Two(!) permanent lectureships coming up at Cardiff: One in political behaviour/opinion cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/52... One in British politics (very loosely defined) cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/53... Feel free to get in touch and I'll be happy to answer any questions I can

There are a lot of good bits in this interview but my personal fave quote is (something like) “I know my British history, and coalition governments always leave people disappointed”. On this, I’d put a word in for the coalition governments that won WWI and WWII.

Anthony Painter@anthonypainter.bsky.social · 3d ago

And if you want to know what could happen if the relationship with France broke down, just take a look at Ceuta over the past few days. Just not serious people. news.sky.com/video/we-wou...

Well this is a very joyful list which has sucked up some of my time… www.theguardian.com/football/ng-...

On the spot: 50 of the most famous – and infamous – Panenka penalties of all time

The 50th anniversary is the perfect time to remember 50 of the most famous – and infamous – attempts at the Czech’s chip

theguardian.com

Aside from anything else, this suggests Trump has failed to learn Andy Burnham’s name yet.

With the caveat that all the Heads of Department I have had have been brilliant, it is worth remembering that while most academics lack formal management training, they do bring a range of other professional expertise to the role 👇🤣

Alex Dukalskis@alexdukalskis.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’m department chair now. Most of my leadership training comes from reading about dictatorships so I’ve got violence, propaganda, and purging or co-opting elites covered. What else should I know?

Post all the excitement, joy, disappointment and disgrace of the 2016 #worldcup, this article is well worth your time. www.theringer.com/2018/07/13/s...

The Most Important Soccer Game Ever Played

In 1954, Hungary met West Germany in the World Cup final. Led by Ferenc Puskás, the Mighty Magyars were perhaps the greatest team the world had ever seen, while the Germans were in their first tournam...

theringer.com

Larry laid his mouse in front of the press to be photographed. Lest you ask, this is a real photograph via the Press Association.

This seems harsh considering Trump has just won the World Cup.

Poll Tracker 📊@polltracker.bsky.social · 2w ago

Trump job approval (American Research Group) Approve 30% Disapprove 67% americanresearchgroup.com/economy/

"Larry likes his breakfast at 9, brunch at 1030 and lunch at noon with plenty of snacks in between. The rest of the job is a doddle"

Kevin Keegan: he hated fascists

No doubt that Messi’a legacy has been complicated by last night’s final. While 🇦🇷 practiced a kind of ruthless anti-football, the 🇪🇸 team they came up against were the descendants of a footballing ideology that reached its apotheosis in Pep-era Barcelona, which of course was built around Messi.

Irish Independent@independent.ie · 2w ago

Richard Jolly: Argentina’s World Cup final performance was a disgrace to Lionel Messi’s legacy

Fair play to John Healey, who managed to time his 5.5-week break from government to coincide exactly with the World Cup

Interesting choice. I always felt this when Tories were talking up Ben Wallace as a leadership candidate (& he continually declined to run): if you agitate for greater defence spending, then you need to be willing to take on the role of PM / CHX in make the real political choices to make it happen.

He made it

Binge watched the #Sentinels on #bbciplayer, and thought it was great. The steam / diesel-punk aesthetic looked amazing, and there is something very compelling about WWI era sci-fi [1/3] www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

The Sentinels review – this thrilling drama about super soldiers proves TV can be done differently

It’s exciting, propulsive and not based on the same old threadbare franchises … this adaptation of a French comic book series is a steampunky tale of a secret experiment to inject wounded first world ...

theguardian.com

Two people tried to enter a screening of The Odyssey without buying tickets after hiding inside a miniature model of the Trojan Horse. 😂😂😂

I am not as down on the 3rd place match as many people (lots of sports have a play off for 3rd place & if England win, it would officially be their best result since 1966, which is not nothing), but I guess one issue is losing semi-finalists have to remain in the WC media bubble, which seems harsh.

Burnham's victory is a victory for 6Music's Britain. By me, for the New Statesman.

This interpretation all over the media when it seems equally plausible “the whatever” was aimed at the interviewer. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

Jude Bellingham unimpressed after Tuchel criticises ‘lucky’ England’s performance

Jude Bellingham shrugged off criticism of England’s performance from Thomas Tuchel after his two goals against Norway booked a World Cup semi-final

theguardian.com

One contemporary insult I have genuinely never understood is “lanyard classes”. What does it mean? Does it mean white collar? (presumably all of whom now wear a lanyard?). Does it mean people in authority granted by the state? Does it mean people in professional politics? I genuinely have no idea.

Robert Hutton@roberthutton.co.uk · 4w ago

"Actually the people who are laughing about all this are the joyless ones, because of their lanyards. Work with me here..."

“And can I just check: did you pack your own baggage sir?”

Savchenko Volodymyr@savchenkoua.bsky.social · 4w ago

🇧🇪🇹🇷🔫 Belgian PM Bart De Wever unknowingly brought home a loaded, personalized revolver gifted by Turkish President Erdogan at the NATO summit, - 7sur7 The gift wasn't opened until the delegation landed in Belgium. Weapon was immediately handed over to airport police, and its fate is still undecided.

"Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry press to the steps of Downing Street." bulk-distributor.com/2026/07/form...

Former BD journalist set to become UK PM - Bulk Distributor

Former Bulk Distributor assistant editor Andy Burnham is set to become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, marking an extraordinary journey from the pages of the tank container industry pre...

bulk-distributor.com

So it looks like we are heading for a Binface summer.

Depending on how you count it, film and TV production (so not including theatre, music, etc, which are also very successful) is worth about 4 times the value of steel to UK GDP.

Abigail Thorn@theabigailthorn.bsky.social · 4w ago

British drama school training is the envy of the world and, as more film + TV jobs are moving to the UK, our drama schools are the backbone of a global industry. These cuts are artistic vandalism and economic stupidity.

We're all going to be watching the James Graham play about Binface vs. Farage in five years time.

The astonishing thing about this is it was a *really* predictable sequence of events (there is even recent historical precident with David Davis), and it underlines just how poor at political strategy that Farage and his team are they didn’t see it coming.

Farrukh@implausibleblog.bsky.social · 4w ago

Sky News, "Nigel Farage perhaps was not expecting at 10pm to find that Count Binface was his only rival" "The motive seems to be the Standards Commissioners Inquiry"

The prospect of Nigel Farage fighting a people vs the establishment by-election in which the only other candidate is Count Binface - is too hilarious for words.

All three major parties not fielding a candidate in a by-election but sureptiously providing campaign expertise to @countbinface.bsky.social is the event I did not have on my summer 2026 bingo card.

Count Binface@countbinface.bsky.social · 4w ago

Game on, Nige.

There is precedent: no one serious ran against David Davis in 2008. Also, some guy called Andy Burnham said Davis should pay the costs of the vote.