Benneworth Award. Special thanks to Markus Grillitsch, @miorner.bsky.social and Daniel Schiller for an enriching and enjoyable writing process! 🙏😃 www.regionalstudies.org/news/2025-rs...

www.theguardian.com/environment/... The "Rights of the River" really resonates with me. I think it's a great way to frame the issues. I'm glad to see local politicians have recognised the right of the Test in Hampshire to flow freely and unpolluted. I hope Cambridge can follow suit.

A rallying cry to think about regional inequality and productivity from @chionwurah.bsky.social - interesting how little we hear about ‘levelling up’ these days on.ft.com/44ZZJFf

Not a surprise, but crucial to document and measure this.

BREAKING: The EU Commission has released a mandatory template for AI developers to disclose training data. Unlike the Code of Practice, this is not optional. It could have global fallout, as rights holders abroad might use it to sue over copyright. digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/e...

A short summary of my thoughts on regional policy. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Completely agree. I’ve been a local gov journalist for 12 years and have reported on the fall of local government in that time. It’s had a massive impact on the fabric of our society, on what makes our communities work. It’s about more than just bins and roads, it’s about a sense of place and pride.

📣 Call for Papers: Debt Urbanism and the Housing Question ℹ️ I'm putting together a symposium proposal to The International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (IJURR) with co-editors @sklosterkamp.bsky.social & Mel Nowicki 🗓️ Deadline for abstracts 22 August 2025 🏹 Please spread the word!

Finally -- an inquiry into Orgreave. "The scars can still be felt across the coalfields.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

For the avoidance of doubt, here are twelve good reasons (including some that might surprise you) to study subjects in the humanities and social sciences. www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

The application deadline is July 19 for our 2025 Dissertation Award, given to the best Ph.D. dissertation on employment issues. The dissertation may come from any academic discipline, but it must have a substantial policy focus. Details at www.upjohn.org/dissertation...

⚠️ 40 years after the UK miners’ strike, former coalfield areas still bear the scars of austerity. David Etherington, @mia-gray.bsky.social & Lisa Buckner reveal how £32.6B in welfare cuts + shrinking local gov funding = deep regional injustice. Read the RSA blog: bit.ly/40d9jSm

Some people say the biggest gap in research funding is at mid career level. So here is our new call for our mid career fellowship programme which provides buyout for 6 to 12 months to devote to the completion of a major piece of research. Spread the word! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/mid-...

A Texas boy needed protection from measles. The vaccine cost $1,400. Insurance did not cover the cost of vaccinations. Profits came before people. Yet this is the system that Farage/Reform, neoliberals want in the UK Defend the NHS, or risk bankruptcy and poor health. archive.ph/noB9w

“Until our government remembers it isn’t a private security firm for the oil and gas industry, recognises the important right to protest, and stops jailing peaceful climate activists, we should be suspended from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Concessions for those already on disability & health benefits are welcome, and a testament to all the work that has gone into campaigning against these cuts But people who need support in future will face a much harsher and meaner system if the amended proposals are implemented

The Climate Crisis: making cities resilient' - @cjres.bsky.social 2025 Conference - cpes.org.uk/events/cjres... Keynotes: Dame Sharon White, Chair of Frontier Economics & M.D. & Head of Europe for CDPQ Prof. Robin Leichenko, Rutgers University Prof. William Solecki, City University of New York

A really welcome announcement from the government earlier this week on fairer funding for local government. I was pleased to comment on it. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Pressures facing local government -- The Local Government Association has said more than half of councils risked becoming insolvent if councils had to declare their true spend on special needs education. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

TPG is looking for a new editorial team member! think.taylorandfrancis.com/editor_recru... @regstud.bsky.social @rsablog.bsky.social

But one day of protest is not enough --- when pro-democracy movements succeed, it’s because of a broad-based, ideological, diverse, geographically-dispersed, grassroots organising www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Congratulations to @lucynatarajan.bsky.social et al on winning the @regionalstudies.bsky.social Best Paper Award for their paper - 'Social Infrastructure and 'Left Behind Places''. Watch the recording at www.regionalstudies.org/news/2025-regional-studies-best-paper/

The @rsa-tpg.bsky.social Best Paper Award goes to Gonzalo Álvarez and Cristian Ovando Santana for 'Indigenous People and Paradiplomacy: Confronting the State-centric Order from Latin American Transborder Spaces’. Watch the recording ww.regionalstudies.org/news/2025-tpg-best-paper/

Register now for the CJRES summer conference: The Climate Crisis: making cities resilient cpes.org.uk/events/cjres... The full programme is now online!

Really forward to this: 'From Protest to Power' - happening today in London & livestreamed online. My panel: Billionaires and Breadlines: The Fight for Economic Justice - Carolina Alves - Alex Gordon - Clive Lewis, MP - James Meadway secure.waronwant.org/page/172030/...

Look at the @escoeorg.bsky.social website for much more historical UK data www.escoe.ac.uk/research/his...

"Professors are the enemy, professors are the enemy. Write that on the blackboard 100 times and never forget it." A short history of a long-running refrain from the American right. Already seeing echoes of this in the UK from Badenoch and Farage ... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The poor quality of the Labour Force Survey has had real political consequences -- as politicians and civil servants dream up ways to push "inactive" people into work -- even though we knew the numbers were problematic.

"Professors are the enemy, professors are the enemy. Write that on the blackboard 100 times and never forget it." A short history of a long-running refrain from the American right. Already seeing echoes of this in the UK from Badenoch and Farage ... www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Why has Britain never managed to spread its economic growth outside of London? Professor Ron Martin FBA takes a look at the history of regional development policy for @thehousemag.bsky.social. Read more: