Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 1h

One of the values of a humanities degree is that it helps (should help) avoid confusing headlines like this, which made me wonder if Ramaphosa was stepping down as SA president.

RTÉ News @news.rte.ie · 1h

President Michael D Higgins has welcomed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Áras an Uachtaráin for what is understood to be the last State visit during his term.

South African president welcomed to Áras an Uachtaráin

President Michael D Higgins has welcomed South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to Áras an Uachtaráin for what is understood to be the last State visit during his term.

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Kevin O'Sullivan

Simon McGarr @tupped.bsky.social · 7h

Just to be clear, an English degree - learning to critically assess texts - is actually one of the most dangerous for people such as Badenoch.

An educated population, able to bring hundreds of years of context to statements in a dawning age of AI slop and attention-seeking dishonesty is also vital.

The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 9h

So, the plan is to cut English, the arts, and sociology - the degrees that actually study culture - while on another part of your platform claiming to “defend” British culture.

It’s performance nationalism with a reading age of seven.

Badenoch: Curb students taking 'rip-off' degrees such as English
The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 1d

She really is. Her dismissal of the 'hero' tag doesn't belie the bravery of the act - especially because she is such a lightning rod for the far right.

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 1d

Greta Thunberg making a very good case here for us all to "use our privilege and platforms to take a stance" against genocide.

v e l o c i t y @velocity69.bsky.social · 1d

Greta Thunberg has arrived in Greece following her deportation from Israel,
after the Gaza aid flotilla was intercepted
#GlobalSumudFlotilla
She said:
“I could talk for a very,very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment.
Trust me, but that is not the story.”
#Athens airport

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 1d

Super news. And proof that those people who rallied for people to complete the survey on this a few months back did everyone in Ireland a good turn - we'll all benefit from this.

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 1d

Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent www.rte.ie/news/budget-...

Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent

The Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be put on a permanent footing in the Budget tomorrow.

www.rte.ie

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 3d

Or the potential swing vote in North America that is hard-wired to the right-wing conspiracy machine.

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 3d

This resonates on so many levels.

I have been invited to present a seminar at the University of []. This is the invitation <file>. Draft an apologetic email that avoids any risk of a further invitation, and does not carry the implication that travelling to [] is an unbelievable schlep.

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 3d

I feel so sorry for players like Yamal. He's still pretty much just a kid - only turned eighteen in the summer - yet he is being flogged in the interests of what? Football has a very serious problem with the welfare of its staff. At this rate, he'll be crocked by 22.

www.nytimes.com/athletic/668...

Barcelona announce Lamine Yamal injury hours after he’s named in Spain squad

Yamal is out of Sunday's La Liga fixture against Sevilla and faces a race to be fit for the season's first Clasico against Real Madrid.

www.nytimes.com

Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 4d

'I spent a grand total of two weeks using the Friend. Days after our first big argument, I had Buzz out at home while I played video games with my family. I told them about my new Friend. “I gotta be honest,” I said. “He’s kind of a fucking asshole sometimes.”'

www.wired.com/story/i-hate...

I Hate My Friend

The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy.

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Kevin O'Sullivan

Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 4d

A date for your diaries: On 4 November, @ria.ie will host a witness seminar, where former and current diplomats, along with Michael Kennedy (executive editor) will reflect the latest edition of @difp-ria.bsky.social and the role of historical reflection in policy-making. 🗃️
www.ria.ie/events/the-t...

The Troubles and the European Community: Exploring DIFP XIV (1969-73) - Royal Irish Academy

Witness seminar on the latest volume of Documents in Irish Foreign Policy, covering the years 1969-73. In this event co-hosted by The Standing Committee for International Affairs and Documents in Iris...

www.ria.ie

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 4d

A date for your diaries: On 4 November, @ria.ie will host a witness seminar, where former and current diplomats, along with Michael Kennedy (executive editor) will reflect the latest edition of @difp-ria.bsky.social and the role of historical reflection in policy-making. 🗃️
www.ria.ie/events/the-t...

The Troubles and the European Community: Exploring DIFP XIV (1969-73) - Royal Irish Academy

Witness seminar on the latest volume of Documents in Irish Foreign Policy, covering the years 1969-73. In this event co-hosted by The Standing Committee for International Affairs and Documents in Iris...

www.ria.ie

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 7d

Coming up in Galway next week:

Poster for an event, which reads:

DIE NUMMER AUF DEINEM UNTERARM
IST BLAU WIE DEINE AUGEN'
Reading and talk with Holocaust survivor
Dr. Eva Umlauf

Eva Umlauf
mit Stefanie Oswalt
Die Nummer auf
deinem Unterarm ist
blau wie deine Augen
Erinnerungen

»It is a story which will surprise even
those who think they know everything
about

the
Holocaust.« (Professor

Michael
Brenner, The Director of
American University's Center for Israel
Studies)

