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Luca Trenta

@lucatrenta.bsky.social
5.1K followers 1K following 2K posts

Associate Professor in IR at @swanseauni_ppir Work on assassination, covert action, US foreign policy, secrecy. Host on the New Books Network. Author of The Brush Contact Substack.

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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Far from my area of expertise, but it now seems pretty clear that - among other factors - the Biden Administration helped prevented a Bolsonaro coup in Brazil. What will happen this time? aje.news/3les2g
aje.news
Polls underway in race pitting President Lula against Senator Bolsonaro
Voting is underway in Brazil as Lula seeks a historic fourth term, facing a strong challenge from Flavio Bolsonaro.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
US Mid-term Elections are coming.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I wouldn't say that it is necessarily a bargain, but Killing in the name of the state, the book I co-edited with @avramovok.bsky.social on state-sponsored assassinations is now half price on the Lynne Rienner website. www.rienner.com/title/Killin...
rienner.com
Lynne Rienner Publishers | Killing in the Name of the State State Sponsored Assassination in International Politics
Lynne Rienner Publishers, celebrating 35 years of independent publishing, is known for its cutting-edge, high quality scholarly and academic books and journals in politics, social sciences, and the hu...
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Your daily reminder that in most aspects of life, the rhetoric of 'hard choices need to be made' is and has always been a scam. The 'hard choice' would be to punish those with power. The choices made are actually the easy ones of punishing those without. www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham urged by Lib Dems to reveal all meetings with owners of Manchester City
The prime minister is facing calls from the Liberal Democrats to publish details of all his meetings with Manchester City’s owners
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Prof David J Galbreath @djgalbreath.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This
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Matthew Leggatt @matthewleggatt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Had a lot of fun talking to @lucatrenta.bsky.social on NBN for the impending paperback release of Wastelands and Wonderlands. You can listen to the interview here: newbooksnetwork.com/wastelands-a...
newbooksnetwork.com
Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature with Matthew Leggatt (SUNY Press, 2026) - New Books Network
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It was a great pleasure last week to sit down with Matthew Leggatt for an episode of @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social on his brilliant edited volume Wastelands and Wonderlands (here: sunypress.edu/Books/W/Wast...). Listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/wastelands-a...
newbooksnetwork.com
Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature with Matthew Leggatt (SUNY Press, 2026) - New Books Network
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Luke LeBrun @lukelebrun.ca · 26/09/2026
Tech companies suddenly decide they can, in fact, moderate content on their platforms after all
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Another one for the 'checks and balances' crowd. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
reuters.com
US Senate rejects resolution curbing Trump's Iran war powers
The US Senate ​on Thursday narrowly ‌rejected a Democratic-led resolution aiming to ​stop the ​Iran war until hostilities ⁠are authorized ​by Congress.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Gosh, I wonder why the leader of the Reform party of Nathan Gill fame is worried about efforts to tackle Russian disinformation.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Still no need for authorities to intervene? I’m sure there’s some peaceful climate protester they can arrest instead. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes dinghy in Channel with blade while rescue worker onboard
Thomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is probably me being naive. But, I’d say that to have a ‘winner takes all approach’ you should win something. He lost against a reflective pool.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Shocking results in Russia's elections: aje.news/od1dvj
aje.news
Putin’s party wins supermajority in Russia’s parliamentary election
Victory of United Russia party strengthens Putin's hand even as the war with Ukraine grows more unpopular.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
There's an aticle like this every few hours. Governments, corporations, and all those who could do something, do absolutely nothing. The comments sections, in turn, seem to attract the stupidest human beings on this dying planet. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warn
New report shows key indicators of Earth’s health are ‘outside the safe operating space’ as climate disaster looms
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Shocking election results coming from Russia. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
aljazeera.com
Russia election results show Putin’s party winning: What we know
With more than 90 percent votes counted, Putin's United Russia appears poised for a landslide win.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Your daily reminder that the far-right doesn’t know how and does not care about governing. In a country ravaged by climate change, corruption, and a tanking economy, they only have culture wars. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/...
aljazeera.com
Meloni promises to ban burqas, niqabs in Italy’s schools
Prime minister of Italy's longest serving government since WW2 faces election threat from far-right rival party.
