@nickmegoran.bsky.social
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How do we learn enough about university finance and governance to unruin our great institutions? Great question posed by Chris Newfield of
@isrfoundation.bsky.social
-
isrf.org/blog/the-uni...
- and some thoughtful answers.
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The University Unruined
What are the practical means by which academic staff can get direct control over budgets and programme planning?
https://isrf.org/blog/the-university-unruined?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
19 days ago
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@reecejones.bsky.social
- thanks for this important intervention.
add a skeleton here at some point
29 days ago
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In 1997 Zbigniew Brzezinski infamously described the Ferghana Valley as a weak point in the unstable and fractured âEurasian Balkansâ of Central Asia, itself at the heart of âthe global zone of percolating violence.â Central Asian states have proved him wrong:
uza.uz/en/posts/fer...
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Fergana Valley has the potential to become a model of cross-border cooperation, peaceful resolution of complex issues, and sustainable development
This assessment was shared by Murad Uzakov, Head of the Center for Regional Studies at the Institute for Strategic and R
https://uza.uz/en/posts/fergana-valley-has-the-potential-to-become-a-model-of-cross-border-cooperation-peaceful-resolution-of-complex-issues-and-sustainable-development_812332
30 days ago
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Superb post from an expert voice on the US border patrol.
add a skeleton here at some point
30 days ago
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dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
- great piece on the rise and fall of an academic field
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The Demise of Conflict Studies - Dissent Magazine
An entire industry specializing in mediation, peacekeeping, disarmament, and transitional justice has become largely obsolete.
https://dissentmagazine.org/article/the-demise-of-conflict-studies/
about 1 month ago
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Some embarrassment for West Yorkshire's mayor yesterday when she relied on AI for an unusual map of the 'northern powerhouse' railway system...
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater...
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'Warrington via Manchester Airpont please': Inaccurate railway map deleted
"Good to see Manchester Piccadilly back west of the Pennines again"
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/warrington-warrington-via-manchester-airpont-33232632
about 1 month ago
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Great News! UEF is one of the great centres of border studies, and Alex is one of the field's great scholars - a match made in heaven!
www.uef.fi/en/article/p...
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Professor Alexander Diener from the US to strengthen the University of Eastern Finlandâs expertise in border studies
The Research Council of Finland has awarded 2.5 million euros in funding for Alexander Dienerâs professorship and the establishment of a new research group.
https://www.uef.fi/en/article/professor-alexander-diener-from-the-us-to-strengthen-the-university-of-eastern-finlands-expertise-in
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
PolGRG
about 2 months ago
Attending the 2026 RGS-IBG Annual Conference? đ¤ Don't miss our call for Session Sponsorship! We welcome paper sessions & panels, but also practitioner forums, discussions, workshops, and other innovative formats. More info đ
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Call for Session Sponsorship (RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2026)
The Political Geography Research Group (PolGRG) of the RGS-IBG is pleased to extend an invitation to sponsor sessions at the next RGS-IBG Annual International Conference. The deâŚ
https://polgrg.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/call-for-session-sponsorship-rgs-ibg-annual-conference-2026/
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"What Happened When My Yale Students Gave Up Their Phones for Four Weeks?" Thoughtful article for all educators.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/o...
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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/opinion/tech-free-college-spaces.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
about 2 months ago
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If the UK government keeps making it harder and more expensive for overseas students to study here, they will go elsewhere: Uzbekistan in many ways is a more attractive option for Indian students than the UK
kun.uz/en/97387923
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Uzbekistan sees 51% rise in international students in 2025
Uzbekistan saw a significant rise in the number of international students in the first ten months of 2025, according to data from the National Statistics Committee.
https://kun.uz/en/97387923
3 months ago
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Nice new piece on 'Radio geopolitics' by my colleague Alison Williams.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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âGood Contact in Spite of Staticâ: Advocating a Radio Geopolitics Assemblage Approach Through Analysing the Lindberghsâ 1931 North Pacific Flight
In the summer of 1931 famed US aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne, flew their Sirius aircraft from Washington DC, westward across northern Canada, Alaska and the Bering Strait to Japan an...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14650045.2025.2456016
3 months ago
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Itâs my 20th (Newcastle University) birthday! On December 1st, 2005, I began work here as a political geography lecturer.
3 months ago
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My thoughts on the politics of Remembrance in the UK, written for John Heathershaw's excellent Substack blog 'Security After Christendom.'
johnheathershaw.substack.com/p/the-two-wo...
