I enjoyed doing this interview about my book: kevincoldiron.substack.com/p/the-measur...
Think #sophiefromromania may be scenting the coming of autumn, or perhaps has sighted a cat, or perhaps she’s super happy to have Rory back home.
No matter what @MarshaBlackburn keeps saying, it’s not criminals they’re targeting. www.cnn.com/2025/08/30/u...
“Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time.” So opens “A Talk to Teachers,” which James Baldwin delivered to a group of educators in October, 1963.
Operation Dessert Storm.
CHICAGO…
COMMENT | If mansplaining is just how men talk, maybe they need to be taught the art of conversation
BTW - thanks for framing the comment as likely ‘tongue in cheek’. It does have a hint of ‘heretical’ ideas to it. Perhaps @vcorenmitchell.bsky.social might offer cheeky David some pointers in reading the room to land the joke?
There is a rather delicious irony in Mitchell positing that men have different communication styles and goals. The theory of ‘genderlects’ (or codes) was advanced in the 90’s by Deborah Tannen. . . a woman & Professor of Communication and Language . www.deborahtannen.com Who could see that coming🤔.
I wonder if that programme is open to non-males #feminism #mansplaining #adelaide #australia #universityofadelaide #adelaideuniversity
Hope there’s some lovely Rory made sourdough on hand to go with that soup.
HEC takes the decisions on actions and how UCU responds to the crisis in UK HE funding. Who’s in the room where it happens matters. #UCU_HE use your vote to have your say about who will speak for you. @ucu.org.uk
Another grim morning up north. Just grim. So very, very #grim.
If you want to show your neighbours that you stand for community, kindness, and unity, there's another way. Yesterday, over 4000 people joined us in downloading and displaying our Hold on to Hope poster to place in their windows.
There is nothing wrong, or racist, about flying the flag of your country, but the organisers behind Operation Raise the Colours are hardened and extreme far-right activists. @therestpolitics.bsky.social
Across the UK, flags have appeared on streets and roundabouts. For many, it's a sign of pride, but it's also being used by some to stir division. bsky.app/profile/hope...
This👇 (not what you might think) www.facebook.com/reel/2453162...
I’m looking forward to another round of Two Words challenges! I’ll be taking on as many players as I can, so do join me, whether you’re an old hand or new to the game. Details for joining to follow on the day. twowords2.page.link/play
"Bluntly, if the government cannot make the point that it is a bad idea to give money to the Taliban, it is far from clear to me when a better opportunity to attack Farage is going to present itself."- on.ft.com/3HKB1zO via @stephenkb.bsky.social
Deal-making law firms generally weren’t trying to avoid executive orders—they were trying to signal a willingness to do work that accelerates crony capitalism and authoritarianism. Just look at the kinds of deals they’re getting for clients now (fully explained on Substack): cohen489.substack.com
"Honey, I don't have much time. I've been arrested by ICE and they are sending me to a detainment center. I love you and the kids, I will be OK, please call our attorney" -- John Shin, DACA resident, speaking to his wife last week. She hasn't heard from him since www.fox13now.com/news/local-n...
Cost of Trump's D.C. Occupation: $1.1M per day. Cost to operate public housing for D.C.'s entire homeless population: $169,226 per day. It's not about what this country can or can’t afford. It’s about priorities.
Yet again, this Michael Rosen poem hits the bullseye.
Lovely to see this progress❤️. I’m guessing Ella & Finn are play-tested and playdates are supported by a trainer/behaviourist, and of course @sociabledog.bsky.social? Our Rommie lass is also reactive. We can’t always predict which dogs she’ll take against. We persist with counter conditioning but 🤷♀️
“Papers, please”
The US Administration is now deleting its internal communications, in brazen violation of the Federal Records Act, in order to conceal its other illegal acts. Those entrusted to enforce our Congress’s laws sit, simply watching this happen, flaccid and impotent.
63% of people think net migration rose in the last 12 months 8% of people think it fell Yet it fell by 400,000 in 2024 vs 2023 [It is falling further in 2025] Public service broadcasters are doing a core part of their job on this topic badly if that 8% is not closer to 30% at least
The Green Party will always be clear. Refugees are welcome here.
