Natasha Saunders
@negsaunders.bsky.social
Lecturer in IR and Political Theory at University of St Andrews. Interested in: Migration | Rights | Borders | Digital Tech | Activism
When not working, I’m travelling, eating nice food, and being a mum to Chocolate Labrador Bonnie.
When not working, I’m travelling, eating nice food, and being a mum to Chocolate Labrador Bonnie.
Come join a great event in Aberdeen!
📣 CFA - please share! Seeking one more speaker to join this upcoming workshop on Migration & Asylum in Scotland on 29th April. Funding available for reasonable travel costs & one night's hotel in Aberdeen. Early-career scholars are particularly encouraged to apply.
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...
Migration and Asylum in Scotland: A Philosophical Perspective
The Department of Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen invites submissions for its upcoming workshop, “Migration and Asylum in Scotland: A Philosophical Perspective”. This one-day work...
philevents.org
February 5, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Come join a great event in Aberdeen!
Nothing fills me with more fury in my job than trying to use Worktribe to develop and cost a research project. It is such a user unfriendly system for anyone not fluent in finance management speak.
a close up of a cartoon character with a very angry face and a tie .
ALT: a close up of a cartoon character with a very angry face and a tie .
media.tenor.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Nothing fills me with more fury in my job than trying to use Worktribe to develop and cost a research project. It is such a user unfriendly system for anyone not fluent in finance management speak.
Gary Neville obsessing about the possibility that Chelsea could “make club history” by coming back from 2-0 down at halftime to win. Only in the Premier League of course. I was at Stamford Bridge in January 1997 when we came back from 2-0 down to beat Liverpool 4-2 in the FA Cup 4th Round.
January 31, 2026 at 7:04 PM
Gary Neville obsessing about the possibility that Chelsea could “make club history” by coming back from 2-0 down at halftime to win. Only in the Premier League of course. I was at Stamford Bridge in January 1997 when we came back from 2-0 down to beat Liverpool 4-2 in the FA Cup 4th Round.
OMG! The goalkeeper scores with the final touch of the game against a 9-man Real Madrid to keep Benfica in the Champions League and send Marseille out on goal difference. Insane!! #ChampionsLeague
January 28, 2026 at 10:06 PM
OMG! The goalkeeper scores with the final touch of the game against a 9-man Real Madrid to keep Benfica in the Champions League and send Marseille out on goal difference. Insane!! #ChampionsLeague
Has anyone else noticed that Pedro Neto really doesn’t ever want to pass to Estevao? #NAPCHE #ChampionsLeague #Chelsea
January 28, 2026 at 8:29 PM
Has anyone else noticed that Pedro Neto really doesn’t ever want to pass to Estevao? #NAPCHE #ChampionsLeague #Chelsea
He’s running for Parliament now?!?
Grifters’ gonna grift…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
#TheGoodwinGrift
Grifters’ gonna grift…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
#TheGoodwinGrift
Reform byelection candidate refuses to disown claim that people born in UK not necessarily British
Matthew Goodwin, who is standing in Gorton and Denton, said UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds were not always British
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:21 PM
He’s running for Parliament now?!?
Grifters’ gonna grift…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
#TheGoodwinGrift
Grifters’ gonna grift…
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
#TheGoodwinGrift
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
Good for them. They have every right to stand up for themselves against a government that denies their basic rights
More than 100 asylum seekers stage ‘one in, one out’ protests at detention centres
Officers with riot shields, dogs and teargas called in to quell action at Harmondsworth and Brook House facilities
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:49 PM
Good for them. They have every right to stand up for themselves against a government that denies their basic rights
And why did no one ask Rachel why her “FBI training” led her not to vote for Hugo and to repeatedly vote for Ross?
#TheTraitors
#TheTraitors
a close up of a child 's face with the name roy milton baker above him
ALT: a close up of a child 's face with the name roy milton baker above him
media.tenor.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:17 PM
And why did no one ask Rachel why her “FBI training” led her not to vote for Hugo and to repeatedly vote for Ross?
