Sign in

Fraser MacDonald

@frasermacdonald.bsky.social
2.8K followers 527 following 605 posts

Geographer, historian snug-shorded by his ain hert-stane

PostsRepliesMedia
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
It’s another strike day & I’m idly wondering why the video for Depeche Mode’s Enjoy the Silence was filmed around Broad Cairn and Loch Muick? Anyone know this backstory?
youtu.be
Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (Official Video)
YouTube video by DepecheModeVEVO
000
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I’ve never met anyone with this misapprehension. But students rightly think that universities are harvesting their essays to train AI, via a third party EdTech company called Turnitin.
151
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It’s great stuff, and I prefer kelp to bladderwrack, though it is a wee bit work. Would love a tractor & front loader but not ideal in the Porty ‘burbs.
010
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
… then be the weirdo hauling this up the beach? but och, good to gie the microbes a wee treat
000
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Timely coincidence of seaweed delivery + early autumn leaves + UCU strike = a good compost day
A rusty cart full of kelp sits on a strand line of seaweed, with a manure fork propped against it. The grey North Sea lies behind.
2210
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Thanks Jo, I am SO into it atm! Both the composting and the writing do something satisfying to my brain. Hope all well with you. And, yes, the hotbin often craves some bulking agent.
110
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I closed my account five years ago & it’s really no problem. Folks, this isn’t good. 👇
083
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
hannah @hannahkateboast.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I'm on strike for the next five weeks with @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social because management continues to threaten mass compulsory redundancies. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Edinburgh University lecturers begin five-week strike over cuts
Members of the University and Colleges Union are walking out in part of a long-running dispute over job and course cuts.
711849
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Och, sad news. What a writer!

