But reckoning with that means protecting and investing in spaces for kids to hang out unsupervised outside of the home and school, which hasn't been happening (as I discussed in my review of his book here www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4... )

Such a wonderful triumph for medical science www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Privileged to have written Dickie Bird’s obituary for The Guardian. An eccentric innocent treasured by so many. Every time I met him it was an invitation to rediscover my inner child.

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...

..the rise of nationalist and exclusionary rhetoric in British political discourse ... the quiet normalisation of racism and jingoism . ...challenge these narratives and defend a more inclusive, honest understanding of national identity

@publicsectorfocus.bsky.social

flickread.com/edition/html...

My daughter was admitted to intensive care yesterday. Thankfully starting to improve - but having been here for a significant slice of the last 24 hours it makes me realise how lucky we are to have a such a dedicated multicultural NHS workforce - we need to cherish such diversity not destroy it.

Have a read of my AOC blog on Skills England and Public Policy www.aoc.co.uk/news-campaig...

Keir Starmer hands out excellent prospective book titles to critical sociologists too eagerly - Island of Strangers: Emulation, Inequality and Despair in British Politics perhaps.....

Imagine a the disastrous economic impacts for even a relatively prosperous city like Bristol if its HE institutions went into decline and then imagine the carnage in less prosperous places if the same thing happened. Universities drive growth in cities - policy needs to reflect that not hinder

New online: Nick Serpe interviews @quinnslobodian.com about the new fusionism of the MAGA right.

www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

A relief to finally see this spelled out like this. It ought to be an orthodoxy. @quinnslobodian.com great new book, Hayek’s Bastards, also helps to clarify the alliances and possible shared interests between capital and ethnonationalism www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Holiday reading for the sunbed in Lanzarote next week.

The Government’s plans to reduce access to disability and incapacity benefits will drive more people into poverty and cause significant risks of harm to mental health.

Read our full statement: www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/news/item/sp...
#SpringStatement

open.substack.com/pub/theinter...

I have a new (open access) article in @theoryculturesociety.org 'Another age of anxiety: psychological distress and the 'asset economy'', on how the understanding of anxiety has changed, and some of the broader conditions of its recent resurgence

Important summary from @rogerjburrows.bsky.social on the rise of the oligarchs and real emerging threats that don't seem to be fully understood or challenged - dangerous times. www.platformspace.net/home/nrx-a-b...

Experience: I’m the karaoke world champion

In the shadows of the silent majorities as Baudrillard might say....https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/27/trump-vengeance-critics