NEWS! Keir Starmer flies to US to give Donald Trump his cycling proficiency badge

I’ve studied a lot of dictators. Every good dictator has their own PERSONAL militia. That’s what’s happening in this Vance clip. Vance is signalling to ICE that they can do whatever they want and Trump will have their back. Be loyal. Forget the law. He’s saying: When the time comes, CHOOSE US.

In 2022 I started tracking changes in how news outlets were describing trans people, and set up a bot to record every article pushed to the Google News index based on a handful of search phrases, including “biological sex” in both the US and UK. The amount in 2023 alone was absolutely staggering.

Your read of the day. So much out there about how ICE is marauding its way through Minneapolis but very little about grass roots resistance. Here I speak to a teacher on the front lines and he breaks down the *numbers* of people involved in resisting ICE. Chills. www.thenation.com/article/acti...

I can't stress enough the importance of NOT using AI to write sensitive or personal letters or emails, particularly if it's about managing wellbeing or care. Even more important, if you decide to do this, proof it first. At best it feels insincere, at worst inaccurate. Both are upsetting.

Professor Flora Cornish spent yesterday conducting a different type of knowledge exchange... a walking tour based on her research into Grenfell Tower 💚 See more in her thread below⤵️

A few years ago analysts were writing that AI would devastate the workplace by replacing drivers with self driving cars. Today the drivers still have their jobs, but the analysts have been replaced.

I’m seeing lots of people on here misunderstand the purpose of ICE watch. It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵

Introducing our edited book, Political Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies! @jolanda-jetten.bsky.social Each chapter considers an influential early study in the field with a fresh perspective. Published by SAGE: au.sagepub.com/en-gb/anz/po...

I’ve taught State Failure & Statebuilding @warstudieskcl.bsky.social at King’s for the past 13 years. There are MANY reasons why it’s a bad idea for the US to ‘run’ Venezuela. An economy in crisis. Disintegrating infrastructure. Nonstate armed groups deeply embedded into the state. /1

Whether we look at it through Shamima Begum’s case or what is happening in USA with mass deportations/targeting of naturalised status, the terrifying reality is this: if you have dual heritage or “foreign” roots your citizenship rights are not secure. From 2019 👇 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Today's opinion poll news in context. The longer term trend has been away from ethno-nationalism. Source: Butt S, Clery E, Curtice J, editors (2022). British Social Attitudes: The 39th Report. National Centre for Social Research.

I've used Lavaan almost every (work)day for 15 years, but this open source labour of love has never received proper institutional support. I'm delighted to be a small part of an 1.5M OpenScienceNL award, led by Jorgensen, to completely revamp and futureproof Lavaan www.openscience.nl/en/news/45-p...

this is not behavior becoming of a FIFA Peace Prize recipient.

Big new blogpost! My guide to data visualization, which includes a very long table of contents, tons of charts, and more. --> Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective, clear, transparent, and sometimes, beautiful. www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/salonis-gu...

#GENERATION_EU is a reality! So grateful to receive #ERCCoG from @erc.europa.eu 🤩 With new PhDs and Post-docs, the @helpingkidslab.bsky.social will address: What is European identity? How does it develop? Does it promote peace? Across childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.

I am thinking of my next project being about the history of administrative and pedantic modes of protest. This type is top tier.

'Rethinking psychology gone wrong' Fascinating story of Sir Cyril Burt, leader of eugenics in British psychology (see also the 11-plus), in @bpsofficial.bsky.social @psychmag.bsky.social www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

"What can be done about effects of demand characteristics is acknowledging their potential contribution to the effect, and discussing in good faith how a demand account – as any other competing account – represents a sensible alternative for the interpretation of the data." #SocialPsyc #PsycSci

The WI has been trans inclusive since the 70s, before I was born. Do you see who in this scenario was innocently minding their own business, coming to their own arrangements locally? Do you see who is forcefully imposing themselves and their demands upon others, via threats.

I posted a video discussing some of my (critical) ideas regarding data detectives, sleuths, forensic this and that. I hope they contribute to a more nuanced conversation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LmW...

The rising costs of essentials, like food, rent and bills, is pushing people to the brink. ❗️Last winter alone, our community of food banks provided 739,000 emergency food parcels. That’s 40% more than 5 years ago.

A fact being ignored even more than usual: 70% of the money from abolishing the two-child limit will go to families who are in work (via @ippr.org).

Not a single major news outlet has covered this story. There is such a blatant, obvious attempt to suppress any and all news that deals with the actual facts about transgender life and experience. As the government rolls back our rights on an unprecedented scale, we have been left out to dry.