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out.
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Gregk Foley @gregk.co.uk · 08/09/2026
BLOOD WORK / EPISODE 49 I SEE IT ALL: DRONES, PART 1 We look at Grégoire Chamayou’s groundbreaking 2015 book on Drone Warfare to examine the phenomenon of killing without vulnerability, and the troubling ethics such technologies induce.
patreon.com
I See It All: Drones, Part 1 | Blood Work
We look at Grégoire Chamayou’s groundbreaking 2015 book on Drone Warfare to examine the phenomenon of killing without vulnerability, and the
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Very interesting episode here, although in very @nytimes.com fashion the host is still wondering whether these people are just trolling. As if it was 2016 all over again. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
podcasts.apple.com
Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor Say the End of the World is Now on the Table
Podcast Episode · The Daily · 12 September · 38min
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
theguardian.com
The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear | Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor
An unholy alliance is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only a chosen few will emerge unscathed. It’s becoming clear how we stop them
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"When you get to a situation where half the electorate disagrees on basic reality – for example, who won an election, or is Covid real? I don’t know how you come back from that.” www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Emily St John Mandel: ‘When half the electorate disagrees on basic reality, how do you come back from that?’
Her hit novel Station Eleven seemed to predict the pandemic, now the novelist is tackling the future of the US. She talks about chance, world-building and experiencing a ‘tiny bit’ of clairvoyance
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
This. VES, redundancies, restructuring, so many processes are taking away meaning from academic life.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/u...
nytimes.com
C.I.A. Releases Intelligence Sent to Clinton and Bush on Al Qaeda Before 9/11 Attacks
The spy agency released dozens of intelligence documents it had sent to Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, outlining what was known about Al Qaeda.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Once again for those at the back, AI is going to consume all water, destroy trust, annihilate social and political bonds, and potentially tank global economy, long before a super computer kills us all. Also, behind a technology there is always people. Thank you for your attention on this matter.
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Hardeep Matharu @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A criminal investigation is underway by Met Police into allegations Reform broke the law in relation to foreign funding, following a C4 broadcast involving James Orr. James Orr is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Divinity. Any media interest in hundreds of articles?
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Science Fiction continuing its relentless transition into current affairs.
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Thank you @gilltav.bsky.social for reminding us all of the Police response in 2021 👇 when some 40 environmental activists of Insulate Britain blocked the Port of Dover: 39 arrests. Compare that to yesterday when 200-400 fascist paramilitaries intimidated Dover town and blocked the Port: 0 arrests.
bbc.com
Port of Dover: Arrests made as Insulate Britain blocks port
Queues form at Europe's busiest ferry terminal as Insulate Britain shift their protest from the M25.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Of all the things I have posted here, did not expect this somewhat provocative post to go viral. I think it does reflect a deep concern that the UK like many other countries is heading in the wrong direction. The difference is that - on paper - a left-wing government is in power in the UK.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
If only the government worried about tech billionaires as much as it does about migrants.
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shaunt @shaunvids.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
the UK is in such a dire situation because for decades every government we've had has blamed the failings of neoliberalism & austerity on migrants, & the entirety of the mainstream press is happy to play along
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Turns out that if you are an old lady with a banner supporting Palestine, the government arrests you on charges of terrorism. If you are a masked white male thug bringing a national port to a standstill, the government does absolutely nothing, and the media covers it like some lads on a day out.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Post muto
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Started Everything must go by @dorianlynskey.bsky.social as my first beach read. Loved his previous book on 1984. A bit too much Musk and MacAskill in the intro but we’ll see. Crisis is a Greek not Latin word.
