Tory Dunn
@stradella.bsky.social
Designing public services, former typography nerd, amateur, accordion player, SE Londoner - trying to help change things. Opinions are my own.
🧵On @thenewsagents.co.uk yesterday, school closures and the lab leak theory were offered as two examples of legitimate questions that were hard to ask. Both have in fact been asked constantly since 2020. But here's a thread on why I think they were wrong and dangerous on school closures 1/12
"Helping working people to afford lives of joy” This is absolutely why Mamdani is succeeding in New York and is so beloved.
One of the things I find odd about UK skills and jobs policies over the last 10 years is the idea that - for young people - place is destiny. It's like we've taken the Brexit memo and double stamped it into meaning you need to stay put to be a success. The geographical footprint of the UK is *tiny*
When considering social care reform, there is much to learn from how social care systems are organised around the world. @camille-oung.bsky.social explains how a comparison between England and New Zealand offers food for thought 👇
🌱 starting to bring the cured garlic in. They’re going to stay in the shoe box until called to do service in the kitchen. I have a theory re: why soft neck keeps better… is it because the layers in the soft neck dry out better and faster? if anyone knows please tell me. 😅
Mamdani's speech at the Knicks parade was easily the best I've ever heard at an event of that sort. I posted the whole thing on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Highly recommended.
Mamdani Remembers Some Knicks Guys during phenomenal parade speech
YouTube video by Aaron Rupar
youtube.com
Why do older people support the far-right? www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2026/06...
Why do older people support the far-right?
Why is it that by far the largest group in the population that supports Reform and other far-right parties is those over the age of 55? It would be easy, and trite, to say that this is because these ...
taxresearch.org.uk
They don't want you to know the REAL reason Social Security is in trouble But I'm going to tell you anyway. 👇 https://robertreich.substack.com/p/they-dont-want-you-to-know-the-real
They don't want you to know the REAL reason Social Security is in trouble
But I'm going to tell you anyway
robertreich.substack.com
Ok, this is a big one: Announcing the Marshall Plan for Civic Life. A landmark programme of research and deliberation to develop a funding settlement for civic renewal. More from @pollycurtis.bsky.social and me about the work: medium.com/@jamestplunk... Website: www.marshallplan.org.uk (1/n)
A Marshall Plan for Civic Life
There is a growing movement for civic renewal, with broad political support. But one question remains unanswered: how do we fund this work…
medium.com
🌱 Olfactory contrast: going from outside the kitchen where the philadelphus is in bloom, to inside where newly mixed kimchi is getting to work. Two very different kinds of wonderful 😀
Such an exciting week for announcements about breakthroughs in the detection and treatment of bladder cancer 🙌 www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
NHS hospitals adopt faster, more accurate at-home bladder cancer test
Five hospitals in England and Wales have switched to urine test, rather than invasive hospital procedure
theguardian.com
Great samba drum workshop by Taru Arts at #PlumsteadMakeMerry . They’re running it again at 3:15, join in, definitely a lot of fun! #SE18
The UK Supreme Court has now decided to strip disabled people of their human rights too "This judgement sets us back decades and removes safeguards that history shows us are vital for disabled people." Horrific www.mind.org.uk/news-campaig...
‘The biggest rollback of disability rights in a generation’ – Charities respond to Supreme Court ruling
mind.org.uk
A lovely piece about the jazz heroes assembled in that photo, led by the memories of Sonny Rollins. 58 Jazz Luminaries Assembled for This Photo. Only One Remains. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
58 Jazz Luminaries Assembled for This Photo. Only One Remains. (Published 2024)
Art Kane’s “Harlem 1958” gathered giants of the music. Sonny Rollins, 94, looks back at the historic picture.
nytimes.com
It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins. The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY at the age of 95. 1/2
UK public sector people! It's a fantastic line up for next week's government events for Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Also I'm doing a piece on WCAG 3. If you have a UK public sector email address then sign up here: accessibility.blog.gov.uk/2026/05/11/g... #gaad #accessibility
Get involved with Digital Accessibility Week 2026
Digital Accessibility Week 2026 is a cross-government online event taking place from Monday 18 ending on Thursday 21 May which is Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD).
accessibility.blog.gov.uk
"RFK is unwilling to admit that he made a miscalculation or simply misunderstood percentages. Seemingly, this regime would prefer to try to rewrite the fundamental rules of mathematics rather than climb down over a simple mistake." My latest substack. open.substack.com/pu...
Fifteen minutes before the President announced he was pausing strikes on Iran, somebody moved $500 million in oil futures. Somebody knew. Somebody told them. Or somebody is them. New piece ↓ open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
This Isn't Trading. It's Theft from Your Retirement.
Someone keeps making perfectly-timed bets right before the President speaks. The victims are your pension, your 401(k), and the country I took an oath to defend.
open.substack.com
‘What actually got people through emergencies - in the blitz, in floods, in foot and mouth, in 7/7 - was not the official machinery. It was the fabric of community that existed underneath it, and often despite it.’ Great from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/what-to-do...
What to do when the sunlight hardens
Crisis makes the strongest case for a different kind of state.
howtorunacountry.substack.com
You could say that Rock n Roll was born 111 years ago today in Arkansas, but probably not where you'd think. Before there was a Chuck Berry or Little Richard, there was those who wanted to be like her. Rosetta Nubin better known as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of Rock was born on this day
And why is it assumed that consumers are the ones who should bear the brunt of any cost pressures?
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 5mo agoUK energy prices are soaring – and propagandists want to sell you a false reason why | George Monbiot
Meanwhile, in Vermont… People are getting gassed for protesting ICE. Yep, that’s still going on. America sure is great, isn’t it? #Vermont #ICE #SouthBurlington
This new QJE paper concludes that the macroeconomic costs of climate change are far greater than earlier estimates suggested. It finds that a 1°C rise in global temperatures reduces world GDP by over 20%.
This is wonderful. Congratulations to everyone who’s been working on creating them! www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
‘A safe space to come and just be’: the radical, utopian return of Britain’s youth clubs
After a decade of austerity closed more than 1,000 centres, the government has promised £500m to renew youth services. We tour a glossy new venue in Preston – and a girls-only one in London
theguardian.com
This is going to be a great event - please share this and the following post!
Policy Camp@policycamp.bsky.social · 6mo agoHello! Following on from highly successful events like @ukgovcamp.com a group of us are now in the early stages of developing a similar event for civil servants involved in policy development.