Datacenters are increasing growth... so good???... but err they're going to take up a tenth of energy use so that's pretty bad. My column on how we need to think about the shape of the economy, not just the growth www.theguardian.com/business/gro...

love when you get Microsoft Teams as a source of traffic -- lets you know that an article is being shared around people's offices

Bird of the year voting is OPEN - run, don't walk and vote PELICAN www.theguardian.com/environment/...

BREAKING | ANU staff in the College of Arts and Social Sciences have received a Cease Work Order due to dangerous working conditions. Under the WHS Act staff will be paid while this order is in place. The order seeks to protect lives and wellbeing.

Wonderful profile of Raewyn Connell just published in the SMH www.smh.com.au/national/rae... - her Wheelwright Lecture, “Should we abolish universities?” is on tomorrow night! www.ppesydney.net/2025-wheelwr...

maybe we shouldn't run "neo-nazi does [anything]" as the top story on national news websites unless it's meaningfully newsworthy/impactful? these are people who want to exterminate australians + are actively trying to get attention. we can't treat them as normal political players

Tomorrow, I'm on a panel to talk about academic freedom. I'm talking about the social contract between universities and society. I think that contract has been broken, and not just by the government. I think universities have failed their students as places to interrogate ideas.

THAT WAS AN EARTHQUAKE (in QLD)

This piece illustrates and explores one of my chief worries about LLM use in writing and thinking work: self-alienation. Automating the writing experience by substituting LLM outputs leads to a distancing from your own life, your own mind and a flattened experience. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/o...

My latest with @claresoutherton.bsky.social - on AI and Aesthetic Alienation - aka the thorny issue of ai slop. Completely open access. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

In Nov last year, I reported that an encrypted messaging app Sessions was forced to move offshore after the AFP visited. After a 9-month FOI fight with the AFP, I got emails around Sessions, including that the AFP wanted to keep an eye on them because of "their stated commitment to privacy".

💥 ✊ Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association: Statement in support of sociology at Macquarie University FULL STATEMENT: awgsa.asn.au/awgsa-statem... Sign here: www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/sa... #MacquireUniversity #Sociology #HigherEducation #AWGSA

🎓 What an incredible first online seminar with AWGSA recently. Thank you to Chelsea Clementine Wallis and Dr Naomi Smith @deadtheorist.bsky.social for their thoughtful keynotes. Learn more here: www.linkedin.com/posts/the-au... #AWGSA #WomensStudies #GenderStudies #DV

Update for tomorrow's seminar: all welcome to our first AWGSA seminar for the year, now featuring Dr Naomi Smith @deadtheorist.bsky.social and Chelsea Wallis. Free! (though you can opt to provide a donation) #AWGSA #Feminist #GenderStudies

Really chuffed that CONSPIRACY NATION with @arielbogle.bsky.social has debuted #1 on Amazon’s trending book charts and, more importantly, is beating RFK’s book “The Real Anthony Fauci” If you’re thinking of picking it up, pre-ordering now helps us the most! LINK: http://bio.to/conspi...#1

Our secret plot has finally been revealed: Ariel Bogle and I have written a book: 'CONSPIRACY NATION: Exposing the dangerous world of Australian conspiracy theories' We have a lot to share about what we uncovered, but for now you can pre-order it here: bio.to/ConspiracyNation

I've made my submission to the review of the ARC grant system. Have you? 5 more days, people.

Psst! If you're NOT a TASA member but you would like to know more about what we do, you can subscribe to our weekly newsletter; it contains information on members' publications, events & much more. Subscribe via

JOB ALERT: I'm hiring a part-time research fellow to work with me @healthy-societies.bsky.social at @sydneyuni.bsky.social on my research program on migration, im/mobility and belonging, with a specific focus on healthcare worker migration. Applications close 27 April bit.ly/4iAohs3 #Academicsky

As a #sociologist, what have you sought to understand? Share #research #stories on our #blog (www.tasa.org.au) via [email protected]

Hey! It’s me (again)

One thing that needs to get repeated until it sinks in is that “AI” does not simply function as a tool that people in power are using; it’s even more powerful as a permission structure for the destructive & extractive things they wanted to do in the first place.

Pete Evans is back on Facebook and Instagram after being banned for sharing COVID-19 misinformation. Meta knows, but isn't booting him off, @CameronWilson.bsky.social reports.

School of Law and Society is recruiting sessionals across humanities and social sciences. Share very widely. We also do online teaching, so even if you know someone/ you are beyond the Sunshine Coast/Southeast, we'd still love to hear from you www.seek.com.au/job/81497717...

NEW: Apple's new AI features is rewording scam messages and emails to make them look more legitimate on Australians' iPhones and Macs, and even flagging them as priorities. This puts them at risk of a greater risk of being scammed, said one expert. www.crikey.com.au/20...

I think it might be time to write a paper I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while about social media, the image and the spectacularisation of the climate crisis.

Phone scammers are impersonating Australian government organisations including Centrelink, MyGov and Medicare au.finance.yahoo.com/news/centrel...

There is no 'quickly submit' for a journal article, it always takes three times as long as you expect and is freshly irritating in unanticipated ways.

Digital intimacies vibes are particular good this year. Kudos to the organising team @bradyjay.bsky.social, Emily van Der Nagel et al.

Ben McLeish of Altmetric also commented; "We are the only altmetrics provider we know of that tracks Bluesky for mentions of research. Also, why are you writing that down, I'm not allowed to make public statements on behalf of the company STOP WRITING, MOTHER, THEY'RE STILL WRITING!"

This time next week we will be welcoming an incredible line-up of researchers to Monash's Caulfield campus in Naarm/Melbourne and via Zoom, for our tenth (!!) Digital Intimacies conference! Draft program here: drive.google.com/file/d/1o3A5...

🚨NACC has "systemic issues" far beyond Robodebt, Inspector finds. A NACC official was offered a bribe - but boss Brereton took no action, claiming it was doubtful briber "knew the NACC officer's position". NACC actions "inadequate and flawed". Explosive👇 theklaxon.com.au/v662

Taylor Swift day take 2 in Australia tomorrow. Readying my clicking finger.

I am starting a new project with Mackenzie Alston on the academic job market. Hoping to informally chat with 5 econ PhDs and 5 PhDs from psych, sociology, or polisci who graduated last year. If you're available for a 15-minute Zoom convo in Nov., please DM or email [email protected]!

I am so out of practice with tweeting/posting that typing out public thoughts feels slightly unhinged. But I like the platform the best of all the pretenders so far and community only grows through activity so here I am.

It's harder to get funding for basic research projects than ever before in Australia. The @arc_gov_au Discovery Projects scheme now has the lowest “success rate” ever: 16.3%. Only 1 in 6 grants are funded. Why? The funding available has plummeted. Please help, Jason Clare MP❗️

As part of introducing myself, I'm sharing my recent article in @bigdatasoc.bsky.social, in which I explore the concept of data arenas as a relational field for strategic actors in diverse areas of the contentious politics of data: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... #Sociology #STS #PhilTech