Hester Keijser
@hkeijser.bsky.social
Recovering photography curator, green fingered dog person, can’t help thinking along and probing where the ice gets thin. Because we are all just skating on the surface.
If I don’t follow you, you might be on one of my lists, where I still 🔭 you.
If I don’t follow you, you might be on one of my lists, where I still 🔭 you.
Pinned
Hester Keijser
@hkeijser.bsky.social
· Mar 5
Flashes for Bluesky
Flashes is a native Bluesky photo/video app.
Amongst other features the app offers:
• Discover and Share photos & videos on Bluesky – a vibrant community of over 30 million users.
• Enhance Your Cr...
www.flashes.blue
I’ve set up Realest Rooms (www.flashes.blue/profile/real...) to look at the housing crisis in 🇳🇱 for low income households and starters. What is available for up to €200K with a floor space of 50m2 that would allow for a couple or a young family.
Fascinating what data can reveal about social realities: “Italian, Indian, Turkish, Chinese, Thai, British, Japanese, French, American, and fish-and-chips all trace distinct settlement histories, labour networks, retail formats, and relationships to capital and rent.”
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Fascinating what data can reveal about social realities: “Italian, Indian, Turkish, Chinese, Thai, British, Japanese, French, American, and fish-and-chips all trace distinct settlement histories, labour networks, retail formats, and relationships to capital and rent.”
Reposted by Hester Keijser
'Women work longer and earn just a third – 32% – of what men get per hour, when paid and unpaid labour, such as domestic work, are taken into account. Even when unpaid domestic labour is not included, women only earn 61% of what men make, according to the report.' 1/2
‘The patriarchy runs deep’: women still getting a raw deal in the workplace as equality remains a dream
Women work longer and per hour earn a third of what men are paid, in figures that have changed little in 35 years, UN report shows
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:22 AM
'Women work longer and earn just a third – 32% – of what men get per hour, when paid and unpaid labour, such as domestic work, are taken into account. Even when unpaid domestic labour is not included, women only earn 61% of what men make, according to the report.' 1/2
Kapronczay says protests are important (…) but so are small, local gatherings that bring together people from a range of backgrounds and ideologies to solve shared concerns. “Autocrats really want to polarize the society, so any kind of initiative that goes against it is really important,” she said.
We asked critics from authoritarian regimes what they wish they’d known sooner. Here’s what they said
Critics from Hungary, El Salvador and Turkey offer advice to the US about what they’ve learned about authoritarians
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Kapronczay says protests are important (…) but so are small, local gatherings that bring together people from a range of backgrounds and ideologies to solve shared concerns. “Autocrats really want to polarize the society, so any kind of initiative that goes against it is really important,” she said.
Reposting for future reference.
SARS-CoV-2 Leaves a Lasting Mark on the Immune System
johnsnowproject.org/primers/sars...
johnsnowproject.org/primers/sars...
SARS-CoV-2 Leaves a Lasting Mark on the Immune System
A landmark new study shows COVID-19 isn’t ‘just a cold’: One infection left people with long-lasting immune damage, and those with heart disease lost up to 70% of key immune cells. Reinfections may wo...
johnsnowproject.org
December 8, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Reposting for future reference.
Maybe I should consider making grungy riso-printed zines featuring random trash in the city.
December 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Maybe I should consider making grungy riso-printed zines featuring random trash in the city.
“The most affecting thing for me was the language used about women on that site,” he continues. “We had to change it for our online report because we didn’t want it to be triggering, but this is pure misogyny. Pure hatred.”
www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
‘It was about degrading someone completely’: the story of Mr DeepFakes – the world’s most notorious AI porn site
The hobbyists who helped build this site created technology that has been used to humiliate countless women. Why didn’t governments step in and stop them?
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2025 at 1:33 PM
“The most affecting thing for me was the language used about women on that site,” he continues. “We had to change it for our online report because we didn’t want it to be triggering, but this is pure misogyny. Pure hatred.”
www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
Was just thinking this morning why the plan to have a community pet cemetery in the city would be a bad idea, but I need not look further…
www.nationalgeographic.com/health/artic...
www.nationalgeographic.com/health/artic...
The disease detectives who solve the world’s strangest outbreaks
When weird fungal epidemics crop up in far-flung places, scientists work together to unravel how the microscopic murderers show up and turn deadly.
www.nationalgeographic.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Was just thinking this morning why the plan to have a community pet cemetery in the city would be a bad idea, but I need not look further…
www.nationalgeographic.com/health/artic...
www.nationalgeographic.com/health/artic...
