Cicely Marston
@cicely.bsky.social
Professor of public health, community participation, equity, sexual and reproductive health and rights, knowledge coproduction
Reposted by Cicely Marston
NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charity
NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charity
Exclusive: NHS websites pointed women to factsheet featuring podcast by ‘dangerous’ influencers linked to baby deaths
• Full story: How the FBS is linked to baby deaths around the world
The NHS has been directing pregnant women to a website that connected them to the Free Birth Society, an organisation that has been linked to baby deaths around the world after promoting labour without medical support.
A number of NHS trusts are directing women who are contemplating a “free birth” to a charity website that until Monday referred to FBS podcasts as a source of “empowering stories” that can help British women “preparing for their own birth”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:03 AM
NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charity
Yikes. Quite a lot of questions raised here about processes in economics research, to say the least
Research and ethics in economics.
www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
www.wsj.com/economy/aida...
An MIT Student Awed Top Economists With His AI Study—Then It All Fell Apart
Aidan Toner-Rodgers shot to academic fame in a field hungry for new insights and revelatory research. But a computer scientist thought something seemed off.
www.wsj.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Yikes. Quite a lot of questions raised here about processes in economics research, to say the least
This is appalling, and why reproductive justice is so important to fight for
#reprosky
‘Our babies were taken after “biased” parenting test – now we're fighting to get them back’ - BBC News
#reprosky
‘Our babies were taken after “biased” parenting test – now we're fighting to get them back’ - BBC News
November 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM
This is appalling, and why reproductive justice is so important to fight for
#reprosky
‘Our babies were taken after “biased” parenting test – now we're fighting to get them back’ - BBC News
#reprosky
‘Our babies were taken after “biased” parenting test – now we're fighting to get them back’ - BBC News
Reposted by Cicely Marston
A guy makes ONE tiny mistake (has a years-long friendship with the world's worst sex trafficker; brags about sexually harassing colleagues; is racist; says women are stupid) and his whole LIFE is blown up (does slightly fewer speaking engagements; keeps teaching at #1 university)??!?!?!?!?!
So Harvard is keeping this guy, but Claudine Gay had to step down over ginned up plagiarism accusations and bad-faith accusations of anti-Semitism.
Got it.
Got it.
Larry Summers tells @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
November 18, 2025 at 10:51 AM
A guy makes ONE tiny mistake (has a years-long friendship with the world's worst sex trafficker; brags about sexually harassing colleagues; is racist; says women are stupid) and his whole LIFE is blown up (does slightly fewer speaking engagements; keeps teaching at #1 university)??!?!?!?!?!
Reposted by Cicely Marston
HE WILL KEEP TEACHING COLLEGE A JOB THAT INVOLVES PROXIMITY TO YOUNG WOMEN
Sex pest : i am retiring from public life
public : good fuck off
sex pest : except for these various paid and unpaid public positions
public : did we stutter
public : good fuck off
sex pest : except for these various paid and unpaid public positions
public : did we stutter
Larry Summers steps back from public commitments, ‘deeply ashamed’ by Epstein revelations
Emails revealed that Summers sought advice from Epstein on romantically pursuing a woman he referred to as his mentee.
www.politico.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:28 AM
HE WILL KEEP TEACHING COLLEGE A JOB THAT INVOLVES PROXIMITY TO YOUNG WOMEN
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Absolute must read on the AI bailout-in-progress: apparently it's not enough that lifetimes of human ingenuity and creativity have been stolen and enclosed to create generative AI and balloon billionaire wealth - much more public looting is in store...
This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business
Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.
www.wsj.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Absolute must read on the AI bailout-in-progress: apparently it's not enough that lifetimes of human ingenuity and creativity have been stolen and enclosed to create generative AI and balloon billionaire wealth - much more public looting is in store...
Reposted by Cicely Marston
The AI bubble may be about to bust.
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
November 17, 2025 at 6:37 AM
The AI bubble may be about to bust.
