I’d missed that @andyburnham.bsky.social started off as assistant editor at Tank World (which has little to do with defence but follows the tank container industry). I hope this gives a spring in the step to trade press journalists everywhere 😃 bulk-distributor.com/2026/07/form...

We’ve published a great new paper on the role of hypocrisy in international relations. TL:DR don’t claim moral superiority if you can’t live up to it. Part of our Global (Dis)Order programme with @carnegieendowment.org www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/62...

Big read from @lucyfisher.ft.com & Charles Clover on the weakening of UK’s hard and soft power. Soundings from diplomats show ‘not only has much of the country’s military firepower withered but its image across the world is also much diminished’ www.ft.com/content/17eb...

'The decision to slash funding for creative subjects comes despite the field being named as one of the UK’s “highest potential sectors” in the government’s industrial strategy.' 1/2

Interesting to see the research security agenda - which reduces open science in the West partly due to concerns about China - now take root within China itself as it feels it may have more to lose through open publication www.ft.com/content/64a8...

I feel very moved by this decision in part because of my work focusing on how victims of domestic abuse continue to be criminalised www.theguardian.com/law/2026/jul...

Sad story but worth reading about how racism quietly manifests in the Netherlands. Swimming pool attendants asked non white kids for ID and didn’t let them in without it, but didn’t ask white children. The father then received hate messages for speaking out www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Fake news laws -- that criminalize spreading "disinformation" -- feel intuitively useful. But they are almost always used to go after journalistic inquiry or critical reporting of govt. South Korea has begun implementing its new law; concerning for free expression: apnews.com/article/sout...

The access they gained via social engineering is fascinating. Co I'm currently working for have a Teams based training tool that bangs on about it. In most cases here it wasn't end users who were duped into resetting passwords, it was IT help desks.

‘After learning Jubair got into cybercrime through gaming, one resident mused: “I’m going to get on Roblox.”’ Good read from @londoncentric.media on the teenage hacker who took down TfL’s systems from his parents’ flat in a high rise block in Bow www.londoncentric.media/p/thalha-jub...

‘The OBR expects spending on health to rise from 8% of GDP in 2030-31 to 13% of GDP by 2075-76, partly driven by demographics but also because productivity growth tends to be slower in health than in the wider economy’ www.ft.com/content/05ab...

Congratulations to Silvana Tenreyro - a Fellow of @britishacademy.bsky.social - upon her appointment as Chief Economist of the IMF www.imf.org/en/news/arti...

“A test of this length is a major development and would indicate that China is moving towards a significantly more survivable and longer-range sea-based nuclear deterrent capability,” www.ft.com/content/c52f...

Read this on devolution from the real King in the North tomforth.co.uk/agglomeratio...

'One of the reasons for the [UK's] high attainment rate is the high share of tertiary students that completes their studies. In the United Kingdom, 67% of new entrants to bachelor’s programmes complete their studies on time compared to just 43% of new entrants on average across the OECD.' 1/3

Thanks to the LSE for appointing me Visiting Professor in Practice at LSE Data Science Institute. I'm really looking forward to working with colleagues there to think about the human interface with AI and data! www.lse.ac.uk/dsi/news/202...

Very much agree. Weve got the highest level of student debt and the lowest levels of government financial support for universities in the OECD.

The Select Committee report on student loans does not pull its punches & says loans were effectively missold by not saying T&Cs could be changed retrospectively. A core recommendation is that the cost of university should be split 50:50 between student/govt committees.parliament.uk/committee/15...

ICYMI on Friday - our statement on the crisis in HE

‘Have we created a technology which is now capable enough to be dangerous, but still not reliable enough to be useful in many domains?’ asks @sarahoconnorft.ft.com www.ft.com/content/40a8...

‘In the years that followed the war, officials visited every town and village in Punjab in an effort to record the names and fates of each of the 320,000 servicemen who came from that state alone.’ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Flipping heck, @economist.com has written an obituary for the world’s biggest and oldest iceberg economist.com/obituary/202...

