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Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 7d

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 8d

Looking forward to this exciting event!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 8d

How might hands reveal an inner self – a soul, a character, an identity?

Join us on 12 November at Lancaster University to explore this question with Professor Alison Bashford (University of New South Wales) as she presents her book, Decoding the Hand.

Tickets: thevictorianhand.uk/alison-bashf...

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Hannah Murphy @hsmurphy.bsky.social · 22d

And our FIVE YEAR teaching and research position in Early Modern Europe and the World is now live..... Please do circulate and/or think about applying. I truly love our department! @kingshistory.bsky.social

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James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 19d

I would genuinely like to know who the hell in the No.10 comms team thinks:

1) that a comms strategy from 1995 was the way to do the big 'unite the country' message

2) that leading it with 'our opponents were right' was a good plan

At least its in the Telegraph so no one will see it

Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 19d

Dire framing. Strategically and morally bankrupt.

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King's College London, History Department @kingshistory.bsky.social · 22d

Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World (closing date 13 October) . This post is a five-year appointment, starting on 1 January 2026. my.corehr.com/pls/coreport...

my.corehr.com

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 23d

Reform are now coming after people with permanent residency. It'll be citizens next. No one is safe from authoritarian governments.

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 25d

New post just out:

"Three seconds"

What links Charlie Kirk, the overthrow of the Nepalese government, the US-China trade deal, and the trial of a Romanian Presidential candidate?

TikTok.

Here's why it's changing politics and what that means.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

Three seconds

TikTok and the future of politics

open.substack.com

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Alex Wragge-Morley @wraggem.bsky.social · 24d

Isn’t this the one behind the royal courts of justice?

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Alex Wragge-Morley @wraggem.bsky.social · 24d

It’s a classic!

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 27d

All political tribes can be hypocritical but the right's current level of hypocrisy on free speech is deliberate. It's an assertion of power not a blindspot.

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Litfest, Lancaster @litfest.bsky.social · 27d

We're delighted to see that @mollieray.bsky.social is shortlisted for the Young Comics Laureate 2025-6! geni.us/YCLAU

Mollie will be appearing at our Autumn Weekend to discuss how the graphic novel format allows her to treat challenging topics with wit and sensitivity. Book now £6: geni.us/LFMBHB

Top left, book cover for GIANT by Mollie Ray, top right, author photo of Mollie. At the bottom, part of the Litfest Autumn Weekend 2025 programme cover.

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 29d

Liberals are unwilling to admit that there is a form of politics that exists in the world that centers around causing harm for pleasure, destroying things, and looting the rubble, and they're unwilling to admit that this politics has a stranglehold on the right

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 29d

So much of the crisis is the fact that liberals are unwilling to describe what's happening, because they're scared to say that their opponents are lying, are operating in bad faith, want evil or harmful policy, and don't share our basic goals about what society should look like

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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · Sep 13

I think today has demonstrated that, if anyone thinks the media is not the driving force behind the rise of fascism in the UK, they are either dishonest and culpable themselves or total deludinoids.

100,000 trans people: crickets

100,000 fascists: max publicity.

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Alex Wragge-Morley @wraggem.bsky.social · Sep 13

The PM's silence right now is utterly damning. I don't normally post about politics, but it seems to me that we are dangerously close to a moment where we can safely say - if you don't stand up for the right thing, then you are against it.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · Sep 13

That's true, but people turned out to stop Mosley & government legislated against uniforms. Powell was sacked from the Cabinet & denounced by both frontbenches. Griffiths did indeed become a "parliamentary leper". What's alarming today is the lack of fightback & the silence from govt & opposition.

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Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · Sep 13

Look I know it's a sjot inheritance and we have deep rooted structural economic and political problems and switching PMs won't solve them. But saying "fascist hooliganism is bad and we're gonna nick the culprits" is the easy part, and yet he is just. Not. Doing. It.

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · Sep 13

A Prime Minister whose party wants him out, with opinion polls through the floor, and who cannot bring himself to denounce the dark ethnonationalist turn against non-white British citizens… how does he come back from this?

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · Sep 13

Look I know it's a sjot inheritance and we have deep rooted structural economic and political problems and switching PMs won't solve them. But saying "fascist hooliganism is bad and we're gonna nick the culprits" is the easy part, and yet he is just. Not. Doing. It.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · Sep 13

Govt should take this message seriously.

The far right, backed by the world's richest man, is actively stoking racial & political violence.

Staying quiet, flattering them, saying "we hear you" won't work.

Stand up for decency, for respect, for the best of modern Britain or watch those things burn

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · Sep 13

Elon Musk spoke by video to Tommy Robinson's anti-immigrant rally in the UK today.

"You're in a fundamental situation here where, whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you," said Musk. "You either fight back or you die."

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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Sep 13

There's been a shift towards support to the far right here and it's horrible to see. But this remains a vastly less racist/homophobic/anti-semitic country than it has been in the past.

Which makes it all the odder that our politicians today seem more scared to make the argument.

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Matthew Holehouse @matthewholehouse.bsky.social · Sep 13

Starmer as it happens hasn't made a public speech outside chamber since mid-July. Hard to think of a PM who has made so little use of the normative power of his office. Unlike eg Cameron who really did think No 10 had the capacity and obligation to attempt to frame debate on all manner of issues

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Sep 13

When Ted Heath sacked Enoch Powell he was acting in the face of a majority in favour. Harold Wilson backed him up and called the speech “evil”. Long past time for Keir and Kemi to do the same.

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Will Jennings 🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · Sep 13

Have any Labour ministers or MPs spoken out about Musk inciting insurrection in the UK today?

Ed Davey @eddavey.libdems.org.uk · Sep 13

Our democracy is too precious to be a plaything for foreign tech barons.

Elon Musk doesn’t care about the British people or our rights. He only cares about himself and his ego.

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Sep 13

And as a shot/chaser to that, compare this quote in Robert Shrimsley's latest terrific column:

If you want to capture the ongoing contradictions at the heart of the UK’s Labour government, I can do no better than pass on the comment of one senior strategist when asked why this government is not more aggressively challenging the claim that it is simply an echo of an austerity Conservative party. “Not everyone wants to hear we are left wing, so it depends a bit on who you are talking to.”

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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · Sep 13

Dear God, this really is awful.

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · Sep 13

And as a shot/chaser to that, compare this quote in Robert Shrimsley's latest terrific column:

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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Sep 13

Absolutely !!!insane!!! to me that the UK government, lobby and newspapers litigate at length every minor infraction by the BBC, rival newspapers, or what some random columnist has posted. But all of them just carry on not even commenting about this media owner. He’s not hiding, he’s telling you!

Anthony Zacharzewski @anthonyzach.be · Sep 13

The owner of and absolute unquestionable algorithm controller of a preferred communications channel of the UK Government calling for violence and the overthrow of the Government. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Elon Musk addresses the ‘unite the kingdom’ march crowd via video link – UK politics live

Met Police believe 110,000 people attending rally, with one group in Whitehall throwing projectiles at officers

www.theguardian.com

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