They took a minor internal issue at a university and used it to bludgeon Black academics, increase the public profile of eugenicist weasels, and prove ‘correct’ their presupposition that diversity is dangerous. Now the man they accused of the public execution-worthy crime of plagiarizing is dead.

The esteemed gloriousness that is matthew sweet and @drfernriddell.bsky.social 's takedown of Naomi Wolf's terrible research on this topic is a great example of this. www.theguardian.com/books/2021/f...

Naomi Wolf accused of confusing child abuse with gay persecution in Outrages

Author’s history of Victorian ‘criminalisation of love’ was heavily criticised on publication in 2019. Now its new, revised edition is also under fire

theguardian.com

I know you know this on bluesky, but I posted it on insta so I thought I should post here too. And if it makes someone second guess using AI for these things then maybe it helps.

Police launch murder investigation into death of Ann Widdecombe www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Police launch murder investigation into death of Ann Widdecombe

Death of 78-year-old former MP and TV personality was announced on Friday by her management

theguardian.com

Did Reform lose because they were too woke? A columnist earning 8 times your salary assumes the answer is yes, and investigates from there.

Absolutely delighted to hear today that I've had a short paper accepted to 'Belonging to the Victorians' (@djrgrey.bsky.social) at Wilton's in September. It's my first proper return to academia in 10 years, + I'll be presenting my discovery (+ recovery) of the John Brown Family Archive. *squeak*

Great News: Excited Clapping & Yay!

ALT: Great News: Excited Clapping & Yay!

static.klipy.com

Happy Pride we love u and we hate feudal lords

Truly a monster programme. This month in 1897 at the Royal Aquarium, London... - French lady-wrestler (with a bear) - a living giantess (nearly 8ft high and only 17 years old) - singing cats - topsy-turvey dancers - feminine quick-change artist - and so forth

But that is exactly how the suffragettes operated. With a nationwide organisation of sleeper cells of arsonists and bombers. I’m gratefully people have reached out and referenced my work today. I remain (I believe) the only academic expert on the terrorism of the suffragettes. Links below:

Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Strong statement from the Court of Appeal re Palestine Action. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It’s frustrating and unsettling to turn on #R4Today to once again find them discussing the irrational talking points of the right and far right as if they were acceptable, desirable and practicable. Can’t we talk about reducing poverty and rebalancing economic inequality instead? Sometimes?

The media & political classes (left + right) tend to guess wrong about the public - who have a *much* stronger common sense consensus on civic "inclusive nativism" than most of the commentariat seem to realise

A reminder of what Nigel Farage said following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.

I have seen AI described as a "technology founded on a lack of consent" and it has been echoing in my head since then

In the last 12 months I’ve seen AI biographies generated about me online that include completely made up quotes and sources. At festivals I’ve been introduced by lovely & well meaning hosts who have used Ai for bio information that is completely false. Ai threatens expertise across the board.

Iris van Rooij 💭@irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 5mo ago

"Fake citations have turned into a nightmare for research librarians, who by some estimates are wasting up to 15 percent of their work hours responding to requests for nonexistent records that ChatGPT or Google Gemini alluded to." open access link: archive.ph/qt59c 2/🧵

Hard to see any point to this other than pure cruelty? What problem is this solving? That you'll come across a trans person in a single occupancy loo?

Jae H@considermycat.bsky.social · 5mo ago

The @hayfestival.bsky.social has intentionally relabelled its (fully-enclosed single unit) gender-neutral toilets as men’s or women’s only. There is one ungendered toilet on the entire site – which doubles as the only accessible toilet, too. On the entire site.

c.org/MLdFSNsGZ9

Sign the Petition

Investigate Judge Nicholas Rowland and Introduce a Judicial Accountability Framework Now

c.org

The details of the Fordingbridge Rape case are so horrific and so shocking, that I cannot understand how the perpetrators have walked out of court with 11 rape convictions between them, yet no prison time.

There are powerful, well-connected, well-funded people in this country, today, who are deliberately, strategically, using the idea of a woman being made "uncomfortable" by the presence of a trans person to plot the removal of that woman's right to abortion, contraception, and divorce.

There's some welcome bits and pieces in that EHRC guidance, particularly on clubs and associations being able to remain trans-inclusive, but in general it's a mess. Imagine having to make a major financial decision on the basis of the endless, hyper-anxious impenetrable drivel in that document.

Just over a decade ago, Tegan and Sara asked a few of their artist friends to each create a poster for one of the songs on their album Heartthrob. I chose Love The Say for mine, as it's one of my favourites.

What the guidance goes even further on is, if you suspect someone is trans, they have no way to disprove it. Even if you have a female passport, you aren't going in the women's gym if someone thinks you're clocky. This is a legal nightmare.

This is insane.

Jordan@jordanpfot.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Trans men can be excluded from both men’s facilities and women’s facilities.

Labour are disgusting. They have pandered to a tiny band of bigots in order to ruin the lives of trans women who pose no threat at all to any of us. This is targeted at trans women who will bear the brunt of it but you’re a fool if you don’t recognise that it harms us all.

Jordan@jordanpfot.bsky.social · 5mo ago

‘Trans women must be barred from female toilets, changing facilities and sports teams, new official guidance is to state’ www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

Fascinating to watch some of those who campaigned *so hard* against unisex toilets under the guise of ‘protecting women’ now celebrating the EHRC guidance which calls for… *squints* …what’s that? Oh yes, unisex toilets. To protect women.

Psa: the only acceptable response to this by organisations, companies and institutions is to remove all single sex spaces. Anything else is complicity with fascist bigotry.

Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️@leftiestats.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 BREAKING | Labour is set to impose a sweeping ban on trans people using any "single-sex space". In EHRC guidance that Labour is set to approve, trans people will be barred from accessing toilets, gyms and changing rooms that match their gender. (Source: @TheTimes)

Actually, SHAPE subjects cross-subsidise STEM subjects in most comprehensive UK universities annually through differential central charge or 'contribution' models. It's another reason we're all in the current HE crisis together, whether our own particular discipline is 'at risk' at present or not.

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 5mo ago

‘I’m just so passionate about the arts and sciences being brought together… And I thought it was quite funny that the arts would sponsor the sciences — because it’s normally the other way around, right?’ Lovely @mikepeeljourno.bsky.social piece on a science inspired artist www.ft.com/content/54c7...

So so confused at the choice for All American Accents in Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey. Feels bizarre to listen to Tom Holland and Robert Pattison in Ancient Greece speaking generic New Ywak (or is it Boston/Chicago??) gangster. youtu.be/jWwvbwm6VUM?...

The Odyssey Trailer #2 (2026)

YouTube video by Rotten Tomatoes Trailers

youtu.be

If you read the judgement, it's an extraordinary "can't anyone here play this game?" tale of basic regulatory mistakes, including not knowing your legal powers, not setting up independent committees, not engaging in good faith dialogue... www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Sussex University overturns £585,000 fine as high court rejects free speech breach claim

Ruling is blow to Office for Students after it issued record fine for allegations over professor’s trans rights views

theguardian.com

The Rendlesham Forest mystery: ‘It’s the perfect storm of a UFO case’ www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

The Rendlesham Forest mystery: ‘It’s the perfect storm of a UFO case’

In 1980, two US airmen reported an extraordinary encounter near a military base in the east of England. What really happened?

theguardian.com