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Turned Out Nice: How the British Isles will Change as the World Heats Up

Reposted by Marek Kohn

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 6d

My book about climate change and the British Isles is in the new @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social ebook range; turns out that the 2100 future I imagined in 2009 is approaching faster than scheduled. #Climate breakdown and Britain's national identity crisis are on course to merge.
tinyurl.com/4663bue2

How the British Isles will Change as the World Heats Up

tinyurl.com

Turned Out Nice: How the British Isles will Change as the World Heats Up

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 6d

My book about climate change and the British Isles is in the new @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social ebook range; turns out that the 2100 future I imagined in 2009 is approaching faster than scheduled. #Climate breakdown and Britain's national identity crisis are on course to merge.
tinyurl.com/4663bue2

How the British Isles will Change as the World Heats Up

tinyurl.com

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 9d

not sure Lizdeika would have been able to make much of that one ;)

Petition Map (by Unboxed)

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 13d

Wonder what they would be, or are, saying now

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 13d

apparently this is a map of where the elite live petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.com?petition=730...

Visualise UK Government Petitions

petitionmap.unboxedconsulting.com

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 13d

Thanks. I may be missing it, but I haven't found any reference to that specific concern in those reports. The way that it has now come to the fore feels like a measure of how far things have gone since 10–15 years ago.

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 13d

Did you publish or discuss those comments anywhere? Were these interviews for the 'A Sense of Place' report?

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 17d

Yes. Remember the unbearable smugness of those remainers who were absolutely sure that they'd be in the majority at the Brexit vote? We might not be so far down this road now if they had been a little less smug and sure that we would win because we were right.

Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 17d

And yeah, 'don't worry, it's not going to happen' doesn't quite cut it right now. And the only way 'it's not going to happen' is if we fight it--that is, Reform getting in--rather than dismiss it as silly and impossible.

Bilingual Brains, Better Outcomes?: The Benefits of Multilingual Upbringing

Reposted by Marek Kohn

Gabriel Milland @gabrielmilland.bsky.social · 17d

The immigrant experience, even the second or third generation immigrant experience, so often adds up to keeping the suitcases handy.

Omar Khan @omaromalleykhan.bsky.social · 17d

When I interviewed older South Asian British people about their retirement decisions over a decade ago, a large number said they had kept a passport and land in India and Pakistan 'just in case'

When I asked 'in case what?' they responded 'in case we are told to leave Britain'

Shoaib M Khan @shoaibmkhan.bsky.social · 17d

Nigel Farage: "We will abolish indefinite leave to remain (ILR) status", and "We will rescind ILR statuses that have already been granted".

The first sentence is worryingly ignorant. The second sentence is frighteningly fascist.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 20d

'Bilingualism should not be reduced to a talking point about brain training ... it’s about helping children stay connected to their families, their heritage'. Yes. But brain training is an easier sell than helping children and communities keep their culture.

www.psychologytoday.com/sg/blog/empo...

Bilingualism shapes minds, identities, and relationships. Research shows it’s more than a “brain boost”—it’s about connection and resilience.

www.psychologytoday.com

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 23d

also if they can't see what time it is when they wake up, press the lock screen, tap customise, change wallpaper, select the time and switch back to solid.

now to figure out how to deal with that retro wristwatch clockface

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 23d

'Are you writing in Polish?' No, Bluesky, I'm trying to reply to a post in English by @benstanley.eu , why do you ask? now let me get back to complaining about ios26 pls

Screenshot of automatically generated Bluesky app query 'Are you writing in Polish?'

3

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 23d

absolutely, look how well that's done in Poland, endless factional fun including the departure of a party rejoicing in the name of Together

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 24d

As a child I gazed in awe at my father's slide rule, with its mysterious inscriptions, and imagined that one day its secrets would be revealed to me. But by the time that day came, they'd been rendered obsolete by calculators.

And yes, I do still have it.

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 24d

Turn it into family heirloom, to be brought out when older members are watching football on TV and feel the need to explain the expression 'slide-rule pass'. Hours of fun then trying to explain how it actually worked.

Trubaitsi: the sounds of war reach deep into the Ukrainian countryside

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 29d

A siren on the audio tracks and Cuyahoga playing in my head as I edited this #R.E.M.

Kupala Brighton @kupalabrighton.bsky.social · Sep 9

'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ

youtu.be

Trubaitsi: the sounds of war reach deep into the Ukrainian countryside

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 29d

Splendid reconstruction at Tustan Fortress in the #Ukrainian #Carpathians – not of the fort, but of the camp made by the archaeologists who investigated it in 1970. Material culture and way of life authentically represented; Volga in surprisingly good nick #HillfortWednesday

Reconstruction of archaeologists' 1970 camp at Tustan Fortress, Skole National Park, in the Ukrainian Carpathians: tents, a campfire, clothes on a washing line in the background, a Volga car in the foreground.

A miniature model of the archaeologists' 1970 camp at Tustan Fortress, Skole National Park, in the Ukrainian Carpathians, next to the full-size reconstruction of the camp.

1 3 11

Reposted by Marek Kohn

Kupala Brighton @kupalabrighton.bsky.social · 29d

The sounds of war just reached deep into the Polish countryside too. Surreal experiences are often previews of a new reality.
#Poland #Ukraine

Kupala Brighton @kupalabrighton.bsky.social · Sep 9

'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ

youtu.be

Trubaitsi: the sounds of war reach deep into the Ukrainian countryside

Reposted by Marek Kohn

Kupala Brighton @kupalabrighton.bsky.social · Sep 9

'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …'
youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ

youtu.be

Object permanence in domestic cats (Felis catus) using violation-of-expectancy by owner and stranger

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · Sep 9

OK, but 'Our findings are likely explained by the fact that subjects were difficult to motivate, a prevailing issue in domestic cat cognition research' journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist while out of sight, is a key part of the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. Cats have been shown to reach Stage 5 object p...

journals.plos.org

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · Sep 9

at least it doesn't appear to have the fingerprints of ChatGPT all over it

slightly worried how much work 'appear to' is doing here though

Reposted by Marek Kohn

Kupala Brighton @kupalabrighton.bsky.social · Sep 9

also on Spotify
audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts
YouTube has English subtitle option

Trubaitsi: wetland spirits and night spirits in a Ukrainian village

Reposted by Marek Kohn

Kupala Brighton @kupalabrighton.bsky.social · Sep 8

We travelled to the Ukrainian village that is the deep inspiration for our project, and talked on the edge of its wetlands: about nature, childhood, imagination, the sounds of war in the air, and why places must not be stolen from people.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...