Wide ranging piece from @theboysmithy.ft.com who used to work at the ONS on how to restore our statistical system. He makes the point we need to think of data as a form of infrastructure on.ft.com/45MlLdJ
Loving the brilliant tee-shirt!
Here’s the perfect job to cut your teeth in public policy
This is the best product listing copy I’ve ever read
I'm a legal refugee in Britain. So why am I always being treated like a criminal? | Ayman Alhussein
🐈⬛ 👀 Ever-vigilant #sophiefromromania
Despite the focus on hotels, most asylum seekers are accommodated in housing - often HMOs. But the pushback against HMOs is growing, esp in the north. A series of councils has moved in the last 6 months to tighten restrictions, while Reform bang the drum locally and nationally on.ft.com/41J5aGk l
US artist Elizabeth Catlett's 1946 print honours Phyllis Wheatley (1753-1784), who was sold into slavery at the age of seven and later became the first published African-American female poet #womensart
Contemporary UK artist Natasha Newton's painted stones are inspired by landscape and nature #womensart
As he unleashes troops to combat "crime," Trump is simultaneously gutting the cops on the beat that stop corporations from harming us — the EPA, IRS, SEC, Labor Department, FTC, CFPB, Consumer Product Safety Commission, FDA, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hello?
This helped me today. Small Kindnesses, by Danusha Laméris
Mask with antlers, Spiro Mounds, Oklahoma, Mississippian culture, 1200-1350 CE, wood, 29.2 cm, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
I suppose this is the point when I should say again that: the amount of money the videogames industry brings into the UK economy every year is *more than double* the value of the fishing and steel industries *combined* what this country is really good at is producing culture
This is a beautiful garment. Let me show you what makes it special. 🧵
The Enchanted Owl, 1960, Stonecut on paper by Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak. Printmaking has been a valuable form of expression for many artists within Indigenous communities #ReframingWomenPrintmakers
An existential problem with automation is that it makes it far cheaper to produce new things than to fix them when they break. Which eliminates "good" jobs and substantially increases both resource consumption and waste. Take, for example, our lawnmower blade, which got badly bent on a rock... 1/
[writing the constitution] Benjamin Franklin: Write down "no dumb fucks as president" Alexander Hamilton: Stop saying that Benjamin Franklin: I'm tellin' you. You're gonna regret not writing that down
South America is BIG by @amazingmap
Glad to see journalists asked Putin when he would return 19,000 Ukrainian children he kidnapped and brought to Russia. Oh wait, that didn’t happen...😠
Remember: There is nothing natural or inevitable about extreme inequality; it’s the result of an economic system that values wealth and power over human dignity and justice. It doesn't have to be this way.
After an afternoon of Trump protests. I found myself back in DuPont Circle where the Flower Duet was being beautifully performed amidst the heat and the anger. Washington DC, thank you I needed that more than you'll know.
open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/... Fascinating article by @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social on what that nothing burger summit was all about
Trump brought a “American Bald Eagle Desk Statue” to give to Putin as a present www.npr.org/2025/08/16/n...
'Bristol Night II' by contemporary UK painter Cath Read #womensart
Worth reposting just to share the quality replies 💀
This is right step forward. Since the disastrous Citizens United decision 15 years ago, megadonors have seized unchecked power in Washington, corporations have rigged the rules in their favor, and public trust has plunged to historic lows.
Someday the beach #sophiefromromania, someday🤞.
Last year, a majority of voters in Missouri passed a ballot initiative enacting paid sick leave. This year, Missouri's Republican governor signed legislation repealing it. Do Republicans ever listen to the will of their voters?
You can't teach U.S. history without "divisive" narratives. Slavery wasn't "unifying." The Japanese incarceration wasn't "unifying." The anti-immigrant Operation Wetback (real name) wasn't "unifying." It's history's job to tell the truth, not cover up past racism to pave the way for future racism.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...
Robin Williams: 21 July 1951 - 11 August 2014.
The military takeover of Washington is not a “distraction” from Epstein. It’s a military takeover of Washington, which is an even bigger deal, and those of us who kill brain cells reporting on this stuff knows it’s been an explicit goal since before the election.
Bowser: "I think I speak for all Americans -- we don't believe it's legal to use the American military against American citizens on American soil."
