Love this Jimmy Reed’s speech at UofG www.instagram.com/reel/DUs0yev...

Love listening Cornel preach sociology… ‘let the ears of the guilty ones tingle with truth’. www.instagram.com/reel/DUR7OnD...

Had a wonderful trip to speak at the Winter Seminar for the Norwegian Sociological Association… lots of serious thinking and ribald fun - Norwegian pop songs sung loudly in the bar late into the night. Freezing though in Storefjell -20 one night!

Remembering dear friend Caspar Melville today who died last year. Caspar and I would take Goldsmiths students on an annual pop music history walks around Soho, London. Sorely missed RIP. A beautiful spirit.

Congratulations to @academicdiary.bsky.social on the @britsoci.bsky.social presidency! We are so thrilled to have such a caring and visionary leader in our community at a time when we need Sociology more than ever! 🎉 es.britsoc.co.uk/professor-le...

Looking forward to speaking at the Norsk sosiologforening on Friday, trying to make sense of the dark times we’re living through. sosiologen.no/foreningen/f...

‘Lawless Britain’ update, in case you missed it. Homcides in England and Wales currently lower than at any point since the 1970s. Knife crime at its lowest level since 2003… Why aren’t we shouting this stuff from the rooftops? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wonderful news - Bridget Fowler received the Distinguished Service to British Sociology Award, 2025. es.britsoc.co.uk/distinguishe...

Bruce Springsteen has become braver and more radical as he has got older. It’s the way to end a career like Johnny Cash did before him - “Take a stand in this land for the stranger in our midst” www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKS...

Just finished writing a feature on Laurie Taylor @ 90 for a Sociological Review Magazine… what a life Laurie has led. Should be out in May. He is recording a new season of Thinking Allowed at the moment for BBC Radio 4. 28 years of putting socioligy on the airwaves. 👏👏👏

About 150 protesters gathered outside Sen. John Fetterman's office in Philadelphia Tuesday, urging him to not vote in favor of a bill that would provide more funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees both ICE and the Border Patrol. www.inquirer.com/politics/pen...

Really feel for friends and colleagues in the US and the violence of ICE. It’s almost a year since being in Harlem in the first days of the Trump Presidency www.gla.ac.uk/schools/soci...

So chuffed to be in this new book edited by Charlotte Bates and Emma Jackson, and my chapter is my first attempt at writing about life in Glasgow manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526184900/

A real honour to attend a Memorial Service marking the 45th anniversary of the New Cross Fire at St Andrew’s church, Brockley yesterday. A beautiful service honouring the 14 lives lost to this still unresolved tragedy, and the dignity and resilience of all those impacted by it.

Love this story of Cockney Jacobites and the link between Mill Wall FC and Bonnie Prince Charlie - thanks Fraser www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

On Stepney Beach with dear friend and sparring partner Michael Keith. So good to see Michael, sharing stories by the Thames in the sunshine.

Absolutely incredible evening at Goldsmiths honouring the great poet, musician and activist Linton Kwesi Johnson. A deep reminder from Les Back @academicdiary.bsky.social and others, including students interpreting Linton’s poetry, of all the things that drew me to Goldsmiths in the first place…

Hoping to get the words out for Linton tonight… wonderful to be reminded of the depth of his contribution.

A small pilgrimage and a prayer for the victims of the New Cross massacre on my way to the event for LKJ tonight. Not forgotten.

On the train to London to speak at this time event for LKJ at Goldmsiths. Nervous as hell but so to have the opportunity to say something about my debt to him. www.eventbrite.com/e/honouring-...

This is going to be a great night in Glasgow for International Women’s Day raising money for Scottish Women’s Aid www.thegladcafe.co.uk/events/2026-...

Umberto Eco’s essay ‘Ur Fascism’ seems more relevant - Ur or eternal fascism in 14 key features, and one is enough for hate to coagulate around. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg0u...

Really thrilled to be invited to say a few words for LKJ at this event in south London next week. Linton will read one of his poems too www.eventbrite.com/e/honouring-...

