iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Slightly worried by #LFC’s start. But delighted with the Homebaked Anfield pie

Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Strong recommend the history of computer gaming @kingstonuniversity.bsky.social some brilliant machines and even more brilliant blurbs

Poster for the ARC exhibition at Kingston uni

BBC and acorn computers running retro games

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

& @markrt.co.uk is launching that report live in Glasgow now!

Data on the creative workforce from the recent Creative PEC report on audiences and workforces

Prof Mark Taylor launching the latest Creative PEC report

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Strong recommend for the Hill Dickinson, great place to watch Liverpool win ❤️

The hill Dickinson stadium, home of Derby losers Everton FC

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Sensational 4-2 win for the Mariners

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Research Seminars at AHCP @manchester.ac.uk this semester! All welcome, more details in the QR code

Semester 1 research AHCP seminars poster

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

19th September @leedsunimedia.bsky.social! WHAT'S CLASS GOT TO DO WITH IT? RETHINKING TV FROM THE INSIDE OUT One Day Symposium All welcome, registration & details on the excellent poster designed by @lrjdmnr.bsky.social

Poster for the class and TV symposium at the university of Leeds on 19th September 2025, to register contact WHATSONTVCLASS@GMAIL.COM

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Turns out ACE were serious about that classical in car parks thing 😍

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Neil Young wonderful (& far away!) in Hyde Park

Neil Young and the chrome hearts in Hyde park

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Finally some metal in my back yard 😍

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Impressive new big lad up front for West Ham

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Impressive new big lad up front for West Ham

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

AND @creativepec.bsky.social has launched new dashboards with all sorts of data on cultural engagement in every Local Authority in England! We're especially proud of this part of the work and really do hope people use it! (Liverpool is the example in the screenshot) app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrI...

Screenshot of the new Creative PEC interactive dashboard on local authority level arts engagement data, highlighting Liverpool

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Earnings are a huge issue- in arts and cultural jobs pay is low 15 months after graduation, irrespective of type of subject studied (& still is when we model for things like gender, type of uni attended, etc). Arts & cultural grads have even lower earnings if they dont get an arts & cultural job

Table showing model results for graduate earnings, 15 months after graduation. It shows how, following controlling for a range of factors such as demographic characteristics, arts and culture graduates earn the same as all other graduates in arts and culture occupations, but earn less (compared to all other graduates) when they enter all other occupations
More details are in the report available here https://pec.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Creative-PEC-Higher-education-and-the-arts-and-culture-sectors-FINAL-22-04-2025.pdf

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

First off, these subjects are important entry points to key creative industries and occupations 15 months after graduation, when compared to all other HE subjects. This should be celebrated, even though much more needs to be done to strengthen these connections

Table covering occupation of employment 15 months after graduation, by higher education subject studied, showing how arts and cultural subjects have higher proportions of graduates in arts and cultural occupations as compared to other subjects such as STEM, Social Science or Humanities
Full report available here https://pec.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Creative-PEC-Higher-education-and-the-arts-and-culture-sectors-FINAL-22-04-2025.pdf

Table covering industry of employment 15 months after graduation, by higher education subject studied, showing how arts and cultural subjects have higher proportions of graduates in arts and cultural industries as compared to other subjects such as STEM, Social Science or Humanities
Full report available here https://pec.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Creative-PEC-Higher-education-and-the-arts-and-culture-sectors-FINAL-22-04-2025.pdf

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

As Shankly said to Stein “you’re immortal” #LFC

Arne Slot, at the Anfield Road end, celebrating his first title as LFC manager

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Difficult afternoon so far for LFC women

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Culture is (still!) bad for you, revised and updated edition out now! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526177810/ The new cover looks brilliant too

Front cover of the book culture is bad for you https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526177810/

Spine of the book culture is bad for you https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526177810/

Back cover of the book culture is bad for you https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526177810/

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Culture is bad for you is doing a book tour! @orianbrook.bsky.social @markrt.bsky.social or me in Bristol 24th March (in person), Manchester 27th March (in person), Edinburgh 1st April (online & in person) & Sheffield 9th April (in person). Details/tickets manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/events/

Poster for Culture is bad for you book tour. It details Bristol 24th March (in person), Manchester 27th March (in person), Edinburgh 1st April (online and in person) and Sheffield 9th April (in person). Details and tickets are all on the MUP events webpage https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/events/

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Some brilliant work at 2 Temple Place’s Lives Less Ordinary exhibition twotempleplace.org/exhibitions/... including a cracking LFC photo. Honoured to see some academic work in the exhibition library too!

The panic report, printed out in the library of this https://twotempleplace.org/exhibitions/lives-less-ordinary/ exhibition

Culture is bad for you with a range of other books in the library of this exhibition https://twotempleplace.org/exhibitions/lives-less-ordinary/

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

(2/2) But the crisis is already here! As we show in @suttontrust.bsky.social A Class Act report there are serious issues around class and private schooling for access to drama courses www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/u...

Data on access to drama courses by social class origin, showing the skew towards those from upper middle class social origins at key institutions such as Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/A-Class-Act.pdf

Intersectional data on access to drama school, including class, ethnicity, gender and type of school attended. There are very small proportions of working class ethnic minority men and women accessing drama at university https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/A-Class-Act.pdf

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Finally, the true meaning of Christmas 😍

A TV showing the opening screen of space marine 2 on PS5

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

The future of Xmas breakfast has arrived

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Delighted to have shared @creativepec.bsky.social research on arts audiences to the APPGs for Opera and Jazz this evening

Joint session of the opera and jazz APPG’s, in a committee room in parliament

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Looking forward to hearing @tibetcurator.bsky.social talking about recent research & a forthcoming book too!

Emma Martin starting a lecture on Tibetan Material Culture

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

New essay on cultural policy & the Labour government from @orianbrook.bsky.social & I, now available in this new book www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/britai...

The front cover of Britain needs change, a new book about Labour in government

The first page of Orian Brook and Dave O’Brien’s essay on the cultural policy challenges for Labour

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Cambridge (4%) Oxford (5%) Bath (4%) Bristol (5%) & Manchester (7%) have the lowest proportions of ‘working class’ origin creative students. Royal Academy of Music (60%), Royal College of Music (56%), Durham (48%), KCL (46%) & Bath (42%) have high proportions of privately educated students.

Every university in the UK ranked by proportions of working class students on creative courses

Every university in the UK ranked by proportions of students who attended private schools

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

BUT the overall pattern hides significant inequalities by subject & university type. Arts subjects eg music & drama, at elite institutions, eg the Russell Group, have very high proportions of middle class origin & privately educated students, and low levels of working class origin students

A graph showing all creative subjects, university groups and class origins of students

A graph showing all creative subjects, University groups, and type of school attended by students

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Prof Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

The academic literature suggests Higher Education is a really crucial part of why the creative workforce is so unequal. Yet superficially, whether we look at class origins of students or the type of school they went to, creative HE courses seem to be doing okay. There's a big BUT coming next>

Social class origins of creative students and all students

Type of school attended by creative students and all students

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