iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Jonathan caught me in action. What a great section this was. Thanks!

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

📢 Research Seminar – Autumn Term 2026 is here! Full lineup in this thread 🧵👇

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

We are thrilled to announce that we are hiring for an open-rank (Assistant/Associate/Full Professor) position in political theory. Please do reach out if you have questions. jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/I/...

jobs.lse.ac.uk

Assistant/Associate/Professor in Political Theory

Assistant/Associate/Professor in Political Theory, , <p> </p> <p style="text-align: center;">LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive university</p> <p style="margin:...

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Many thanks to Chiara Cordelli for this masterclass with our PhDs and postdocs ahead of her Brian Barry Lecture this evening www.lse.ac.uk/government/e...

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Only available for a short time: "A Friend of Dorothy", short film with costumes by my husband, Francisco Rodriguez Weil. youtu.be/CMqUMXn7y5g?...

youtu.be

A Friend of Dorothy - full Oscar nominated short film starring Miriam Margolyes and Stephen Fry

YouTube video by Attitude Magazine

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

📢 Next @lsepoltheory.bsky.social seminar: Elena Ruiz (Michigan State) — "Epistemic Capitalism: Structure, Ideology, and the Economics of Inequality" 🗓 Thu 5 March, 4:00 PM 📍 CKK.2.06, LSE All welcome! External visitors please register in advance (link 👇) @lsegovernment.bsky.social

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

LSE Political Theory Group research seminar TODAY: Speaker: Daniel Häuser (LSE) Title: In Defense of a Modest Political Liberalism When: Thursday, 12 February, 4:00 PM Where: CKK.2.06 All are welcome!

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

📢 LSE Political Theory Group seminar this Thursday! Christine Straehle: "Migration, Death and Human Rights" 📅 Thu 22 January, 4:00 PM 📍 CKK.2.06 All welcome! External visitors please register in advance for security: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/WBSQABK5yj @lsegovernment.bsky.social #PoliticalTheory

forms.cloud.microsoft

Microsoft Forms

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

*** 📢 CFP: LSE Graduate Conference in Political Theory 📅 28–29 May 2026 • London (in person) Grad students in political theory & related fields: submit an anonymized abstract (≤1000 words) by 22 Feb 2026. ✨ Keynotes: Sean Ingham & Shuk Ying Chan 🔗 Submit via form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... ***

docs.google.com

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Fantastic @biapt.bsky.social conference in beautiful Edinburgh with five great keynotes, some snow, and three LSE colleagues. @brunoleipold.com @kspiekermann.bsky.social and Leigh Jenco.

Leigh Jenco, Kai Spiekermann and Bruno Leopold in conference venue.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

Our last research seminar this term: Pablo Gilabert (Concordia) “Why We Should Support Working Artists” Thursday, 11 December, 4:00 PM OLD.4.10 All welcome! If you are external to LSE, please register in advance so you can pass security: forms.office.com/e/WBSQABK5yj

forms.office.com

Microsoft Forms

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 08/11/2025

Really excited to see this renewed interest in social norms. Looking forward to it.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

I'll be there to answer questions. Please join us online!

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

We're holding a Graduate Open Day for all MSc degrees in the @lsegovernment.bsky.social , including political theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social . Please join us to hear about the programme and ask any questions you might have. www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse...

lse.ac.uk

Master's study in the Department of Government at LSE - Virtual Graduate Open Events

Attend our LSE Virtual Graduate Open Events to find out more about graduate study at LSE.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Our very own Bruno @brunoleipold.com wins an ERC Synergy Grant! We are thrilled!! Huge boost for political theory @lsegovernment.bsky.social.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

This Thursday, 4pm, in our research seminar: Jeff Spinner-Halev (UNC) on "Liberal Democratic Theory and the Rebuilding of the Administrative State". @lsegovernment.bsky.social www.lse.ac.uk/government/r...

lse.ac.uk

Political Theory Group

The Political Theory Group in the LSE Department of Government - researching political theory and philosophy

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Our next research seminar is with Daniel James (TU Dresden). The title of his paper is “Racism and Racialised Oppression”. Thursday 16 Oct 4pm. PLEASE NOTE ROOM CHANGE: For this week only, we meet in CKK.1.14. Registration for externals: forms.office.com/e/WBSQABK5yj danieljamesphilosophy.com

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Thanks! Yes, it's like crtl-F, except it also tells you what words are frequent in the first place. Still. it's very crude. I don't think we learn much here -- but I wonder whether things get more interesting when one thinks about word connections.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

(3) This is really just using AI for vibe coding for a quick-and-dirty analysis. It does not draw on other LLM capabilities. Everything here could be achieved with conventional coding or using specialist software (4) This benefits from others providing data. Thanks, Project Gutenberg! (5) Leviathan!

