Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Zach Halper @zanath.bsky.social · 3h

"We took freedom of speech away" should be in every campaign ad moving forward.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

63 1.1K 3.3K

Lloyd Meadhbh Houston @lejhouston.bsky.social · 12h

Autism hive-mind: does anyone have a sense of the etymology / origins of 'meltdown' as a metaphor for autistic overwhelm?

When it was first used / popularized as an analogy? Whether it was a community-originated term, or a medical one? Particularly influential deployments that lent it currency?

3 2

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

The Bear @bearlypolitics.co.uk · 18h

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

69 260 750

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Aoife Bhreatnach @aoifeb.bsky.social · 15h

This #BannedBooksWeek I'm remembering all the books I read at the wrong time, when they were "age inappropriate". Some of them shocked and scared me but I don't regret any of them. 🧵

11 7 120

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Jo (unfunded hobbyist) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 1d

Irrelevant, anti-intellectual morons

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 1d

Breaking: Tories would slash university places by 100k.

Student numbers cap plan billed as saving £3 billion to invest in apprenticeship funding.

Tomorrow, Badenoch will unveil plans to limit student numbers across all subjects.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Tories would slash university places by 100,000 - Research Professional News

Student numbers cap plan billed as saving £3 billion to invest in “doubled” apprenticeship funding

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

1 3

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 2d

Britain’s Natural Party of Government has basically memed itself into chasing the Far Right vote. Proposals that once existed in the darker recesses of X have leapt via substacks and op-Eds into mainstream policy positions, in under a year.

5 24

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 1d

The UK household debt is over £2 trillion.

Debt once public now loaded to households e.g. student debt. Energy debt rising. People borrowing for healthcare.

Mortgages 7 times salary being issued. Soaring rents.

Real average wage stuck at the 2008 level.

What could go wrong?

7 130 290

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts @elliemackinroberts.net · 3d

The infantilisation of Greta Thunberg is ableist. AND people not accounting for her Autism is reductive and disingenuous.

What happened to her and others from the flotilla is atrocious, clearly illegal, demonstrative of Israel as a terrorist state.

1 45 140

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Cassetteboy @cassetteboy.bsky.social · 8d

New! Cassetteboy vs Keir Starmer.

This took absolutely ages, so if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/cassetteboy we'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

95 1.4K 3K

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Fergus Murray @fergus.oolong.co.uk · 5d

Oh man.

Cassetteboy @cassetteboy.bsky.social · 8d

New! Cassetteboy vs Keir Starmer.

This took absolutely ages, so if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi.com/cassetteboy we'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

1 1 5

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Daniella Lock @daniellalock.bsky.social · 5d

The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation's comments on radio 4 today were worrying. He refers to a potential need for legal changes to enable the banning of protests to alleviate the burden on police for national security reasons, while discussing the defend our juries protest on Saturday.

1 4 6

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 6d

🚨Call for Papers!
❓Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities: A VPFA Study Day
🗺️Loughborough University
📅27 March 2026
💷 FREE
For full CfP: victorianpopularfiction.org/studyday/for...
Contact the organiser Anne-Marie Beller (@braddonite.bsky.social) at [email protected] for more information

Mentally ill patients dancing at a ball at Somerset County Asylum. Process
print after a lithograph by K. Drake, ca. 1850/1855.
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/xswz3swa

CFP: Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities
A VPFA Study Day
Loughborough University, 27 March 2026

The Health Humanities and Victorian popular fiction intersect in revealing ways, offering insights into how 19th-century literature shaped and reflected contemporary understandings of health, illness, and the body. Popular narratives not only mirrored anxieties surrounding public health and medical progress but also contributed to shaping public perceptions of health and healing. Health Humanities approaches re-examine these texts to uncover how cultural narratives and literary representations influenced attitudes toward physical and mental well-being, gendered experiences of illness, and the ethics of care in an age of rapid scientific change.

Health Humanities is a particularly useful approach to sensation fiction because it illuminates the ways in which these emotionally charged, often morally ambiguous narratives explore and interrogate concepts of the body, illness, and mental health. Sensation fiction, with its focus on secrets, trauma, nervous disorders, and abnormal psychological states, frequently dramatizes the anxieties of Victorian society surrounding health, gender, and identity. By applying the lens of Health Humanities, scholars can uncover how these texts reflect and shape contemporary medical discourse. Interdisciplinary approaches also highlight how sensation fiction critiques institutional medicine, domestic care practices, and the pathologization of women’s experiences. Ultimately, Health Humanities allows us to see sensation fiction not just as entertainment, but as a culturally significant form that negotiates the meanings of illness, morality, and human vulnerability in a rapidly changing world.

20-minute papers are invited on any aspect of the health humanities and sensation fiction. Topics may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Madness, Hysteria, and the Sensation Heroine
• The Role of Doctors and Medical Authority in Se…

1 17 21

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Health Humanities Research Group @healthhumslboro.bsky.social · 6d

CFP 📣 Join us in Loughborough 📍 for a day of Sensation fiction and health humanities organised by our very own @braddonite.bsky.social. ✨ See post below for details 👇

Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 6d

🚨Call for Papers!
❓Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities: A VPFA Study Day
🗺️Loughborough University
📅27 March 2026
💷 FREE
For full CfP: victorianpopularfiction.org/studyday/for...
Contact the organiser Anne-Marie Beller (@braddonite.bsky.social) at [email protected] for more information

10 15

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Dom Pepin @dompepin.bsky.social · 8d

Can't remember where I read it, but I saw someone say "AI is this generation's asbestos and we'll be weeding it out of everything it touched in generations to come" and I just can't stop thinking about that

1 2 5

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 9d

yeah they're just murdering random people on these boats

Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 9d

I think the Trump admin assumed no one would try to find out who the people on the boats they blew up really were

160 4.7K 15K

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Warwick History Post-Doc Club @post-doc-club.bsky.social · 9d

Great news!
JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month

www.jstor.org/action/showL...