'Californian Morning' (mid 20thc) by US artist and printmaker Emmy Lou Packard (1914-1998) #WomensArt
Letter of the day (in the Times)
Well done brave #sophiefromromania❤️. Well done patient and persevering team Sophie🙌!
I saw this after yesterday's show and it seemed very apt in relation to the first hour's topic...
"I want you to ask yourself, who is getting rich?" Fired FTC commissioner @bedoyausa.bsky.social tells @mehdirhasan.bsky.social that Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration only helps billionaires. Watch the full discussion here: zeteo.com/p/stop-liste...
If anyone is curious about the current list of search terms being used by right wing activist organizations to harass university professors, here's a public records request I received today from Mike Howell of the Heritage Foundation. Not intimidating or meant to curtail by my speech at all, right?
This is an unprecedented time in our nation's history. Conspiracies, lies, and gaslighting are running amok. We need more scientists in Congress. I was born and raised here, and I am running to represent all Virginians from Chesterfield County to the Chesapeake Bay.
www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...
In 2025, institutions with money and power are complicit little cowards while everyday people are unimaginably brave Columbia bends the knee. A random LA principal blocks ICE from coming into his school Paramount cancels shows. A Bronx baseball coach tells ICE agents to fuck themselves
It ain't going away, no it ain't going away....
The economy feels stuck because it is. @annpettifor.bsky.social explains how wealth hoarding kills growth & why taxing the rich gets money flowing again. Each dollar does 70% less work today than it did 10 years ago. Why? Because it’s trapped at the top. A Back-to-Basics essential: buff.ly/tYrIaq7
Ella Barron in the Guardian today.
Still very topical this episode of @pitchforkeconomics.bsky.social with @annpettifor.bsky.social on the rent-seeking of capital in our age, inequality, and international trade @nickhanauer.bsky.social @goldyha.bsky.social youtu.be/K_S4qEDTAZ4?...
I prosecute and defend the most serious sexual offences in our courts. The overwhelming majority of offenders are British-born. Overwhelmingly the victim is someone known to them, either a partner or relative. Anybody purporting to care about protecting women might start there.
Here’s hoping lovely #sophiefromromania might discover the delights of the beach this holiday.
I don’t think there is a day that goes by that I am not reminded of an old teacher’s admonition: “If the only history that interests you is the history that makes you feel good about yourself, you are not interested in history; you’re interested in propaganda.”
Coming soon to a uni SMT near you🤫
‘A connected ecosystem of staff, students, and alumni . . .’ 🙄 And that was probably the second or third draft 👀.
Well #sophiefromromania, the fabulous Ms Pumpkinflower and I find it nice to befriend our local crows 🐦⬛.
A very thorough inspection there from #sophiefromromania.
A rallying cry to think about regional inequality and productivity from @chionwurah.bsky.social - interesting how little we hear about ‘levelling up’ these days on.ft.com/44ZZJFf
Fox atop building rubble - another comfy spot ? ! Thank you to @shaws-light.bsky.social for this #FoxOfTheDay - top work !
‘What forced me to leave was not economic hardship, but persecution and fear for my safety and the safety of my family. We refugees are not here to take advantage of the system. We are here to rebuild our lives, to work, and to contribute.’ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
True
Page One in Scotland.
@nclpolitics.bsky.social👇
Want to make a difference for the people of #NewcastleCentralWest? Passionate about the power of science and technology to improve life in the UK? I'm hiring a #LivingWage Parliamentary Intern based in my Westminster office. Deadline is 1 August 👇🏾 www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.a...
‘during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cunha recalled, [..] the country heaped praise on farmworkers. “Everybody said they were the most essential front-line workers. Every worker put their life on the line to feed the world, and today we can’t give them a little piece of paper to be here legally?”
‘Stakhanovite’👀. It’s far too early in the week for that sort of language good sir.
If I were an asset manager, I’d unload Paramount stock faster than you can say “big fat bribe.” $PARA fortune.com/2025/07/16/s... 'A big fat bribe': Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart's fury at parent Paramount’s $16 million Trump settlement | Fortune
This is incredible
The day the Access Hollywood tape was released.
This week on Wonkhe: Anna Bull examines how evidence of trans and non-binary people's heightened vulnerability to sexual violence is absent from new EHRC guidance on single-sex spaces wonkhe.com/blogs/safety...