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Reposted by Alistair Kitchen

Jewish Council of Australia @jewishcouncilau.bsky.social · 1d

Read @sarahschwartz.bsky.social personal letter in The Guardian today | When you first heard me speak against this genocide, you heard my words as betrayal. But they were meant as love

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

When you first heard me speak against this genocide, you heard my words as betrayal. But they were meant as love | Sarah Schwartz

Not speaking would go against everything I was taught to honour: the righteous among the nations – those who refused to be bystanders to injustice

www.theguardian.com

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Benjamin Clark @benjamin-clark.bsky.social · 3d

In today’s @crikey.com.au, I wrote about the furore over Albanese’s appearance at the UK Labour conference.

The problem wasn’t that it was partisan, but that he intervened in the internal politics of UK Labour, backing Starmer against a rising chorus of critics.
www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/06/a...

Albanese’s speech to UK Labour wasn’t partisan — it was factional

Why has Albanese stuck his neck out for the incumbent? Because Starmer has, in many, ways emulated Albanese.

www.crikey.com.au

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Save Meanjin @savemeanjin.bsky.social · 4d

"It took more than an hour after the story broke, and was covered by several mastheads, to receive official notice from MUP; a group email confirming Meanjin’s immediate closure." ~Emma Sutherland, Archives Editor at Meanjin in @artshub.bsky.social this weekend.
www.artshub.com.au/news/opinion...

I was the Archives Editor at Meanjin – its closure is baffling

As Archives Editor, Emma Sutherland had ‘read everything’ in Meanjin's past, but was unprepared for its troubled present.

www.artshub.com.au

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 4d

As stipulated 🙂‍↕️

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Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social · 4d

I’m actually well-regarded and successful.

Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 4d

I wrote about the man everyone loves to hate, @mattyglesias.bsky.social . www.kitchencounter.blog/p/mr-opinion

Mr Opinion

Matt Yglesias and his discontents

www.kitchencounter.blog

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 4d

h/t @maxread.info

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 4d

I wrote about the man everyone loves to hate, @mattyglesias.bsky.social . www.kitchencounter.blog/p/mr-opinion

Mr Opinion

Matt Yglesias and his discontents

www.kitchencounter.blog

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 8d

Wrote this the day Mahmoud Khalil was arrested. I was later deported for it.

Today a US federal judge confirmed what I wrote. open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

On the deportation of dissent

When I, an international student in the US, began writing dispatches from the protests at Columbia last year I felt as though good things were once again possible.

open.substack.com

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 8d

Very proud of my colleagues right now--especially @ramyakrishnan.bsky.social and @alexabdo.bsky.social. But we could not have got this far without the superb trial lawyers at Sher Tremonte. Grateful to them for all of the time and energy they put into this case. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech

www.nytimes.com

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Phil Bildner @philbildner.bsky.social · 15d

This is such a useful resource from @penamerica.bsky.social

"What To Do If You’ve Been Doxed Or Placed On A Watchlist"

Please consider letting others know that this exists.

pen.org/what-to-do-i...

What To Do If You’ve Been Doxed Or Placed On A Watchlist

We map out steps you can take right away, and steps you can take to build resilience longer term against doxing.

pen.org

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Lasse Marhaug @lassemarhaug.bsky.social · 17d

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 17d

A lot of non-Americans feel embarrassed by their own fixation with the US. They shouldn’t.

Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 17d

open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

The only show in town

We're all trapped in here with you

open.substack.com

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 17d

open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

The only show in town

We're all trapped in here with you

open.substack.com

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Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 18d

"Far from being an amoral free-for-all, liberalism is, in fact, extremely difficult and constraining, far too much so for those who cannot endure contradiction, complexity, diversity, and the risks of freedom.”

― Judith N. Shklar, Ordinary Vices

Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 18d

I think fundamentally, the ability to care about the rights of a small and vulnerable minority (of whom you might know no members) is an important sign of whether you are committed to human rights out of principle, or out of mere convenience.

Rose Schmits @roseschmits.bsky.social · 19d

Being nice to trans people really did turn out to be a load bearing part of liberal democracy ey

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 19d

www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 20d

From sootyempiric.blogspot.com/2025/08/woke...