#TheTraitors
#TheTraitors
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
The grifters and politicians who treat child sexual abuse as an "immigration issue" to stoke yet more racism and division seem pretty damn quiet and complacent about their go to social media site actively being used to create images like this.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI chatbot Grok used to create child sexual abuse imagery, watchdog says
Internet Watch Foundation warns Elon Musk-owned AI risks bringing sexualised imagery of children into the mainstream
www.theguardian.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:15 AM
The grifters and politicians who treat child sexual abuse as an "immigration issue" to stoke yet more racism and division seem pretty damn quiet and complacent about their go to social media site actively being used to create images like this.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Today I paid off my student loan. It only took 17 years…
a woman is sitting at a table drinking a beer and smiling while another woman looks on .
ALT: a woman is sitting at a table drinking a beer and smiling while another woman looks on .
media.tenor.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Today I paid off my student loan. It only took 17 years…
I don’t know how anyone is supposed to manage Chelsea as a football team when the owners are running the squad like an investment portfolio. #Maresca #ChelseaFC
January 1, 2026 at 11:38 PM
I don’t know how anyone is supposed to manage Chelsea as a football team when the owners are running the squad like an investment portfolio. #Maresca #ChelseaFC
Umm, he knows that Sauron is defeated in the story, right? The ‘security measures’ in Mordor really aren’t that impressive and even Sauron in his all-seeing eye form can’t sense the ring when it’s literally in his freaking backyard.
JFC I’ve had it with tech bros.
JFC I’ve had it with tech bros.
Sauron is appearing on the scene as concerns rise about crime among the most wealthy.
Sauron, the high-end home security startup for "super premium" customers, plucks a new CEO out of Sonos | TechCrunch
Sauron is appearing on the scene as concerns rise about crime among the most wealthy.
techcrunch.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Umm, he knows that Sauron is defeated in the story, right? The ‘security measures’ in Mordor really aren’t that impressive and even Sauron in his all-seeing eye form can’t sense the ring when it’s literally in his freaking backyard.
JFC I’ve had it with tech bros.
JFC I’ve had it with tech bros.
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing a text, writing an email, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.
December 23, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing a text, writing an email, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
If I hear one more person refer to Gen Z or Gen Alpha as digital natives when the students do not know:
1. How to use built-in Word functions like outlining and spellchecker
2. The different types of basic files
3. Interoperability
4. The issues related to uploading
#EduSky #AcademicSky
1. How to use built-in Word functions like outlining and spellchecker
2. The different types of basic files
3. Interoperability
4. The issues related to uploading
#EduSky #AcademicSky
the angry bird from inside out is sitting on a chair with his mouth open .
ALT: the angry bird from inside out is sitting on a chair with his mouth open .
media.tenor.com
December 21, 2025 at 8:01 PM
If I hear one more person refer to Gen Z or Gen Alpha as digital natives when the students do not know:
1. How to use built-in Word functions like outlining and spellchecker
2. The different types of basic files
3. Interoperability
4. The issues related to uploading
#EduSky #AcademicSky
1. How to use built-in Word functions like outlining and spellchecker
2. The different types of basic files
3. Interoperability
4. The issues related to uploading
#EduSky #AcademicSky
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
the whole point of having an academic industry that is supposed to pay professional wages & provide job security is so that we have the time to do this: produce knowledge.
No accident AI is getting shoved down our throats just as the US tries to kill off what little remains of this system
No accident AI is getting shoved down our throats just as the US tries to kill off what little remains of this system
December 22, 2025 at 2:23 AM
the whole point of having an academic industry that is supposed to pay professional wages & provide job security is so that we have the time to do this: produce knowledge.
No accident AI is getting shoved down our throats just as the US tries to kill off what little remains of this system
No accident AI is getting shoved down our throats just as the US tries to kill off what little remains of this system
What an utterly bizarre thing to say/think
I would struggle to trust an academic who doesn‘t know how to
use AI tools.
Which is not the same as not being critical.
use AI tools.
Which is not the same as not being critical.
December 21, 2025 at 6:39 AM
What an utterly bizarre thing to say/think
This won’t happen if you just read what you cite and cite what you read. This is just so fucking basic I can’t believe it needs to be stated.
