New term of the day “high windshit parts of the UK.” @theguardian.com weather story typo seems appropriate…

It’s really fun to be a historian. We are fun at parties. We will absolutely not ruin your traditions by explaining the history of them.

At last! An independent longitudinal qualitative study getting to heart of why artists do what they do and how, identifying barriers & brakes & how ACE’s institutions favouring policies >2010 impacted + conditions for artists’ emotional, environmental & economic resilience. DM for pre pub copy.😊

@guardian this story headline is plain wrong www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... The impression is of asylum seekers ordering taxis on whim & fancy & bamboozling taxpayers when the excessive use of taxis arises from poor systems in agencies administering asylum programmes. Apology due!

On 3 Nov @starandshadow.bsky.social I'm contributing insight from my independent longitudinal, qualitative study of artists' lives to Artists' Graft. Other speakers are Kat Bevan, Theresa Easton, Dr Ewan McKenzie and Dr Tom Hopkin. Part of ESRC's Festival of Social Science 'Our working lives'.

I was honoured to have Owen Kelly's consideration of my research 'Artists' lives: ecologies for resilience' as a MIAAW podcast. He describes the research's value as 'a detailed analysis of the lives #artists lead when #culture is seen as an industry". Listen at podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/m...

Heads up for #Word365 users working independently! Here's how to avoid Word365 Microsoft increased subs for (the pretty irritating and largely unnecessary I've found) #Copilot #AI tool, follow instructions in this link to revert to cheaper Classic version. www.itregulators.com/blog/microso...

Starmer has always been better in opposition than when leading. Now that it *feels* like he’s opposition again maybe that’s the trick to keep him saying the right thing?

💶 Shape the future look of the euro! The European Central Bank has launched a design contest for new euro banknotes with two themes: 🖼️ European Culture 🐦 R️ivers & Birds Open to designers across the EU, submit your ideas by 18 August 12:00 CET → europa.eu/!cWfmdT

Artists' lives: ecologies for resilience 2025 is now completed. 33,440 words 84pp 14 #artists' stories If #artistslivelihoods is a research topic close to your own heart I'd be delighted to send you a personal copy. Just send me a DM.

Very essential reading.

Trump’s birthright citizenship order struck down again in new legal challenge

Has anyone senior in Labour considered telling people Reform is wrong? And why they are wrong. And what a threat they are to the NHS, to national security? That Farage seeks divide us, *he* is the threat to our institutions? Anyone? Anyone got *any confidence* in who they are at all? It's pathetic

Todays doodle is a bit dark, stop chasing reform & back to pledges!! The lowest turnout of voters 30% reform 777 out of 18,645 2nd lowest of any party. The reason they won anything is apathy for the current parties opencouncildata.co.uk #art #oc #traditionalart #sketch #reform #politics #starmer

Dear YouTube, 🗣️ Share, comment, and let us know: How do we protect cultural work in a system that can’t always recognise its value? Also, feel free to tag @youtube ✍️ See more information here: buff.ly/rlSpiS7, or read the open letter here: buff.ly/dSVlpb0

This was stunningly worrying to hear - as was the real possibility of losing democracy in the US. The consequences are unimaginable

I was one of the first founders of the Culture Declares Emergency, which over 6 years has grown to c.2000 organisations & individuals committed to addressing the Earth Crisis through Culture. In that time, we've never asked individuals to donate. Until now! donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

Please sign this.

A must-watch from the great @carolecadwalla.bsky.social — the Trump-broligarchy are staging a global coup, and they have more information on more of us than the Stasi ever did. But we can fight back. We must. youtu.be/TZOoT8AbkNE

Arts Council England DYCP access requests open today, can take 5 working days to sign off. But wow look at that Project Grants lead-in time now 😵‍💫 Factor this in if you’re hoping to apply any time soon!

**SIGNED COPIES** of Who Wants Normal? are now available to pre-order online from @fiveleavesbooks.bsky.social as a limited edition. If you’re on a low income or housebound, you’ll also get free postage nationwide. Get yours here: fiveleavesbookshop.co.uk/product/who-...

I just attended a conference in the US. We had one speaker detained and two others turned away at the border.

Could you do with £10k for some humanities or social science research? We’ve opened the call for our small grants. These are assessed using partial randomisation - after applications meet our quality threshold awards are allocated at random, reducing bias www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/ba-l...

In an infringement of copyright & total disregard for my livelihood, many of my academic publications have been taken without my consent to train AI. I stand with the @Soc_of_Authors Action. Pls sign & share this petition to protect authors' rights: www.change.org/p/protect-au...

