iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 12h

Pretzel lovers: where should a pretzel hater like me go to be proved wrong?

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Drew Engelhardt @amengel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Quite the figure from @tesler.bsky.social in this @goodauth.bsky.social piece. goodauthority.substack.com/p/republican...

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Jack Bailey @jack-bailey.co.uk · 28/09/2026

Sick of work this Monday lunchtime? Or perhaps hungover from one too many on the first night of Labour Conference? If so, distract yourself with ✨ 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗠𝗥𝗣 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ✨ Full interactive at: jack-bailey.co.uk/ward2024

Screenshot showing interactive ward level MRP estimates at the 2024 UK general election.

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This looks excellent - and I love papers that apportion (explanatory) credit, just as this does

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Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 26/09/2026

Tech companies suddenly decide they can, in fact, moderate content on their platforms after all

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If anyone is giving an intro lecture (and it's that time of year) on the importance of clear definition, this In Our Time episode contains a good discussion of what a tree is www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... yes, really

bbc.co.uk

In Our Time - The Evolution of Trees - BBC Sounds

How trees first arose from small plants and changed the world, and why new trees emerge.

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Pedro Magalhães @pcmagalhaes.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The Atlas of Social Attitudes is now live: www.atlasofsocialattitudes.eu What is it, what can you do with it, and why did we build it? A short🧵. (1)

atlasofsocialattitudes.eu

Atlas of Social Attitudes

Explore comprehensive public opinion data from the European Social Survey and the European Values Survey. Discover insights across topics, countries, an...

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Archie Hall @archiehall.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My latest for @economist.com: AI writing is taking over politics. 10% of what was is said in Parliament is now AI-drafted, per Pangram. Yet more in the House of Representatives, or in Australia and Canada. Link: www.economist.com/britain/202... And a 🧵 below, w/ some main offenders

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British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

NEW - Selection, Stability, and Shock: Political Attitudes of Chinese Students at Home and Abroad - cup.org/4ApzPbp - Yingjie Fan, Jennifer Pan & @yiqingxu.bsky.social #OpenAccess

BJPolS abstract on democratic diffusion discusses the impact of overseas studies on political liberalism among Chinese students. The study highlights increased liberal attitudes after exposure to liberal democracies, but notes a decline in association with Chinese contexts from 2022 to 2023...

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Cambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 21/09/2026

#OpenAccess from @cjps-rcsp.bsky.social - What Part of Government Legislative Action is Driven by Campaign Pledges? - cup.org/3TkQDj0 - @skelalex.bsky.social, Lisa Maureen Birch, Antoine Baby-Bouchard, Dominic Duval, Steve Jacob & @yannickdufresne.bsky.social #FirstView

Red letters "CJPS RCSP" are centered on a blue background, with #OpenAccess written below.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

How much more complicated does government formation get when one more party enters parliament? Chris Hanretty (@chanret.bsky.social) finds identifiability declines as parties increase, with no "sweet spots". Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/EPcxz0X @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #PartySystems

"Abstract
Government identifiability – the degree to which the party composition of the eventual government can be predicted given the election results – is a desirable characteristic of a political system. But the measurement of identifiability has remained impressionistic, limiting our ability to speak precisely about trade-offs between identifiability and other characteristics of the political system. I show that a recent measure of bargaining complexity by Cronert and Nyman acts as a ratio-level measure of government identifiability measured in bits – or equivalently, the number of yes/no questions needed to identify the composition of the government. I then show how identifiability is linearly related to the number of seat-winning parties in three different contexts: parliamentary governments, presidential cabinets, and municipal governments. Across all three contexts, an additional seat-winning party increases entropy of government formation by between 0.7 and 0.8 bits. Since identifiability is linearly related to the number of parties, any increase in the number of parties through electoral reform will worsen identifiability by the same amount. Conversely, there are no “sweet spots” where we can achieve high levels of identifiability at low cost in terms of the number of parties."

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Selling some books on World of Books, and it's interesting the books they don't take. I understand a Terry Pratchett paperback has no value to them, but are there really so many copies of Christos Tsiolkas' The Slap going around?

