From the dictionary of UK university bureaucratese: "ecosystem."

Worth remembering: www.theguardian.com/politics/201...

Writing letters is now for the well-off, as a standard letter overseas now requires a £3.40 stamp.

@danielhedinger.bsky.social First copy arrived!

@danielhedinger.bsky.social First copy arrived!

The overhyped new airport terminal at Manchester, perhaps Europe's worst airport, is already getting disgusting and filthy.

There is money for "education" if and only if that money is being directly funneled to corporations. Anything involving actual learning, however, well there's no magic money tree

Time to update the “contemporary resonances” section in my book* introduction yet again before it goes off to the press next week… * The book explores some of the earliest state-led approaches to defining, inspecting, and managing substandard housing, focused on mid-nineteenth-century France

War at home/domestic conquest as a precondition of war against another country. If that isn't fascism, then what is it?

Wer schreibt eine Geschichte des vorauseilenden Gehorsams?

Will Starmer now finally have the courage to go on the attack against Reform, after all a party whose leader remains an enthusiastic fan of the US president who insulted British troops?

Good. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cd...

Alles Schlechte, was man den Grünen - oft zu Unrecht - nachsagt, verdichtete sich in der Mercosur-Abstimmung, vor allem ihr moralischer Narzissmus. Heute wird daraus strategische Blindheit. Wenn aus dem Desaster nicht gelernt wird, ist es aus mit den Grünen, was schlimm wäre.

Just published in @aeonmag: My essay on economic republicanism — a forgotten tradition that linked freedom to shared power in work, markets, and finance. If democracy feels unfinished, this history might help explain why. aeon.co/essays/the-w...

The University of Sheffield has stopped paying staff. Not for striking but for refusing to work unpaid to make up for strike days they were already docked for. This is punishment, not negotiation. And it’s completely reckless. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1438...

have so much affection for my american colleague-friends but many of them don't realise how big the world is out there and how different things look from other (geographical) perspectives. it is eye opening spending some time outside the usual anglo-euro-american circuit

Appeasing imperialist despots only increases their appetite.

The unbelievable recklessness and stupidity of Trump and his associates to threaten war needs to stop.

And at the same time U.S. diplomats try influence French judges in order to protect Marine Le Pen from a tough verdict. Make no mistake: This is the Moment for Europe to fight for its independence.

"Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to reduce net migration to Britain as he attempts to fend off the populist threat from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party." The radical right has managed to destroy so many political, social, and economic achievements even without being in power.

I cannot imagine any moment in my life where world peace was more imperilled than it is now.

"The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." Bertrand Russell in May 1933.

Trump is a bully who tries to see how far he can get. The EU must now pull together re Greenland.

'...both Trump and the loyalists he sends out into the world are utterly predictable because of their openly declared desire to do financially, though not necessarily geopolitically, advantageous “deals”...Trumpists have signaled that the US is not only open for business, but also for...bribery.'

How does republican theory reimagine economic freedom? Sean Irving explores John Francis Bray’s economic republicanism and its implications for markets and justice. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/SpsR2k8 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @uoypolitics.bsky.social @sagepub.com #polsky #polsci

An overall spectacularly misleading analysis despite the valuable reference to domestic politics: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

You are right and I think the problem goes beyond national policymaking circles. It's high time the self-proclaimed leaders in civil society, business, academia, etc., also face the reality of the moment. I fear policymakers won't wake up unless and until their dinner-mates do so.

Those who claim that Trump is simply transactional are wrong. He has a clear ideology.

"Wenn unsere politischen Führungsfiguren, auch jene bürgerlicher Parteien, andauernd den Eindruck vermitteln, alles sei fürchterlich und Deutschland ginge alsbald vor die Hunde, dann brauchen wir uns wirklich nicht wundern, wenn die rechtsextremen Apokalyptiker von der AfD Stimmen hinzugewinnen."

Weird name for a building.

It is dangerous, reckless and irresponsible of Trump to rely on amateurs, not on experienced diplomats.

L'historien Christian Goeschel explique à Euronews que les tentatives de Donald Trump pour apaiser Vladimir Poutine au sujet de la guerre en Ukraine pourraient s'avérer « catastrophiques ». ➡️ https://l.euronews.com/Pha6

We strongly condemn the U.S. decision to impose travel restrictions on five European individuals, including former Commissioner Thierry Breton. Link to full statement: link.europa.eu/NtMX4K

Is this murder plot a suitable subject for a film? www.faz.net/aktuell/rhei...

UK govt spends less than any other UNESCO country on unis - lecturers earn far less than most other highly qualified professionals - nobody can afford long hols due to publication pressures - Humanities cross-subsidise Sciences and Medicine - what is woke, I ask back 2/2

I always tell people: - students take out massive loans to pay their way through university - universities generate several billion pounds for the UK AND local communities 1/2

It is 17 December, and it has not been until today that I got exposed to the dreadful Last Christmas by WHAM for the first time this year.

if you want to do a PhD in history, fully funded and join an incredible community of people researching Europe and the world, 1500-present, you have about a month!! Don’t hesitate to ask me questions.

Predicting that some universities will soon pledge to provide AI-free instruction, and that this will be an advantage in recruiting and training top students

Starmer and his team do not seem to understand that the far right cannot be appeased.

New Home Office impact assessment finds that cutting skilled and social care visas will cost the UK up to £10 billion with a central estimate of -£5.4 billion. It would be good if this got even a fraction of the coverage devoted to the endless debate about boats, flags and Turkish barber shops

In der Diffamierungskampagne gegen Sophie von der Tann stellen sich Andreas Voßkuhle (www.sueddeutsche.de/medien/vossh...) und Reporter ohne Grenzen (www.reporter-ohne-grenzen.de/artikel/pres...) ohne Wenn und Aber hinter die Journalistin.

Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

„Wer die Demokratie liebt, sollte ihre wirklichen Feinde im Auge behalten – und froh sein, dass es noch viele, viele Menschen gibt, die sich diesen Feinden im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes in den Weg stellen.“

What exactly do we pay those senior managers all those six-figure salaries for? They claim it’s for their big strategic thinking, but all they do is hand a bunch of money to external consultants to get the exact same PowerPoint as elsewhere.

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Are people in the White House so gullible to think that their 'peace deal' will stop Putin from expanding further?