Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerUniversity and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 13hStrikes start today at Nottingham. “These are not cash-strapped universities.” Dr Jo Grady on R4 this morning. 700 jobs. 48 courses. All to drive a surplus. Show your support. ✊ 02124
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerUCU Edinburgh @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Day 2 of the UCU workers' strike at the University of Edinburgh. The 1,800 jobs UCU estimates will be cut is unprecedented in Scottish higher education. It is happening in the wealthiest Scottish university, and the third richest in the UK, currently sitting with over £3billion reserves. 36457
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAsh @queerash.bsky.social · 29/09/2026what if we just get Man City to pay for the National Care Service 231187
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerBell Ribeiro-Addy MP @bellribeiroaddy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Three people, including a child, drowned in the Channel today. Our politics is so broken that the debate is never about how we stop these deaths and always about how we can come up with harsher policies that make more deaths inevitable. 28132
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerSarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 24/09/20262yrs after I finished my MA History at Goldsmiths, my research rights were bought and I was hired to work as historical consultant on this TV show. It's had BAFTA and International Emmy nominations. I got a book deal, too. Goldsmiths: "No point in MA History, let's fire everyone and delete it." 627290
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAlasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The BBC has long given up even pretending to be interested in who these people are, why they are coming or how they might feel, in favour of acting as a kind of shop window for the parties to display their wares of violence and crueltybbc.co.ukMost migrant small boat arrivals in single day of 2026A total of 781 migrants arrive on Wednesday, but the yearly total is below the same point in 2025. 14530178
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Which is why teaching in person is superior to online teaching. 020
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerPaul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I did say Shabana Mahmood would be on the side of the thugs. Burnham keeping her in post was an utter disgrace. Labour supporters should be brave enough to say so. So should Labour MPs. 12433102
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerCaroline Dodds Pennock @carolinepennock.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Ditto 30,000 roles in universities in the past three years. 7491180
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerTom Clark @tom-clark.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The BBC has decided that this constitutes news… A man who left for Monaco several years ago declaring he’s ’lost confidence’ in the UK His qualification for making the headlines? Owning £15bn Broadcasting like democracy already died! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukBillionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UKIneos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea. 49525147
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerDavid Veevers @davidveevers.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Think of the combined CENTURIES of expertise lost here, the creativity, the knowledge, the depth and breadth of cultural learning and understanding, the generations of minds enriched and enlightened, the sheer weight of history that led to the establishment of these programmes. Purged. Destroyed. 813990
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerMark Doidge @markdoidge.bsky.social · 18/09/2026When it’s left-wing protesters, Home Secretaries have changed the law so they are now criminals. When far-right criminals break the law, they’re asked not to break the law again 🙄 013054
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026This is not just grim, but also an admission of managerial and political failure on a large scale. 010
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Celtic (UG), Chinese & Russian (UG), Contemporary History, Economics & Statistics (joint degree), Inclusive Education (MSc), Intellectual History, Italian & Classics (joint), Law & Social Policy (joint), Medieval History, Persian Studies (UG), Portuguese (UG), Psychology & Economics (joint)....heraldscotland.comFull list of the 90 programmes earmarked for closure at leading Scottish universityManagers say the cuts are necessary “to protect our world-leading reputation and resilience in research and teaching” but staff members have hit… 95352
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAdam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Time to deport all these fighting age men terrorising our patriotic lifeboat volunteers www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...theguardian.comLifeboat station in Portsmouth forced to temporarily shut after far-right actionRNLI facility had been targeted by activists trying to stop asylum seekers landing in boats from the Channel 1101930552
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerTess is Surviving the Horrors @mothmother.com · 17/09/2026LLMs obscure the very world science seeks to illuminate. They have no place in our knowledge work practices. Anyone who insists they are the "future" of scientific papers is either a charlatan, an ignoramus, or a saboteur, and should be treated with the same contempt they show to scholarship. 02613
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerEmma Yeomans @yeomans.bsky.social · 17/09/2026The RNLI has said the abuse of volunteers in Portsmouth has forced it to close the lifeboat station there and stop operating since September 10. Nearby stations have been providing cover to the area instead. One of the UK's largest coastal cities without a lifeboat because of the far-right. 40901503
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAtul Haria (immigrant) @atulharia.bsky.social · 17/09/2026So Burnham and Labour happy to jail *peaceful* anti-genocide and climate protestors, but are silent in the face of fascist mob rule that has the potential to injure / kill. Shameful pandering to racists for votes. cc. @davidpintod.bsky.social - you are my MP. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...independent.co.ukRNLI closes Portsmouth lifeboat station after huge anti-migrant protestsRNLI volunteers were branded ‘traitors’ after bringing migrants ashore 38235
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAndrew Blair @andrewblair.co.uk · 16/09/2026The arts industry in the UK: we contribute so much money to the economy but we are dying, please help Lisa Nandy: Village Parish Council: we held a pretend referendum Lisa Nandy: I'm listening 171188400
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Madeline Odent absolutely nails the #Piddington situation. 🧵 020
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerJo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out. 351442411
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Because women academics work in English and History just as a fun hobby and a ladylike accomplishment and for a bit of pocket money for their beauty sessions, with a hubby breadwinner holding down the real job. 1152
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Seems none of these universities seems to greatly care about their REF results in the "Strategy, People and Research Environment" department ... 052
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerThe Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Party that wants to retrospectively change rules so as to remove migrants also says retrospective rules on party funding are "dictatorship tactics". 171066334
