Backpack went from hitching a ride on his mom’s back to cross the Brooks River to winning the hearts of fat bear fans around the world.

Tech Oligarchy Forum - Part 1. Volume 35, Issue 3 of Science as Culture

A Russian drone has hit the National Academy of Sciences in central Kyiv today, killing at least one person. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko says three others were wounded in the attack. The SMC asked…

Iʼm raising money to support the Nottingham UCU hardship fund. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

In the early 2000s, during the dramatic but now almost forgotten outbreak of foot and mouth disease in cattle, I wrote about war metaphors and the issue of projecting control over an ‘out of …

Why it’s time for societies to take cognitive rearmament seriously

U.S. corporate media long ago gave up on accurately describing abject reality.

Rusi Jaspal and I recently published an article on the metaphorical framing of the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. Here is a short blog post about it to whet your appetite for the real …

I have recently written a blog post about various movement metaphors used in AI discourse, especially those of ‘race’ and ‘journey’. A related metaphor, that of ‘pace’ or ‘pacing’, focusing on the …

AI lab took months to spot the problem, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called ‘obviously unacceptable’

I have recently written a blog post about various movement metaphors used in AI discourse, especially those of ‘race’ and ‘journey’. A related metaphor, that of ‘pace’ or ‘pacing’, focusing on the …

There are other ways of thinking about AI

I have recently written a blog post about various movement metaphors used in AI discourse, especially those of ‘race’ and ‘journey’. A related metaphor, that of ‘pace’ or ‘pacing’, focusing on the …

Thomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover

I have recently written a blog post about various movement metaphors used in AI discourse, especially those of ‘race’ and ‘journey’. A related metaphor, that of ‘pace’ or ‘pacing’, focusing on the …

A session at a recent conference led KSJ director Usha Lee McFarling to reflect on the traumas that science journalists face — and what can be done to help.

At the beginning of the week (14 September 2026), I woke up to a collision of two AI discourses, one where President Donald Trump wants to win the AI race and another where Dario Amodei, the head o…

Although acts of creation, scientific or artistic, result from metaphorical and mythological speculations, the role of metaphor and myth has largely been neglected in attempts to develop a geogra...

At the beginning of the week (14 September 2026), I woke up to a collision of two AI discourses, one where President Donald Trump wants to win the AI race and another where Dario Amodei, the head o…

At the beginning of the week (14 September 2026), I woke up to a collision of two AI discourses, one where President Donald Trump wants to win the AI race and another where Dario Amodei, the head o…