I remember standing in those late-Soviet lines as a kid. The Public Aesthetics of the line are terrible. And the Gas Line is the opposite of Kuran's preference falsification: a public assembly of everyone privately doubting the government’s capacity to provide basic necessities.

Pretty good analysis of British academia’s malaise which made me leave (plus Brexit). The unnecessary destruction of a system that functioned well through the cult of management. My condolences to my colleagues in Exeter. open.substack.com/pub/johnheat...

Dieses Titelblatt wird durch Dutzende von Händen gegangen sein und keiner hat sich erinnert, dass es so was wie die Sowjetunion gab, die nicht mit Russland identisch war. Erstaunlich.

One of the casualties of the US -Israeli attack on Iran is the memory of the tens of thousands of protesters killed by the Iranian regime just a few weeks before. Trump has allowed brutal bullies to be recast as victims, probably pushing the chance of political change in Iran back by decades.

It is not surprising Russia targeted the Chornobyl Museum in Kyiv. I spent hours in their exhibition a few years ago and left with an overwhelming sense of doom caused by systemic failure, yet mitigated by the actions of conscientious individuals. Chornobyl is the anti-story to imperial grandeur.

Wie mein gestriger Tag in Kyjiw so verlief. Ein längerer persönlicher Text von mir zum massiven russischen Luftangriff und auch zu den bemerkenswerten Momenten danach, die trotz allem aufmuntern. www.n-tv.de/politik/Ich-...

Die Ukraine hat einen der massivsten russischen Luftangriffe durchlebt. Hunderte Drohnen, Dutzende Raketen, Tote, Verletzte, heftige Zerstörung. Druckwellen haben auch das ARD-Studio Kyjiw erreicht. Unser Team ist zum Glück unverletzt. Die Statik des Gebäudes muss geprüft werden.

Yes. And the reverse is also true.

Finally a collaboration worth its name. Leave it to women to find a common, anti-imperialist language. I suspect that this will remain the highlight of this year‘s biennale. kyivindependent.com/pussy-riot-f...

I am in awe of this very British linguistic construction: a subjective qualifier preceding a verb embodying uncertainty. An amazing feat of hedging your words.

40 years ago one of the reactors of the nuclear station of Chornobyl went into meltdown and exploded. The consequences of this event still reverberate today, not least in the ongoing struggle for independence by Ukraine and Belarus. The accident ripped off the plaster covering past Soviet wounds.

I have walked this street many times. As have millions of Russian tourists. But the times when shock still had value have probably passed a long time ago. Oh beautiful Lviv. My heart breaks for you.

The historic Bernardine Monastery in Lviv, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, is on fire after a russian drone attack. 🎥 Xenia Gerke on Facebook

Bei all dem Furchtbaren um uns herum droht das Leiden in der Ukraine unterzugehen. @arturweigandt.bsky.social kämpft nach wie vor für die Menschen dort. Wir können ihm helfen.

tech.....

We truly live in an age that proves that destruction is much easier than construction, that creating negativity is much easier than positive affirmation, and that no man is too stupid or too evil to wreck things for all. And I have several candidates in mind here.

„Honestly, I am convinced that real performance in graduate school wasn’t understanding these men. The real performance was pretending you did.“ Amen. open.substack.com/pub/drstacey...

Babies running academia.

Display of items confiscated at Tbilisi airport. And I was worried about the pickled cabbage in my hand luggage.

Rustaveli Avenue now, on day 465 of daily, uninterrupted, nationwide protests in Georgia.

Multi-layered relationships to Russia in Tblisi.

Ukraine still stands. And Vienna still stands with Ukraine. Including its large Iranian exile community which came out in force this year. The pain that hung over the square and everyone on it was palpable. One could almost touch it.

The people here profoundly shaped/influenced society and culture as we are experiencing it right this moment. No wonder we feel the way we do about ourselves, really

It turns out that talking about Russia's corrosive influence on the West and talking about Epstein isn't either or.

In Kyjiw ist nun eine Holocaustüberlebende erfroren, wie die @novayagazeta.bsky.social berichtet. Sie lebte zurückgezogen in Podil. Ihren Namen hatte sie im Waisenhaus erhalten, wo man sie abgegeben hatte, als ihre Eltern in Babyn Jar erschossen worden waren: Bezfamilnaja („Ohne Nachnamen“). Sie 1/2

In der morgigen @diezeit.bsky.social findet sich auf der Seite 1 ein Leitartikel meiner Kollegin @oliviakortas.bsky.social , die in Kyjiw lebt, der so wahr ist und beklemmend und bestürzend, dass ich ihn jeder und jedem ans Herz legen möchte. Hier der erste Absatz:

The problem is who truly believes that a Trumpian USA will honour any security guarantees? And who thinks that Russia will be an honest deal maker?

