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Ally Brown

@allybrown.bsky.social
2K followers 604 following 237 posts

Research Associate in Social Policy @ Strathclyde Uni. Food policy for THRIVING Food Futures. Also policy approaches to health inequalities, and to mental health.

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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
We were 1-0 up at HT tonight at home to Slovenia. Winning from that position shouldn't be hard.
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STC @blobbystc.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Lesson here afaict is you can’t just get rid of ‘the guy’ you need a plan to systematically dismantle and oppose the systems
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
You're right, but there's a huge movement among (left-liberal) dog trainers for non-hierarchical training methods which they claim are "evidence-based" and (I can confirm) are utterly useless when your dog is attacking you (that behaviour is then medicalised). I hope to write a book about it.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
READ: If you haven’t seen this yet, please take a look. Motonormativity ("car brain") is a bias that stops people from making rational judgements about driving. This study co-authored by @ianwalker.bsky.social looks at where this bias comes from & how it works. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Screetshot of study title “Why Do Cars Get A Free Ride?” #CarBrain #Motonormativity
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It's also something Andy Burnham understands in relation to Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester is not Manchester. He has played a big part in creating this shared identity of GM from the ten council areas of GMCA (as I wrote about here: share.google/hBV5tY4X1F2N...)
share.google
Framing health inequalities to tell political stories: Devolution makes the difference | Journal of Critical Public Health
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Maybe they had legitimate concerns
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Dread and Rosie @rosiemund.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
AI propaganda is play for play the same as car dependency propaganda. Including "the cork is out of the bottle; it's integrated into everything now & it'd be too difficult & disruptive & expensive to change that." & if you fell for it with cars, that should show you there's a real danger it'll work.
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@nasarmeer.bsky.social @nasarmeer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
1/ A slightly strange and lovely thing to be able to say, my book The Social Life of Justice is published tomorrow... www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
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Michael @michaeljsc.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Right, I’ve had enough of this now. We’ve got left of centre governments in Scotland and the UK. Every public body needs to be off X and finding appropriate alternatives, right now.
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Duncan Hothersall @dhothersall.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"Chants of 'let them drown' sung by a child over a megaphone" surely must be the moment this UK Government realises that no form of appeasement or persuasion is going to solve this problem. Ban the platforms spreading the lies, proscribe the groups terrorising the country. Act now, for pity's sake.
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Ben Zaranko @benzaranko.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
One day, our political parties will face reality and stop making farcical, unserious promises to voters -- promises which entrench the delusion that we can enjoy lower taxes and better public services without ever having to pay more, even amidst the crisis-strewn 2020s. But today is not that day.
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'm on the board of a charity than runs trips to Auschwitz for schoolchildren and it is amazing how some people behave there. Posing for selfies, eating snacks... mindblowing.
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Nick Lester-Davis @quinlet.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Of the 29 pedestrians killed on the pavement, 28 were hit by cars and one by a mobility scooter. None were hit by bicycles or e-bikes.
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Holly Thomas @holstat.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"Wellness" offers an illusion of control you can buy with money. Those who confuse it with health are therefore led to believe that health outcomes are decided by a merit system that's linked to their identity as a successful/rich person. "I am better, so I am better."
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Taya Collyer @tayacollyer.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
🥖 Fresh Sociology of Knowledge!🥖 tinyurl.com/bdfa2375 I interviewed 45 health researchers in 12 disciplines about 'good' research & interdisciplinary struggles. "Disciplinary difference" reflected different *kinds of knowledge*, pursued for different reasons, and judged by different criteria.
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Ellie Harris @eleanorrrlouise.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Our research found that young people have incredibly low self-esteem. They believe that long term unemployment is more likely and success will be harder to find. They have lost faith in their futures and their own ability to change their outcomes. www.ippr.org/articles/bri...
ippr.org
Britain’s broken social contract: Young people have lost faith in their future | IPPR
For much of the post-war period, Britain offered young people a basic promise: if you work hard and do the right things, you can expect greater security an
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Easy to donate: rnli.org/support-us/g...
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
My analysis of 2017-2022 policy docs from Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and the Scottish Government, showed a strong tendency for GMCA docs to emphasise the health disadvantages of GM residents c/w England; whereas SG almost never mentioned Scotland's health disadvantage c/w England's. Why?
