Ben Stanley
@benstanley.eu
Associate Professor, SWPS University. Welsh by birth. English by upbringing. Irish by design. Polish by choice. I am a lineman for the county.
Top Five Favourite Documentary Genres
1. This man is doing something dangerous and stupid.
2. People in subcultures are passionate eccentrics.
3. Faintly patronising journey through non-OECD country.
4. These people make this outmoded thing with amazing craftsmanship.
5. Proper Geordie accents.
1. This man is doing something dangerous and stupid.
2. People in subcultures are passionate eccentrics.
3. Faintly patronising journey through non-OECD country.
4. These people make this outmoded thing with amazing craftsmanship.
5. Proper Geordie accents.
Top Five Favourite Documentary Genres
1. Oh wait, it was a Ponzi Scheme all along.
2. Terrible U.S. sportsperson is metaphor for entire country.
3. Unknown crackpot was greatest person who ever lived.
4. Old alcoholics talk about famous old alcoholic.
5. Nature is cute but evil.
1. Oh wait, it was a Ponzi Scheme all along.
2. Terrible U.S. sportsperson is metaphor for entire country.
3. Unknown crackpot was greatest person who ever lived.
4. Old alcoholics talk about famous old alcoholic.
5. Nature is cute but evil.
November 17, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Top Five Favourite Documentary Genres
1. This man is doing something dangerous and stupid.
2. People in subcultures are passionate eccentrics.
3. Faintly patronising journey through non-OECD country.
4. These people make this outmoded thing with amazing craftsmanship.
5. Proper Geordie accents.
1. This man is doing something dangerous and stupid.
2. People in subcultures are passionate eccentrics.
3. Faintly patronising journey through non-OECD country.
4. These people make this outmoded thing with amazing craftsmanship.
5. Proper Geordie accents.
Reposted by Ben Stanley
My brush with academia has taught me that, contra the Great Man theory of human advancement, for every big name Harvard Professor of Whatever there are ten other people who could produce equally good research in the same position. I'm sure one of them isn't a shithead
November 17, 2025 at 8:06 PM
My brush with academia has taught me that, contra the Great Man theory of human advancement, for every big name Harvard Professor of Whatever there are ten other people who could produce equally good research in the same position. I'm sure one of them isn't a shithead
Poland didn’t so much win that match as fail to lose or draw.
November 17, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Poland didn’t so much win that match as fail to lose or draw.
Reposted by Ben Stanley
distinguished senior fuckface
Larry Summers is still a "distinguished senior fellow" at @americanprogress.bsky.social , leading their "Project 2029" plan for the next Democratic administration.
He and everyone like him need to be yeeted out of public life immediately.
He and everyone like him need to be yeeted out of public life immediately.
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: Jeffrey E. Epstein.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
November 17, 2025 at 9:39 PM
distinguished senior fuckface
Reposted by Ben Stanley
I forgot to post this photo of a local pub whose wholehearted commitment to commemorating Remembrance Sunday extended to erecting a Cenotaph on the roof
November 17, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I forgot to post this photo of a local pub whose wholehearted commitment to commemorating Remembrance Sunday extended to erecting a Cenotaph on the roof
There’s a point at which an editor’s professional obligations tip over into a duty of care
November 17, 2025 at 8:50 PM
There’s a point at which an editor’s professional obligations tip over into a duty of care
Reposted by Ben Stanley
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
November 17, 2025 at 7:20 PM
POV: you are a young woman celebrating a recent academic success
Reposted by Ben Stanley
this is not about me, but i'd like all the men who've been condescending to me to think about the fact that all their female colleagues do this job with this shit going on around us - "around us" at best
November 17, 2025 at 8:45 PM
this is not about me, but i'd like all the men who've been condescending to me to think about the fact that all their female colleagues do this job with this shit going on around us - "around us" at best
Reposted by Ben Stanley
the problem with this day is that i have a lot of shit to do and i keep having a rage stroke fuckity fuck
The ending of this Harvard Crimson story on Larry Summers. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
November 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
the problem with this day is that i have a lot of shit to do and i keep having a rage stroke fuckity fuck
“Craig Brown is away”
It needs to be emphasized that this paragraph is about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
November 17, 2025 at 7:54 PM
“Craig Brown is away”
It’s the Turning Each Other’s Flag Through 90 Degrees derby
November 17, 2025 at 7:44 PM
It’s the Turning Each Other’s Flag Through 90 Degrees derby
I find confiscating people’s jewellery offensive, and yet here we are
Shabana Mahmood asks MPs to stop mentioning Tommy Robinson's name (in relation to his support for her policies) as "he doesn't even think I am English. I find that offensive."
