Jack Head
@jackhead95.bsky.social
Social research - wider / social determinants of health, health inequalities, and housing
Sad to hear that John Carey has died - I first read The Intellectual and the Masses when I was a grossly precocious sixth form student…remember finding it so interesting and provocative then, and have done on subsequent readings!
An incredible critical voice
An incredible critical voice
December 15, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Sad to hear that John Carey has died - I first read The Intellectual and the Masses when I was a grossly precocious sixth form student…remember finding it so interesting and provocative then, and have done on subsequent readings!
An incredible critical voice
An incredible critical voice
Reposted by Jack Head
It's wild. We have so many real problems as a country, and instead a large chunk of our political class would rather hallucinate that one of the safest big global cities in the world is actually dangerous.
The "London = most dangerous place on the planet" discourse is still going strong on Twitter
I've actually been surprised by how little I've felt threatened as a woman in London (having lived in Tooting and Peckham)
I loved growing up in Nottingham, but I had much, much worse experiences there tbh
I've actually been surprised by how little I've felt threatened as a woman in London (having lived in Tooting and Peckham)
I loved growing up in Nottingham, but I had much, much worse experiences there tbh
December 11, 2025 at 6:59 PM
It's wild. We have so many real problems as a country, and instead a large chunk of our political class would rather hallucinate that one of the safest big global cities in the world is actually dangerous.
Reposted by Jack Head
This destruction at Essex isn’t going to result in an improved learning or working environment. It will ossify research, it will diminish student learning environments, it will be catastrophic for working conditions.
Hard to see what the outcome will be aside from something not like a university.
Hard to see what the outcome will be aside from something not like a university.
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 8:27 PM
This destruction at Essex isn’t going to result in an improved learning or working environment. It will ossify research, it will diminish student learning environments, it will be catastrophic for working conditions.
Hard to see what the outcome will be aside from something not like a university.
Hard to see what the outcome will be aside from something not like a university.
Reposted by Jack Head
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Reposted by Jack Head
Mary's dismissal by Harvard should be a scandal across US public health and medicine. This is obvious suppression of principled free speech, a betrayal of the universalism that's supposed to underwrite public health, and a sign of capitulation to fascist pressure. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social
Dr. Mary Bassett has been fired from her role as Director of Harvard's Center for Health and Human Rights for the sin of actually advocating for human rights. Harvard leadership apparently finds it intolerable that Palestinians might be considered human too.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Harvard Dismisses Director of FXB Center for Health and Human Rights | News | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard forced out the director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights — another shakeup at a center whose programming on the Israel-Palestine conflict has been a flashpoint...
www.thecrimson.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Mary's dismissal by Harvard should be a scandal across US public health and medicine. This is obvious suppression of principled free speech, a betrayal of the universalism that's supposed to underwrite public health, and a sign of capitulation to fascist pressure. @defendpublichealth.bsky.social
Reposted by Jack Head
Our first Special Issue is out now! It's on Reproductive Vulnerabilities: A Critical Perspective - Guest editors: Laura Sochas, Kaveri Qureshi, and Philip Kreager
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
Vol. 2 No. 3 (2025)
| Journal of Critical Public Health
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca
November 27, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Our first Special Issue is out now! It's on Reproductive Vulnerabilities: A Critical Perspective - Guest editors: Laura Sochas, Kaveri Qureshi, and Philip Kreager
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
Reposted by Jack Head
💼 Bas Vegas is also now consulting on something very important, your thoughts matter: basildonlocalplan25.commonplace.is
December 3, 2025 at 8:48 PM
💼 Bas Vegas is also now consulting on something very important, your thoughts matter: basildonlocalplan25.commonplace.is
Reposted by Jack Head
Bas Vegas in print!! Pleased to see this feature in the latest @c20society.bsky.social mag 💥📖
December 3, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Bas Vegas in print!! Pleased to see this feature in the latest @c20society.bsky.social mag 💥📖
Reposted by Jack Head
Grim news and vacuous messaging from Essex: 200 academic posts (in unspecified subjects) to go this year & 200 professional staff posts in the next 2 years. Closure of Southend campus will be a blow regionally as well. The vision and ambition that saw Essex et al established is sorely needed now.
Essex to close Southend campus and cut 400 jobs
University says it has been forced into making ‘decisions we could have never previously imagined’ after steep drop in international student numbers
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Grim news and vacuous messaging from Essex: 200 academic posts (in unspecified subjects) to go this year & 200 professional staff posts in the next 2 years. Closure of Southend campus will be a blow regionally as well. The vision and ambition that saw Essex et al established is sorely needed now.