Take note then @artscouncilengland.bsky.social when fixing yr #dycp budget allocation as % of Grant in aid to give many more low income #artists at #grassroots a genuine chance to dream #ecologiesforartistsresilience @lisanandymp.bsky.social

The memes have been great.

In common with basically every other author, my work has been stolen by Meta and fed - against my will, and without compensation - into its AI monstrosity. I'm asking Meta: Do the Write Thing. Make it Fair. Join the @societyofauthors.bsky.social's campaign, and stand with human creativity.

“It is much more satisfactory to give a child real hammers, nails, pincers, screwdrivers, saws and gimlets” (1971) Artist: Harry Wingfield

You can’t ALWAYS be experiencing an unusually high number of calls, that’s not how ‘usual’ works.

How often do you look for news sources from outside your country? 🗞️ 💡 @eui-media-freedom.bsky.social is exploring the idea of a European Streaming Platform that would be AI-assisted, multilingual, free & accessible to all EU citizens. Interested in the project? Take the survey! ✉️ buff.ly/1I0ZPvG

What’s the command to activate auto removal of #theshittrumpsays? FFS he’s got a diarrhoea of it that the world don’t need to hear.

It’s quite something when you manage to turn a quiet technocrat - someone who’s never really been involved in politics - into a *national hero*. What Trump has managed to do for PM Mark Carney and the Liberal Party of Canada is a sight to behold.

“Look, look we need patriots big numbers of patriots who will fight on the ground for the country I love. Yes you can help Putin, join now and become a soldier on the front line against Ukraine. It’s a bigly deal and you can die for your country in a foreign land. Join up now and get a free Tesla.”

Arts Council England (ACE) has halted the launch of the application process for its next National Portfolio and will ask government to extend the current portfolio by a further year to 2028.

The Scottish Government has two tasks once independence is decided: seperating from the UK, and joining the EU. They would happen in parallel. #ScottishIndependence | #RejoinEU

Call to #visualartists in UK for info for my study of #ecologiesforartistsresilience - how many hours a week (or month) do you get to spend in your studio? What conditions affect how long you can spend? DMs welcomed

Canada backs down on 25% charge for electricity exports hours after Trump threatens new tariff for steel

🚨🚨 "In today's loony madness", the orange Madman doubled his planned tariffs on all imports of steel and aluminum products from Canada to 50%, in response to the province of Ontario's decision to place a 25% tariff on its electricity exports to the US. 🧵 www.reuters.com/world/americ...

Great thread here from Jacob:

From the good news department: Thanks to the support of thousands of Poles, Slawek Sierakowski and I have reached the goal of funding one armored ambulance for Ukrainian medics — in one day. Today starting the drive for a second. Please help. donorbox.org/armored-mede...

Obviously Trump and his regime are malevolent in intent, but what's increasingly is that he and it are also totally out of their depth. It's not just that we don't know what they are doing, it is that *they* don't.

And remember, what you see happening to colleagues could well happen to you. Your own work needs to be cleaned, checked, archived and kept safe. Don't rely on others to do this and always have your own backups. You can see why this is so necessary with these awful world events.

This is awful! And dangerous on so many levels. Destroying records makes it harder to rebuild, to archive, to protect, or to transfer to colleagues. It removes histories, vital health data, so much other crucial information. It's a major safety issue. www.bmj.com/content/388/...

Easy to do - self congratulatory email from #visualarts body says opposite than intended due to proofing error … Been there, done that before using doc’s editorial sense, spelling and syntax check

The prevalence of Long Covid has also been unequal. This study estimated around 1.8% of the population to have it, but suggested that the rate of Long Covid in the most deprived fifth (3.2%) was more than double of the least deprived fifth (1.5%) www.ox.ac.uk/news/2024-08...

Call to #visualartists in UK for info for my study of #ecologiesforartistsresilience - how many hours a week (or month) do you get to spend in your studio? What conditions affect how long you can spend? DMs welcomed

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to keep billions in foreign aid frozen. Not a good week for The Idiot King and his ignorant minions. www.cnn.com/2025/03/05/p...

Supreme Court tells Trump to pay out $2 billion to USAID after rejecting his bid to pause spending

@artscouncilengland.bsky.social @lisanandymp.bsky.social @dcmsgovuk.bsky.social - insight and evidence from analysis of submissions to government #Covid19 Inquiry www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1... #ecologiesforartistsresilience #localism #devolution #grassroots