Paul Johnson
@ptwiddle.bsky.social
American mathematician in the UK. Mellowing in middle age.
Misheard the lyrics to SPRINTS's Up and Cover as "open cover" and now I have the urge to go do some proofs about compact sets...
November 21, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Misheard the lyrics to SPRINTS's Up and Cover as "open cover" and now I have the urge to go do some proofs about compact sets...
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Our branch report into SHU's finances calls for a public enquiry into decision making at the university. There may be sector-wide challenges but at SHU one of the issues is governance. The report is here: ucuhallam.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Union calls for inquiry into Sheffield Hallam University finances
Sheffield Hallam University has invested in a new city centre campus and facilities in London.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Our branch report into SHU's finances calls for a public enquiry into decision making at the university. There may be sector-wide challenges but at SHU one of the issues is governance. The report is here: ucuhallam.org
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Few things bug me more than higher ed leaders saying that we lost our mission and lost the trust of the public, when we have actually been the target of a decades-long smear campaign by the right wing that worked. The moment we’re losing our mission is right now, in capitulation.
November 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Few things bug me more than higher ed leaders saying that we lost our mission and lost the trust of the public, when we have actually been the target of a decades-long smear campaign by the right wing that worked. The moment we’re losing our mission is right now, in capitulation.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Health is a social problem, not a technical one. It will be solved socially and politically, or not at all.
“We’re drawn to magic bullet solutions that cannot solve complex social problems. It is all too easy for someone who makes a genuinely profound discovery to think they have found the secret of life, or the environment, or disease.”
Opinion | James Watson Saw the True Form of DNA. Then It Blinded Him.
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Health is a social problem, not a technical one. It will be solved socially and politically, or not at all.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Reposted by Paul Johnson
One of the most important lessons you have to learn about what a university "is" is a very vulgar marxist distinction between its *managers* (directly or indirectly appointed by capital and/or state government) and its *labor,* who come to the university out of love and idealism.
November 15, 2025 at 2:41 PM
One of the most important lessons you have to learn about what a university "is" is a very vulgar marxist distinction between its *managers* (directly or indirectly appointed by capital and/or state government) and its *labor,* who come to the university out of love and idealism.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
"These cuts have probably already taken about 3,000 jobs out of the local economy"
We report from the frontline as @ucuhallam.bsky.social members begin a fresh wave of strike action against @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social 🪧
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
#Sheffield @ucu.org.uk @drjogrady.bsky.social
We report from the frontline as @ucuhallam.bsky.social members begin a fresh wave of strike action against @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social 🪧
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
#Sheffield @ucu.org.uk @drjogrady.bsky.social
Sheffield Hallam staff are going on strike – but will the university listen?
This week marks the first of strike action at Sheffield Hallam. Now Then headed down to the picket line to find out why staff are choosing to swap their lanyards for placards over the next few weeks.
nowthenmagazine.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:27 PM
"These cuts have probably already taken about 3,000 jobs out of the local economy"
We report from the frontline as @ucuhallam.bsky.social members begin a fresh wave of strike action against @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social 🪧
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
#Sheffield @ucu.org.uk @drjogrady.bsky.social
We report from the frontline as @ucuhallam.bsky.social members begin a fresh wave of strike action against @sheffieldhallamuni.bsky.social 🪧
✍️ @rose-mason.bsky.social
#Sheffield @ucu.org.uk @drjogrady.bsky.social
Parliament is recalled to save a steelworks with a few thousand jobs, but to the degree Universities closing and shrinking is thought of at all there seems to be gled.
Some metaphor about not being able to just switch the blast furnaces back on here.
Some metaphor about not being able to just switch the blast furnaces back on here.
'The prospect of hundreds of job cuts at Lancaster University could damage the city's economy, students have warned.'
'Could'? Surely 'will'.
'Could'? Surely 'will'.
Fears Lancaster University job cuts would hit city's businesses
Lancaster University is seeking to cut 400 full-time posts as part of efforts to save £30m.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Parliament is recalled to save a steelworks with a few thousand jobs, but to the degree Universities closing and shrinking is thought of at all there seems to be gled.