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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 18/09/2026

woman currently using the cafe's toilet as a cubicle to take a work call from (??) is an exciting new frontier in the "have people forgotten how to behave in the world" discourse we've been having here lately

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

I was ready to criticise MPs for investigating stupid stuff, but then I read "The hearing will be part of the committee's State of Play inquiry, where members of the public can request an evidence session to be held into a particular subject that interests them" www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

UK's 'dismal' Eurovision song choices to be examined by MPs

It comes after the UK's entry Look Mum No Computer came last in May's final, scoring just one point.

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Pavel Iosad @anghyflawn.net · 18/09/2026

A further observation: the response to the news is widespread horror and solidarity (which we’re grateful for), but it’s also really interesting to observe the gap between how this looks like from ‘the inside’ vs the outside.

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

NINETY programmes, fucking hell

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Charles McClean @cmcclean.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Second piece of good news: my paper with Aksel Sundström and Daniel Stockemer is now forthcoming @bjpols.bsky.social We find that including younger representatives in decision-making bodies can boost perceptions of fairness and trust, even among older adults static1.squarespace.com/static/5c69a...

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Sebastian Ziaja @sziaja.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Geo-coded electoral data offers immense potential for understanding democratic processes. @dielea.bsky.social, Stefan Jünger, and I will build a research data infrastructure to support the global research community using such data with our DFG-funded project "Electoral Spaces". We are hiring!

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Joelle Tasker @joelletasker.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Exciting to see my first thesis paper in @polstudies.bsky.social! In this article I explore how economic versus cultural values predict left-right self-placement in the UK over the last 10 years, and how this looks different for those identifying on the left versus right. doi.org/10.1177/0032...

doi.org

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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ben @benrs.uk · 17/09/2026

good morning

APStylebook • @APStylebook • 16h

We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanizing "the" labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated. Instead, use wording such as people with mental illnesses. And use these descriptions only when clearly relevant.

AP The Associated Press
Replying to @APStylebook

The use of "the French" in this tweet by @AP was inappropriate and has caused unintended offense. An updated tweet is upcoming.

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Helen Barnard @helenbarnard.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

PSA: surveys on social media are totally meaningless & 'share to increase sample size' makes absolutely no difference to that. They are representative of the exact people who chose to take part and no one else. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Is there really no gif of Helle Thorning Schmidt telling/asking Stephen Kinnock, "Why are you doing this now?"

static.klipy.com

That Is A Disgrace Liz Truss

ALT: That Is A Disgrace Liz Truss

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This is an interesting thread, but I think it would be good for any social science to have a few open problems, just as a treat

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

If you're a union member, and an external examiner at Brighton, you should resign. The game's changed, and you won't like what's coming next.

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Julia Partheymüller @schnizzl.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

📣 Call for papers now open! The next Annual Conference of the European Political Science Society will take place in Copenhagen, 24–26 June 2027. Submission deadline: 13 November 2026 (23:59 CET) Looking forward to it! #EPSS2027 @epssnet.bsky.social

Screenshot of the European Political Science Society website announcing “Copenhagen 2027.” Under “Join us in Copenhagen!”, a photo shows colourful waterfront buildings and boats. Text announces the society’s next meeting on 24–26 June 2027, with panels and networking. An orange notice reads: “Call for papers is now open!”

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Gavin Jackson @gavinjackson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Sometimes I think about AI like cars. Cars kill over 1m a year in accidents alone and that's after we've come up with "car alignment" policies like traffic lights and speed limits. When cars first came out the British government had a man with a flag walk very slowly in front of them.

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Chris Terry-Enescu @cjterry.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Yeah it's a loss leader. I know this because when I lived in Belgium an industry group was threatening to sue IKEA under a Belgian fair competition law

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

At the IKEA restaurant in Croydon (yes, glamorous, I know) and fascinated by the economics and lack of anything similar. If it's a loss leader, lack of similar outlets becomes understandable

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Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 13/03/2024

(Did I never post this tip here?) Do you like bibtex? Do you do doi? Do you want bibtex refs from doi on the command line? Yes you do, you wonderful monster. Try this line (adjust doi as needed, and see alt text for source too): curl -LH "Accept: application/x-bibtex" doi.org/10.1002/evan...

