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Darrin Durant

@darrinadurant.bsky.social
344 followers 101 following 413 posts

Associate Professor of Science & Policy @ University of Melbourne. Writes about experts, democracy, policy-making, disinfo, nuclear power & climate politics.

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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
AI-Stans are appealing to the creature in Frankenstein to render AI the potential victim of neglect. Yes the creature says his neglect was an injustice. But he refers to himself as a fallen angel become a malignant devil. At that point, AI starts looking more like Citizen Vigilante than victim?
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
If a political party bans media, while also claiming to be the voice of the silenced, that party is either insincere about the value of free discussion or just budding authoritarians in waiting.
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
#AI needs power, so the industry went looking for ground where one in five live in poverty. The first #nuclear reactor designed to operate underground, drilled through the aquifer, on land where the Army still detonates waste explosives under federal permit. kansascitydefender.com/justice/inve...
kansascitydefender.com
NUCLEAR GUINEA PIGS: How a Small Kansas Town Became the Site of a Nuclear Experiment to Power AI
The first underground nuclear reactor in history is being drilled through the drinking water of Parsons, Kansas, to power AI data centers, after the safety rules that would have stopped it were rewrit...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
John Howard: “Working class suburbs could do with fair wages, strong industrial protections and cost of living reductions, but let’s tell them instead the problem is the immigrants and oh yeah stop gambling”. Possibly paraphrasing, who knows, let’s bet on it.
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Frank Pasquale @frankpasquale.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
From model collapse to profession collapse
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Vaucanson’s mechanical duck (1738) stimulated ‘humans are just machines’. Descartes (1637) had treated humans as special, but the non-specialness of bio-auto beings warranted exploiting them. Is this the fate of humans in AI Bros’ talk of their specialness being magical thinking?
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Dr Paul Dorfman @drpauldorfman.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Too cheap to meter? A stochastic analysis of projected future fusion costs arxiv.org/abs/2606.26536
arxiv.org
Too cheap to meter? A stochastic analysis of projected future fusion costs
In recent years, technological developments and activities by private actors have led a reemerged discussion of the potential of nuclear fusion to meet growing global energy demands. So far, however, ...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Imagine everyone gives up on using aesthetics as reason to reject AI-writing. Instead, focus turns to normative reasons for rejecting AI-writing. Will an editing vs generating distinction end up something like Habermas’ therapy vs enhancement distinction?
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FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Australian World Cup fans take to street with new chant: “Aussie boys are on a bender, Donald Trump is a sex offender.”
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ACCESS-NRI, Australia's Climate Simulator @access-nri.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
An open letter from the ACCESS-NRI Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) to federal ministers about the impacts of CSIRO job cuts on Australia's modelling capability, noting that "these job cuts will significantly degrade this capability, and impair our capacity to produce new climate projections."
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Jack Stilgoe @jackstilgoe.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
@shobitap.org makes the case for expanding the scope of technology regulation www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
“Sacrifice subjects” and a proposal for people-first technology regulation
In March 2026, juries in California and New Mexico found Meta and YouTube liable for user injuries, including addiction, anxiety, depression, and thoughts of self-harm. After years of dashed hopes for...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
#CitationGate Moodsplaining: where some version of the Cool Kid (the cynic, defeatist, nihilist, proud-but-busted gamer of the system or just-plain-moron) explains the defense of scholarly standards as perfectionist witch-hunting.
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Christina Ayiotis @christinaayiotis.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
“ ‘This isn’t a story about one bad agent or one bad API. It’s about an entire industry building AI-agent integrations into production infrastructure faster than it’s building the safety architecture to make those integrations safe.’ “ www.globalprivacywatch.com/2026/05/the-...
globalprivacywatch.com
The AI Didn't Go Rogue. Guardrails Were Never There.
The lesson from the PocketOS database deletion is not that agentic AI is dangerous. It’s about governance and controls. You have probably seen some
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John Cook @johnfocook.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Just published a new paper in Environmental Communication with interdisciplinary team where we identified the logical fallacies in a comprehensive taxonomy of climate myths. Paper (paywalled) is at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10...., free pre-press manuscript is at sks.to/deconstructc...
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European Journal of Political Research @ejprjournal.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
🆕 Is “right-wing populism” a myth? 🧚 @alexyates2000.bsky.social & @aurelmondon.com argue three reasons why the #Populist label is ill-fitting for #FarRight politics, calling for the more common use of precise but stigmatising signifiers
buff.ly
There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of populism in reactionary times | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
There is no such thing as ‘right-wing populism’: Reclaiming the emancipatory potential of populism in reactionary times
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Crikey @crikey.com.au · 17/04/2026
Opinion | NSW's anti-protest law brought in after the Bondi attack is unconstitutional, the NSW Court of Appeal has ruled. Chris Minns should apologise — or resign, writes Michael Bradley. www.crikey.com.au/2026/04/17/c...
crikey.com.au
Chris Minns is a constitutional vandal. He must apologise for NSW protest laws or resign
NSW Premier Chris Minns' protest laws have been ruled unconstitutional. He shouldn't just be 'disappointed', he should hang his head in shame.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
How AI footage blurs evidence & content: “Generated video caters to an audience’s desire to see their beliefs in the form of evidence, and consume what they already believe as if it is being irrefutably established by real events” @robhorning.bsky.social robhorning.substack.com/p/evidence-a...