 Who Paid the Piper? redefined the cultural history of the Cold War. Also that mega LRB essay, The Suitcase. RIP
theguardian.com
Frances Stonor Saunders obituary
Author and documentary-maker best known for her 1999 book about CIA-funded cultural espionage Who Paid the Piper?
151
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I grieved for the Internet, I grieved for Social Media, now I grieve for universities, and their communities. This is all part of a mass-dismantling of social connection (and university leaders have been blithe to their part). What does that leave? We all become selfish? Not why I work at a uni…
212534
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
‘Yet the emergence of Patriot Platform is not necessarily a sign that the far right is getting its way.’ This from @trillingual.bsky.social in @lrb.co.uk is really worth a read www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...
lrb.co.uk
Daniel Trilling | Masks Off
The emergence of Patriot Platform is not necessarily a sign that the far right is getting its way. Radical right-wing...
1114960
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Huge. Huge testament to the power of organising. Huge relief for Exeter friends and colleagues. Huge waste of time and resources. Huge reputational damage done. Huge warning to universities who want to treat their staff like they don’t matter.
011132
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
It's good to have a novel like this to go back to. The Overton biog came into our local bookshop this week, I'll take it on holiday next month.
110
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I loved this book so much, I must go back to it
110
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
“did maliciously dig up turf on the golf course … paint political and offensive slogans on the grass, score a political slogan into the turf… aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection” Scotland, 2026
theguardian.com
Seven charged with damaging Trump’s Scottish golf course accused of ‘terrorist connection’
Course at Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort was painted with words ‘Gaza is not 4 sale’ and clubhouse was sprayed with graffiti
051
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Stars and Stripes @starsandstripes.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
A civilian geography professor was fired from West Point for pushing back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change.
stripes.com
West Point professor fired after pushing back on limitations to teaching climate change, lawsuit says
Adam Kalkstein pushed back after department officials barred faculty from teaching that humans contribute to climate change, the lawsuit says.
48977423701
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
(I wish I wasn't like this, sorry)
020
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
The hill I will die on is that although there are many versions of this rhyme, the scansion should be the same as in the 1650 Psalter e.g. The earth belongs unto the Lord and all that it contains Except Argyll and the Western Isles For all that’s MacBraynes
130
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I hope that the Scottish Government can urgently attend to this, despite yesterday's resignation of the minister, Ben Macpherson. Universities and their staff are struggling – this story explains why.
146
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I have a limited appetite for fiscal wonkism, but this seems like a major story about systemic underfunding of universities in Scotland, Wales and NI. Scotland is being penalised for not charging tuition fees.
wonkhe.com
The Treasury is bankrupting three nations' universities
With funding reviews underway in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Justine Pedussel and Jim Dickinson worry none will examine the hidden accounting rules driving the crisis
0149
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I recently supervised a v good ugrad dissertation on this! The whole area has been intertidal at various stages, and doubtless will be again. See work by Michael Stratigos doi.org/10.1080/1473...
doi.org
A Model of Coastal Wetland Palaeogeography and Archaeological Narratives: Loch Spynie, Northern Scotland
This paper presents a new model for the palaeogeography of an important archaeological region in northern Scotland – the former Loch Spynie, Moray. The method employed refines existing glacio-isost...
140
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
there really is so much not to like
020
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
NO, I AM <chatgpt face>
010
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Absolutely mortifying piece – very thought leader-y
392
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Extraordinary that the Scottish Government should be so cavalier with such an important cultural archive.
041
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Just remember this message is aimed at your children not theirs.
191061316
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
That quote from Jacqui Smith at the end … don’t these folk have spads??
Jacqui Smith, the skills minister whose portfolio includes higher education, told the BBC on Thursday that the government was concerned that university courses should be good value for money, and suggested future increases in tuition fees would be linked to teaching quality.
"For most people, going to university is a very good and important investment in their future earning potential and in their life," Smith said.
010
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
James Kneale @jameskneale.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I've just heard that the BA/BSc Geography programme is to close at the University of Exeter’s Centre for Geography and Environmental Science (CGES) in Cornwall. This programme was made up of excellent modules with original and content, taught brilliantly—often with real innovation—by extremely 1/9
5172104
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The story is here is less about university finances than about a management culture that has undisguised contempt for its own staff.
1175
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
<this is fine gif> www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Live facial recognition cameras to be used on UK’s busiest shopping street
Sadiq Khan has indicated the technology will be deployed on London’s Oxford Street despite human rights concerns
001
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Heartened to see that my university is ending its contract with Turnitin before the next academic year, because Turnitin is going to use student submissions to train AI models. Institutions can and should resist this stuff!
251639390
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
mine too!
020
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Genuinely great idea
130
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Yes, indeed. It wasn’t explicit support by the FCoS but it was definitely tacit support and they still haven’t apologised. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/ju...
lrb.co.uk
Fraser MacDonald | Send Back the Money
After the 1843 Disruption, when the Free Church of Scotland split from the Church of Scotland, some of its leaders tried...
010
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Yes, it’s welcome but still quite easy to miss, hence my ‘modest official commemoration’
120
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Yes, not official but very welcome nonetheless
010
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
This is good to see! There are so many sites across the city with Douglass associations, at the moment unmarked.
062
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
It is really great.
010
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Yes, I know this well but it isn't in any sense 'official', even if it it fills the absence of a public commemoration
220
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
Frederick Douglass spent about six months in Edinburgh and we have no blue plaques, indeed very modest official commemoration of any kind. Let's change this.
5232
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
The audio experience of cinema has changed so much in my lifetime, it now seems designed to overwhelm as part of an affect-heavy approach to narrative. It's not subtle.
120
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
My trusty 3M Peltors are now held together with duct tape but wow was I glad of them for The Odyssey.
A photo of very worn, cracked and taped ear defenders 
.
060
Reposted by Fraser MacDonald
Michael Barany @mbarany.com · 28/07/2026
back when our uni was doing "curriculum transformation" instead of "spending restraint" I tried to tell anyone who was asking for input that the biggest proven gold standard higher ed intervention we were missing and should invest in was foundation writing courses plus writing centre
1369
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Yes, I’m always allergic to white invocations of indigeneity which is why I think care is so powerful, there’s no unspoken eligibility criteria.
020
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Of course, taking care is ultimately much more threatening than taking liberties, because care represents a cultural claim of belonging and it decentres the landowner as the primary custodian.
141
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
That’s such a moving story and I think chimes with other points made by @jon-moses.bsky.social & @rightoroam.bsky.social that access can foster an ethic of care as well as one of liberty.
130
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
I’m not normally an affect theory guy but it does seem that feeling itself is at stake in this debate … & that the current limited access arrangements are designed to instil a fear vs anger/entitlement relation.
130
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
A measured and sensible response from Jon Moses to those who object to ‘Scottish style’ responsible access south of the border.
1135
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
He didn’t even pay for his own spectacles … he only ever saw the world through the lenses of a plutocrat.
193
Fraser MacDonald @frasermacdonald.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I don't think any university teacher is ready for the next academic year. It's a crisis without precedent.
0101