ProfAFinlayson
@profafinlayson.bsky.social
Prof of Political & Social Theory @ UEA: regularly a political theorist, often a political analyst, always a rhetorician. Sometimes I teach people how to make political speeches; usually they are happy about it. Mostly I study Reactionary Digital Politics.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
What makes a great British leader? Can Starmer survive? Farage for No.10? Tory comeback? Packed room + brilliant Q&A with @tobysjames.bsky.social , @timbale.bsky.social , @emmanuelleavril.bsky.social, Professor Patrick Diamond and and Professor Charles Clarke. Watch it! 👇 #UKPolitics #Leadership
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:26 AM
What makes a great British leader? Can Starmer survive? Farage for No.10? Tory comeback? Packed room + brilliant Q&A with @tobysjames.bsky.social , @timbale.bsky.social , @emmanuelleavril.bsky.social, Professor Patrick Diamond and and Professor Charles Clarke. Watch it! 👇 #UKPolitics #Leadership
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a…
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
November 27, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a…
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Great piece updating the critique of culture industries for the age of the platform mega-rentier www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
The Same Stream Twice | Rob Arcand
Two recent books, Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine and Andrew deWaard’s Derivative Media, explore the consequences of these technological intermediaries for the music, film, and television industries. While P...
www.nplusonemag.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Great piece updating the critique of culture industries for the age of the platform mega-rentier www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Anyone angry about their income taxes rising due to frozen thresholds, can recommend a career in academia
November 27, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Anyone angry about their income taxes rising due to frozen thresholds, can recommend a career in academia
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Worth saying they tech policy (which is currently economically driven) is not at all left-wing though - strongly influenced by Silicon Valley tech and US foreign policy, with a sprinkle of Centrist Dad tech authoritarianism
Starmer and Reeves run probably the most economically left-wing government of past five decades and yet bleeding support to its left thanks to dumb strategy www.economist.com/britain/2025...
November 27, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Worth saying they tech policy (which is currently economically driven) is not at all left-wing though - strongly influenced by Silicon Valley tech and US foreign policy, with a sprinkle of Centrist Dad tech authoritarianism
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
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
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
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
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Parliament & press are having the most basic seminar on ‘media bias’ after decades of denouncing Media Studies.
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Parliament & press are having the most basic seminar on ‘media bias’ after decades of denouncing Media Studies.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
answer is great but also it's telling that the guy who's been saying this since day 1 has to answer about whether he's an antisemite for 5 min every interview while the same people grin vacantly at the jewish space lasers lady and call her a brave warrior
WELKER: What is your message to Jewish New Yorkers who feel you won't be tough enough in your response to antisemitism?
MAMDANI: That I am looking forward to being the next mayor and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them
MAMDANI: That I am looking forward to being the next mayor and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them
November 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
answer is great but also it's telling that the guy who's been saying this since day 1 has to answer about whether he's an antisemite for 5 min every interview while the same people grin vacantly at the jewish space lasers lady and call her a brave warrior
This is well worth a read. The interviewer is a bit stuck on being surprised that he departs from liberal orthodoxy but it does let him show that he has a wide ranging political philosophy/theology - one that is part of both a long historic tradition and a contemporary international alliance (1/?)
‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger
He was a Conservative party big-hitter who wrote speeches for David Cameron and worked with Boris Johnson before he suddenly jumped ship. He talks family, flags and why Nigel Farage is ‘top dog’
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:26 PM
This is well worth a read. The interviewer is a bit stuck on being surprised that he departs from liberal orthodoxy but it does let him show that he has a wide ranging political philosophy/theology - one that is part of both a long historic tradition and a contemporary international alliance (1/?)
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
"I expect to be helping him, not hurting him. A big help" -- Trump is totally charmed by Mamdani
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM
"I expect to be helping him, not hurting him. A big help" -- Trump is totally charmed by Mamdani
Incredible. At several levels.
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.
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
November 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Incredible. At several levels.
Empirical verification of the effectiveness of a political speech, confirmation of what we know happens when you amplify your opponent’s issues and a demonstration of the - still inexplicable? - wrong-headedness of Labour’s self-destructive political strategy.
Latest piece for the @thehousemag.bsky.social, on the island of strangers speech and similar. Also ft Bob Hawke.
www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
The Professor Will See You Now: Island of strangers
Lessons in political science. This week: island of strangers
www.politicshome.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Empirical verification of the effectiveness of a political speech, confirmation of what we know happens when you amplify your opponent’s issues and a demonstration of the - still inexplicable? - wrong-headedness of Labour’s self-destructive political strategy.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Just catching up with this amazing bit of London Centric reporting and this is such an excellent description of the weird epistemic ambiguity produced by AI: "There’s clearly something political about it but nobody knows what it is." www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
London's giant AI artwork to be torn down
The bizarre story of why a much-talked-about creation is being torn down. Plus: Docklands Light Railway extension, giant laser stalks the night sky, and more tales of Android phone theft rejection.
www.londoncentric.media
November 21, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Just catching up with this amazing bit of London Centric reporting and this is such an excellent description of the weird epistemic ambiguity produced by AI: "There’s clearly something political about it but nobody knows what it is." www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
Interesting numbers. In 2023 YouGov found 69% of Americans rewatch TV episodes monthly; 16% daily. Part of a shift to TV viewing as 'emotional regulation' or ambient background to home working. Breakdown of a common culture but also a change in the uses and gratifications of popular culture.