Some metaphor about not being able to just switch the blast furnaces back on here.
Some metaphor about not being able to just switch the blast furnaces back on here.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
We’re going to need a bigger little treat
November 13, 2025 at 9:08 AM
We’re going to need a bigger little treat
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Peter Coviello isn't on Bluesky, but this definitely should be: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Peter Coviello isn't on Bluesky, but this definitely should be: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
I saw a headline about this this morning, but only clocked now that it's just across town...
Sheffield Hallam was pressured by the Chinese state to shut down research into human rights abuses and gave in.
“It’s incredibly worrying that Hallam appears to have silenced its own professor on behalf of a foreign government.” Jo Grady.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
“It’s incredibly worrying that Hallam appears to have silenced its own professor on behalf of a foreign government.” Jo Grady.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I saw a headline about this this morning, but only clocked now that it's just across town...
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Yep the government will consider any possible tax except for re-instating the fuel escalator.
Petrol is now cheaper than it was in 2003
Petrol is now cheaper than it was in 2003
It is not true “England cannot effectively subsidise travel costs”. Retired people get free travel. By freezing the fuel duty escalator we are subsidising car drivers, which compounds inequality. See more here: bettertransport.org.uk/media/groups...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
No free bus passes for under 22s, says goverment
The Commons Transport Committee recommended scrapping bus fares for young people in August.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 2, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Yep the government will consider any possible tax except for re-instating the fuel escalator.
Petrol is now cheaper than it was in 2003
Petrol is now cheaper than it was in 2003
Reposted by Paul Johnson
i like
big
trunks and i cannot lie
you other travelers can't deny
that when a shattered visage lies in the sand
with a sneer of cold command
you get sprung
from the passions read
from a hand mocked and heart fed
that pedestal tried to warn me
but "look upon my works" makes (me-me-me so horny)
big
trunks and i cannot lie
you other travelers can't deny
that when a shattered visage lies in the sand
with a sneer of cold command
you get sprung
from the passions read
from a hand mocked and heart fed
that pedestal tried to warn me
but "look upon my works" makes (me-me-me so horny)
Some traveller once told me
He's from a land so old he
Saw a pair of vast and trunkless legs
Near them on the sand
An expression of command
The sneering visage on a half-sunk head
Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Lone level sands to horizon running
He's from a land so old he
Saw a pair of vast and trunkless legs
Near them on the sand
An expression of command
The sneering visage on a half-sunk head
Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming
Lone level sands to horizon running
my name is Oz
and wen the stone
is broke to bits
and all alone
i lie in sand
it stretches bare
you read my words
you pls despair
and wen the stone
is broke to bits
and all alone
i lie in sand
it stretches bare
you read my words
you pls despair
October 31, 2025 at 9:54 PM
i like
big
trunks and i cannot lie
you other travelers can't deny
that when a shattered visage lies in the sand
with a sneer of cold command
you get sprung
from the passions read
from a hand mocked and heart fed
that pedestal tried to warn me
but "look upon my works" makes (me-me-me so horny)
big
trunks and i cannot lie
you other travelers can't deny
that when a shattered visage lies in the sand
with a sneer of cold command
you get sprung
from the passions read
from a hand mocked and heart fed
that pedestal tried to warn me
but "look upon my works" makes (me-me-me so horny)
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Mathematician Karl Weierstrass was born #OTD, Halloween, in 1815. 🧪 🎃
The fools at The Academy all said he was mad, but he showed them all in 1872 when he announced that he had created a MONSTER. Let's learn about the terrible thing he did.
Image: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
The fools at The Academy all said he was mad, but he showed them all in 1872 when he announced that he had created a MONSTER. Let's learn about the terrible thing he did.
Image: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
October 31, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Mathematician Karl Weierstrass was born #OTD, Halloween, in 1815. 🧪 🎃
The fools at The Academy all said he was mad, but he showed them all in 1872 when he announced that he had created a MONSTER. Let's learn about the terrible thing he did.
