iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Pleased to write a short reflection in this @futureoftheleft.bsky.social collection where we each explore our experience of modern life. Mine looks back on the World Cup and why - for all I still value the unity it brings - this year it felt there was a fakeness and performance to it.

futureoftheleft.substack.com

HOW WE LIVE NOW

An anthropology of ourselves.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The Glastonbury queue doesn't really have a mystique when you know people can play the system and I think it would be better for everyone if it moved to some kind of ballot system.

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We're Right Here @right-here.org · 01/10/2026

Once a year, politicians leave Westminster for party conference. Power gets on the train to Liverpool but never leaves the conference centre. Communities need power in their hands all year round. Don't take your foot off the gas, Andy. The next stop for devolution: community power. 🧵1/2

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There is a real opportunity on the note Burnham ended on - "get behind this plan and get behind each other" is a call for both the party and the country to be social and connected again.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Proud of @right-here.org for pulling off a brilliant rally and bringing the community power bus to party conference, doing our bit to close the gap between communities and politics and show that community spaces, activities and groups are essential for us to live good lives where we're in control.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Longer term I think what is significant about the speech is that he broached conversations that have been written off for years, and with the rubicon crossed in numerous areas, new political space opens up that will be contested in the years to come but was just not there before.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The emotion of Burnham's speech was what immediately struck me - himself, clearly moved, but also seeing tears from people I've never seen cry.

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Katie Schmuecker @katieschmuecker.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Great to see investment in high streets and community spaces announced today. These are places that help us feel confident, connected and in control. 🤔 But these places aren’t just about bricks and mortar. A community space needs people to make it thrive.

Image of people making food in a community kitchen

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We're Right Here @right-here.org · 23/09/2026

Come aboard the Community Power Bus, parked outside the Labour Party Conference. A space to explore how to put real power into communities' hands. 📍 Salthouse Gates Lay-by, Salthouse Quay, Albert Dock, Liverpool 🗓️ 28–29 Sept, 10:30am-4pm Let’s make community power the next stop for devolution.

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We're Right Here @right-here.org · 18/09/2026

With Labour conference around the corner, it’s encouraging to see the Prime Minister’s commitment to unlocking community power beginning to be put into action. We’ve been cooking up a plan for Conference to push the government to further and faster on devolution - we'll be sharing more next week!

Community Power on the destination sign of a Double Decker bus

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Lots of great pieces in the relaunched Progressive Review. @yasminibison.bsky.social and I have chipped in with 'The Communal Foundations of Resilience'.

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a rare photo of sean connery signed by roger moore @steamedhamms.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

it’s actually good for your everyday behaviour to be pro-social

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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

New report out today! Today, we’re releasing ‘Essential but unequal: the need for social infrastructure in every place’, our first report in our new Communities and Place policy workstream. Hear our Principal Policy Adviser @katieschmuecker.bsky.social explain more in this video

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Not many players whose names are continually sung on the terraces. RIP Ludo ⚒️

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Pretty incredible position for the British right to take, qualifying on the Falklands.

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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

📊 How has social infrastructure been affected by economic conditions over time? Hear from our Lead Analyst @sam-tims.bsky.social as he explains how it has been allowed to decline - with some places suffering more than others - over recent decades.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Basically every US campaign ad I've seen is essentially: 1. I am X person who did a normal job 2. In that job I did XYZ to protect our community 3. Washington is a mess/corrupt and everything too expensive 4. I will stand up for working people and make life more affordable

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I wonder when we will see the first nicotine pouch merch over here

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I both think the AI people are mental and acting quite rationally within the dynamic at play, and even in an intrinsically human way by doing it because 'we can' not necessarily asking if 'we should'. And ultimately it all comes down to a question of control, both now and into the future.

