Thanks to everyone who's donated. Those of us lucky enough to have grown up and to live by the sea - and so see how rough and cold it gets in the autumn and winter - realise again and again just how brave these folk must be to go out and do what they do.

Tim Bale@timbale.bsky.social · 16h ago

Easy to donate: rnli.org/support-us/g...

everyone, meet Hugo www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

World's tallest living horse based in Towcester 'still growing'

Hugo the shire horse enters the record books as the world's tallest living horse.

bbc.co.uk

Dreamt I was attending a linguistic ethnography conference and Ben Affleck was the keynote speaker, because it turns out the topic is a big interest for him. Just in case any conference organisers need some ideas.

NEW: London has among the lowest violent crime rates in England & Wales, tops a ranking of best cities, and pays more in tax than it gets back – but the public overestimate crime risk, underestimate its standing, and don't know it's a net fiscal contributor. Our latest Mistaken Britain study ⬇️

London misperceptions: public often wrong on capital's crime, quality of life, contribution to public finances and Muslim population | King's College London

A third believe there are "no-go" areas ruled by Sharia law

kcl.ac.uk

We’re proud to support The Missing Picture, a joint research programme from Older Queer Voices and LGBT Great exploring LGBTQ+ experiences of ageing. If you’re LGBTQ+ and aged 18+, we want to hear from you, especially those aged 50+. 1/2

We are hiring for a 5-year position (teaching and research) in Media and Culture! Please share widely! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSU894/l...

Lecturer in Media and Culture - Grade 7/8 at University of Liverpool

Recruiting now: Lecturer in Media and Culture - Grade 7/8 on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

jobs.ac.uk

Stanford Linguistics is hiring an open-rank sociolinguist (Assistant, Associate, or Full). Materials due October 16 for full consideration; start date September 2027. Please share widely!

Sociolinguistics, Open Rank - Stanford University, California, United States

The Department of Linguistics at Stanford University seeks applicants for a junior or senior appointment at the rank of tenure-track Assistant Professor, tenured Associate Professor, or Full Professor...

facultypositions.stanford.edu

I feel like boycotting Harry Potter stuff is such bare minimum shit that it just fucking exhausts me that it's such a constant subject of discourse. If you give a shit about trans people, don't give JK Rowling your money. There's really no further productive discussion to be had about it.

As a new Harry Potter trailer makes the rounds, it bears repeating that there’s no way to watch this show without supporting J.K. Rowling’s bigotry and the structural violence she’s inflicting on the trans community.

There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series

You can’t without supporting Rowling’s transphobic bigotry.

theverge.com

This is why Scarlet Hollow is such a fantastic game. Your choices really matter and sometimes following your moral intuition is just really, really hard.

@kevinwglass.bsky.social · last wk.

Maybe it's just me but video games should make it harder for the player character to be "good."

again, the knowledge that coverage like this now happens because of some people who call themselves feminists drives me insane - must everyone who happened to have been born a girl be seen through the lens of "but what about breastfeeding"? is that really what we're doing, again?

Elizabeth Taylor@elizabethtaylor47.bsky.social · last wk.

I can’t put into words the fury this reporting fills me with. How more indignity must trans people be spoken be subjected to by our national broadcaster?

Ethnonationalism, to put it politely. (Source: www.kcl.ac.uk/news/public-...)

Like they're talking about livestock

Cwiar Cymru@cwiar.org · last wk.

More appalling behaviour from the BBC. ⬇️ A trans person interviewed about their horrific experience having their surgery cancelled whilst in the hospital described as 'biologically female'. And then half the article devoted to praising the work of an unemployed transphobe. 🗣️ DEFUND THE BBC 🗣️

Sharing on behalf of Paula, one of my oldest friends. Her aunt back in Venezuela requires funds for urgent heart surgery. Any shares or donations are very appreciated. Thank you. www.gofundme.com/f/help-dioce...

Donate to Help Diocelina Receive the Heart Care She Urgently Needs, organized by Darsi Elena Benitez

She is my sister, Diocelina Portillo, who lives in Caracas,… Darsi Elena Benitez needs your support for Help Diocelina Receive the Heart Care She Urgently Needs

gofundme.com

Language like this implicitly frames transness as a harm, as a contagion that can be spread. The UK government is utterly captured by and enthralled to conspiratorial anti-trans and anti-queer ideologues.

QueerAF@wearequeeraf.com · 2w ago

New guidance - set to come into force this month - says teachers must not use materials that “encourage” pupils to question their gender.

I am now officially a Real Academic.

Returning to my inbox to find this really flattering and inspiring message 😍 I've always thought "" was my best publication tbh.

So, what's the etiquette around adding publications "in prep" to a CV? (Obviously in their own section, not with the published stuff!). Does it come across like desperate padding, or can it actually help to indicate you have things in the pipeline?

Just don't get a penguin to do your due diligence. Expert swimmers, atrocious fact-checkers

We’re going to hear about how everyone loved Dolly, and that feels true. But it’s good to remember, and to her credit, that she was attacked for her AIDS activism, her vaccine advocacy, her LGBTQ+ support and even, more recently, for her reading initiatives. She ALWAYS stood firm when it mattered.

Dolly Parton was an unflinching trans ally

@cancelled-by-elon.bsky.social · 2w ago

How the BBC is reporting Dolly Parton's passing.

🕯️

"The study was the first to show that misogyny was not an isolated prejudice, but a robust, cross-cutting predictor of violent extremism. "The number one thing predicting whether or not somebody is going to hold extremist attitudes is whether they think violence against women is acceptable,"

Graham Macklin@grahammacklin.bsky.social · 2w ago

Misogynistic views are biggest red flag for violent extremism, report finds

much as the murder of Brianna Ghey mysteriously stopped being about the climate of transphobia in the UK and became about teen access to social media, the death of Jason Arday is, equally mysteriously, no longer about racism and is becoming about free speech in academia

TransActual is launching the Trans Lives Survey 2026. It's quick, anonymous and will help us campaign for our community! Take the survey here: form.typeform.com/to/BRppksJ3 #TransLives #TransSurvey #Trans

Can you see this? Please interact if you can. We're at zero. Help keep Spark open. You know what it is and you have the ability to click to read more. 143/300 by Sunday. chuffed.org/project/spar...

Bro. People are cool as fuck.

Jason Arday is now the stick the right will use to beat back racial equality. Don’t let that happen | Afua Hirsch

Jason Arday is now the stick the right will use to beat back racial equality. Don’t let that happen | Afua Hirsch

The UK is far from equality in academia or society. You don’t need a Cambridge degree to see that Arday’s story is being used to stop any progress in its tracks, says journalist and academic Afua Hirsch

theguardian.com

Andy Burnham says the bigger questions of oil and gas will come "at the right moment in time." On the eve of another heatwave when thousands of people have died already, when is a better time to rule out drilling for new oil and gas?

Photo of the #eclipse taken by my cousin's husband in Palma, Mallorca.