Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Uta Staiger

Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 1d

This is among other things a product of how far UK Conservative and Reform Party MPs and Spads have become so marinated in Right wing American social media that they have adopted its view of unis as a source of radicalisation tempting youth away from the moral purity of National Conservative thought

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 1d

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce plans to cut the number of UK university places by about 100,000 annually by reintroducing student number controls, reports Patrick Jack #edusky
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/badenochs-number-caps-plan-would-cut-100000-university-places

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Uta Staiger @ukstaiger.bsky.social · 15h

Late to this piece on/conversation with @sundersays.bsky.social, but what an important intervention. Framing matters! How we speak about things matters. Pervasive pessimism is indeed demobilising. Practical, political, moral arguments need articulating.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Sunder Katwala on race, patriotism and flag-waving: ‘The far right is vocal and angry because it is shrinking’

The director of British Future has spent his career trying to find common ground when it comes to race and immigration. He describes his own experience of racism – and why he’s still hopeful for the U...

www.theguardian.com

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 2d

Not a serious person. Zero mention of what this would mean for the over a million British citizens whose own access to welfare in the EU is protected by the withdrawal agreement.

EU citizens living in UK shouldn’t be allowed welfare benefits, says Tory rising star

Katie Lam — who is earning plaudits on the Conservative right — calls for Brexit withdrawal agreement to be reopened.

www.politico.eu

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UCL European Institute @uclei.bsky.social · 6d

🎙️ Tune in to the latest episode of The Ukraine Shelf podcast where @oliahercules.bsky.social and Felicity Spector speak with @uilleamblacker.bsky.social and @okhromeychuk.bsky.social on all things food!

☁️ soundcloud.com/european-ins...
🎧 www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6HZ...

#Europe #TheUkraineShelf

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George Peretz KC @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social · 2d

Chris Philp on R4 yesterday making 3 false statements about the ECHR and the GFA.
1. “The ECHR is mentioned only in the Multi-Party Agreement not the UK/Ireland Agreement.”. Wrong: the latter agreement requires the UK to support the former: they can’t be pulled apart like that.

George Peretz KC @georgeperetzkc.bsky.social · 2d

Summary here by @joshuarozenberg.bsky.social of the so far unpublished but apparently “circulating” “legal advice” by Lord Wolfson to the Tory party. open.substack.com/pub/rozenber...

How UK could leave ECHR

Withdrawal would allow EU to end criminal law enforcement co-operation

open.substack.com

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Mari Takayanagi @satisfactory20.bsky.social · 3d

Looking around St Deiniol's Church next door to @gladlib.bsky.social I was pleased to find stained glass windows to Gladstone’s daughters Helen, vice-principal of Newnham Cambridge, and Mary, his political secretary #WomensHistory 🗃️

Pair of stained glass windows depicting saints, Helen Gladstone mentioned at bottom

Pair of stained glass windows depicting angels with musical instruments, Mary Gladstone mentioned at bottom

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Simon Hix @simonhix.bsky.social · 4d

Fantastic piece by Simon Schama on the debate between the US Founding Fathers about freedom of speech (and the Alien and Sedition Acts), that includes this wonderful final exhortation to us all:
on.ft.com/48b6rKt

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Uilleam Blacker @uilleamblacker.bsky.social · 6d

Listen!

UCL European Institute @uclei.bsky.social · 6d

🎙️ Tune in to the latest episode of The Ukraine Shelf podcast where @oliahercules.bsky.social and Felicity Spector speak with @uilleamblacker.bsky.social and @okhromeychuk.bsky.social on all things food!

☁️ soundcloud.com/european-ins...
🎧 www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6HZ...

#Europe #TheUkraineShelf

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Reposted by Uta Staiger

thomrosenhagen @thomrosenhagen.bsky.social · 5d

Heute vor einem Jahr in der Ausstellung von Janosch in Balingen…

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Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · 5d

as @dralanwager.bsky.social and I put it in 2021, the gap between the deregulatory vision of the Brexiters and the preferences of the British public meant 'the prime minister won the Brexit war. Keir Starmer may have an opportunity to win the peace'. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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Thu Nguyen @onethuthree.bsky.social · 6d

Pünktlich zum langen Wochenende ist die neue EU to go-Folge da, die letzte mit unserem jetzt ehemaligen Direktor @lindnerjs.bsky.social. Es geht um die große Frage: Hat Europa eine Seele? Braucht es eine neue europäische Erzählung -und wenn ja, wer kann sie erzählen? open.spotify.com/episode/3GSM...

Abschied aus Berlin: Eine Seele für Europa?

open.spotify.com

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Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 6d

A giant of social science -- und ein wunderbarer Mensch. He will be much missed.

Hertie School @hertieschool.bsky.social · 6d

The Hertie School mourns the passing of Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Claus Offe, Professor Emeritus of Political Sociology, an extraordinary scholar, teacher and colleague.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who had the privilege to know him.

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Kit de Waal @kitdewaal.com · 6d

The Climate Fiction Prize celebrates the most inspiring novels tackling the climate crisis.