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Peter Thiel has sold all of his Nvidia stock.
We all need to say this very clearly:
NO BAILOUTS FOR THEFT-TECH!
Expropriate their asses instead.
They stole from all of us and fully plan to burn the planet.
They owe us - not the other way around. 1/3
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Can we go back to the days when politicians said that they really wanted to help people but it’s very hard and takes time, rather than saying that they want to hurt people and can do it quickly?
November 16, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Can we go back to the days when politicians said that they really wanted to help people but it’s very hard and takes time, rather than saying that they want to hurt people and can do it quickly?
Reposted by Cicely Marston
gosh I wonder why they called her peril www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
November 17, 2025 at 1:58 AM
gosh I wonder why they called her peril www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Christmas for care leavers - please support
www.justgiving.com/campaign/oxf...
www.justgiving.com/campaign/oxf...
Oxfordshire Christmas Dinner for Care Leavers 2025
We're back for a third year to create a magical Christmas for our Care-Experienced Community. Let's make this day one of warmth, community, and peace.
www.justgiving.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Christmas for care leavers - please support
www.justgiving.com/campaign/oxf...
www.justgiving.com/campaign/oxf...
Some people get prison time and others get a delightful home on the family estate
Which property on the Sandringham estate is fit for a former prince?
Which property on the Sandringham estate is fit for a former prince?
When Andrew Mountbatten Windsor leaves Royal Lodge, he’s expected to move into a home on King Charles’s Norfolk estate
www.theguardian.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Some people get prison time and others get a delightful home on the family estate
Reposted by Cicely Marston
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Which reminds me, it's that time of year again for National Trust members to vote. The easiest way is to use the 'quick vote' to keep out the traditionalist 'Restore Trust' candidates. secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
1/2
1/2
September 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Which reminds me, it's that time of year again for National Trust members to vote. The easiest way is to use the 'quick vote' to keep out the traditionalist 'Restore Trust' candidates. secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
1/2
1/2
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Giant copy of the Constitution being carried down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Looking forward to teaching on this course
Our MSc module 'Patients, Citizens and the Politics of Evidence' runs from 8-12 December @ox.ac.uk. Open to stand-alone students as a freestanding short course. #healthpolicy
lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/courses/pati...
lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/courses/pati...
Patients, Citizens and the Politics of Evidence
Examining the role of patients and citizens in providing evidence for health care research
lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk
October 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Looking forward to teaching on this course
Content warning: piers Morgan being awful. It is so refreshing seeing someone actually standing up to this gotcha drivel and insisting on nuance (even if Morgan talks over it).
Solidarity with all trans and intersex people having their existence debated every time a tv host hasn't done their prep and can't think of any more questions
October 13, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Content warning: piers Morgan being awful. It is so refreshing seeing someone actually standing up to this gotcha drivel and insisting on nuance (even if Morgan talks over it).
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Will California ban non-stick pans? Chefs are divided on whether protecting human health or frying an egg without butter is more important. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
Opinion | Relax, America, There Is Life After Nonstick Pans
www.nytimes.com
October 9, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Will California ban non-stick pans? Chefs are divided on whether protecting human health or frying an egg without butter is more important. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/o...
A transphobic pressure group is trying to ban trans women from Hampstead women’s pond – we’re fighting back goodlawproject.org/s/4860b3
Keep Hampstead women’s pond inclusive
A transphobic pressure group is trying to ban trans women from Hampstead women’s pond – we’re fighting back
goodlawproject.org
October 7, 2025 at 8:16 PM
A transphobic pressure group is trying to ban trans women from Hampstead women’s pond – we’re fighting back goodlawproject.org/s/4860b3
Reposted by Cicely Marston
BREAKING: Heroic police officers save public from this terrifying terrorist who was holding a sign the government doesn’t like x
October 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
BREAKING: Heroic police officers save public from this terrifying terrorist who was holding a sign the government doesn’t like x
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Dear Ezra Klein, bodily autonomy is not a bargaining chip. What rights are you willing to give up? Let’s see you walk the talk. The burger is on me. open.substack.com/pub/vajenda/...