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Michael West @michaelwestbiz.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Is private health insurance a rort surely not? $6.9B subsidies, $1.7B in combined profits Medibank, BUPA, NIB but underpay hospitals by over $1B #auspol Claudia Weisenberger analysis michaelwest.com.au/private-heal...
michaelwest.com.au
Private health inusrance. Unfit for purpose and in need of reset - Michael West
A $6.9 billion annual subsidy supports a model for private health insurance that's losing consumer confidence. There's a proven alternative.
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Gavin Schmidt @climateofgavin.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
By me. A decade-old error in a paper trips up the contrarians. RealClimate: A reflection on reflection www.realclimate.org/index.php/ar...
realclimate.org
RealClimate: A reflection on reflection
RealClimate: Confirmation bias and a profound lack of curiosity mark the latest ABC (Anything But Carbon) contrapalooza in DC this week and a decade-old albedo error trips them up. I occasionally dip ...
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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 08/04/2026
1/ This Yanis Varoufakis screed made me so angry the only way I can salvage my day is to go through it line by line as catharsis. You are welcome to come on the journey toward my aneurism with me. An angry h/t to @sianushka.bsky.social for bringing this into my life. unherd.com/2026/04/why-...
unherd.com
Why I went to Moscow
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Matt McManus @mattpolprof.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
My review of Rockhill's "Who Paid the Pipers of Western Marxism?" for @damagemag.bsky.social Few books have done more to legitimate the need for Western Marxism www.damagemag.com/p/western-ma...
damagemag.com
Western Marxism Through the Looking Glass
A new book dismisses the entirety of Western Marxism through circumstantial evidence, insinuation, and ad hominem attacks. Ultimately, it vindicates the very tradition it seeks to criticize.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Free public transport in Victoria in April. After years of Gov’t policy requiring one to own a petrol or diesel Ute driven everywhere, I’m sure this won’t start a culture war with fossil fuel snowflakes. 😳
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
How to be ‘Merica’s B***h. Or, FU Alcoa and extractive capitalism. youtu.be/FWrdQxmGlO8?...
youtu.be
Honest Government Ad | How to be 'Merica's B!tch
YouTube video by thejuicemedia
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Michael Mazengarb @michaelmazengarb.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Good news that ACCR will appeal the judgement in the greenwashing case it brought against Santos. "In our view, the judgment sets the bar for corporate communication about climate commitments well below market and investor expectations." www.accr.org.au/news/accr-to...
accr.org.au
ACCR to appeal Federal Court judgment
ACCR has appealed the decision of Justice Markovic in the case of ACCR v Santos Ltd.
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Katherine Copsey @katcopseygreens.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
With petrol prices spiking, the Greens are calling on the govt to make public transport free for the next month - and use that month to invest in permanent measures to improve PT & safe cycling lanes. (As you can hear in the vid, the corellas are very supportive!) www.instagram.com/p/DWAnLghDOZs/
Reel cover for the Instagram post in the link. Cover shows a photo of Katherine Copsey MP holding a myki card at a myki machine. Text below reads "Free and frequent public transport"
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
What if it was already well-understood that having no plan IS the plan? Produce failed states that are unable to be compliant allies for anyone and profit of the instability.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Turns out the straight or canal not open is far more impactful than temporary lulls when the wind is not blowing or predictable times when the sun is not shining. #renewablesnow
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Australians are constantly told renewables will ruin the weekend, you won’t be able to tow your boat, and society will collapse into Mad Max territory. Meanwhile, as a little mayhem starts breaking out due to potential petrol shortages, not a peep about the link to fossil fuels addiction.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
For all social science and humanities teachers, a good read on the effort by EdTech Corps to use AI inside education: destructive even if it’s ultimately an unsuccessful take over. theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/against-te...
theamericanvandal.substack.com
Against Technofeudal Education
Pillars For Protecting Our "Core Infrastructure" From OpenAI
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I disagreed violently (apparently) and was called ‘religious’ and a breaker of scholarly norms. Maybe those terms suggest those committed to “AI will innovate” are the ones in the cult, with dissenters the norm-breaking heretics?
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Angus Taylor talking cost of living pressure in Canberra’s wealthiest suburb - “hard times hit everyone” he said - is code for “you folks will be OK?