Please share.

Not the main issue here obviously, but that bicycle looks *really* uncomfortable

I'm in conversation with Timothy Garton Ash in the new issue of BBC History magazine and podcast. We're discussing the history of policing protest and public order legislation.

So we are clear welfare spending in this country is NOT “out of control”. It’s risen very little in 10+ years. Small increase due to ageing & ill population. But benefits to working age families & children have been cut severely. Over 70% of children in poverty live in working families #Budget2025

Some thoughts (bletherings?) from me in today’s The Scotsman (Scotland on Sunday) on the social/organisational consequences of Scotland’s World Cup Qualification. www.scotsman.com/news/opinion...

This itself, however, is a feature of contemporary white supremacy, including and especially its liberal wing: humming and hawing, both-sidesing, 'debating', 'pondering', 'complexity' trolling, 'nuance' mongering.

This—on my former university, department, and advisor—is harrowing but required reading for all social psychologists. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

I've been taking this approach for some while now and training people how to do pen and paper or computer assisted surveys are increasingly popular. There's a whole generation of staff and students who never learned this skill. On or offline we need to improve how we teach research and survey use

Luckily, you don't need to choose b/c you can use them both! The framing of "p value bad"/"CI good" means that some people never really get that they're based on the same information & the same basic stat. philosophy (some of these points are made here: richarddmorey.medium.com/power-and-pr...)

Have been thinking about “immigration has been tearing this country apart.” Surely I’m not the only person to think that it isn’t true, but inflamed rhetoric about immigration by politicians is what is tearing this country apart and so statements like that only makes it worse.

“to use children as a weapon, as the home secretary is doing, is I think a shabby thing. I’m lost for words, frankly” Lord Dubs www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour...

'These group processes are much more in play at night…' @ellarhodespsych.bsky.social meets Mark Levine, Professor of Social Psychology at Lancaster University. www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

Starting the week strong with a newly accepted paper in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, co-authored with postdoc @lizsnoland.bsky.social and Sohad Murrar! We merged two largely independent research lines to call for data disaggregation of Asian Americans and MENA Americans

Just wilful performative cruelty that is entirely out of step with the majority of British people. How many Labour MPs got into politics in order to vote for stealing jewellery off of people seeking refuge from war and persecution?

2015 Shabana Mahmood really needs to have a word with 2025 Shabana Mahmood

Getting nervous for the talk I'm about to give at a workshop about "using AI to drive impact" which features slides such as these.

Dear GOD if you want to save money in the asylum system 1. LET ASYLUM SEEKERS WORK 2. FAST TRACK STATUS FOR EVERYONE FROM CLEARLY UNDAFE COUNTRIES like Sudan, Syria, etc 3. Run an asylum accommodation system that is NOT FOR PROFIT #r4today

Are victimhood claims in political party manifestos and election programs on the rise? Yes, they are! Check out a brand new paper authored by @marlenevoit.bsky.social , @lucaskohler.bsky.social et al. -- published yesterday in @polpsyispp.bsky.social. Open Access: doi.org/10.1111/pops....

While headlines focus on how many people claim asylum in the UK, there's one number that's not even officially counted: The number of people who die while trying to seek sanctuary here. We know our policies kill people. Their deaths must not be ignored. #KnowTheirNames

When it comes to the ghouls that crawled to the top of the muck heap during the global war on terror (which never ended), there's no one I'd rather read than @attackerman.bsky.social. His Cheney obit is no different. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

What are the psychological and behavioural dynamics that come to play at the negotiation table? At our #EUCoP2025 side event on integrating psychology in peacemaking with Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we asked experts in both fields how this collaboration can benefit #mediation processes.

These unconscionable cuts to a vital lifeline fund for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child and even worse - these changes were introduced without consultation, warning and no evidence base

A reminder that the original Hallowe'en jack o' lanterns date back to 18th century Ireland if not earlier, were based on a shady boozy blacksmith called Stingy Jack who cheated the devil & was trapped between 2 worlds, were carved from turnips and looked like this:

🎃 carving is for light weights. I tell my kid this every year when he is happily scooping out a pumpkin. I have strong (and painful!) childhood memories of the literal hours it took to get anything like a face on a turnip. But it was worth it 👻 #HappyHalloween

🚨These unconscionable cuts to a vital lifeline fund for some of the most vulnerable children & young adults in England are staggering - a 60% reduction from £7.5K to just £3K per child and even worse - these changes were introduced without warning, consultation and no evidence base

Important, painful, and still timely!