Dear Ezra Klein, Bodily Autonomy Isn’t a Bargaining Chip
Let's see if you're willing to walk the talk
open.substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Dear Ezra Klein, bodily autonomy is not a bargaining chip. What rights are you willing to give up? Let’s see you walk the talk. The burger is on me. open.substack.com/pub/vajenda/...
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Over 25 years ago I started lobbying, with colleagues, to get unis to take sexual violence seriously. Repeatedly institutions and research councils ignored, downplayed, or argued it 'wasn't a priority'. It always has been. The latest data shows action is STILL needed www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Thousands of students report sexual violence at university
Women and LGBT students were more likely to report incidents than their male and heterosexual counterparts.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 25, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Over 25 years ago I started lobbying, with colleagues, to get unis to take sexual violence seriously. Repeatedly institutions and research councils ignored, downplayed, or argued it 'wasn't a priority'. It always has been. The latest data shows action is STILL needed www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I saw this in the cinema recently and it’s brilliant. About Kenyan ghostwriters and the epidemic of cheating among students in rich countries. Nuanced, thoughtful and enraging. You can catch it on uk tv tonight 10pm, channel 4
#academicsky
www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/e...
#academicsky
www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/e...
“I don’t want passive viewing”: how The Shadow Scholars goes inside the academic cheating industry
Eloise King’s debut documentary explores the hidden world of Kenya’s ‘shadow scholars’ – ghostwriters powering a global academic industry. Ahead of screenings in cinemas and on Channel 4, she joined u...
www.bfi.org.uk
September 24, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I saw this in the cinema recently and it’s brilliant. About Kenyan ghostwriters and the epidemic of cheating among students in rich countries. Nuanced, thoughtful and enraging. You can catch it on uk tv tonight 10pm, channel 4
#academicsky
www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/e...
#academicsky
www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/e...
Reposted by Cicely Marston
Trans people are not a threat to women’s safety.
Over 52,000 women have signed the open letter to say not in our name.
Will you join them?
notinourname.org.uk/petition/not...
Over 52,000 women have signed the open letter to say not in our name.
Will you join them?
notinourname.org.uk/petition/not...
September 21, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Trans people are not a threat to women’s safety.
Over 52,000 women have signed the open letter to say not in our name.
Will you join them?
notinourname.org.uk/petition/not...
Over 52,000 women have signed the open letter to say not in our name.
Will you join them?
notinourname.org.uk/petition/not...
Reposted by Cicely Marston
I know when we talk of university safety and mental health most people sigh while imagining compulsory wellbeing webinars.
In reality there are very real risks posed to some staff we currently are failing to address. This is one of them.
In reality there are very real risks posed to some staff we currently are failing to address. This is one of them.
Nearly 50 college instructors across #Illinois landed on #CharlieKirk's “Professor Watchlist.” @wbez.org reached out to all of them and found the list triggered hateful messages, threats of rape or death, and intensification since Kirk's killing.
#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...
#twill www.wbez.org/politics/202...
Illinois professors face threats after landing on Charlie Kirk group watchlist
An online database compiled by a group affiliated with slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk identifies close to 50 Illinois college instructors it labels "radical professors."
www.wbez.org
September 19, 2025 at 1:25 PM
I know when we talk of university safety and mental health most people sigh while imagining compulsory wellbeing webinars.
In reality there are very real risks posed to some staff we currently are failing to address. This is one of them.
In reality there are very real risks posed to some staff we currently are failing to address. This is one of them.
Reposted by Cicely Marston
UC Berkeley betrayed their own faculty, including Jewish academics like Judith Butler, to the Trump administration
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move
Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’
www.theguardian.com
September 12, 2025 at 8:24 PM
UC Berkeley betrayed their own faculty, including Jewish academics like Judith Butler, to the Trump administration
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...