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âThe two worst days of the year to go to churchâ
In a guest post, Nick Megoran, Professor of Geography at Newcastle Universty, contrasts the way churches sacralise the nation on Remembrance Sunday with the biblical call to be a 'holy nation'.
https://johnheathershaw.substack.com/p/the-two-worst-days-of-the-year-to?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2998884&post_id=180129186&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=4ds5u8&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
3 months ago
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Concerning new article showing how European university researchers are involved in research that helps the EU strengthen Frontex's border regime. 'Impact?' - yes. 'Securing grant funding?' - yes. 'Ethical?' - dubious.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Frontex and the University: Positivist Dissonance and the Institutionalisation of Border Violence through Research
The paper examines the existing relationships between universities and Frontex, investigating and problematising the intersection between the higher education sector and the violence of the European ...
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/anti.70090
3 months ago
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Why has the Christian church so often supported war and what might a pacific rereading of that history and the scriptures look like? My book on this topic is currently on half price sale with the code CONFSHIP at checkout.
wipfandstock.com/978149821959...
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Warlike Christians in an Age of Violence- Wipf and Stock Publishers
How should Christians respond to war? This age-old question has become more pressing given Western governments' recent overseas military interventions and th...
https://wipfandstock.com/9781498219594/warlike-christians-in-an-age-of-violence/
3 months ago
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@jheathershaw.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
4 months ago
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reposted by
adam searle
4 months ago
a university without its staff is nothing! On strike again fighting against the cruelty and economic shortsightedness of course closures and compulsory redundancies at the University of Nottingham
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On Remembrance Sunday. I was delighted to retell this amazing story of a little-known WW2 truce. Sometimes it takes courage not to fight.
@ncl-geography.bsky.social
@hassfacultyncl.bsky.social
www.bbc.com/news/article...
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Newcastle professor recalls US-Japan picnic truce
Prof Nick Megoran says the picnic on Aka island is as remarkable as the 1914 Christmas Day truce.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg43kwvq4e9o
4 months ago
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What does the election in north Cyprus signify? Great blog by Rebecca Bryant
blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
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Turkish Cypriots vote for hope, but can they be heard? - EUROPP
Will Tufan ErhĂźrman's victory lead to a federal Cyprus? Whatever happens, the international community must help Turkish Cypriots realise their political will.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2025/10/27/turkish-cypriots-federal-cyprus-tufan-erhurman-2025-election/
4 months ago
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What happens when borders reopen? My new article for Geopolitics journal, co-written with the economist Zalina Enikeeva.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
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What Happens When Borders Reopen? Dematerialising the Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan Boundary
Border studies have recently been focussed on what happens when borders close, leaving the question of border reopenings both largely unexplored and unconceptualized. We argue here for a new focus ...
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14650045.2025.2575986
4 months ago
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"Is peace possible?" I was part of a BBC Radio Wales discussion on this for UN International Day of Peace this week.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
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All Things Considered - Is Peace Possible? - BBC Sounds
Delyth Liddell and guests discuss how to act now for a peaceful world.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002jpw7
5 months ago
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Great book title: explains its thesis.
www.penguin.co.uk/books/474267...
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If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies
AI is the greatest threat to our existence that we have ever faced. The scramble to create superhuman AI has put us on the path to extinction â but itâs not too late to change course. Two pioneering ...
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/474267/if-anyone-builds-it-everyone-dies-by-soares-eliezer-yudkowsky-and-nate/9781847928924
5 months ago
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reposted by
Times Higher Education (THE)
6 months ago
US universities face growing threats to academic freedom â both at home and abroad. Hereâs how leaders and academics can guard against
#authoritarianism
:
www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-p...
#AcademicFreedom
#FreeSpeech
#HigherEd
âŞ@jhu.eduâŹ
@sarahemclaugh.bsky.social
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How to protect your university against authoritarianism
US institutions are facing threats to academic freedom from the Trump administration, yet they must also stay vigilant to authoritarianism from abroad. Here is what university leaders and academics ca...
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/how-protect-your-university-against-authoritarianism
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reposted by
WillowHasSnacksđłď¸ââ§ď¸đŽđ
6 months ago
Can confirm.
#librarians
#booksky
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Apparently Trump wants to try and earn his way up to heaven by brokering peace in Ukraine. But here's a radical thought...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...