41 1.6K 2.6K

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

FANGORIA @fangoria.bsky.social · 13d

He may play a CREEP but Mark Duplass is a stand-up guy, as Duplass Brothers Productions is teaming up with the Transgender Film Center to launch the Found Footage Fund for trans filmmakers.

CREEP’s Mark Duplass Launches Found Footage Fund For Trans Filmmakers

He may play a CREEP but Mark Duplass is a stand-up guy, as Duplass Brothers Productions is teaming up with the Transgender Film Center to launch the Found Footage Fund for trans filmmakers.

dlvr.it

25 1.3K 3.2K

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Nick Walker @dr-nicky.bsky.social · 13d

The Trump/RFK autism claim makes perfect sense once you remember that MAGA is always about turning the clock back. The claim isn't "Tylenol causes autism," it's "pregnant women taking Tylenol causes autism"... Because the real goal here is to revive the 1950s tradition of blaming autism on women.

3 20

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 18d

Uh oh…

The right isn’t going to like this.

🚨 NEW: A Justice Department official on the Charlie Kirk case told NBC News, “So far, there is no evidence connecting the suspect to any left-wing groups.”

230 1.5K 3.6K

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Nicholas Weaver @ncweaver.skerry-tech.com · 18d

Why is this horrible for Universities?

Just about everyone who isn't a citizen or green card holder already who's hired for a tenure track faculty position is hired through an H1B and then, after 3-5 years, applies for a green card.

This is literally "No more foreign professors can be hired"

Gergely Orosz @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com · 18d

Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.

One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.

25 340 810

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Victory Over the Sun @hrtraulsen.bsky.social · 18d

cool cool cool

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 19d

Ingraham: A Democrat congressional candidate was thrown to the ground by an ICE agent. Good work

1 1

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

lex luddy (ichiban appreciator) @lexluddy.xyz · 19d

I am so fucking tired dude...

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 19d

Heritage Foundation has released an absolutely insane policy proposal to label all trans people as domestic terrorists. It uses completely made up instances of terrorism and made up statistics but facts don't matter to them.

They want us all eradicated.

Page 1:
Flyer from The Heritage Foundation Oversight Project titled “Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism (TIVE): Background and FAQs on Need for an FBI Domestic Terrorism Designation.” The page defines “Transgender Ideology” and “TIVE,” outlining beliefs allegedly associated with them. It claims such ideology justifies violence against opponents or frames opposition as violence. The text references the alleged assassination of Charlie Kirk, urging the FBI to classify TIVE as domestic terrorism.

Page 2:
Continuation of flyer with a section titled “Recent Instances of TIVE-Motivated Acts of Domestic Terrorism.” Lists multiple violent events from 2018 to 2025, attributing them to transgender ideology. Includes mugshots of two alleged attackers. Followed by a “Frequently Asked Questions and Key Terms” section, addressing whether transgender people are terrorists, comparing TIVE with “Nihilistic Violent Extremism,” and discussing FBI designations.

Page 4:
Section titled “Terminology Used by TIVE.” Defines terms including cisgender, deadnaming, Gillick competence, misgendering, “Right to Exist,” “Trans genocide,” and a phrase “You either have a live boy or dead girl, you choose.” Each is presented as terminology used in or associated with TIVE. Page layout is text-heavy, no additional graphics.

3 6 32

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 19d

A college English class where they’re told to use AI to complete assignments. Why bother teaching at all? Especially the languages/literature. I’m sorry but I will judge any professor who does this, especially in fields like English and history

Tastes Like Purple @linz13.bsky.social · 19d

My daughter has a college English class right now where they’re told to use AI to complete assignments. SHE’S HORRIFIED AND DISGUSTED. The tech bros want you to voluntarily relinquish your ability to think and give up all creativity to computers. So people are dumb and dependent on their products

9 74 390

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

TransActual @transactualuk.bsky.social · 19d

Researchers from Queen's University Belfast are recruiting trans and gender diverse people aged 18-29 to explore their experiences of mental health support in NI.

To find out more, please contact [email protected]. To participate, please click on the following link: bit.ly/45Rqw79

A black arrow points from the link to the QR code. The Pride Rainbow flag colours are visible in the top-right corner. The Trans Pride colours are visible in the bottom-left corner. The text reads as follows: What are trans and gender diverse people’s experiences of mental health care in NI? Please take part in our study to help us learn more. My name is Cormac Begley, I am a Trainee Clinical Psychologist in QUB and I am completing this study as part of my Doctoral dissertation. You can take part if you are transgender and/or gender diverse and live in Northern Ireland. We are seeking people aged 18–29 who have experienced mental health support for gender-related distress in Northern Ireland before the age of 18. Participation involves taking part in one online or in-person interview. To take part, scan the QR code or visit bit.ly/45Rqw79.

6 10

Reposted by Lloyd Meadhbh Houston

Ari Drennen @aridrennen.bsky.social · 27d

PSA: never trust Crowder

24 140 1.1K