(There is even a far more sympathetic and even more vindicatory narrative available. The woke crowd claimed there were a bunch of authoritarian bigot-fanatics waiting in the wings unless we suppress them through various fairly soft means, largely social pressure and ostracism at harshest. The reactionary centre spent ages saying they were ridiculous, and in alliance with the right basically won in the cultural sphere meaning we did not suppress those forces. Then American political life was in fact taken over by authoritarian bigots who proceeded to defund USAID because aid goes to too many dark skinned people and give the president power to review college syllabi. How were the woke not just right? Maybe their flaw was that their methods of suppression were not sufficiently harsh! Whether or not you think this is fair, for what its worth I think it oversimplifies too, I think it's obvious that this telling of events will clearly be tempting to plenty of people. Certainly in the near future, and who knows maybe for future generations too.)

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 21d

Australian masculinity, whiteness, loss, cane toads, Gerard Manley Hopkins… my neighbours who farmed worms... It’s all in there.

Please support the magazine, and Australian intellectual life, at this link: islandmag.com/next-issue

ISLAND | Australian Literary and Arts MagazineIsland Magazine

islandmag.com

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 21d

The culling of @meanjin.bsky.social shows just how fragile, and threatened, Australia’s literary ecosystem is. And yet the editors at @islandmag.bsky.social were willing to take a risk on a piece that tries to do… a lot

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 21d

Hi all. An essay I’m very proud of, an elegy to the Queensland rainforests I grew up in, will appear in @islandmag.bsky.social 175.

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 22d

open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

Contra Ganz on Guns

Escaping the habits of American exceptionalism

open.substack.com

Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 25d

Australia takes in roughly the same number of immigrants as the UK but has less than half the base population.

Amrk @amrk.bsky.social · 25d

(Australian Labor’s immigration policies make UK Labour look like the DSA, for the record)

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · 27d

open.substack.com/pub/alistair...

The final argument of Charlie Kirk

He died doing what he loved

open.substack.com

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Save Meanjin @savemeanjin.bsky.social · 28d

Rally tomorrow morning: 9am at MUP
Hear from literary giants, show your support, #savemeanjin
Details at savemeanjin.org

Save Meanjin

Save Meanjin from closure

savemeanjin.org

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Francis Markham @francismarkham.bsky.social · Sep 7

Australian universities are in a governance crisis. VC pay blowouts, scandals, mission drift — these aren’t random, they’re structural.

This new working paper with @marijataflaga.bsky.social & Keith Dowding digs into why the system is broken, and how to fix it.

doi.org/10.25911/MWW...

A thread:

Neither corporate nor government: Why university governance needs to be different, and better
Marija Taflaga, Francis Markham and Keith Dowding.

Preprint, 29 August 2025. https://doi.org/10.25911/MWW4-9781

Abstract
Australian universities face a governance crisis rooted in failures of accountability. Unlike parliaments and corporate boards, university councils lack effective mechanisms for principals to discipline agents. In parliaments, voters can replace elected representatives; in corporations, shareholders can vote out directors. Both systems close the delegation–accountability loop, ensuring alignment between principals and outcomes. University councils, however, are self-perpetuating bodies dominated by external appointees, and in recent decades they are typically from corporate backgrounds. As neither producers nor consumers of universities’ core product—knowledge creation and dissemination—they have minimal intrinsic stake in academic outcomes leaving councils detached from the university’s core mission. This misalignment fosters mission drift, weakens oversight, and contributes to repeated scandals. Because councils largely appoint their own successors, they remain insulated from meaningful scrutiny, unlike boards or parliaments where underperformance is sanctioned externally. Restoring accountability requires giving academic staff and students a renewed oversight role, alongside clear safeguards for the public interest. Because academics and students are both producers and consumers of knowledge, they have a direct and enduring stake in its quality. We recommend two mechanisms to do this are:
1. Academic Senates empowered to appoint and review council members, ensuring councils reflect the university’s purpose.
2. Robust Committee Systems that embed staff and student voices in decision-making, reduce information asymmetries, and align incentives with academic purposes.

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Alistair Kitchen @alistairkitchen.bsky.social · Sep 8

I signed the letter and I hope you do too

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