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âI Want to Try and Get to Heavenâ: Trump Gets Reflective on âFox & Friendsâ
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/us/politics/trump-heaven.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
6 months ago
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wagingnonviolence.org/2025/06/less...
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Lessons in courage, care and collective action from the international accompaniment movement
Developed in Central America during the 1980s, accompaniment strategies show how movements can reduce attacks and resist state repression.
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/06/lessons-in-courage-care-and-collective-action-from-the-international-accompaniment-movement/
7 months ago
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Lessons from the forgotten peacemakers on Aka Island - stories for VJ Day.
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
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VJ Day 80: Forgotten peacemakers of Aka Island
Eighty years after Victory over Japan, Nick Megoran reflects on a little-known story about the brokering of a truce
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/15-august/comment/opinion/vj-day-80-forgotten-peacemakers-of-aka-island
7 months ago
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reposted by
Glen O'Hara
7 months ago
South China Morning Post yesterday. Not ideal. Don't think these things aren't noticed around the world: they are. (1/2)
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80 years ago today WW2 reached its cataclysmic conclusion in the bombing of Hiroshima. But as I write here, the extraordinary but virtually-unknown story of the Aka island truce is a sliver of hope. Other outcomes are possible.
@spaceforpeace.bsky.social
theconversation.com/when-us-and-...
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When US and Japanese troops stopped fighting to talk, eat and pray together
Eighty years ago, this remarkable event showed a rare glimpse of humanity on both sides of a bitter conflict.
https://theconversation.com/when-us-and-japanese-troops-stopped-fighting-to-talk-eat-and-pray-together-262068
7 months ago
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What if state borders united rather than divided? The curious case of the 'Peace Border' between Uruguay and Brazil
www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2024/08/p...
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Peace Border, the world's only binational plaza shared by two countries
In a world where borders are often synonymous with separation, control, and sometimes conflict, the Peace Border between Uruguay and Brazil is a curious exception. This border stretch, connecting the ...
https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2024/08/peace-border-the-worlds-only-binational-plaza-shared-by-two-countries/
7 months ago
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reposted by
Kevin Wilbraham
7 months ago
Part of a building dedication to the Emperor Antoninus Pius by the Sixth Legion which was found at Chesters Roman Fort on Hadrianâs Wall in Northumberland. Now on display in the site museum. đ¸ My own.
#EpigraphyTuesday
#RomanBritain
#HadriansWall
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Can peace break out unexpectedly? Article I wrote for The Times this week about an incident at the end of World War 2 that is every bit as remarkable as the December 1914 Christmas truces yet which remains virtually unknown.
@spaceforpeace.bsky.social
@cnduk.bsky.social
7 months ago
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"The day US and Japanese soldiers laid down their guns for a picnic" - article I wrote for today's Times (print and online). One of the most amazing stories I have ever encountered. A moment of peaceful, intimate interaction in midst of terrible battle.
www.thetimes.com/world/asia/a...
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The day US and Japanese soldiers laid down their guns for a picnic
A forgotten truce on Aka Island, Okinawa, which ended one of the most bloody land battles of the Second World War, was commemorated this year
https://www.thetimes.com/world/asia/article/us-and-japanese-soldiers-laid-down-guns-dt5dhnp67
7 months ago
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reposted by
Marsh's Library
8 months ago
Wild strawberries on a beautiful summer's day! From Hieronymus Bock's 1552 herbal.
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Special forum in honour of pioneer development, feminist and participatory methods geographer, Janet Townsend, late of Durham University, for Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography.
8 months ago
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reposted by
Insta Science
8 months ago
The Queen of the Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) blooms once a year at night.
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reposted by
Geography at Durham
8 months ago
Great work by our colleagues Stewart Jamieson and Guy Paxman: "We have been using satellite data to map an ancient river landscape beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet:. The landscape has been frozen in time for up to 34 million years." âď¸đ§Ş
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Extensive fluvial surfaces at the East Antarctic margin have modulated ice-sheet evolution - Nature Geoscience
Extensive flat surfaces observed beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet margin were formed by fluvial erosion and have modulated the ice-sheet response to climate change, according to an analysis of rad...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01734-z
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www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
- train more peacemakers: it's cheaper and effective.
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Threats to the UK require strategic peacebuilding
As the Government gets ready for war, the Church should push for dialogue that prevents conflict, says James Megoran
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/11-july/comment/opinion/threats-to-the-uk-require-strategic-peacebuilding
8 months ago
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reposted by
University and College Union (UCU)
9 months ago
âMass redundancies will trash the global reputation of UK universitiesâ As
@nickmegoran.bsky.social
of writes, cuts arenât just short-sighted theyâre self-destructive. â Join UCU and Fight back.
