It’s August 1968 and DeForest Kelley is having a right go at the makers of Star Trek in the pages of America’s massive-selling TV Guide.

With caveat that 🇺🇸 politics is v different to other parts of 🌍 this is important work. A lot of progressive politics in lots of countries was / is based on the idea that certain ideas are outside the political mainstream & will electorally hurt their advocates. This suggests that might not be true.

Come work with us 🚨 We are looking for a #postdoc in our @aimediademlab.bsky.social lab. Profile: Comm sci / poli sci/ computational social science. Great team, timely topocs, fabulous city, good conditions. DL 🗓️ November 1 werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

At the risk of doing the "well even Plato was complaining about that..." post, but... We tend to laud the politicians of the 1970s (Callaghan, Jenkins, Williams, Castle, Foot, Crossland etc). But I am just reading MacGregor Burns on Leadership (1978). Intro is called "The Crisis of Leadership".

Your regular reminder that the Midas touch did not work out well for Midas. The use of this metaphor always strikes me as weird.

Reform invited Lucy Connolly – who was jailed for inciting violence in a post calling for asylum hotels to be burned down – to be a main stage speaker at their party conference *just last month*.

💯⬇️

I find the term “working people” fascinating, as it has two distinct readings, which different people may hear. It could be a synonym for “working class” & a particular economic group. But it could also be about age - the elements of the population that are economically active vs retirees.

Imagining a world where Burnham batted away leadership speculation and didn’t say anything about fiscal rules, but just said he thought the U.K. should be in the EU to improve economic growth. That would surely have been smarter? www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

This is great. Being a political scientist at the moment is a bit like being a climate scientist a few years back. You can see clearly catastrophe is coming, but most people seem blithely unaware of it

Morning walk

Have been watching some old Michael Cockerell films (as is my wont) - and was really struck with Blair just eviscerating one of his own voters here; it's a reminder of both his supreme clarity as a communicator, but also how timid modern politicians are when faced with the concerns of the electorate

I wonder if at some point in the future Amazon might have the same legal problems as Apple has with its App Store? If I own a Kindle, why should have to buy my books from Amazon? Why should I not to be able to connect it to a rival store?

Quite. So many Labour people on this website visibly have no idea of just how bad things have got for ethnic minorities since they came on, and how their visible indifference lands.

Wonder, that’s neatly done… not even as a direct quote but is the intimation that Burnham is (eventually) a rejoiner?

Obviously, history might prove me wrong (I was wrong many times on Trump) but Farage interview on LBC today might be a turning point. Seems to have shown a number of weaknesses, which could come back to haunt him [1/4]. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

One obvious line for the Conservative Party has always seemed to suggest Farage is soft on Putin (and by extension national security). Unsurprised it is Johnson spinning it, as it echoes the line they took against Corbyn.

Populist politicians around the world (eg. Trump) often default to the “I didn’t know / haven’t heard about that” answer. The media needs to get better at this. Given that Farage is on LBC about once every two days, they should start every interview with him on this question until he answers.

Jumping the trout with this story.

Any dream will do.

Best not to get ahead of ourselves (no announcement on responsibility yet…) but it feels this (also Poland, Estonia) is to prod and probe, in order to test US engagement / interest. In this case - if it is Russia - hours before Trump addresses the UN. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

The brave students who landed this week have chosen to answer loss with learning, despair with determination, and war with hope. They are an inspiration and I am deeply relieved that they’ve arrived in the UK & can now continue their education in safety. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

**This is an automated response.** Hi there, If I don’t get back to this email/message/post in a timely manner, then I have probably been raptured. If you’re reading this, then you didn’t. Sorry about that. If I reply shortly, I didn’t either :( Good luck for the end times! All the best, James

Academics, if you aren’t signed up with ALCS, you should be, as they pay real money every time you work is used… ⬇️

The world’s most nightmarish vehicle, a Doomsday Plane, just flew over the U.K.

This brilliant photo by @staceywescott.bsky.social.

Delving into the world of MAGA podcasts, I had to listen to a “security and terrorism expert” (credentials unclear) expressing deep concern about Antifa bake sales… Come for the sweet treats, stay for the revolutionary Marxism.

Left-Wing Group Too Disorganized For FBI Agents To Infiltrate https://theonion.com/left-wing-group-too-disorganized-for-fbi-agents-to-infi-1848923025/

Not a headline I ever expected to see.

Just possibly, if a few of those Stanford alumni / tech bros had spent a bit more time developing critical skills through exploring “research and knowledge” the world might be a slightly better place.

An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’ Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'

It would be supremely ironic if the final denouncement of Corbyn’s political career was delivered by Sultana defecting to the Greens #ettuZarah www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The models for Grant Wood's 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘤 (1930) in front of the iconic painting, 1942.

Disney learned nothing from Andor.

Just William is someone with a “knack for getting into the trouble.” It is not a description that can usefully be applied to the Tates. @thespectator1828.bsky.social needs to have a good look at its performative contrarianism, as they are trashing their reputation.

Oh. That doesn’t seem right

This is brilliant - and actually rather useful for anyone teaching methods (correlation isn't causation etc.) to undergraduates.

All political tribes can be hypocritical but the right's current level of hypocrisy on free speech is deliberate. It's an assertion of power not a blindspot.

Everything about this suggested process is ludicrous, but - just as a broad point - how is a process which involves reading all the essays, writing a summary for each student, then carefully reviewing and personalising the AI-made feedback any less labour intensive than just... marking the essays?

Oh God, in the past 30 mins (since the news was announced), I hadn’t even thought of A Bridge Too Far. A great war film but also magnificent 70s-style cast everyone famous you can possibly think of fun.

Magnificent. youtube.com/watch?v=2sdl...

Use of the word "evil" in official congressional e-newsletters, over time, by party

LSE's Department of Methodogy is searching for an Assistant Professor in Computational Social Science. Applicants from across the social sciences are very welcome! Please reach out if you would like any more details.

When Ted Heath sacked Enoch Powell he was acting in the face of a majority in favour. Harold Wilson backed him up and called the speech “evil”. Long past time for Keir and Kemi to do the same.

Pet parrots which typically live alone (whilst those in the wild live in large flocks) were given the technology to call each other. They would use it for up to three hours a day, and developed favourite friends 💔 on.ft.com/3K05vhS

Another acute piece from @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social Well worth a read and a ponder

First Past the Post cannot handle this level of fragmentation. It will produce completely freak results. We can grasp this problem now, or wait for the train to crash.