I will be one of this judges this year and would love to read your work.

The £10,000 prize is awarded annually to a single novel. Submissions now open.

Link here climatefictionprize.co.uk

Please share :)

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Tim Beasley-Murray @timb-m.bsky.social · 8d

With her extraordinary work—in collaboration with her husband, Peter—no one has done more to promote Slovak literature in the anglophone world than @juliasherwood.bsky.social And this latest translation of powerful short stories about the atrocity and violence of the Second World War is a triumph.

Karolinum Press @karolinumpress.cuni.cz · 8d

On International Translation Day, we are delighted to introduce our collaborator in the Modern Slovak Classics series, the London-based @juliasherwood.bsky.social. She is not only active as a translator but also as a tireless promoter of Slovak and Czech literature abroad.

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Lyndsey Stonebridge @lyndseystonebri.bsky.social · 6d

Exactly what we need: careful, considered, funny intelligence squaring up to our catastrophic, deadly, age of stupid (with Arendt's help).

Excellent piece @will-davies.bsky.social

Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 6d

My essay on stupidology (originally published in N+1) is in today's Guardian www.theguardian.com/news/2025/oc...

A critique of pure stupidity: understanding Trump 2.0

If the first term of Donald Trump provoked anxiety over the fate of objective knowledge, the second has led to claims we live in a world-historical age of stupid, accelerated by big tech. But might th...

www.theguardian.com

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Political Quarterly @politicalquarterly.bsky.social · 6d

There have likely been 10,000 or more university redundancies in the academic year 2024-25.

@gsoh31.bsky.social, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Oxford Brookes, argues that the Higher Education system as we know it is coming to an end.

Where now for Britain’s Universities?

UK higher education now faces a very bleak future, retreating in the face of little public sympathy and limited political interest.

politicalquarterly.org.uk

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 7d

The present is another country.

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Katherine Ibbett @eparpillee.bsky.social · 6d

Berkeley is offering its alums a free online course on Openness to Opposing Views. Was curious to see how they pitch it so signed up. In the welcome video, one creator talks of how her familiarity with foreign languages made her keen to think about how concepts can be described differently...

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Uta Staiger @ukstaiger.bsky.social · 6d

This sounds/looks amazing!

Katie Murphy @manymanyplies.bsky.social · 6d

Great Tew Circle redux! I will be giving a talk on *Saturday evening* at the parish church in the village of Great Tew, in the Cotswolds, under the title 'The Anxiety of Variety: Attention Crisis in the Seventeenth Century'. Come, if you can! www.charlbury.info/events/10338

The Great Tew Circle 2.0 | charlbury.info

www.charlbury.info

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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 6d

“We saw it during Brexit and we see it with the AfD in Germany. Pandering to the far right never works. And yet conservative parties seem to have this - in German we call it ‘Angstlust’ - a desire to go somewhere dangerous.”

I really love @annettedittert.bsky.social's scrupulous, unfussy honesty.

Quiet Riot @quietriotpod.bsky.social · 6d

🌹Keir as Crystal: Time to Call Things by Their Names 🐸

Labour Conference
Starmer Speech
Farage Tantrum
BBC Bias
Reform Russian Bribes
Moldova Election
Ukraine Pushback
Wokey Dokey
All this AND @annettedittert.bsky.social!

🍊 open.spotify.com/episode/3out...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...

Keir as Crystal - Time to Call Things by Their Names

Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · 02/10/2025 · 1h 11m

podcasts.apple.com

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Reposted by Uta Staiger

Simon Usherwood @simonusherwood.bsky.social · 6d

It's #EPC day once again, so a reminder of who's coming and what's being discussed

PDF: bit.ly/UshGraphic131
@ukandeu.bsky.social

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Jane Winters @jfwinters.bsky.social · 8d

Join us on 20 November for the Annual Digital Lecture, a partnership between The National Archives, UK and the School of Advanced Study. The wonderful @nannathylstrup.bsky.social will be speaking about ‘When saving becomes loss: archival memory in the digital age’. Free to register!

When saving becomes loss: Archival memory in the digital age

Explore archival memory, data loss, and attempts to preserve the past in the digital age at this year’s Annual Digital Lecture.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Uta Staiger @ukstaiger.bsky.social · 8d

Looking forward to chairing the 2025 UCL Europe Lecture on #AcademicFreedom.

Michael Ignatieff, with @efieldingd.bsky.social & @ucl.ac.uk's Provost Michael Spence.

Convened by @uclei.bsky.social with @laws.ucl.ac.uk & Disagreeing Well.

30 Oct. Free tickets:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/academic-f...

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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 8d

Applications for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and The British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Symposium 2026 are now open. The application deadline is 29 October. Find out more: https://bit.ly/4nyWsmv

Graphic that reads ‘The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and The British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Symposium’

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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 13d

Now out in @cpsjournal.bsky.social. In our new article, @denis-cohen.bsky.social @thmskrr.bsky.social and I show that where local rent prices increase more, residents with lower incomes become more likely to support the radical right AfD.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

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