It seems I still have something to brag about this year, which has so often felt like I’m just treading water.
December 2, 2025 at 9:47 PM
It seems I still have something to brag about this year, which has so often felt like I’m just treading water.
Can we give out medals for sleeping? Because that is my dog’s superpower — not hunting, agility, dancing or using speech buttons or whatever dogs do for a living these days.
December 1, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Can we give out medals for sleeping? Because that is my dog’s superpower — not hunting, agility, dancing or using speech buttons or whatever dogs do for a living these days.
This child’s drawing drew my attention among a display at a local elementary school I passed this morning. Where other kids draw stereotypical houses even though they live in dense urban environments, this kid seemed to convey his lived experiences based on his own observations.
November 30, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This child’s drawing drew my attention among a display at a local elementary school I passed this morning. Where other kids draw stereotypical houses even though they live in dense urban environments, this kid seemed to convey his lived experiences based on his own observations.
This is outside of the price range for my collection #realestrooms, but I couldn’t keep these surreal beauties from you. There’s a former brothel for sale near me, complete with outdoor pool, bar and quaint color schemes. - If you bought this, what would you do with that pool house?
November 25, 2025 at 10:17 PM
This is outside of the price range for my collection #realestrooms, but I couldn’t keep these surreal beauties from you. There’s a former brothel for sale near me, complete with outdoor pool, bar and quaint color schemes. - If you bought this, what would you do with that pool house?
At a previous employer I observed how the org would always try to pay artists / guests the absolute minimum - and then invite them to lavish dinners - but then say how they wished to create a larger community and more engagement. Friends, this is not the way.
November 25, 2025 at 10:14 AM
At a previous employer I observed how the org would always try to pay artists / guests the absolute minimum - and then invite them to lavish dinners - but then say how they wished to create a larger community and more engagement. Friends, this is not the way.
I keep hearing of tenants who completely rip up their homes, whether this be rent controlled apts or high end houses, and I don’t understand what drives people to create such destruction. What does it say about their relation to the built environment, about their notion of home?
November 25, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I keep hearing of tenants who completely rip up their homes, whether this be rent controlled apts or high end houses, and I don’t understand what drives people to create such destruction. What does it say about their relation to the built environment, about their notion of home?
What an inspirational bunch! “… if you had this relationship with nature – and lots of cultures do presently, and lots of cultures that don’t now used to – then the kinds of behaviours that lead to the damage we’ve caused don’t even come up. As a default, you care about your local environment.”
‘It fully changed my life!’ How young rewilders transformed a farm – and began a movement
At Maple Farm, nature is returning in droves: nightingales, grass snakes, slowworms, bats and insects. All due to the vision of a group determined to accelerate its recovery
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:36 AM
What an inspirational bunch! “… if you had this relationship with nature – and lots of cultures do presently, and lots of cultures that don’t now used to – then the kinds of behaviours that lead to the damage we’ve caused don’t even come up. As a default, you care about your local environment.”
If you ever wondered why I nicknamed my dog ‘the headless horseman’.
November 23, 2025 at 12:44 PM
If you ever wondered why I nicknamed my dog ‘the headless horseman’.
We all know what this so-called peace plan is. I’d be highly surprised if it wouldn’t be made unworkable by either EU or UA diplomatic manoeuvres.
"US would take charge of $100 billion in frozen Russian assets and receive '50% of the profits from this venture.'
European taxpayers, who provide almost all of the military and humanitarian support to Ukraine, are expected to contribute $100 billion to its reconstruction."
tinyurl.com/yc7etnw4
European taxpayers, who provide almost all of the military and humanitarian support to Ukraine, are expected to contribute $100 billion to its reconstruction."
tinyurl.com/yc7etnw4
The Murky Plan That Ensures a Future War
Who will benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
tinyurl.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:45 PM
We all know what this so-called peace plan is. I’d be highly surprised if it wouldn’t be made unworkable by either EU or UA diplomatic manoeuvres.
My Moroccan bodega-owning neighbor, whom I’ve been helping with plants, stopped by the African barbers to check if they were okay after a racist harassed them. He also told an Arabic friend to watch his demented father who was caught wandering the hood. Curses all day, heart of gold. 🧡💛
November 22, 2025 at 7:23 PM
My Moroccan bodega-owning neighbor, whom I’ve been helping with plants, stopped by the African barbers to check if they were okay after a racist harassed them. He also told an Arabic friend to watch his demented father who was caught wandering the hood. Curses all day, heart of gold. 🧡💛
Long live the economy of give&take:
+ free flowers from florist I help out with free bulbs
- 3 beanies to thrift store in exchange for
+discount on kitchen tools for community garden
+ free umbrella for stormy weather on the way back.