Anyone using an LLM for their ‘research’ should just quit. Plenty of qualified people out there without jobs who take basic integrity seriously
Anyone using an LLM for their ‘research’ should just quit. Plenty of qualified people out there without jobs who take basic integrity seriously
December 20, 2025 at 9:59 PM
This won’t happen if you just read what you cite and cite what you read. This is just so fucking basic I can’t believe it needs to be stated.
Anyone using an LLM for their ‘research’ should just quit. Plenty of qualified people out there without jobs who take basic integrity seriously
Anyone using an LLM for their ‘research’ should just quit. Plenty of qualified people out there without jobs who take basic integrity seriously
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
References to fake papers should get people dis-barred (need a term here) automatically from ever submitting to peer-reviewed journals.
That's a pretty low bar if you're actually reading papers and have done due diligence in checking that the publication exists.
#academicsky
That's a pretty low bar if you're actually reading papers and have done due diligence in checking that the publication exists.
#academicsky
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 20, 2025 at 11:32 AM
References to fake papers should get people dis-barred (need a term here) automatically from ever submitting to peer-reviewed journals.
That's a pretty low bar if you're actually reading papers and have done due diligence in checking that the publication exists.
#academicsky
That's a pretty low bar if you're actually reading papers and have done due diligence in checking that the publication exists.
#academicsky
Yet another reason we tell our students again and again and again to only cite what they themselves have read! Lots of them listen but it feels like more and more don’t. I am so sick of seeing citations in papers that are simply lifted out of other sources.
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 15, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Yet another reason we tell our students again and again and again to only cite what they themselves have read! Lots of them listen but it feels like more and more don’t. I am so sick of seeing citations in papers that are simply lifted out of other sources.
Christ! Saying that outputs will be “accurate” does not accurate outputs make…
This shit is only fast if you don’t care about accuracy!!!!
I feel like I’m constantly being gaslighted by this utter crap.
This shit is only fast if you don’t care about accuracy!!!!
I feel like I’m constantly being gaslighted by this utter crap.
Bringing the disruption to Brussels: The European Commission encourages its managers to draft policy-making documents with AI, including "explaining/summarising legislative initiatives". According to a newly released Commission document, this will "boost your team's productivity". 🫢
December 15, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Christ! Saying that outputs will be “accurate” does not accurate outputs make…
This shit is only fast if you don’t care about accuracy!!!!
I feel like I’m constantly being gaslighted by this utter crap.
This shit is only fast if you don’t care about accuracy!!!!
I feel like I’m constantly being gaslighted by this utter crap.
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
I believe that, in no uncertain terms, A.I. as we know it today is a technology designed explicitly to destroy consensus reality, undermine human labor, and estrange its users from other human beings and ultimately themselves.
I do not use it and will not accept its supposed "inevitability."
I do not use it and will not accept its supposed "inevitability."
December 14, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I believe that, in no uncertain terms, A.I. as we know it today is a technology designed explicitly to destroy consensus reality, undermine human labor, and estrange its users from other human beings and ultimately themselves.
I do not use it and will not accept its supposed "inevitability."
I do not use it and will not accept its supposed "inevitability."
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
Reposted by Natasha Saunders
A 123% increase in tribunal receipts, predominately driven by asylum appeals, majority successful, caused by poor initial decision making.
This is what happens when you focus on denials over processing applications properly. It doesn't cut the "backlog", just shifts it.
www.gov.uk/government/s...
This is what happens when you focus on denials over processing applications properly. It doesn't cut the "backlog", just shifts it.
www.gov.uk/government/s...
Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: July to September 2025
www.gov.uk
December 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
A 123% increase in tribunal receipts, predominately driven by asylum appeals, majority successful, caused by poor initial decision making.
This is what happens when you focus on denials over processing applications properly. It doesn't cut the "backlog", just shifts it.
www.gov.uk/government/s...
This is what happens when you focus on denials over processing applications properly. It doesn't cut the "backlog", just shifts it.
www.gov.uk/government/s...