November 17, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I find confiscating people’s jewellery offensive, and yet here we are
Starting to think that we need a theory of FAFO to explain much of our current politics
November 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Starting to think that we need a theory of FAFO to explain much of our current politics
Reposted by Ben Stanley
No. This is a fundamentally bad choice. I get that journals scramble for audiences and interactions. The costs of fragmentation are real.
But going back to X is imho fundamentally wrong and sends a poor signal. Don’t.
But going back to X is imho fundamentally wrong and sends a poor signal. Don’t.
November 17, 2025 at 6:26 PM
No. This is a fundamentally bad choice. I get that journals scramble for audiences and interactions. The costs of fragmentation are real.
But going back to X is imho fundamentally wrong and sends a poor signal. Don’t.
But going back to X is imho fundamentally wrong and sends a poor signal. Don’t.
Reposted by Ben Stanley
Easy choice if you're a deer deciding where to buy a house
November 17, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Easy choice if you're a deer deciding where to buy a house
I’m generally not a fan of judging people by their worst supporters, but if Tommy Robinson is endorsing your immigration policy you do at least have some questions to ask yourself.
The government should be ashamed that its migration policies are being cheered on by Tommy Robinson and Reform.
Instead of standing up to anti-migrant hate, this is laying the foundations for the far-right.
I questioned the Home Secretary on how she can be proposing such obviously cruel policies.
Instead of standing up to anti-migrant hate, this is laying the foundations for the far-right.
I questioned the Home Secretary on how she can be proposing such obviously cruel policies.
November 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I’m generally not a fan of judging people by their worst supporters, but if Tommy Robinson is endorsing your immigration policy you do at least have some questions to ask yourself.
Suddenly, about 4 years ago, students decided that what they really needed to accompany the student experience was an enormous vat of liquid. Collectively, it was decided that smaller vessels simply would not do. Nobody knows why.
I have 30 students taking a final right now and at least 25 of them have gigantic water bottles and I can only assume that they write answers on those things because no one is this thirsty
November 17, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Suddenly, about 4 years ago, students decided that what they really needed to accompany the student experience was an enormous vat of liquid. Collectively, it was decided that smaller vessels simply would not do. Nobody knows why.
EU taxpayer, here is some of your money
💰New revelation on the Orbán family’s €30m dacha, which Viktor Orbán insists is only his old father’s agricultural site: a witness testimony reveals that his son-in-law’s company BDPST Group (known for developing luxury hotels and mansions) maintains the property.
🦓Does it look like a farm to you?
🦓Does it look like a farm to you?
November 17, 2025 at 5:31 PM
EU taxpayer, here is some of your money
Looks like it’s Black Friday Week Month again
November 17, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Looks like it’s Black Friday Week Month again
Not entirely sure what’s going on here
November 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Not entirely sure what’s going on here
Reposted by Ben Stanley
This does seem to be a relevant question. Reading the Sun and Guardina pieces side by side it is hard to believe they are describing the same policy. That kind of spin might have worked in 1990s but in a social media ecosystem where anger goes viral is is likely to generate own goals
And once again, I ask whether Ministers and No10 realise that the readership of one paper can in fact read the contents of another.
Dark forces are stirring up anger in the UK. My asylum reforms are our chance to stop them | Shabana Mahmood
I know some of these measures will face opposition. But a country without secure borders is less safe for those who look like me, says Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 8:41 AM
This does seem to be a relevant question. Reading the Sun and Guardina pieces side by side it is hard to believe they are describing the same policy. That kind of spin might have worked in 1990s but in a social media ecosystem where anger goes viral is is likely to generate own goals
Reposted by Ben Stanley
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
November 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
Koleje Mazowieckie on the front page of the Guardian. Scenes.
November 17, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Koleje Mazowieckie on the front page of the Guardian. Scenes.
Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.
November 17, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Imagine having a thumping majority in parliament and deciding to use it for something as squalid as this.
Reposted by Ben Stanley
lol every other year since 2019, a prominent male economist has been revealed as the absolute worst person ever. Like clockwork.
November 16, 2025 at 7:53 PM
lol every other year since 2019, a prominent male economist has been revealed as the absolute worst person ever. Like clockwork.