$Shell output: curl -LH "Accept: application/x-bibtex" https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.10110 @article{Henrich_2003, title={The evolution of cultural evolution}, volume={12}, ISSN={1520-6505}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/evan.10110}, DOI={10.1002/evan.10110}, number={3}, journal={Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews}, publisher={Wiley}, author={Henrich, Joseph and McElreath, Richard}, year={2003}, month=jan, pages={123–135} }$

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Adam Roberts @adamroberts.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I've posted a free story, for Friday. It's called "Lad and the Devil". It has I assure you no contemporary or "A.I."-y relevance. profadamroberts.substack.com/p/lad-and-th...

profadamroberts.substack.com

Lad and the Devil

A Diabolical Story

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This looks like an important paper. These coalition inclusion probabilities are becoming really useful (which is good) but are more opaque than seat share or centrality (1/2)

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post malone ergo propter malone @proptermalone.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I guess I am kind of iffy on how you convince an LLM of the inherent value of human life *and also* align it with trillionaire-level inequality. I think you can probably do one of those things!

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Paul Goldberg @paulwgoldberg.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Some of my colleagues are excited about this one... It's another AI-assisted solution to an open problem (in this case, one that has been vexing quite a few people in computational social choice theory)

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Nicholas Whithorn @nickwhithorn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Emma Bonino, a giant of Italian politics, has died. Tireless campaigner for civil rights & firm believer in European unity, she stood for everything that Meloni hates. Frequently tipped to become President of the Republic, she sadly never got the opportunity.

Emma Bonino being arrested during a demonstration for the legalisation of abortion in Italy. She was one of the most vocal campaigners for the right to abortion and helped to promote and win the referendum on the issue in 1978.

Emma Bonino sitting on the government benches in Parliament during her stint as Foreign Minister in Enrico Letta's government, 2013-14.

Emma Bonino during a campaign event for the 2024 European Parliament elections.

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Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

In my day, we had work experience too. It was called work. Christmas post, barmaid, admin. My impression was that students do this even more now than back in the dark ages.

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Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

It’s a lovely story but I rather suspect it was not strictly true but a fable told to his friends by Jeremy Hanley (famous for having a sense of humour) to pay a compliment to Margaret Thatcher ( who wasn’t famous for having a sense of humour).

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Andi Fugard @andifugard.info · 10/09/2026

The "prediction" that "AI could kill all humans" in the next decade was actually (10, 100]% probability btw – in an X post!¹ 😆 😭 If you're into this genre of doom, but with thought put into it, you could try the National Risk Register.² ¹ x.com/EvanHub/stat... ² www.gov.uk/government/p...

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Yakov Feygin @buddyyakov.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Interesting paper just dropped in the great data center debate and it's not great news. Data centers seem to raise the yields on local govt debt since they have a very low long term multiplier and large perceived externalities on public infrastructure. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

papers.ssrn.com

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Will Allen @williamlallen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The @magdalenoxford.bsky.social junior research fellowships are now open, including for politics. Due 15 Oct. 3 years of 100% research time to those who submit their PhD between July 2025-Oct 2027. Comes with good ECR pay, relatively generous support funds. www.magd.ox.ac.uk/job-vacancie...

magd.ox.ac.uk

Job Vacancies - Magdalen College

Magdalen College is one of the oldest, largest, and most beautiful colleges in Oxford – it is a wonderful place to work. You can explore and apply for current vacancies on our recruitment website via ...

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I feel like we need a zippy listicle, "10 existential risks to humanity you need to know about". No sense worrying about alignment if it's going to be another "grey goo" problem

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Contact hypothesis FTW(*) (*) Yes, it can be a selection effect, don't @ me

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Just imagining Grigori Perelman reading this / someone printing it off and hand delivering it to his apartment

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I think this claim is a good example of something that is (or ought to be) politically convincing, but which would never get out of peer review.

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Chris Terry-Enescu @cjterry.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Truly wild to have lived through moral panics about teenagers wearing hoodies and Muslim women wearing the head dress to now experience 'but is a large group of organised far right activists in balaclavas really that scary'

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Micah Warren @micah541.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

cloak and dagger navier stokes cims.nyu.edu/~tristanb/st...

cims.nyu.edu

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Chris Hanretty @chanret.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Auto-formalization also shows how much tacit knowledge there is in a mathematics paper: "It is a gigantic proof (over 13.4 million lines of code)" compared to hundreds of pages of A4

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