The Rise of "Mindless" TV: Quantifying a New Way of (Kinda) Watching Television
How “mindless” viewing became a common way of watching TV.
www.statsignificant.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Interesting numbers. In 2023 YouGov found 69% of Americans rewatch TV episodes monthly; 16% daily. Part of a shift to TV viewing as 'emotional regulation' or ambient background to home working. Breakdown of a common culture but also a change in the uses and gratifications of popular culture.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
New @carefultrouble.bsky.social paper out today with a whole bevy of academic partners, on the impacts of AI in urban environments. As the plan for AI Growth Zones starts to roll out, we find innovation policy is disconnected from the real impacts of AI on people and places
November 19, 2025 at 8:43 AM
New @carefultrouble.bsky.social paper out today with a whole bevy of academic partners, on the impacts of AI in urban environments. As the plan for AI Growth Zones starts to roll out, we find innovation policy is disconnected from the real impacts of AI on people and places
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
I think it’s important to understand that for Reform’s ideologists the politics of asylum isn’t just about immigration/‘cultural coherence’. It’s a wedge to open a way to something they really really want: repeal of The Human Rights Act, which they desire for several reasons (1/?)
November 18, 2025 at 10:03 AM
I think it’s important to understand that for Reform’s ideologists the politics of asylum isn’t just about immigration/‘cultural coherence’. It’s a wedge to open a way to something they really really want: repeal of The Human Rights Act, which they desire for several reasons (1/?)
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
An incredibly Trump-era headline theintercept.com/2025/11/17/p...
Pardoned Capitol Rioter Tried to Hush Child Sex Victim With Promise of Jan. 6 Reparation Money, Police Say
Pardoned Capitol rioter Andrew Johnson tried to keep a child sex abuse victim quiet with claimed $10 million Jan. 6 reparations, police say.
theintercept.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:57 AM
An incredibly Trump-era headline theintercept.com/2025/11/17/p...
“I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that”.
Speaking of Larry Summers, this is from a memo that went out under his name, actually written by Lant Pritchett, in 1991:
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted…, Their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low…."
[1/3]
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted…, Their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low…."
[1/3]
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:53 AM
“I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that”.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Speaking of Larry Summers, this is from a memo that went out under his name, actually written by Lant Pritchett, in 1991:
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted…, Their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low…."
[1/3]
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted…, Their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low…."
[1/3]
www.dropbox.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Speaking of Larry Summers, this is from a memo that went out under his name, actually written by Lant Pritchett, in 1991:
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted…, Their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low…."
[1/3]
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa are vastly under-polluted…, Their air quality is probably vastly inefficiently low…."
[1/3]
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Rather gobsmacked & honoured to find that I have been named Australia's top researcher in political science by The Australian!
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au
November 18, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Rather gobsmacked & honoured to find that I have been named Australia's top researcher in political science by The Australian!
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
New Substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe... Parts of the Labour party and BBC simply don't know what their jobs should be.
On incompetence
Much of our political culture is fundamentally incompetent.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
New Substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe... Parts of the Labour party and BBC simply don't know what their jobs should be.
It’s one thing to abandon your politics for your economics; another to abandon your economics for your politics. But to abandon both for the sake of neither?
November 15, 2025 at 8:24 AM
It’s one thing to abandon your politics for your economics; another to abandon your economics for your politics. But to abandon both for the sake of neither?
Donald Trump to stop making cents.
Nice piece on the economic effects.
www.richmondfed.org/publications...
Nice piece on the economic effects.
www.richmondfed.org/publications...
Rounding Up: The Impact of Phasing Out the Penny
A
www.richmondfed.org
November 15, 2025 at 7:54 AM
Donald Trump to stop making cents.
Nice piece on the economic effects.
www.richmondfed.org/publications...
Nice piece on the economic effects.
www.richmondfed.org/publications...
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
something quite bleakly funny about Rachel Reeves apparently being extremely good at chess when her entire tenure as Chancellor so far has basically been "well this seems like a good choice right this moment.......let's not think about the further implications of that choice for even one second"
November 14, 2025 at 12:32 PM
something quite bleakly funny about Rachel Reeves apparently being extremely good at chess when her entire tenure as Chancellor so far has basically been "well this seems like a good choice right this moment.......let's not think about the further implications of that choice for even one second"