Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · 7d

rabbit shows?! they totally passed me by...!

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · 7d

fckn hell

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · 8d

I am totally obsessed with the Doncaster FB groups (the only reason I'm on the place still) for exactly the same reason. The most mundane things just act like a bizarro time portal. The old north bus station, Trafford Way before it was redone, Ratners on clock corner...quite the Proustian rush.

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · 9d

ah, i'm pleased to see this - read with great curiosity the book 'we pretty pieces of flesh' that this story is from as i went to school with the author, and it was great (as well as totally surreal to read a book set in a not-really-fictionalised-at-all version of the school you went to)

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 9d

Debut author Colwill Brown wins BBC short story award for ‘heartbreaking’ tale – read an extract here

Brown’s story of a teenage life ‘critically damaged in a moment’ was the ‘unanimous’ pick for the £15,000 prize

www.theguardian.com

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · 10d

'They have imagined a socially authoritarian working class Labour voter who really is long gone. And as they ventriloquize through their creation, they are following their fantasy’s grievances. The Andy Capp in their head has left containment and is making increasingly incessant demands.' So good.

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 10d

On the morning of Keir Starmer's conference speech here's a new post on an odd psychopathology in British politics - our main parties don't like the people who vote for them - the dreaded Professional Managerial Class. And so they are acting out like a divorced dad seeking cooler voters. 1/n

British Politics' Midlife Crisis

Why British Parties Can't Make Peace with Their Actual Voters

benansell.substack.com

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William Gibson @greatdismal.bsky.social · 14d

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Sathnam Sanghera @sathnam.bsky.social · 25d

I don't think Peter Mandelson is PM's biggest problem. The biggest problem is not standing up to the literal violent racism on our streets, supercharged by the richest man in the world, and threatening the very fabric of our society. If he and so many commentators can't see this, we're truly lost.

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · 26d

an amazing essay from Joan Scott here

A General Air of Anxiety - Boston Review

The Red Scare targeted my father. He taught me the meaning of resistance.

www.bostonreview.net

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 30

kinda feel that Elizabeth Gilbert has seriously overestimated the relatability of 'i planned the murder of my life partner' here

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 30

Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert on leaving her marriage for a dying friend: ‘She said, Let’s just live balls to the wall until I die!’

One was a happily married and internationally famous writer, the other a cool, funny hairdresser and ex-drug addict. Then a shock diagnosis pitched them into an intense love affair ...

www.theguardian.com

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Goldsmiths UCU @goldsmithsucu.bsky.social · Aug 27

🧵1/ Our branch just passed a motion condemning the stealth closure of the MA in Black British History.
We did this to demand accountability — for the future of the MA and for the College’s promises on racial justice and equality.
shorturl.at/gIUVG

Motion in support of MA Black British History - Goldsmiths University and College Union

This motion was passed at our branch meeting on 27/08/2025. Full text below: Motion in support of MA Black British History This branch notes that: b) The college continues to ...

shorturl.at

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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · Aug 27

Maybe Eric Cantona’s trawler statement was actually an attempt to warn Man United about Grimsby

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 27

Congratulations Olivia!

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 14

holy fuck

Damnèd Screamvens @thehighsign.bsky.social · Aug 13

Wow. The University of Chicago, a world-class institution whose humanities faculty in the past has included Homi Bhabha & Lauren Berlant & Ralph Ellison & Hannah freaking Arendt, is getting rid of basically every graduate department involving the acknowledgment that other cultures & languages exist.

Quote from a story on changes at the U of Chicago that notes they are "pausing" doctoral eduction in Classics, Comp Lit, Germanic studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Romance languages and literatures, and South Asian Studies.

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 11

Fantastic 4 year full-time PDRA position here in the lovely School of Humanities at Reading on the UKRI-funded 'Nation of Refuge' project - please share widely.

Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) at University of Reading

An academic position as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportunities.

www.jobs.ac.uk

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 8

Just jumping in on this to say ITV digitised a 1984 World in Action documentary that wasn't available in any archives, and then emailed the file to me - so it can be done, though it will cost you (£50 in my case). Can dm you email address of person in charge of this service if you want.

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Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · Aug 8

The University of Warwick has paid a lot of money, I'm guessing, for their internet banner ads on the Guardian and elsewhere.

But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.

A banner advert for the University of Warwick, which says "Beyond ignores curiousity". This is a spelling error.

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John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · Aug 5

Can't fault the clarity of Labour's message on protest. There are BAD protesters who must be punished (Irish musicians, anti-genocide vicars) and there are GOOD protesters whose views deserve respect (masked thugs with petrol bombs trying to start a pogrom)

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 1

this was the standard grants, yes. Curiosity award success were at about 5 per cent last year, but having gone through the standard grant stats for last year, though November was the worst, they were not much better.

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 1

none of which is to defend the insanity of the system overall of course! but just to point out how managers' behaviours here are structurally determined. the problem is, of course, that at some point (maybe already) it becomes a non-rational use of time to actually bother to apply in the first place

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 1

yes indeed. though as research lead in my own dept, i get *why* there are immense pressures on unis to get grants - it's not just about income, but also REF metrics (grant income is part of environment score), and impact case studies (which often score much more highly when funded by grants)

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Aug 1

because I like depressing myself, last week I was looking at UKRI data on grant success, and saw that in the November 2024 round of AHRC awards, only 1 - one ! - out of the 35 applicants was successful...

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

The number of grant applications assessed by UK Research and Innovation has almost doubled over the past seven years, while the award rate has almost halved, new data show.

Trends prompt warning that system is "overstretched or broken".

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

UKRI grant applications double in seven years as award rate halves - Research Professional News

Trends across research councils prompt warning that system is “overstretched or broken”

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Jul 28

yeah, funny that, isn't it. i certainly think there are cases where people actively write a glowing reference in order to get rid of a bad colleague.

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Jul 28

i basically think this is true for academic jobs too. references vary so much and that usually more about the referee than the candidate. but also - you've got the candidate's CV, you can go read their work, what extra stuff are you actually going to find out?! it's mostly a test of cultural capital

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Jul 23

god i am so obsessed with imagining the chain of events that led to this. the visionary who came up with it in the first place. the various senior figures who said 'looks great!' and signed it off. the comms team who wanted to tell the world. all of it. just delicious.

michael veale @michae.lv · Jul 22

Self-inflicted embarrassment for the University of Warwick — first it rebrands hyper-generically, then someone totally unhinged decides the *front page of the uni website* should say ‘Learn more about our Brand’.

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nataliethomlinson.bsky.social @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social · Jul 22

has someone worked out what michelle agyemang's goals-scored-per-minutes-played ratio is yet?! insane