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Alex Scott-Samuel @dralexss.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
.@allybrown.bsky.social critiques "Manchesterism" and devolution through an equity lens   journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca
Framing health inequalities to tell political stories: Devolution makes the difference | Journal of Critical Public Health
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Health Promotion International @healthpromint.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Are we asking health literacy to explain too much? This paper introduces the concept of ‘health literacy reductionism’ and challenges the tendency to frame complex health communication problems as individual health literacy deficits. academic.oup.com/heapro/artic...
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Patricia Kingori’s work on the “shadow scholars” of Africa is fascinating: “One Kenyan writer told me he applied for a job at an Ivy League university. When the rejection came through, he wrote back to say thanks, then added: “Just so you know, I’ve written all these papers for your institutions””
nature.com
Shadow scholars: inside Kenya’s multibillion-dollar fake-essay industry
Sociologist Patricia Kingori is helping to expose contract cheating by scholars in high-income countries.
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Journal of Critical Public Health @cphjournal.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
New issue 3(3) published: check out latest research from leading scholars in critical #publichealth journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jc...
journalhosting.ucalgary.ca
Vol. 3 No. 3 (2026) | Journal of Critical Public Health
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Tom Phillips @tom-phillips.com · 05/09/2026
almost word for word
Screenshot of tweet from @InternetHippo:

New right wing thing is describing crimes as generically as possible to pretend like they're not crimes. Someone gets convicted of conspiracy and they start yelling "Wow so it's illegal to make plans with friends now"
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Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 05/09/2026
This is interesting. You get assigned to being born at a random place and time in history, to see what a typical person's life might have been like then. Unfortunately I was born in 1403 in the valley of Mexico and died at age 4 from dysentery.
anyhumanever.com
Any Human Ever
One life, drawn at random from all who have ever lived.
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
www.maptap.gg September 3 100🎯 96🔥 98🔥 100🎯 100🎯 Final score: 992 😎 my best ever!
maptap.gg
🎯MapTap Daily Geography Game
Play MapTap - the daily geography game! Find 5 world locations on a 3D globe with historical stories. Free browser-based daily game for geography lovers.
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Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"I want your children's lungs to be smaller and less functional" is a bold electoral strategy.
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Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
This isn't new or anything, but I don't think I've ever seen it put quite so delightfully:
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Universities rarely use research evidence in their decision-making, so why do they expect anyone else to? - LSE Impact
Despite universities’ important role as evidence-producing organisations, they rarely draw upon research evidence for internal decision making, why?
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Aye, this is exactly what's driven one of my Polish friends who's been here for years to apply for citizenship. She's seen exactly what Reform & the Tories have said and realises she's no longer secure here.
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
OTOH... bsky.app/profile/pwgt...
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 24/08/2026
If you just happened to pick this week to start yelling about the importance of academic freedom, I sure hope you did more than watch silently for the past 18 months as the Trump administration assaulted everything from mRNA vaccine research to gender studies to the very idea of having universities.
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Are you... in the turd?
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Nick Hopkinson @copddoc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
As Hopkinson put it: “The question for pro-pollution campaigners is ‘why do you hate children?’” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air?
Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against them
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
As this new opinion piece suggests, "symptom" implies a causal disease, and is undefined (so poor exam results in primary school can become a 'symptom'). bsky.app/profile/grgu...
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Thanks! Will likely cite this in a book chapter I'm writing rn 🙂
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Why is the Mounjaro manufacturer spending so much money "raising awareness" that obesity "is a disease"? 🤔 Reminds me of the APA campaign slogan "depression is a flaw of chemistry, not of character". It's neither! It's social, it's economic and it's political!
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Good example of how diagnosis implies disease, which promotes drug use, even in the absence of medical mechanisms. A diagnosis converts "poor exam results", in primary school, into a medical symptom, justifying treatment by daily amphetamines.
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
There is a social model of (mental) health too, which also highlights external factors rather than 'medical' issues, especially in MH where no medical tests exist, and given long history of psychiatric malpractice. Point is not to discount hardship, but to question whether it is medical.
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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
'What is diagnosis For?' - Nikolas Rose, 2013 nikolasrose.com/wp-content/u...
nikolasrose.com
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Scottish Health Equity Research Unit @scothealtheq.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
In a briefing out today, we make 7 recommendations towards building a prevention-focused nation through Public Sector Reform, based on our work over the last few years. Read it here: buff.ly/UWV1fZL
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Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
<literally thousands of social and historical studies precisely explaning a phenomenon> Psychiatrists: no one understands this phenomenon 🤷 www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
theguardian.com
Rising number of people seeking ADHD diagnosis without treatment, say experts
Psychiatrists in Channel 4 documentary argue it is more a ‘social construct’ than a medical condition
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Sorry but this is completely wrong. There is a libertarian medicalisation critique (Szasz) and there are sociological medicalisation critiques (Zola, Foucault , Goffman, Conrad) and they are totally different. Please, read about Mad Studies or read any history of psychiatry (Grob, Scull, M Smith).