This is a wonderful converqtion with te Surviving Society podcast cihttps://open.spotify.com/episode/1PJcY7jlf7WLvdXLOtYPAB?si=caRZeSJoTAObpdXkpdygjgh

It was my birthday last week… this wonderful record was the best of gifts marking BB King’s centenary. Derek Trucks says in the liner notes that BB was a ‘real life Santa Claus’.

🚨Thrilled [email protected] Big Ideas Talk just dropped www.youtube.com/watch?v=jykO... 🎙️MANUFACTURING CARE: WHAT CAN WE LEARN ABOUT CARE FROM AI It was such an inspiring experience sharing a stage & delivering this alongside my super idols Ellen Galinsky & Rosabeth Moss Kanter in Montreal (1/5)

Resonating with @academicdiary.bsky.social's wonderful annual lecture on "The Paradox of Home" @uclsociology.bsky.social last week.

Update on this. A friend who does anti fascist work found this posted on social media. The SS flag is clearly visible and they also seem to claim affiliation with @raithroversfc.bsky.social

This is an extraordinary film - weaponising water in Gaza. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfpx...

Here’s the details off Ben Carrington’s talk next week. Ben gave our Frisby Lecture at the University of Glasgow a couple of years ago. His award is really well deserved.

The inaugural Stuart Hall Award lecture is next week December 10th 2025, 6pm UK time and given Dr. Ben Carrington (University of Southern California), the first winner of the award. Please register and attend the meeting via this zoom link: emory.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Sad to hear of Steve Cropper’s passing today. He made such a contribution to the music of the civil rights era. I interviewed him for this piece in 1999. Rest in soul…

Something new on ‘The Unloved Curriculum’ and teaching research methods with Michaela Benson and Maisie Tomlinson journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Enjoyed writing this for Everything Jazz - my album of the year Jon Batiste’s Big Money www.everythingjazz.com/the-14-best-...

This is wonderful, Jimmy Reid and Billy Connolly on Parkinson in 1979. I have finished my first piece of writing set in Glasgow called ‘In the Big Yin’s Footsteps’, which retraces Glasgow’s social history through Billy’s favourite streets today. youtu.be/KApI5kksOuM?...

Annual Lecture: The Paradox of Home by Les Back (11.12.25) Home is a knife-edge word. Competing forces balance on its edge that either control or open the terms of belonging. It is why home is paradoxical tinyurl.com/3493r8e6

This coming Black History Month's edition of the JMS Network series will see Dr Shantel George in conversation with JMS PhD Scholar in History, Taylar Carty. Join us from 6-8pm on Thursday 30 October in Kelvin Hall. @uofgartshums.bsky.social

Paul Gordon has just joined his son Montel as a UofG PhD scholar. Both are part of the James McCune Smith PhD Scholarship programme, pursuing research shaped by lived experience and cultural insight. More: gla.ac/4hzMvne Photo: Martin Shields

We’re excited to launch the 5th round of applications for the JMS Scholarship. 12 scholarships are available in any research area which can be supervised at the University. Register your interest here: forms.office.com/e/k2bkPz4ekB #PhDScholarship #Scholarships2026 #UKScholarships

Really looking forward to this lecture with @academicdiary.bsky.social. Register now before all the tickets are gone!

Beautiful night in South London looking north x

This is a beautiful story that will warm your heart. Congrats to Paul, and Montel is already doing important work. Wonderful people and meaningful change www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/2556955...

@jenniewren.bsky.social I love you profile picture Jennie

I really loved being interviewed for this edition, Spare a Thought on Stuart Hall and the historic Open Door episode It Ain’t Half Racist Mum spareathought.podbean.com/e/it-aint-ha...

In the Taybridge Bar, Dundee watching the old firm game and making a little musical pilgrimage for the late great Michael Marra… 💔

We're hiring an outstanding Assistant Professor whose core research is in the field of cultural sociology with demonstrable expertise in the sociology of #culture and #technology. 📅 Applications close Sunday 30 November 2025. ➡️ jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

With dear friend Professor Lez Henry (aka Lesley Lyrics) at the farewell for Dj and world builder June Reid.

Saying goodbye today to Queen June Reid who wore the ‘crown of righteousness’. June chose a poem by David Harkins to be read as a farewell -“smile, open your eyes (and ears), love and go on.” A beautiful generous soul gone but not forgotten.