Ben Worthy
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benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy
@benworthy.bsky.social
820 followers 1K following 94 posts
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benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy @benworthy.bsky.social · Sep 23
My piece on Trump's Fascism for Political Insight 'Authoritarianism, mass arrests, political violence – Donald Trump’s regime fits the historical pattern of fascism' journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
The Fascism of Donald Trump - Ben Worthy, 2025
journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Ben Worthy

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 12h
Miroslav Holub
1923 - 1998

A Boy's Head (1963)

In it there is a space-ship
and a project
for doing away with piano lessons
achillesthe2nd.bsky.social Achilles Micawber @achillesthe2nd.bsky.social · 1d
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?

Reposted by Ben Worthy

simonhix.bsky.social
Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 12h
This is amazing, and explains a lot about US politics. Thanks for writing this up @adambonica.bsky.social
adambonica.bsky.social Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 14h
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Money Doesn't Buy Elections. It Does Something Worse.
Campaign ads barely move the needle. The real influence is hiding in plain sight.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Simon Hix, Linda J. Skitka, Carl Henrik Knutsen , and 8 more

adambonica.bsky.social
Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 14h
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Money Doesn't Buy Elections. It Does Something Worse.
Campaign ads barely move the needle. The real influence is hiding in plain sight.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Ben Worthy

clairemiller.bsky.social
Claire Miller @clairemiller.bsky.social · 1d
An #FOI win can make future requests much easier.

The ICO ruled the value of council-bought shopping centres should be revealed. A request for updated figures was answered much quicker:
Freedom of Information in the news – week ending 5/12/2025 – #FOIFriday - Words + Numbers
Keeping on top of Freedom of Information requests is hard. I mean for public bodies across the country, rather than just me trying to see what's overdue in my spreadsheet. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has taken some more enforcement action in the past couple of months, on top of the notices already issued. Much
clairemiller.net

Reposted by Joanna Bryson, Gordon Pennycook, Adam J. Berinsky , and 5 more

dgrand.bsky.social
David Rand @dgrand.bsky.social · 2d
🚨 New in Nature+Science!🚨
AI chatbots can shift voter attitudes on candidates & policies, often by 10+pp
🔹Exps in US Canada Poland & UK
🔹More “facts”→more persuasion (not psych tricks)
🔹Increasing persuasiveness reduces "fact" accuracy
🔹Right-leaning bots=more inaccurate

Reposted by Ben Worthy

owenboswarva.bsky.social
Owen Boswarva @owenboswarva.bsky.social · 2d
Another boffo release of #openaddresses from our friends in local government:

Brighton & Hove City Council has released its Council Tax address list as open data www.owenboswarva.com/blog/post-ad...

Thx @brighton-hove.gov.uk!

Geocoded by yours truly

#FOI #localgov #UKhousing #proptech #opendata
Screenshot of sample of Brighton & Hove City Council's Council Tax address data, visualised in Google Earth

Reposted by Jürgen Maier, Anne Rasmussen, Markus Wagner , and 3 more

fghjorth.bsky.social
Frederik Hjorth @fghjorth.bsky.social · 2d
Political communication research overwhelmingly relies on text. But parliamentary speech is multimodal! In our new @psrm.bsky.social article, Mathias Rask and I show that legislators also signal partisan conflict nonverbally— through changes in vocal pitch during floor speeches. 🧵 1/11 #polisky

Reposted by Ben Worthy

stephenkb.bsky.social
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 2d
"Keir Starmer did not create this problem — the damage done by the Conservatives cannot be overstated — but it is making matters worse."

Fantastic column by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the malaise in our politics and the road that we're on without a major change in approach:
Labour is slow-marching working people to populism
Insurgent parties to left and right peddle nonsense economics but enjoy dramatically rising support
www.ft.com

Reposted by Ben Worthy

profjacob.bsky.social
Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 2d
Here are links to their full UK in a changing Europe blog: ukandeu.ac.uk/brexits-impa... and to their @nber.org paper: www.nber.org/papers/w34459
Brexit’s impact on the UK economy - UK in a changing Europe
Nicholas Bloom, Philip Bunn, Paul Mizen, Pawel Smietanka, and Gregory Thwaites argue that there is evidence that Brexit has had a large and persistent negative impact on GDP, output and productivity i...
ukandeu.ac.uk

Reposted by Steve Peers, David H. Kaye, Ryan Enos , and 7 more

nikobowie.bsky.social
Niko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · 3d
This man may be the most racist president this country has ever had, and twelve presidents owned slaves
justinbaragona.bsky.social Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 3d
Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."

Reposted by Leigh Sparks, Lesley A. Hall, Ben Worthy

willhaycardiff.bsky.social
Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 7d
We have written a special report looking at the people behind Reform in Wales.