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Joseph Rowntree Foundation @jrf-uk.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

💡 What is social infrastructure? Our Senior Policy Adviser @yasminibison.bsky.social breaks down what we mean when we talk about these vital community assets, and the purpose they serve in places right across the UK. Watch here 🔽

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Marc Stears put much energy while at UCL pre- and post-2024 to convene + engage linking a progressive ecosystem of ideas + movements to power, policy +politics This takes a demand for as well as a supply of ideas. So this looks like a positive gain for the post-2026 demand-side of that equation

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

"If you don't have strong community organisations, if people are not meeting each other...then someone walks into this void and says I speak for you, I'll represent you, I'll stand up for you, the people are hurting you" Gordon Brown on BBC Breakfast this morn.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Going to try and get out and about a bit more than I have done of late, to places I've not been to before in particular, and write up what I see, hear and feel. This is the first note from Chichester.

joshwesterling.substack.com

Notes from England: Chichester

Historic, ordinary, lonely

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Not gonna single out the person who posted it but this kind of 'how many doors have you knocked?' mindset is detrimental to Labour selecting effective candidates

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

joshwesterling.substack.com

Notes from England: Chichester

Historic, ordinary, lonely

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Kinda feels like a misguided attempt by Timmy Taylor's to become the next Guinness. As the article notes the trends are already in its favour but I'm not sure a metro Madri Man rebrand achieves much. Would make more sense to lean into Gen Z nostalgia through the previous branding.

thegrocer.co.uk

Timothy Taylor’s targets Gen Z with first rebrand in a decade

Around 25% of Gen Zs now regularly order cask beer, according to a survey by the Society for Independent Brewers and Associates

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Of course some of that is ensuring that people, wherever they live, have places to go (social infrastructure), but also that there is a more pro-social tilt to how society and the economy is structured in general to encourage that incidental connection that does not require a conscious choice.

thetimes.com

There’s an epidemic of loneliness among young men. Here’s why

Men aged 18 to 29 spend more than two-fifths of their waking hours alone — and it’s bad for them

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

It'd mean recognising that post-pandemic there has been a deepened 'socialising inequality' (as demonstrated in the FT piece below) where there should be a more directed effort to close that gap, otherwise people will be left behind.

ft.com

Pandemic lockdowns never ended for some people

For too many young people, disrupted social ties have never fully recovered

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I does feel like something zeitgeisty going on (beyond this article) that communitarians should see as an opportunity, where people are increasingly seeing the value of connection, relationships etc. + are being turned off from the online. But it'd need to be built upon to be a egalitarian movement.

theguardian.com

Community-maxxing: gen Z are done with doomscrolling – and ready to socialise

Research shows young adults often feel isolated. So alongside embracing ‘grandma hobbies’, they want to get involved with the places they live and be good neighbours

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James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I’ve written for The Times about the rise of loneliness among young men and why the problem may be less about men failing to “open up” than the disappearance of the places and institutions where friendships once formed almost by accident. www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...

thetimes.com

There’s an epidemic of loneliness among young men. Here’s why

Men aged 18 to 29 spend more than two-fifths of their waking hours alone — and it’s bad for them

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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

So many people in this wretched affair are incapable of registering the idea that the black people involved are in fact real people, rather than being rhetorical props for whatever unrelated point they wish to make.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

This is a good provocation. Would suggest a step before listening to the little guys which - at least in Labour / adjacent circles - is actually thinking about them at all. Something else that doesn't really factor into the thinking is the felt experience of working in an SME vs. a larger org.

futureoftheleft.substack.com

Listening to the little guys

A series on the politics of production.

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Andy's comms has been so good that no one has heard about the Commonwealth games and only heard about the eclipse yesterday

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Now just seen a vid of horses galloping through the scorched New Forest...

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Seeing the 'woke 1' discourse on X from across the pond (disavowing that politics) makes me think that it is probs an example of where the Americans have followed us rather than the other way around?

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

What it does indicate is that there are still people within the operation who don't fully get his appeal in the current political moment

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Andy is really compelling talking about the feeling of leaving home, what it feels like to come back, and the sense of being slightly out of place. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aRi...

youtube.com

Prime Minister Andy Burnham on Imposter Syndrome, Failed Leadership Bids and Finding Hope

YouTube video by How To Fail with Elizabeth Day

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Anoosh Chakelian @anooshc.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

There's more to Andy Burnham's premiership than vibes - my @newstatesman1913.bsky.social column this week on the intellectual project behind him:

newstatesman.com

Are we living under “woke Blue Labour”?

To understand Burnhamism, look back to 2010

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Nice to see my piece for @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social on how Manchesterism should put people and place first featured in the Future of the Left newsletter.

open.substack.com

Newsletter #21: Too Parochial?

It’s the Right’s turn to be out of touch

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Josh Westerling @joshwesterling.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Tried to capture that weirdness and disorientation here

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