Reposted by Jack Head
Every dollar JK Rowling makes from Harry Potter is going into bankrolling an extortion racket issuing legal threats to organizations across the UK to purge themselves of trans people or face ruinous lawfare.
i hope every single person who still buys harry potter merch or engages with that franchise is happy that they're literally making girl guides cry
girl guides uk have been forced very much against their will to exclude trans girls. full statement is here: www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-...
girl guides uk have been forced very much against their will to exclude trans girls. full statement is here: www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-...
December 2, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Every dollar JK Rowling makes from Harry Potter is going into bankrolling an extortion racket issuing legal threats to organizations across the UK to purge themselves of trans people or face ruinous lawfare.
Reposted by Jack Head
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
Reposted by Jack Head
Once again, we are way too relaxed about the fact that "shooting Irish people is good actually" is a mainstream political position on the neighbouring island.
November 20, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Once again, we are way too relaxed about the fact that "shooting Irish people is good actually" is a mainstream political position on the neighbouring island.
Really really don’t want to have to end up writing an autoethnography of damp and mould…
November 20, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Really really don’t want to have to end up writing an autoethnography of damp and mould…
Reposted by Jack Head
The New School is now a place where students cannot major in History, Anthropology, Sociology, Global Policy & International Affairs, Global Studies, Urban Studies, or Environmental Studies. And more pauses, closures, and mergers coming down the pike this week. The future is uncertain.
November 19, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The New School is now a place where students cannot major in History, Anthropology, Sociology, Global Policy & International Affairs, Global Studies, Urban Studies, or Environmental Studies. And more pauses, closures, and mergers coming down the pike this week. The future is uncertain.
Reposted by Jack Head
This is, of course, a stark betrayal of the New School’s storied history and animating spirit. It demonstrates something many of us know intellectually but have trouble grasping: many university leaders *do not care* about, even *actively despise*, the basic values that bring us to work every day.
The New School is now a place where students cannot major in History, Anthropology, Sociology, Global Policy & International Affairs, Global Studies, Urban Studies, or Environmental Studies. And more pauses, closures, and mergers coming down the pike this week. The future is uncertain.
November 19, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This is, of course, a stark betrayal of the New School’s storied history and animating spirit. It demonstrates something many of us know intellectually but have trouble grasping: many university leaders *do not care* about, even *actively despise*, the basic values that bring us to work every day.
Reposted by Jack Head
From hospital records to family papers, collections give unique insights into health across time and place.
But they don’t just have historical value. Collections have incredible potential for discovery research – and we need to unlock it.
Learn more in our report: wellcome.org/insights/rep...
But they don’t just have historical value. Collections have incredible potential for discovery research – and we need to unlock it.
Learn more in our report: wellcome.org/insights/rep...
Archives, manuscripts and material culture in health and wellbeing research | Reports | Wellcome
Archives, manuscripts and material culture collections hold profound potential for advancing knowledge about life, health and wellbeing. This report examines how these collections are currently used i...
wellcome.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
From hospital records to family papers, collections give unique insights into health across time and place.
But they don’t just have historical value. Collections have incredible potential for discovery research – and we need to unlock it.
Learn more in our report: wellcome.org/insights/rep...
But they don’t just have historical value. Collections have incredible potential for discovery research – and we need to unlock it.
Learn more in our report: wellcome.org/insights/rep...
Reposted by Jack Head
Journalists, why not reach out to some of the fine people in my replies to ask them how the British Library cyberattack of 2023 has had an impact on their research, their creative work, and their careers? This could make for a powerful piece revealing the human side to the damage this has done.
I have been WAITING for a journalist to write this story.
I specialize in manuscripts produced in England between 1300 and 1500. If this had occurred in the midst of writing my dissertation or first book, it would have exploded my career.
I specialize in manuscripts produced in England between 1300 and 1500. If this had occurred in the midst of writing my dissertation or first book, it would have exploded my career.
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
November 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Journalists, why not reach out to some of the fine people in my replies to ask them how the British Library cyberattack of 2023 has had an impact on their research, their creative work, and their careers? This could make for a powerful piece revealing the human side to the damage this has done.
Reposted by Jack Head
This explains why British Library staff are on strike
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This explains why British Library staff are on strike
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
The union says - managers take home up to £170k with £15k bonuses, while staff offered below-inflation pay rise
Meanwhile, frontline staff take abuse for the massive data breach - which managers failed to foresee
@pcsunion.bsky.social
Reposted by Jack Head
Poll finds the public remain unaware of the health impact of air pollution - AirQualityNews.