Image: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
The fools at The Academy all said he was mad, but he showed them all in 1872 when he announced that he had created a MONSTER. Let's learn about the terrible thing he did.
Image: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Magisterial
October 30, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Magisterial
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Morning walk
September 26, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Morning walk
Reposted by Paul Johnson
One of the most psychotic both-sides headlines I've ever seen
October 29, 2025 at 12:20 PM
One of the most psychotic both-sides headlines I've ever seen
Reposted by Paul Johnson
In other news (because life goes on): my third-year students have, entirely without prompting, achieved a 0% response rate to the "module evaluation" survey.
I could not be prouder of them.
I could not be prouder of them.
October 27, 2025 at 10:08 AM
In other news (because life goes on): my third-year students have, entirely without prompting, achieved a 0% response rate to the "module evaluation" survey.
I could not be prouder of them.
I could not be prouder of them.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
I think about this a lot.
October 25, 2025 at 11:12 AM
I think about this a lot.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Student: Teacher, why do we learn?
Socrates: For life!
Freire: For liberation!
Dewey: For democracy!
Neoliberal EduWonks: To mitigate overhead costs for employers and increase future projections of GDP!
Socrates: For life!
Freire: For liberation!
Dewey: For democracy!
Neoliberal EduWonks: To mitigate overhead costs for employers and increase future projections of GDP!
It’s really absurd that we’ve reached a point where the “common sense” view of education is that its primary purpose is to lower the future onboarding/training costs for companies hiring new employees.
April 29, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Student: Teacher, why do we learn?
Socrates: For life!
Freire: For liberation!
Dewey: For democracy!
Neoliberal EduWonks: To mitigate overhead costs for employers and increase future projections of GDP!
Socrates: For life!
Freire: For liberation!
Dewey: For democracy!
Neoliberal EduWonks: To mitigate overhead costs for employers and increase future projections of GDP!
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Books also. I am so tired of the text snapshot with no credit on any platform.
October 24, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Books also. I am so tired of the text snapshot with no credit on any platform.
Reposted by Paul Johnson
'Research by Public First warned that the North East could lose £87m in the first year of a levy due to projected falls in international student numbers'.
Siri, what's an own goal? And why can't mainstream media find better images to capture what universities do and why it matters?
Siri, what's an own goal? And why can't mainstream media find better images to capture what universities do and why it matters?
North East universities 'concerned' at overseas student levy hike
The levy will pay for maintenance grants, but North East universities say there will be challenges.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 10:09 AM
'Research by Public First warned that the North East could lose £87m in the first year of a levy due to projected falls in international student numbers'.
Siri, what's an own goal? And why can't mainstream media find better images to capture what universities do and why it matters?
Siri, what's an own goal? And why can't mainstream media find better images to capture what universities do and why it matters?
Reposted by Paul Johnson
EMILY DICKINSON, JEDI KNIGHT
Not so clumsy, nor so random -
As a blaster - in its rage
More elegant - the weapon
More civilized - the age
Not so clumsy, nor so random -
As a blaster - in its rage
More elegant - the weapon
More civilized - the age
October 22, 2025 at 8:24 PM
EMILY DICKINSON, JEDI KNIGHT
Not so clumsy, nor so random -
As a blaster - in its rage
More elegant - the weapon
More civilized - the age
Not so clumsy, nor so random -
As a blaster - in its rage
More elegant - the weapon
More civilized - the age
Reposted by Paul Johnson
Some recent attempts to transport the @longbarrowpress.bsky.social inventory to book fairs via public transport. You can help to make the return journey more comfortable by visiting our stall at @smallpublishers.bsky.social, Conway Hall, London, this Friday & Saturday (11am-7pm, admission free).
October 22, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Some recent attempts to transport the @longbarrowpress.bsky.social inventory to book fairs via public transport. You can help to make the return journey more comfortable by visiting our stall at @smallpublishers.bsky.social, Conway Hall, London, this Friday & Saturday (11am-7pm, admission free).