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Ally Brown @allybrown.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
The most royal of Royal We's in there 😆 that is hilarious
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Marita Hennessy @maritahennessy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Why Evidence Is Not Enough: Power, Politics, and a Strategy Shift for Public Health Jonathan Heller onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Why Evidence Is Not Enough: Power, Politics, and a Strategy Shift for Public Health
Policy Points Public health has lost political influence because of a mismatch between the forms of power primarily deployed in this field—knowledge and moral authority—and the forms of power tha...
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 14/08/2026
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
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Jason Arday found dead
2 hours ago — Mr Arday was found •unresponsive• at an address in Battersea. south London. on Froy
afternoon. He was uter pronounced dead at the scene. A Read rnore
Jason Arday says he was an illiterate, mute child. His .
6 hours ago — Jason Arday says he was an i&erate. mute child. Cambridge's youngest-ever black
professor in 2023. Arday attended from the age of four to 11
r— mm-WI 3
A PhD is no longer a sign of brilliance — take it from Dr Arday
1 day aeo — Juon Arday resigns from the Unwersity of Cambrdge after The Telegraph reports he had
falseb• claimed to have pubåshed a book
We are all Jason Arday now
S days ago — Jason Arday resons from the University of Cambridge after The Telegraph reports he had
falsew cGimed to have published a book Aug 7.2028. Read more
Cambridge professor claimed he was on Seven Up..
2 Aug 2026 — He was not bom until 1985. Prof Arday is at the centre of a row about academk
plagiarism after The Tekgragh that he had been accused
The Jason Arday 'memoir' that now appears to be more .
7 days ago — Instead of tales of triumph over adversity. the now-fomer Cambridge professors
autob"qraphy is a case study in self-rnythobgising,
Arday failed to mention 'months-long coma' in autobiography
8 days ago — Jason Arday toz publishers he was k•ft a three-month coma fohwhg a car gash. but
never wrote about the ordeal his memoirs_
Jason Arday is living proof that you reap what you sow
6 Aug 2028 — The Cambridge professor feed plagiarism alegations and made fantastical clä'ns about
his life. so what did he expect woUz happen? Read rmre
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Arday 'accused student of Miite privilege' after she
4 days ago — Forrner Cambrdge professor alleged* htplied that Roehamptm student was racist after
cornplaint about essay SOOre.
Jason Arday is rnerely a symptom of the Leffs corruption
Aug 2026 — Lab-curs on school standards is on the same toxic assumptions that created his
academic career.
Cambridge hired Arday after 'listening to black stu…
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Stephen H. Jones @stphnhwrdjns.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Good god. This was, at best, an HR issue that merited a few lines on p.27 of the local news. Shame on everyone who stuck it in the national headlines for three fucking weeks.
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Peter Tennant @pwgtennant.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
My favourite moment of @nataliaortega.bsky.social's talk was when she said you can find a nutrition meta analysis to support whatever argument you want to make about diet and health!
Picture of slide from Natalia Ortega's talk, including examples of meta analyses with contradictory conclusions.
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
NEW: The NIH is quietly restricting funding for research that evaluates how public policy impacts human health. According to internal documents I obtained, the agency no longer considers policymakers "mission relevant" — a massive shift for the biomedical funder. My latest for @nature.com:
nature.com
NIH limits funding for research on the health effects of public policy
US biomedical agency no longer considers policymakers as ‘mission relevant’, leaving dozens of grants in limbo.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
The continued political silence over the spread of these anti-migrant, anti-refugee pogroms in the UK is a disgrace. This one has been going on for three nights in a row now and the Home Secretary and Prime Minister haven't said a single word about it www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Norfolk police arrest two men after officers injured during unrest over asylum plans
Homes of people believed to be asylum seekers attacked during two nights of violence in Thetford
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Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 07/08/2026
The Conservatives are capitalising on a real sense of unfairness around housing, but they are directing that anger at the wrong people. Britain’s housing shortage is not caused by migrants in social housing. This is a discriminatory response to a housing supply problem. 1/5
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