This was a bizarre piece to write.
willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/special-re...
Special report: Who are Reform in Wales?
We dived into the wild world of Reform UK in Cymru
willhaywardwales.substack.com

benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy @benworthy.bsky.social · 7d
Yes, I only found this out recently

Reposted by Ben Worthy

ptbeatles.bsky.social
Producing The Beatles @ptbeatles.bsky.social · 7d
Thinking of George today, I made a mix of Beware of Darkness highlighting with just strings and vocals (and a bit of Hammond organ) youtu.be/BI_k6x2lY64
George Harrison - Beware of Darkness (strings and vocal mix)
YouTube video by Producing The Beatles
youtu.be

Reposted by Ben Worthy

hansmollman.bsky.social
Mollie Goodfellow @hansmollman.bsky.social · 7d
WHAT

Reposted by Ben Worthy

seamas.bsky.social
The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 7d
Issuing a very rare explanatory note here to say that, while I do consider this a fun and quite odd fact about Tom Stoppard, I also believe his script for Last Crusade is a genuine masterpiece. And I'm not just saying that because it might be my favourite film of all time. It's damn near perfect.

benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy @benworthy.bsky.social · 8d
George Harrison's ' It's All Too Much' youtu.be/2zc3idF_IZ0?...
It's All Too Much (Remastered 2009)
YouTube video by The Beatles - Topic
youtu.be

Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Juliet B. Schor, Shadd Maruna , and 9 more

kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 8d
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.

If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 8d
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Kori Schake, Marc Lynch, Norbert Schwarz , and 17 more

washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 8d
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Ben Worthy

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 10d
New report today from @britishfuture.bsky.social

benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy @benworthy.bsky.social · 10d
You need to ask the Margate Crab Museum for their help www.crabmuseum.org
Crab Museum
www.crabmuseum.org

Reposted by Ben Worthy, Brian Weatherson

chanret.bsky.social
Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 12d
Has no one in the BBC heard of the Streisand effect?

Did everyone think, "oh, Rutger Bregman, he'll be cool with this"?
rutgerbregman.com Rutger Bregman @rutgerbregman.com · 12d
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Cas Mudde, Ben H. Ansell , and 73 more

rutgerbregman.com
Rutger Bregman @rutgerbregman.com · 12d
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Reposted by Ben Worthy

theymaybeparted.bsky.social
They May Be Parted @theymaybeparted.bsky.social · 14d
Happy 57th to the mighty “The Beatles” LP, released today in 1968! The Get Back sessions story is very much an extension of the White Album experience — they reconvened at Twickenham less than 6 weeks later! — so I’ve written plenty on it. Tagged here! theymaybeparted.com/tag/white-al...
White Album – They May Be Parted
Posts about White Album written by Dan Rivkin
theymaybeparted.com

Reposted by Simon Hix, Ben H. Ansell, Jan Rath , and 11 more

tabouchadi.bsky.social
Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 14d
Cas Mudde spells out what has become largely the consensus among researchers: moving right on immigration will not weaken the far right nor strengthen social democracy. If your reaction is "but in Denmark" please at least familiarize yourself with Danish politics

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The ‘Danish model’ is the darling of centre-left parties like Labour. The problem is, it doesn’t even work in Denmark | Cas Mudde
This week’s local elections are the latest reminder that when social democrats move rightwards, they’re making a mistake, says academic and author Cas Mudde
www.theguardian.com

benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy @benworthy.bsky.social · 14d
Me listening to the Second Coming this AM #mani

Reposted by Ben Worthy

oddthisday.bsky.social
Coates is Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 14d
It’s the seventh anniversary of the publication of ‘Everything is awesome: Don’t forget the Lego’ in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, which told how six “paediatric health-care professionals were recruited to swallow a Lego head” and measure how long it took to ~ahem~ pass through them
Diagram of Lego head from scientific paper. It is shown in grey, with coloured markings showing its dimensions in millimetres. The main part of the head is 10.11mm across and 9.74mm high

Reposted by Ben Worthy

sharonk.bsky.social
Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 15d
Trump if Mamdani was WH chief of staff:

benworthy.bsky.social
Ben Worthy @benworthy.bsky.social · 15d
I saw #mani three times. Once at an extraordinary Stone Roses gig, a second with Primal Scream, when he teased us by playing the first few seconds of Adored. Finally, I saw him walking in a crowd near Piccadilly Train station. It was like spotting one of the Beatles.
youtu.be/DbyrOBVDtR4?...
The Stone Roses - This Is the One (Audio)
YouTube video by StoneRosesVEVO
youtu.be

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Rebecca Solnit, Richard S.J. Tol , and 13 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15d
Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?

MAMDANI: I've spoken about--

TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.

Reposted by Ben Worthy

lseusablog.bsky.social
LSE US Politics and Policy blog - USAPP @lseusablog.bsky.social · 15d
Trump will try and steal the midterms by suppressing the vote and controlling the narrative argue @benworthy.bsky.social of Birkbeck College and @josephineharmon.bsky.social of @northeasternu.bsky.social

blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...
The 2026 Midterms: Trump will try and steal the midterms by suppressing the vote and controlling the narrative | USAPP
Trump’s recent actions suggest he may try to manipulate the outcome of the midterms by undermining the voting system and by pushing disinformation about the result being “rigged”.
blogs.lse.ac.uk