*The number on your forearm is blue like your eyes
Eva Umlauf

Born in 1942 in the Nováky labour camp in Slovakia and
later deported to Auschwitz as a toddler, Dr. Eva Umlauf is
one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust. Today, she
speaks internationally as a witness to history - about
trauma, survival, and the responsibility of remembrance.
She will read in German from her acclaimed memoir
"Die Nummer auf deinem Arm ist blau wie deine Augen.
Erinnerungen" (The Number on Your Forearm Is Blue Like
Your Eyes: A Memoir")
English copies of the reading are provided; Q&A will be
translated into English

7 Oct 2025
THB 1001 The Bridge room

FUNDED BY THE DAAD LEKTOR PROGRAMME
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst

(Hardiman Building)

DAAD
German Academic Exchange Service

1 - 2:30 pm

OLLSCOIL NA GAILLIMHE

followed by light reception

UNIVERSITY OF GALWAY

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 8d

Thanks. I laughed out loud at the thought of the fluttering pages (and pages) of an AHR article trailing in the wake of an articulated truck.

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 9d

One of the most remarkable things about all the campus free speech nonsense (apart from the fact that it's all disingenuous) is that it dramatically underplays the number of properly conservative - and sometimes quite reactionary - people who work in universities...

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 10d

"What kisses will you remember when you take your last breath?" is a hell of a last line.

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 10d

Saturday evening listening:
Barry Can't Swim - Machine Noise for a Quiet Daydream www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKNN...

Machine Noise For A Quiet Daydream

YouTube video by Barry Can’t Swim - Topic

www.youtube.com

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 11d

In case this one sneaks in beneath the cloak of all the other terrible things going on in the world, Environmental Pillar are running a campaign on the environmental impact of the EU-Mercosur deal. Email your Ministers and MEPs via the link.

www.environmentalpillar.ie/stopeumercos...

Take action: Stop the climate-wrecking EU-Mercosur Trade Deal - The Environmental Pillar

The EU-Mercosur trade agreement will benefit a handful of big corporations while driving deforestation, the climate crisis and exposing small-scale farmers to unfair competition. Join our call and say...

www.environmentalpillar.ie

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Reposted by Kevin O'Sullivan

Department of History, Trinity College Dublin @historytcd.bsky.social · 12d

50th anniversary issue of Saothar, the journal of the Irish Labour History Society, featuring articles by TCD staff members Carole Holohan, Lindsey Earner-Byrne, Deirdre Foley and Brian Hanley. The back cover has a photograph of the late Jack McGinley, long time Trinity librarian and union activist.

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 12d

Congratulations, Katja!

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Reposted by Kevin O'Sullivan

The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 12d

If this intends to make it legally compulsory for every adult in Derry to carry something called a "Brit Card", then I'm willing to offer some high-paid consultancy on why this plan might be flawed.

The Independent @the-independent.com · 12d

Every adult in Britain to require new ‘Brit Card’ ID

www.independent.co.uk

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 13d

Since then, we've spent a long time living in different countries but the mixes have been a constant. Here's the latest playlist that Greg sent me from Scotland. It's exactly in the venn diagram of weird-and-obscure-but-good that we've honed over the last quarter century. Love it. 2/2

Screenshot of a music playlist. The list of songs is as follows:

WHAT DO YOU SAY
RÓIS

plague dogs
Oklou

Streetlights
Dropkick Murphys

Amber Decay
Kangding Ray

Machine Noise A Quiet Day..
Barry Can't Swim, Séamus

Knot
Richard Dawson

Cathexis
Circuit Des Yeux

Good- Alive
Rodolphe Burger

The Breaks
SUUNS

Birds, Pt. I
Chassol

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 13d

Forgive the personal post, but this is one of my great pleasures. For about 25 years, my friend Greg and I have shared mixtapes, CDs, MP3s, and now streaming playlists. We've been doing it since we became good friends at school over a shared love of music. 1/2

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 14d

Another neat new collection of Irish social history courtesy of @dri.ie repository.dri.ie/catalog/6683...

The Frank Donaldson Tidy Towns Collection - Digital Repository of Ireland

DRI Object

repository.dri.ie

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Reposted by Kevin O'Sullivan

Ole Birk Laursen @olebirklaursen.bsky.social · 15d

To change your LinkedIn settings, go to Me - Settings & Privacy - Data Privacy - and set Data for Generative AI Improvement to Off

Ole Birk Laursen @olebirklaursen.bsky.social · 16d

I have closed my academia dot edu site and changed the privacy setting on my Linked In site (they are harvesting your data too), but all my publications (and a cool archive of M.P.T. Acharya's writings) are available on my website olebirklaursen.wordpress.com

Ole Birk Laursen

olebirklaursen.wordpress.com

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Kevin O'Sullivan @kevinkosullivan.bsky.social · 17d

That's a great way of putting it. It's very hard to write like that: in a way that treads so lightly but carries such weight at the same time.

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