Piece by Paul Day on research by Royal College of Physicans
airqualitynews.com/headlines/po...
Piece by Paul Day on research by Royal College of Physicans
airqualitynews.com/headlines/po...
Poll finds the public remain unaware of the health impact of air pollution
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has written to the secretary of state for health and social care calling for a nationwide public health campaign on air pollution after a survey revealed widespre...
airqualitynews.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Poll finds the public remain unaware of the health impact of air pollution - AirQualityNews.
Piece by Paul Day on research by Royal College of Physicans
airqualitynews.com/headlines/po...
Piece by Paul Day on research by Royal College of Physicans
airqualitynews.com/headlines/po...
Reposted by Jack Head
Has a government with a large majority ever *tried* less to impose itself and change the terms of debate?
November 15, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Has a government with a large majority ever *tried* less to impose itself and change the terms of debate?
Important announcement - though I think May is a little later than many were expecting?
On 1 May 2026, we will abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions when we switch on the new private rented sector tenancy system.
More details in our roadmap for implementing the Renters’ Rights Act published today 👇🏻
www.gov.uk/government/p...
More details in our roadmap for implementing the Renters’ Rights Act published today 👇🏻
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Implementing the Renters' Rights Act 2025: Our roadmap for reforming the Private Rented Sector
www.gov.uk
November 14, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Important announcement - though I think May is a little later than many were expecting?
Reposted by Jack Head
New study: Alcohol industry-funded charities still misleading the public:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Previous research identified alcohol industry misinformation about pregnancy and infant health. Dr Gemma Mitchell's new study finds that misinformation continues in Aus, Can, Ire, SA, UK & US.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Previous research identified alcohol industry misinformation about pregnancy and infant health. Dr Gemma Mitchell's new study finds that misinformation continues in Aus, Can, Ire, SA, UK & US.
Do alcohol industry-funded organisations act to correct misinformation? A qualitative study of pregnancy and infant health content following independent analysis - Globalization and Health
Background Access to reliable, accurate, and up-to-date health information is a crucial component of global population health. Like other health-harming industries, the alcohol industry is known to pr...
link.springer.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:00 AM
New study: Alcohol industry-funded charities still misleading the public:
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Previous research identified alcohol industry misinformation about pregnancy and infant health. Dr Gemma Mitchell's new study finds that misinformation continues in Aus, Can, Ire, SA, UK & US.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Previous research identified alcohol industry misinformation about pregnancy and infant health. Dr Gemma Mitchell's new study finds that misinformation continues in Aus, Can, Ire, SA, UK & US.
Reposted by Jack Head
Worth noting here as well that- unlike in the Commons, where the Speaker selects which amendments are debated- in the Lords, any peer can insist on having their amendment debated and voted on (although there aren't *usually* lots of amendments pushed to a vote)
NEW: 942 amendments have been laid down in the House of Lords ahead of the Assisted Dying Bill's committee stage in the chamber, which starts tomorrow.
This is believed to be a record for a bill at committee stage. It's going to be an intense debate.
This is believed to be a record for a bill at committee stage. It's going to be an intense debate.
November 13, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Worth noting here as well that- unlike in the Commons, where the Speaker selects which amendments are debated- in the Lords, any peer can insist on having their amendment debated and voted on (although there aren't *usually* lots of amendments pushed to a vote)
Reposted by Jack Head
spending the first year in power appeasing the racists in an attempt to win over reform voters who will never vote for him then going "somehow, racism has returned" the second he finally sees people are abandoning him for the greens
Racism returning to UK politics – and people are very scared, says Starmer
Racism returning to UK politics – and people are very scared, says Starmer
PM attacks ‘toxic division of Reform’ and gives strongest signal yet that two-child benefit cap will be lifted
*
UK politics live – latest updates
Decades-old racism is returning to British politics, and “it makes people feel very scared” Keir Starmer has said, warning that divisive hard-right politics was “tearing our country apart”.
Speaking to GP and TV personality Amir Khan, the prime minister accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of overseeing a return of the racist and divisive politics “that frankly I thought we had dealt with decades ago”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:36 PM
spending the first year in power appeasing the racists in an attempt to win over reform voters who will never vote for him then going "somehow, racism has returned" the second he finally sees people are abandoning him for the greens
Reposted by Jack Head
Also, watch the video. It looks like they sent the prelude to the shootout in Heat, but all for a day laborer near a Home Depot
"When I picked up my granddaughter from the federal agents, she had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried… My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids, or even me, despite being U.S. citizens.”
November 8, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Also, watch the video. It looks like they sent the prelude to the shootout in Heat, but all for a day laborer near a Home Depot