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/mass...
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Mass redundancies will trash the reputation of UK universities
It may be difficult to enter on to a balance sheet but some weaker institutions may struggle to recover from reputational damage, says Nick Megoran
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/mass-redundancies-will-trash-reputation-uk-universities
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reposted by
David Storey
9 months ago
Redundancies and course closures:
@nickmegoran.bsky.social
on pain, protest and reputational damage at UK universities
@ucu.org.uk
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/mass...
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Mass redundancies will trash the reputation of UK universities
It may be difficult to enter on to a balance sheet but some weaker institutions may struggle to recover from reputational damage, says Nick Megoran
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/mass-redundancies-will-trash-reputation-uk-universities
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Newcastle University's Vice Chancellor draws a wage packet equal to the annual salaries of the UK Prime Minister, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Secretary General of the United Nations combined. Yet to cut costs he wants to lay off frontline academics. Sign petition to say NO!
chng.it/QSwScJvzFj
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We Can Make an Impact.
End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University
https://chng.it/QSwScJvzFj
9 months ago
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Two years ago today our dear friend and mentor, Janet Townsend, died. We remember her with affection and mourn her departure. This tribute to her work just appeared in SJTG, an introduction to a series of short forthcoming /already published reflections
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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ReâReading âWomen's Voices from the Rainforestâ
Click on the article title to read more.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/sjtg.70006
10 months ago
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A very nice article by my colleague, Alastair Bonnett, on time zones. A useful thing to read given the time changes many of us experiences at this time of year:
lnkd.in/ethTpG6M
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LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page thatâs not on LinkedIn
https://lnkd.in/ethTpG6M
11 months ago
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reposted by
Margot Finn
12 months ago
At long last:
committees.parliament.uk/committee/20...
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Education Committee announces session on higher education funding - Committees - UK Parliament
Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP has today announced a deep dive evidence session examining funding issues in the higher education sector.
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/203/education-committee/news/205824/education-committee-announces-session-on-higher-education-funding/
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I was interviewed about nationalism, war, peace and faith by Newcastle University politics alumnus, Tim Farron MP, for his âMucky Businessâ podcast:
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/n...
Listen from 7:20
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Nick Megoran: Called to serve two Kingdoms?
Podcast Episode ¡ A Mucky Business with Tim Farron ¡ 11/03/2025 ¡ 29m
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/nick-megoran-called-to-serve-two-kingdoms/id1548503241?i=1000698764787
12 months ago
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reposted by
Glen O'Hara
12 months ago
Very good on The Great University Disaster. Note it's *not* attacking administrators: indeed unis may be *under*-managed. The point is that extreme, inappropriate corporatization and bureaucratization has destroyed their very purpose, like a virus from within. (1/2)
academic.oup.com/brain/articl...
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On the responsibilities of intellectuals and the rise of bullshit jobs in universities
You may never have considered yourself to be one. Why would you? But if youâre reading this, there is more than a likelihood that you are one. If youâre a
https://academic.oup.com/brain/article/148/3/687/8058558
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There is a new neutral zone in the world, on the Kyrgyz-Tajik border
24.kg/english/3213...
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Neutral status granted to Tort-Kocho area on Kyrgyz-Tajik border - | 24.KG
Neutral status has been granted to Tort-Kocho area on Kyrgyz-Tajik border. The Chairman of the State Committee for National Security, Kamchybek Tashiev, said during a joint meeting of the parliamentar...
https://24.kg/english/321315/
about 1 year ago
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Very much enjoying Professor Alisher Faizullaev's new DiplomaticNexus channel.
www.youtube.com/@DiplomaticN...
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Diplomatic Nexus
The channel is dedicated to understanding key developments in modern diplomacy. Alisher Faizullaev, Prof., D.Sc., Ph.D., Ambassador (ret.), is the host of this channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@DiplomaticNexus
about 1 year ago
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Insightful comment on how wealthy investor visas facilitate corrupt individuals moving to the UK and US, by author of superb new book on the topic
@jheathershaw.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 year ago
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âThe scandal of a liberal arts education is that itâs not about giving people what they want. Itâs about challenging the wants themselves, and ultimately to form and direct those wants and desires otherwise.â Superb essays on why we should not treat students as consumers.
about 1 year ago
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