‘Without the unseen labours of our unheralded neighbours – the snails, spiders, sponges, corals, bivalves, wasps and crabs – the grandiose edifice that is human civilisation would crumble.’ www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘However, disciplines are disappearing as a result of tough but uncoordinated decision-taking across a fragmented sector. The signs of strain are visible across the system. The financial cross-subsidies that have quietly sustained teaching and research are becoming harder to maintain’

Eyebrow raising story from @joshspero.ft.com and colleagues. The ‘Artist Pension Trust’ model was artists would give it 20 artworks over 20 years, and benefit from pooled sales in their later years. But it is now winding up and will only return 70% of the contributions… www.ft.com/content/57e4...

I know that the story is actually far worse than they’ve been able to say here.

‘America’s unique involvement in Venezuela brings unique responsibilities. It should do more to fulfil them… Of $300m promised in aid, only $100m is new money’ economist.com/leaders/2026...

Eyebrow raising story from @joshspero.ft.com and colleagues. The ‘Artist Pension Trust’ model was artists would give it 20 artworks over 20 years, and benefit from pooled sales in their later years. But it is now winding up and will only return 70% of the contributions… www.ft.com/content/57e4...

The Guardian should replace its ‘Dining across the divide’ feature with one which updates us on whether the couple from last month’s ’You be the judge’ column are still together. Who’s with me?

If you haven’t already it’s worth looking at these photos that tell a story of the US as it hits 250, with an intro from @sarahchurchwell.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Wonderful line from Esther Freud in this interview www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Always fascinating to see into the cultural faultlines in other places www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

‘This direction of travel risks irreversible damage to UK higher education & research, to scholarship, & to our capacity to shape the future. There will be diminishing opportunities for students, widening regional inequalities, & erosion of knowledge, evidence and expertise on which the UK depends.’

So tech policy tends to get aligned with moonshot-style ambition, but the thing is - we are already living in a largely digital society. Absolutely not fully inclusive, but technology is here, now, changing things people so every day - it's not something that is happening next or in the future.

ICYMI - our statement on the crisis in higher education

“They’re digging out their undergraduate essays on the powers of the Senedd and sending it to the Metro [newspaper],” said one party figure. This piece is hilarious www.ft.com/content/7d89...

Hats off to Ed for arranging this - no quicker way to get public support for his campaign to be Chancellor than this kind of intervention www.thetimes.com/article/cc02...

Why it matters that @andyburnham.bsky.social is an English Lit graduate. Thoughtful piece from @tanjilrashid.bsky.social magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/07/01/a...

Hats off to Ed for arranging this - no quicker way to get public support for his campaign to be Chancellor than this kind of intervention www.thetimes.com/article/cc02...

Wowsers. Even though causality is always complex, that’s a big effect. From @soumayakeynes.ft.com column on the interactions between weight and the labour market www.ft.com/content/a7a9...

‘We urge the Government to prioritise this issue. Should this situation continue unchecked, the damage to the health of higher education, research and innovation will be profound and have long-lasting consequences.’ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...

Excellent statement setting out the risk government is taking through its non-intervention in #UKHE spinning into oblivion. Could you make sure your MP reads it? With the change in leadership we can try to get some political momentum before it's too late. Here's a template if you'd like a hook.

‘We urge the Government to prioritise this issue. Should this situation continue unchecked, the damage to the health of higher education, research and innovation will be profound and have long-lasting consequences.’ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...

Wowsers. Even though causality is always complex, that’s a big effect. From @soumayakeynes.ft.com column on the interactions between weight and the labour market www.ft.com/content/a7a9...

Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Wtf

Very much looking forward to working with Michael on the NAO Board, collectively working towards better public services and supporting Parliament to scrutinise how effectively the Government spends public money

Good analysis from @richardaljones.bsky.social on @andyburnham.bsky.social’s economic and innovation policy agenda including this lovely reference to @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social softmachines.org?p=3324

We’ve opened the call for @britishacademy.bsky.social Postdoctoral Fellowships. We provide 3 years of funding to early-career researchers in the humanities and social sciences wishing to pursue an independent research project. Apply by 30th September www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

“Unfettered tech boosterism is a vote-loser,” said one person who has been involved in discussions, adding that Burnham’s team had discussed a new focus on ensuring AI technology worked for British companies and the UK public rather than US tech giants. www.ft.com/content/5f2f...