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ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
“A complete joke” After the starting gun fires, Australian researchers have to wait 2–3 years before even starting the race. Really clear article explaining the impossibly long new time-frames for Australian Research Council grants. By @liammannix.bsky.social
theage.com.au
‘Complete joke’: Efforts to reduce funding wait times ends with longer blowout
A long campaign to improve Australia’s sclerotic research bureaucracy has culminated in an extraordinary blowout to grant approval times, leaving scientists despondent.
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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Yesterday, Trump tried to justify the attack on Iran with rehashed claims of "election interference" from 2020 and 2024. Here's my 2 cents on what that was all about: katestarbird.substack.com/p/the-electi...
The real story is that foreign governments try to interfere with elections in the U.S. all the time. In 2020 and 2024, the U.S. had private and public infrastructure in place to catch them, call them out, and mitigate the damage. Now, those mechanisms are gone, intentionally undermined and dismantled by the Trump administration. Instead of securing our elections, it seems that the current administration would prefer to exploit the spectre of “foreign interference” to justify its own *federal interference* in the upcoming midterm election.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Australia, where 40% of homes have rooftop solar and install cost is $0.50 cents a watt installed in a week versus $3.30/watt installed in six months in the US. 🤦‍♂️ www.volts.wtf/p/whats-the-...
volts.wtf
What's the real story with Australian rooftop solar?
Saul Griffith joins me to debunk the myths surrounding Australia's massive influx of solar energy.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
On the embedded politics of LLM’s and AI. Or, channeling Golumbia’s critique of cyberlibertarians. tante.cc/2026/02/20/a...
tante.cc
Acting ethically in an imperfect world
Life is complicated. Regardless of what your beliefs or politics or ethics are, the way that we set up our society and economy will often force you to act against them: You might not want to fly somew...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
New report by @ketanjoshi.co showing climate benefits of AI are wildly over-stated. ketanjoshi.co/2026/02/17/b...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Below is from Barnaby Joyce. Apparently he is was asked if he agrees with his One Nation leader (Pauline Hanson) that there are no good Muslims. Is this speaking in tongues or just how bigots ramble on?
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Dr Jeremy Walker @jeremywalker.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
For those of you keen for more revelations from the oil-drenched #AtlasFiles 🔥⛽️☠️here’s the full clip of me at the #Auspol Senate hearings on the organisation and funding of climate and energy disinformation. Fun answering questions from Sen Roberts (?!) & Canavan. ✊🏼 youtu.be/VwuqxfyCYj0?...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Nuclear Sabre Rattling is back. But consider that for nuclear deterrence to work, you must assume rational response to threat of annihilation. Yet the entire article emphasizes growing unpredictability. Nuclear deterrence is a flawed theory. archive.md/68lgT
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Taylor & Hume, the new Liberal leaders, are again claiming nuclear power is the route to lower emissions and abundant power. Time to re-up analyses showing the Libs are energy policy fibs. @australianlabor.bsky.social
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
Just a thought, but if your anti-protest laws are illiberal, they were never “designed to foster unity”. The division is a feature not a bug?
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Taylor & Hume leading the Liberals is like Burke & Wills looking for the Gulf of Carpentaria. @australianlabor.bsky.social
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Australian Government revenue from tax on beer exceeds the revenue from tax on oil and gas extraction. We’re just getting drunk to cope with being ripped off by fossil fuel interests?
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
If @albomp.bsky.social can’t mock Taylor as opposition leader, Albo would be even more out of touch than inviting Herzog.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Vale Jon Kudelka, editorial cartoonist (1972-2026), who amongst other things skewered climate denialists and requested those “reasonably well informed and not a complete dill” to join him. FYI @michaelemann.bsky.social
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
“If the intention was to make Isaac Herzog feel at home by surrounding him with violent, racist thugs, then take a bow Chris Minns”. theshot.net.au/uncategorize...
theshot.net.au
Why the fuck would we “socially cohere” for monsters?  - The Shot
Yesterday, the gulf between the will of the Australian people and the actions of the Australian government revealed itself to...
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
This White House “Don’t Panic” press release is written by folks who can’t help being Paul Verhoeven’ Starship Troopers (1997) while trying to be Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers (1959).
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
When the entire USA becomes fly over country.
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
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Darrin Durant @darrinadurant.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
21st Century Nuclear Logic: reduce safety guidelines & environmental protections. Increase worker risk. Relax security & accident reporting. Yet reactors will still be uneconomic, lack resilience to outages & accident risk, and blow build times. www.npr.org/2026/01/28/n...
npr.org
The Trump administration has secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules
The rewrite was done to speed up the construction of a new generation of nuclear reactors. Critics warn it could compromise safety and public trust.
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