Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 42m

I am really struggling with the process of turning a conference paper into a written article. Why do I find this so difficult?

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4h

'While researchers typically publish in academic journals and books, the authors found, higher education managers are more likely to consult practice-oriented journals, newsletters, conference inputs and social media platforms such as LinkedIn.'

Physician, heal thyself.

HE research ‘rarely informs administrators’ decisions’

Knowledge transfer should include the university itself, says thinktank after identifying disconnect between managers and those who study them

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 4h

Adding engineering to anything makes it look high value to some people. We joked under a previous VC that we should change our name to the Department of Verbal Engineering.

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Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · 5h

Excellent Guardian piece on Aadhar, India's digital ID system, that captures the dilemma extremely well. Digital-by-default methods create huge convenience for some, double-down on social exclusion for others, and it is easy for their scope to rapidly expand www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Your basis to live is checked at each and every step’: India’s ID system divides opinion

Keir Starmer is considering Aadhaar as model for UK, but detractors warn of ‘digital coercion’ and security breaches

www.theguardian.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12h

The responses to this are just great. I realise my own opinions are distressingly hinged.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 22h

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 13h

You had one phone and it was in the hall. Before that you had one phone on the street. Husband grew up in a farm cottage and the only phone was - I kid you not - in the bullpen. Not a repurposed bullpen, but a pen with an actual bull in it. Remembering the numbers is the least weird thing.

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 17h

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 18h

... That all they can ever imagine is a revival of Thatcherism (which is really a caricature of Thatcherism), with no regard for whether it is fit for the challenges of the day. If you have a hammer every problem looks like a nail, and their hammer is Thatcher.

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 18h

I think this is what has destroyed the Tories. It has rotted their brains. They are unable to see where Thatcherite policies have been catastrophic failures (social housing, water privatisation), and ignore the stances she took with which they disagree (on climate science). They are so blinkered...

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 20h

The Conservative party’s obsession with Margaret Thatcher merch feels less kitsch and more cult | Zoe Williams

On the former prime minister’s centenary, celebratory tat has included branded Toby jugs and whisky, while her old clothes were on display at conference. Is this really what the Iron Lady would have wanted, asks Zoe Williams

www.theguardian.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 1d

There is a simple question that all interviewers should ask when people say this: do you think the statue of Jimmy Savile in Glasgow should have remained in place after details of his crimes were released? If they say 'yes' then at least they have a consistent position. But of course they won't.

historianmemory.bsky.social @historianmemory.bsky.social · 1d

'I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to deny history. I think it’s always really important to face your own history honestly ...'

Toppling statues is an act of protest. It's about contesting a collective memory. NEVER about denying history.
observer.co.uk/culture/inte...

Nicholas Cullinan: ‘I don’t think it’s ever a good idea t...

The British Museum director on toppling statues, the Parthenon marbles and hosting London’s new star-studded answer to the Met Gala

observer.co.uk

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 2d

I feel like I've just had a long drink of cold water after ingesting toxins for too long.

Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 2d

God this is refreshing to read.

THE NERVE @thenerve.news · 2d

‘Are the flags that now bedeck our suburbs and estates patriotic or racist?’

In his second weekly column, Stewart Lee looks at the changing significance of England flags over the years

Stewart Lee: The thugs have taken my flag. So I’ve taken theirs

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 2d

God, this is so true!

Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 2d

LLM extruded essays are like being cornered by the most boring person at a party while they monotone monologue small talk at you, convinced that they’re pronouncing something profound.

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Tim Leunig @timleunig.bsky.social · 2d

Outstanding from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com - the best way to get a job is to get a degree. You will almost almost always earn more as well.

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 2d

Really interesting article from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com but especially intriguing to me is the number of comments below that are essentially 'OK the data don't agree with my hunch but here's an unrelated statement that proves that I'm right about AI, the death of higher education, etc'

What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong

People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts

www.ft.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 3d

At Richard Hawley on the Grand Pier in Weston-Super-Mare and 3 fire alarms into the support act the promoters might have just worked out that you can't pump a lot of dry ice into a building that spectacularly combusted a decade or so ago.

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 3d

Is he really this mad or is he playing to an audience that's mad? Also, now the world really, really needs those Humanities/ cultural history experts who can unpack what this means!

Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 4d

Conservative tech lord Thiel said tighter financial regulations “were a sign that a singular world government has begun to emerge that could be taken over by an Antichrist figure who could then use it to exert control over people.” Via WashPost

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 4d

"if anything employment outcomes are worsening more rapidly for those with fewer skills looking for blue-collar jobs than the highly skilled seeking knowledge work"

on.ft.com/43eYeRZ

@jburnmurdoch.ft.com as ever doing the essential work.

It's not just AI. And education still matters

What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong

People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts

on.ft.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 4d

This is really worrying. They basically think that teachers of any subject can just do English from a PowerPoint. englishassociation.ac.uk/ea-response-...

EA response to loss of English teacher training bursaries | The English Association

We support the teaching, learning, and enjoyment of English at all levels of education, from early years to further and higher education and beyond.

englishassociation.ac.uk

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Alex Thomson @byebyepride.bsky.social · 5d

The shortage of English teachers has not been resolved - cuts in bursaries for trainees are a mistake, argues @sarahmullin.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social

Tes magazine @tesmagazine.bsky.social · 5d

‘English is not just a subject – it is the foundation on which all other subjects are built’: @sarahmullin.bsky.social warns of the wider impact of withdrawing bursaries for teacher training in English

The end of English ITT bursaries sends a worrying message

The withdrawal of teacher training bursaries for English risks undermining more than just the subject itself – and it comes at a critical time, warns Sarah Mullin

www.tes.com

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 6d

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 6d

If it's true (and I doubt it) I'd love to see someone ask her some very, very sustained questions about a lot of these.

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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.bsky.social · 7d

And here we go. I never wrote this article, and yet it is cited here.

www.liberalbriefs.com/geopolitics/...

And of course, it sounds so plausible, I seriously checked whether I had forgotten it, or the footnote was slightly wrong.

#AIisnotresearch

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Caroline Dodds Pennock @carolinepennock.bsky.social · 7d

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 7d

I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun

OpenAI told the Guardian that content owners can flag copyright infringement using a “copyright disputes form” but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out. Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, said: “We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”

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Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 8d

Once again, this is not how copyright law works!

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 8d

OpenAI promises more ‘granular control’ to copyright owners after Sora 2 generates videos of popular characters www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

OpenAI promises more ‘granular control’ to copyright owners after Sora 2 generates videos of popular characters

Company behind the AI video app says it will work with rights holders to ‘block characters from Sora at their request’

www.theguardian.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 9d

This was fantastic! Really inspiring day...

Catherine Clarke @cathamclarke.bsky.social · 9d

I hugely enjoyed hosting a discussion with the brilliant @drlauravarnam.bsky.social & Caroline Bergvall today on creative engagement with #Chaucer and #medieval literature, including readings from their #poetry. Thank you @ies-sas.bsky.social & @englishassociation.bsky.social for an excellent day!

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12d

What the actual fuck!

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 12d

"International students left in limbo by UCL after university exceeds visa allocations"

International students left in limbo by UCL after university exceeds visa allocations

Hundreds of students accepted on courses facing costs and even deportation after being told to defer studies until 2026

bit.ly

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