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

(1) This is not at all validated. It's really just playing around. Pinch of salt, etc. (2) It stems from me thinking about the uses of AI for political theory. To my mind, this is not a serious use -- but can LLMs be used for something serious in our discipline? Any thoughts welcome.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

So which famous work in political theory is represented by this figure? (Frequency of select key terms by chapter). This was made with the help of Claude and the repository of Project Gutenberg. Some thoughts below.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

From political philosophy to political proposals via the social sciences. A lively debate, launching Tom Parr's new book. With Becky Clark (LSE), David Axelsen (Essex) and @brunoleipold.com .

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Two of my doctoral students submitted their thesis in the last two days. Many congratulations! So much hard work, thinking, debating, presenting. All culminating in one short email.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

On Thursday 2 October, we'll be kicking off our 2025-26 LSE poltiical theory seminar with a book launch of Tom Parr's "Empowering Workers in an Age of Automation". The event will be followed by a reception at the George IV pub. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/empowering...

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

New seminar schedule for Autumn Term. All welcome!

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

Great essay by Meghan O'Rourke in the NYT about LLMs in academia and beyond. An extract on paper (!).

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

LLMs are such a tricky challenge for Higher Ed. But sometimes they are genuinely useful for admin. I just managed to get Claude to write a timetable analysis tool to eliminate clashes in our MSc degree. It extracts data from a huge spreadsheet and turns it into a readable table. YES!

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

The good news is: if they do (despite their efforts), the cognitive gap between the groups shrinks. But what is going on? In-group solidarity, cognitive dissonance avoidance, self - deception? Sobering but fascinating work.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

In this remarkable study, Shayo and co-authors show that subjects from israel pay to avoid reading about Palestinian victims while subjects from Jordan pay to avoid reading about Israeli victims. This is bad news.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Inspiring PPE Conference at KCL, and first, poignant keynote with Moses Shayo on 'News avoidance in times of war.'

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Amazing workshop at the @csh.ac.at, thinking about collective learning, democracy, social media regulation, and LLMs. Thanks to Mirta Galesic and Henrik Olsson -- and the great interdisciplinary set of colleagues gathered in Vienna. No doubt some great work will emerge from this.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

This week, Eric MacGilvray will give a paper called "What Is It to be a Realist about Democracy?" from his book in progress. Thursday May 15 16:00 - 18:00. All welcome! Please note NEW VENUE: OLD.4.10 (OId Building)! Registration for non-LSE participants: forms.office.com/e/WBSQABK5yj

forms.office.com

Microsoft Forms

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

I am an associate of the NSF collaboration grant "Augmenting Intelligence Through Collective Learning". The PIs were informed last week that the grant is now cancelled because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities". The outline mentions climate change and diversity. And intelligence.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Our PhD student @janwasserziehr.bsky.social is organising an exciting conference on 10th June about AI, consiousness, and morality. Register here: www.eventbrite.de/e/lse-worksh...

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

@jackwilkinson.bsky.social told me about this saying today. It will stay with me for a while.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

What a great seminar this was! See you all soon again for more political theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social @lsegovernment.bsky.social

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

This will now be in LAK.2.06 due to electrical problems with the CKK building.

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

Our research seminar on Thursday is with Daniel Weinstock: "Compromise and the Ethics of Political Representation". 4pm. We're in CKK.2.06 -- but you need to register if you don't have an LSE ID: forms.office.com/e/WBSQABK5yj PS: Our email distribution is down -- sorry, no email announcements.

forms.office.com

Microsoft Forms

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Am I interpreting too much into this? In any case, it's an incredibly speech.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

'Nor can you win one [a mandate] by disregarding your basic electorate on questions like, who gets to be a part of our shared society.' My reading is that he says citizens are ignored and free speech curtailed. Thus, no mandate and no legitimacy, he insinuates, though not explicitly.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

The most remarkable aspect of Vance's Munich speech is that he questions the legitimacy of European democracies. Vance says European leaders lost the right to rule because they do not deliver the outcomes he desires. Consequently, he is not wasting time meeting leaders (but does meet Weidel!)

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

So that's how academic freedom ends.

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Kai Spiekermann @kspiekermann.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Our great Bruno @brunoleipold.com on tour! (We want him back after this, folks!)

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Two talks coming up next week: On Wed 19th we will hold a lunchtime (12pm) seminar with Bastian Steuwer (Ashoka) on “Reaction Qualifications, Fairness, and Meritocracy”. And our regular slot on Thursday 20th 4pm has Wendy Salkin @wendysalkin.bsky.social (Stanford) on "Speaking for Others".

ashoka.edu.in

Bastian Steuwer - Ashoka University

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LSE Political Theory @lsepoltheory.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Upcoming deadline for our graduate conference! Submit your abstracts by 20 Feb

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