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Every year a delight to hear "Rule Britannia" and see a waving sea of European flags (and many other flags and national paraphernalia). #LOTP 071
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerJames Cameron @jjjcameron.bsky.social · 12/09/2026"Universities fail to win over people who fundamentally hate everything they stand for (again)" www.ft.com/content/a314... 59624
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAnnalisa Nicholson @apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social · 11/09/2026It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with. 361219455
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I hope the British ambassador to Pakistan is called in to explain why such a thing is allowed to happen. 030
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerDermot Smith @dermotsmith.bsky.social · 10/09/2026’Amanda Martin, Labour MP for Portsmouth North … said it was "completely unacceptable that misinformation has led to young cricketers visiting our city being wrongly targeted"’. BEING ‘WRONGLY TARGETED’ IS NOT THE ISSUE HERE. BEING TARGETED IS THE ISSUE. 0397
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerKatie Mack @astrokatie.com · 09/09/2026AI companies: This technology we’re developing is dangerous and might destroy humanity and we don’t know how to stop it Other people: So we should strictly regulate it, create legislative guard rails, and monitor its development? AI companies: lol no the opposite of all that & give us more money 512310633
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerNick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I just think that risking your life at a moment's notice to save people you've never met in exchange for no money is a better expression of patriotism than dressing up like a Poundshop paramilitary and intimidating families with kids trying to get onto a ferry. 343107784
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerOtto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 09/09/2026The balaclava blackshirted thugs are a result of a decade of politicians, tabloids and the broadcast media telling racists they have "legitimate concerns." The normalisation of actual fascism rhetoric and action has led to this and is a far greater "legitimate concern" than any migrant on a boat. 781709559
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerMike Drucker @mikedrucker.bsky.social · 09/09/2026You’ve gotta use AI because it’s the future. But also it’ll take your job. But also it’ll create a paradise on earth and solve most of our problems. But also it’ll end humanity soon. But also you’ll get left behind if you don’t use it right now. 12168191636
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerJohn Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 09/09/2026Also, why is this basically written up as "quirky crowd make an embarrassing mistake" and not "violent racists form mob because Asian people use hotel"? 5133661131
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerMark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 09/09/2026For those still learning about Germany’s neo-Nazi AfD, here are the salient facts: 861059424
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerSteve Peers @stevepeers.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Kent police said 'no arrests were made' of the people who blocked a port and roads. There's your two-tier policing, folks www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm...bbc.co.ukPort of Dover delays: Disruption as masked 'stop the boats' protesters block roadsHundreds of demonstrators, wearing black with their faces covered, caused delays to traffic reaching the port. 1071847818
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerCllr Dr Alex Powell @apowelllaw.bsky.social · 05/09/2026it's interesting isn't it that for some in the media and government: Holding up a sign declaring support for a group = Terrorism. Storming a port in masks and all black clothes to try and force political change = Protest. 13512
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAsheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 03/09/2026Do other industry newsletters habitually berate workers in said industry as stupid, incompetent, and evil? Does "Inside Sinks" routinely call plumbers idiots? Does "The Chronicle of Auto Repair" publish 10 pieces a day blaming mechanics for America's demise? Or is it just a higher ed thing? 1020958
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Nothing about this on the BBC News app. They still lead with Reform's "promise" (i.e. lunatic lie) to cut 80bn of public spending. Come on, #BBC, stop being the lapdog of the populists! 030
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerPaul Steel 🇪🇺🇩🇪🇨🇵🇮🇪🇸🇯🇸🇪🏴🇦🇹🇨🇭🇨🇦 🇬🇱🍉 @pasteel61.bsky.social · 14/07/2026The best way to reverse the "Boriswave" is to reverse the Borisbollocks and fully rejoin the EU! 011
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerKate Jackson @katejackson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026No one had to think super hard about how to make a washing machine useful. A telephone. A vacuum cleaner. So why do our bosses have to constantly challenge us to find something, anything, for which AI might be helpful If your customers don’t find your product useful, that’s a you-problem 382942731
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerRobert McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Dolly Parton's scientific, public health, and educational philanthropy was so significant that @nature.com is running a piece on the impact she had.nature.comDolly Parton dies aged 80 – researchers celebrate her contributions to scienceThe country singer was an advocate for vaccines, public health, literacy and marginalized communities. 0372151
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerLiam McHugh-Russell @xntl.info · 23/08/20267. Academic freedom means that your Dean or VP should not be able to fire you or deny benefits because of your scholarly work or intellectual expression. But if you conduct scholarly misconduct, then your academic peers will happily (!) throw you to the wolves. 1203
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerPeter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 23/08/2026The craziest thing about all this is that U.K. universities are being ripped to shreds by cuts and *this* is the hill these academics are keen to die on democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri...democracyforsale.substack.comInside Britain's university crisisAs teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter 620255
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Secular canonesses (Stiftsdamen) are not nuns, strictly speaking, as they didn't take vows and could leave their religious house, but I liked how these #nuntastic ladies, dressed in gourgeeous 18th-century finery, step forward in their amazing classicist church in Bad Buchau / Upper Swabia. 040
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerTim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 18/08/2026"If it takes a decade for an account involving being parented by wolves to be debunked, well, that’s life. But if a Black man can trick you without immediate exposure, then racial tolerance has been taken too far." 🔥👏 @stephenkb.bsky.socialft.comThe difficult truth about Jason ArdayFrom the beginning, investigations were accompanied by a cloud of excessive references to his race 416049
Dr Barbara Eichner @barbaraeichner.bsky.social · 16/08/2026We often read how nun musicians were meant to be heard but not seen - the proverbial "disembodied voices" . This is the organ gallery of the Premonstratensian monastery at Obermarchtal - clearly the monk musicians were hidden behind those elegant grilles! #monktabulous #nuntastic #music 0122
Reposted by Dr Barbara EichnerAdam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 16/08/2026This Reform press release is currently the lead story on the BBC News website 3261256299