- 3 hrs volunteering on tool maintenance
= everybody wins!
+ free flowers from florist I help out with free bulbs
- 3 beanies to thrift store in exchange for
+discount on kitchen tools for community garden
+ free umbrella for stormy weather on the way back.
- 3 hrs volunteering on tool maintenance
= everybody wins!
November 19, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Long live the economy of give&take:
+ free flowers from florist I help out with free bulbs
- 3 beanies to thrift store in exchange for
+discount on kitchen tools for community garden
+ free umbrella for stormy weather on the way back.
- 3 hrs volunteering on tool maintenance
= everybody wins!
+ free flowers from florist I help out with free bulbs
- 3 beanies to thrift store in exchange for
+discount on kitchen tools for community garden
+ free umbrella for stormy weather on the way back.
- 3 hrs volunteering on tool maintenance
= everybody wins!
Reposted by Hester Keijser
the three basic freedoms recently explicated well in “The Dawn of Everything” by David Graeber and David Wengrow
• freedom of movement
• freedom to refuse to follow orders
• freedom to create new forms of social relations
• freedom of movement
• freedom to refuse to follow orders
• freedom to create new forms of social relations
October 10, 2025 at 4:45 AM
the three basic freedoms recently explicated well in “The Dawn of Everything” by David Graeber and David Wengrow
• freedom of movement
• freedom to refuse to follow orders
• freedom to create new forms of social relations
• freedom of movement
• freedom to refuse to follow orders
• freedom to create new forms of social relations
Reposted by Hester Keijser
The diagram for what Palantir does is like if Richard Scarry got super paranoid and did an Apocalypse picture book
November 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
The diagram for what Palantir does is like if Richard Scarry got super paranoid and did an Apocalypse picture book
“We worry what will happen if we don’t have concrete action now. We as indigenous people in the Amazon are tired of being sacrificed by a group of powerful people who want to rule the planet. If we don’t do something together we will be complicit with ecocide and the assassination of humanity.”
🦸🇵🇪🌿
🦸🇵🇪🌿
Cop30 live: ‘We will exterminate ourselves’ if we keep extracting fossil fuels, activists say
Climate Action Tracker report finds pledges made in past year have not cut the forecast for global heating
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 8:39 PM
“We worry what will happen if we don’t have concrete action now. We as indigenous people in the Amazon are tired of being sacrificed by a group of powerful people who want to rule the planet. If we don’t do something together we will be complicit with ecocide and the assassination of humanity.”
🦸🇵🇪🌿
🦸🇵🇪🌿
Worked hard today turning an eyesore street garden covered in litter into a future paradise for bees and plants. Besides the 50+ plants, we planted dozens of bulbs and sowed locally sourced wild seeds. Can’t wait til spring arrives! All plants donated by the city 😍 & seeds by me.
November 13, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Worked hard today turning an eyesore street garden covered in litter into a future paradise for bees and plants. Besides the 50+ plants, we planted dozens of bulbs and sowed locally sourced wild seeds. Can’t wait til spring arrives! All plants donated by the city 😍 & seeds by me.
A grim read. It was hard to find the most disturbing passage. Make no mistake: women’s rights are under threat. “In 2024, a report from the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) showed that seven in 10 women in European politics had suffered abuse and harassment.”
In Sweden, online hate and anti-immigrant extremism are driving women out of public life | Martin Gelin
A leading liberal politician has quit in fear of her physical safety. It is a crushing setback for democracy in one of the world’s most open societies, says journalist Martin Gelin
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:53 AM
A grim read. It was hard to find the most disturbing passage. Make no mistake: women’s rights are under threat. “In 2024, a report from the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) showed that seven in 10 women in European politics had suffered abuse and harassment.”
I’m so tired of the Islamophobia in this country. More than anything, it indicates an inability to consider the limitedness and relativity of one’s worldview. Such lack of imagination never served anyone, and can be quite dangerous as it leaves one blind to the realities of the lives of others.
November 6, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I’m so tired of the Islamophobia in this country. More than anything, it indicates an inability to consider the limitedness and relativity of one’s worldview. Such lack of imagination never served anyone, and can be quite dangerous as it leaves one blind to the realities of the lives of others.