The massacre of Iranian protesters reminds of Tiananmen Square - an event that is still shrouded in the darkness of deadly secrecy. The Chinese regime bought itself out of the memory of mass murder by making China rich and imposing silence. Hard to see what Khameini can offer in order to forget.

As Kyiv residents face brutal winter blackouts and heating disruptions caused by Russian strikes, World Central Kitchen is delivering thousands of hot meals.

Who would have thought that the news from Iran would be the most hopeful reading experience of the day. Indeed, the whole year so far.

I know there is a lot going on but it has largely fallen from the headlines that Russia is using the current freezing weather in Ukraine and attacks on power and heat infrastructure to try to freeze millions of civilians, a clear crime against humanity www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...

By the numbers: Mentions of 'peace' in Christmas and New Year's addresses, combined: Zelenskyy: 32 Putin: 0

Zusammen mit der @bravery-ev.bsky.social startet heute ein wichtiger Fundraiser und ein neuer Meilenstein in der Ukraine Unterstützung. Zwei weitere gepanzerte Fahrzeuge müssen her: Einmal für die Medics in Pokrovsk und nochmals für Kherson. bravery.berlin/waswirtun/ev...

Wohltätigkeit ist das Gegenmodell zum Sozialstaat.

Frohe Weihnachten. Merry Christmas. May true peace come.

Poignantly this song by Mykola Leontovych was used in 1919 in a cultural diplomacy campaign to get international recognition and guarantees for the new independent Ukrainian Republic. The attempt failed but the song went on to become world famous. Hopefully, we can do better.

Sometimes I marvel at the amount of work political scientists put into trying to scientifically study what wedge issues would divide the far right and then some chaos goblin of fate throws out into the world the wildcard of: "being mean to the violently murdered director of the Princess Bride."

When small nations forget that they need the upkeep of the international order more than anyone else: Belgium’s refusal to release funds for Ukraine is short-sighted and forgetful of history.

Belgium seems to have forgotten that the drive to establish an international order after WW I was not least based on the empathy attributed to a neutral Belgium that had been invaded by Germany simply because it was the shortcut around the French defence lines.

‪According to Komsomolskaya Pravda, Witkoff gladly payed 550 rubles (6 euros) for a cheburek while visiting Moscow in August and that is all you really need to know about his aptitude for making deals in Russia

And the forum has been cancelled on orders from the Kyrgyz security services. Discussing the legacy of Russian colonialism is off limits in Kyrgyzstan

What is astonishing is not that Trump wants business with Russia (he has done that for decades), but that he thinks that these deals will be honoured. Maybe he should ask Shell about Sakhalin. Or Ukraine about the Budapest memorandum.

Die Opfer des russischen Genozids kommen nicht vor @efdavies.bsky.social erklärt warum der Vorstoß der #US-Regierung im Kontext des russischen Angriffskriegs gegen die Ukraine faktisch eine russische Wunschliste ist, die die Souveränität der #Ukraine, der #NATO und EU-Staaten aufheben will

Sometimes I think it’s going to be the librarians who will save us all.

The EU finds itself on the sidelines as Ukraine tries to salvage something from a messy peace plan. It will fall on Kyiv and Brussels to ensure that no negotiated ceasefire leaves the door open to renewed Russian attack, argues @gwendolynsasse.bsky.social. carnegieendowment.org/europe/strat...

Was seit Trumps Amtsantritt international rund um den Überlebenskampf der Ukraine passierte, ist aus ukrainischer Sicht ein einziges Trauerspiel. Mein Kommentar für @ntvde.bsky.social zum erneuten Versuch Washingtons, Kyjiw unter Druck zu setzen. www.n-tv.de/politik/poli...

In Myrnohrad, which literally means “peace city,” “some residents returned to retrieve a few belongings from their ravaged apartments, despite the drones hunting them in the streets.” Year, after year, Russia gets to destroy and terrorize with impunity www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/w...

come and meet Azazello.

It seems that Banksy has just appeared in Lviv We already know that in these difficult times, the world's most famous street artist has chosen Ukraine. Art as resistance. Art as solidarity. Art as voice. When the world watches, artists speak. What's your message? 🇺🇦