So. 2025 has been the most significant year of my life so far. And it's not even particularly close. Trans rights came under attack this year in the UK. I have been trying my best to help fight back. I've been a little busy. Here's a thread of some of what I have been up to 🧵

I'd like to think 2026 is the year populism falls apart in both Britain and America. Over here, there are early signs that the process of populist radicalisation (and ever greater stupidity) is becoming too much for some of them and lines are being drawn.

And I think liberals should stop taking the bait and ceding ground on immigration. Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.

1) selling out trans people 2) making Reform’s bogus argument for them

Tonight's practice watercolor. First attempt at painting bees. #art #watercolor

A positive view on the worldwide march of renewable energy generation at the end of 2025. There is of course a lot of push-back, driven mainly by fossil fuel interests (and the ferocity of that effort implies that those companies see the writing on the wall). Political back sliding is a […]

To echo: do not cite anything you have not at least skimmed and can verify it really exists and says what you say it says (or is about what you say it is about). Even if you collect citations from others' work (a legit practice), CHECK THEM.

Why can’t people who think they are “feminists” SEE this? That the PATRIarchy is not about “male” rule but about specifically perpetuating SIRE rule - cis heterosexual males capable of siring more sires. Any deviation from siredom is a threat to the patriarchy.

"He is uninterested in anyone except his most devoted fans, and would rather collect gifts from foreign businessmen than take the reins of his administration." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...

Maybe LLMs speak prep-school (post-) Imperial British English. Because that's what most English knowers globally use. marcusolang.substack.com/p/im-kenyan-...

Say the hero’s name. Ahmed Al Ahmed. #Sydney #Bondi

Yes - and not just on the basis of solidarity - on multiple grounds including straightforward feminist ones, and even self-interest. I (a cis woman) do not want my rights as a woman threatened just because I don't have have functioning ovaries or fit some stereotypical presentation of "woman".

I learned that Makary & his top vaccine regulator Vinay Prasad forced FDA scientists to withdraw a paper from Vaccine. I am co-Editor-in-Chief of Vaccine. The data had been presented publicly. It showed the benefits outweigh the risks of COVID vaccines for all ages. bsky.app/profile/save...

... in "protecting" trans children. Quite the opposite. This is, in my view, not just a medical scandal but a child abuse & a denial of human rights scandal. I explain my view of the Cass Review in this lecture at FGEN summer conference (from 11.30) which I characterise as an example of... 3/4

🎶 Once in royal David’s city Lived a child of fragile breath, Born beneath an empire’s shadow, Cradled close to want and threat. Soon the night rang hard with orders, Swords were drawn and mercy fled. So they ran, by fear compelled, Through the dark, by angels led. 1/2

A sidebar to the previous RT: I find it really sad how lovely buildings that were meant for the public sphere (the Camden Council building in that article: the Old War Office to name but 2) are being sold off so rich dickheads can have them.

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

We all know Clarke's "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" Well we have corollary:

There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom

A cat.

Portland, Oregon. I was in a 6 week art therapy group focused around anxiety and nervous system function (or dysfunction, as the case may be.) We were tasked to take a nature photo that provided an image to meditate to. So here’s mine.

More than 68,000 women have already added their names to our letter in solidarity - Together we are showing that trans exclusion is not being done in our name. You can join us and help keep the momentum growing… ✍️ Sign here: notinourname.org.uk 🔄 Please share to help us reach even more supporters

It was a thrill to meet Georgia Tennant at the recording of @theguiltyfeminist.bsky.social podcast yesterday - Thank you for being part of the movement of women standing in support of the trans+ community 🩷

Men aren't more lonely than women but the loneliness epidemic is real. Millions are in isolation, it's capitalist individualism, & disability is isolating. Lots of folks are really alone. But it's not gendered, that framing is patriarchy, babying men like their unhappiness is everyone else's burden.

I really dislike this rhetoric. The Lords are doing their job, ie scrutinising a very controversial bill. If we're going to make this law, it must be done to the highest standards of scrutiny and oversight.

so look, some of the 'tells' of AI in here are things I feel by instinct, and I could be wrong about any individual one, but apart from the obvious stuff (lists of three, 'not this but that') and the less obvious (no personal recollection, all just abstract nouns) there's a *meaning gap*...

A massive problem today is the uneven distribution of shame. Some of us are running dedicated on-site shame servers 24/7 while others have no access to shame at all, even though they desperately need it. What we need to do is put shame in the cloud

Not only excellent reporting, this is the clearest and most plainly stated article I've seen in the mainstream media so far, mincing no words and pointing out every single one of the Trump admin's canards and misdirections. As one of the quoted experts says, it's murder, full stop.

Look I've been suicidal & not only that I've come to terms with the fact I'll always struggle with suicidal ideation. Those feelings crest & peak & people commit the act opportunistically at a low, when if they'd stuck around they'd see they felt better just a bit later. So yes ChatGPT is killing.

Your #FoxOfTheDay today is from @matthewjames86.bsky.social on BlueSky , thank you Matthew !

This is a heartening post, do read. Funny that @naomialderman.bsky.social mentions Letraset, I was remembering using it (when laying out magazine pages in the 80s) it made me think about productivity and the physical side of work...

The frivolity of evil.

This while the ableist culture won't shut up about HIM needing to be in an institution. They just don't get that he's the one who's the threat who's harming the real people most vulnerable to institutionalization. Why? Because they still don't care about us. Not a single bit.

My kids are carrying their tribal cards but ICE is just going to call them fake so now my anxiety has escalated. As if the "agents" can't buy their little cosplay costumes on esty or Amazon. Make it stop.

Bang on, @bjennings90.bsky.social

This. The morality lies in doing policies that lead to shared wellbeing and social justice. Which those are should be based on evidence.

the bbc changed their article from saying 'trans woman' to saying 'biological male who identifies as a woman'. even if you don't care about trans ppl it should alarm you just how captured the bbc has become. they will no longer even say 'trans woman'. that's not normal and shows massive bias.

🚨BOOM!! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 50,000 signatures! Let’s get it to 100,000. If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea

Sam is right. DOGE did exactly what they wanted it to do- hurt poor people, destroyed faith in government, enriched Elon.

THe more things change

Good morning

Things move quickly in politics. The idea of a Sunday broadsheet dedicating it's entire front page to @greenparty.org.uk is huge, and let's be honest, a sign of changing times. People are sitting up and noticing @zackpolanski.bsky.social join.greenparty.org.uk

Starmer is well aware of what needs to be done. Here is what he said when voting for Johnson's UK-EU deal. Services "a gaping hole", "lack of ambition", "Imperfect", "thin", "a basis to build on". Share, to show the PM that you back him going further and faster to improve our deal with the EU. ~AA

Fifteen years of ideological choices to strangle & gut the public realm - NHS to schools to social services to local museums - is what underlies the anger "tearing our country apart"; immigration is simply the scapegoat that the far right are pushing people toward. Why can't Labour just say this?

Hello #rstats! 👋 Do you have an #rstats package or skill or strategy you love and would be willing to share with the @rladies.org community? We are looking 👀 for a couple more speakers 🔊 for the 2025–2026 R-Ladies St. Louis season. Reply here and we will contact you to find a date! 💜 💜 💜

And never was more apposite than now.

This is the cycle that fuels populist. It perpetuate policy failure while encouraging a narrative of scapegoating. The prime minister came to power promising to address it. Instead he now supports it.

Plans to leave refugees in a state of perpetual uncertainty about where and if they can rebuild their lives are not just performative cruelty, they are counterproductive to integration and the economy. It doesn’t have to be like this - 1/2