At a time when staff in HE really need their unions to be effective the issues raised here are appalling. The mismanaged pay campaign of 2-3 years ago, based on institutions having enough money to make the requested pay award has been a contributing factor to the current mess the sector is in.

Twenty top tips for navigating X and BlueSky. www.edrith.co.uk/p/staying-sa...

At some point this will all come crashing down, and that may not be a bad thing

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @brasenoseoxford.bsky.social Brasenose is so called because of the brass lion's nose which served (and maybe still serves?) as its door knocker If you like this image, please repost it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

One of the unexpected delights of last year was seeing Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt perform live after such a long time, so it was a great way to start 2026 gigs with them last night. Magical stuff

At this point in time I have absolutely no idea what is true anymore 🤷‍♂️

Worth following some of these. I will rarely agree with things they say but we all need to listen, and I mean listen, to alternative views.

My favourite song by one of my favourite bands. 12 minutes of pure magic

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @exeter.ox.ac.uk Founded in 1314 by the Stabledon brothers, one of whom was Bishop of Exeter The card dates from early last century, when the rear was only for the address and stamp If you like this image, please repost it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

If you like this image, please repost it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @hertfordcollege.bsky.social I wrote about this for @wonkhe.bsky.social in 2024: buff.ly/Yh62O5X

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @jesusoxford.bsky.social and @jesuscollegecam.bsky.social Happy Birthday, I guess? And Happy Christmas to you all! If you like this image, please repost it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

Now this one is very good @annamgrey.bsky.social

"The Baroness and the banker: more questions the University of Greater Manchester doesn’t want to answer"

Some things in life can be relied on. The Men They Couldn't Hang being superb live is one of them. Great stuff again tonight

I will know when I am really old and past it, when I stop enjoying live music. Brilliant night with @theslowreadersclub.bsky.social in Sheffield

In yet more devastating news, the VC has confirmed her plans to cut 80% of academic staff from Essex Pathways, our foundation year department. This would effectively close down all our existing foundation year programmes through the back door. But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.

Well as days go. A 3-0 home win for #ITFC against the league leaders and then introducing one of my oldest friends to one of the finest live bands in the UK, @theslowreadersclub www.instagram.com/p/DR8IDAJjBn...

We have spent 200 million pounds on players who cannot pass the ball to each other. Shockingly inept performance again #itfc

Wrote this a couple of weeks ago. Feels more relevant still after today. And it’s a deficit of self awareness which goes far beyond some members of the BBC board.

This will be good, and if CMAT had not had her wisdom teeth out, I would have been there

Hey save The Moth Club. Sign the petition! c.org/TDjKYx8Lmc

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @uniofreading.bsky.social If you like this image, please retweet it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of the Royal Agricultural University The building is every bit as splendid as it looks, and there are still sheep there or thereabouts If you like this image, please retweet it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

One of my favourite records of all time

This remains the funniest way to hear about an internet outage, though.

If fans of an English team went to a foreign city, attacked locals, damaged property, sang racist songs and songs praising racist violence, literally every authority in England would support banning them from travelling. There would be zero caveats about how the locals had behaved towards them.

One of my favourite Fall tracks

2 years ago Jo Grady was on every platform claiming Universities had plenty of money to settle that year's pay claim. If people wonder why HE is not getting a hearing, this is one of the reasons it has little credibility.

#Top10SongsOnMyiPod Day 8 … Janet Kay - Silly Games 💚🎶🎵 m.youtube.com/watch?v=qCVR...

Incredible greed and incompetence strikes again. There is NO excuse for this and then people wonder why Universities have gained such a poor reputation

One of the quaint things about going to gigs, where there are a lot of young people, is that they all turn up and queue before the doors are even open.

On prison, on getting out, on getting clean, and fighting the good fight. This is Mark Thomas @markthomasinfo.bsky.social, in Ordinary Decent Criminal. Written by Ed Edwards. Directed by Charlotte Bennett. Out on tour from 7 Oct. painesplough.com/productions/...

This is a simply brilliant piece of work.

Favourite Dexys song

This was a brilliant way of spending a Sunday. One of the best examples of Scottish Pop.

There's nothing that makes you feel old than going to your daughter's 30th birthday party

Have been lucky enough this year to have twice experienced something I was not expecting again. Seeing Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt live after so long has been one of the highlights of the year.

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of Hanoi Polytechnic, Vietnam; now the Hanoi University of Science and Technology The university was founded in 1956, after the partition of Vietnam following the French defeat If you like this image, please retweet it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

Energetic stuff tonight from The Linda Lindas at the O2 Academy in Islington

Another cracking gig in a small venue. This time the rather brilliant Brigitte Calls Me Baby at the Omeara

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @uni-of-warwick.bsky.social I'm guessing - judging by the building styles - that this postcard dates from the 1980s If you like this image, please retweet it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

Nothing like small venues to see bands in. Tonight Being Dead in Hackney

Watching German Shopping cart archery can be very satisfying.

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard of @york.ac.uk You can see @yorkminster.bsky.social top right If you like this card, please retweet it - remember, BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

holy shit lmao

Brilliant show tonight from @markthomasinfo.bsky.social First half a brilliant play about the prison system, superbly done. Second half some rousing stand up.

A number of people I know were at big outdoor gigs tonight. I was in a small room in Hackney watching the mighty Spearmint. Definitely the best choice

No one made the then Labour Leader say in Liverpool: "for too long this city has been let down...one of my first acts as prime minister will be to put the Hillsborough Law on the statue book. I know how much this matters." This was a choice and it was a choice with two consequences.

Here's a #HigherEducationPostcard showing the Tom Tower at Christ Church, @ox.ac.uk The tower was designed by Christopher Wren and built 1681-82; it is named for Great Tom, the bell inside the tower If you like this card, please share it so that others can see it too - BlueSky has #NoAlgorithm

"De Montfort University is part of Leicester. Do not let us lose this."