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
There now follows a party election broadcast by the Count Binface Party, And if I do say so myself, it's a banger. #VoteBinface #Clacton
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
@labouruk.bsky.social’s endless love affair with techno-fascism continues regardless of the change in leadership. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Approval of east London datacentre labelled ‘slap in the face’ for local democracy
Campaigners decry Angela Rayner’s backing for Brick Lane project that has only 11 affordable homes
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
A nice write-up of the research conducted for my last @britishacademy.bsky.social Small Grant on selective disclosured and covert operations. Thanks to @lseusablog.bsky.social for covering it.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Last week, I sat down with Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall to discuss her book Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence. The episode is now available via @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social. Here: newbooksnetwork.com/the-real-mis...
newbooksnetwork.com
Claire Hubbard-Hall, "Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence" (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2024) - New Books Network
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Two stories on the @theguardian.com website today. As if the two were un related. Will the new UK government have more of a spine than the last?
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
The guy who wanted Palantir in the NHS is now in charge of defence. The guy who wanted more money for defence is now in charge of all the money. The woman with far-right policies and rhetoric on immigration stays in place. Paint me unimpressed.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
After I while, I had some time to write a short piece for The Brush Contact. It combines a forgotten classic of dystopian fiction with my current research on brainwashing. Have a read here: open.substack.com/pub/thebrush...
open.substack.com
Thoughts can be punished
Truth drugs, mind control, and other cruel fantasies
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
If @labouruk.bsky.social has not learned the lesson that they should stop appeasing Trump and the far-right, then they are doomed regardless of who is in charge.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Utter idiocy www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Burnham risks Labour backlash if he reverses ban on new oil and gas drilling
Party manifesto pledged to honour existing North Sea exploration licences but not issue new ones
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Celebrating people’s death is surely wrong. The same applies to lionising them just because they died.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Top post this.
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Anyone I know could do some (paid) research for me at Cornell University Archives?
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Just imagine the amount of dirt... www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
Farage says he is resigning but will stand in ‘people v establishment’ byelection – UK politics live
The Reform UK leader says he will stand again in Clacton, saying the people of the constituency ‘should be the judges of my actions’
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Have you got any plans for Sunday the 2nd of August? No? Come to Bristol. I'll be discussing the history of the US government's involvement in assassination at the Loko Club as part of Pints of Knowledge. You can buy tickets here: www.tickettailor.com/events/pints...
tickettailor.com
Buy tickets – "From Poisoned Milkshakes to Precision Bombs: the Evolution of US Assassination Policy – LOCATION TBC
"From Poisoned Milkshakes to Precision Bombs: the Evolution of US Assassination Policy – LOCATION TBC, Sun 2 Aug 2026 - "From poisoned milkshakes to precision bombs: the evolution of US assassination ...
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Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi @ajimenezbacardi.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
50yrs ago, the CIA published "Intelligence in the War of Independence" to rehabilitate the Agency's public image as it was being investigated for decades of misdeeds. In this post for @nsarchive.bsky.social I write a little history on this CIA publication.
nsarchive.gwu.edu
“Exploiting the Bicentennial”: The Church Committee, the CIA, and the Politicization of the Revolutionary War
Washington, D.C., July 1, 2026 - A pamphlet published 50 years ago by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to celebrate the United States Bicentennial and highlight the role of secret intelligence op...
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
One has to give it to far right parties everywhere, they are not suBT le about who pays their bills. And yet, people vote for these “patriots.” www.reuters.com/world/afd-le...
reuters.com
AfD leader vows to restore German-Russian ties as she eyes chancellery
Germany should end a boycott of Russian oil and gas to bolster its flagging economy, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, told Reuters as she ​outlined the party's ambiti...
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
More despicable performative cruelty from @labouruk.bsky.social. Wonder if my MP still thinks that they are different from previous governments. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Asylum seekers to pay £10,000 towards living costs under new UK law
Means-tested scheme included in immigration and asylum bill condemned by charities for placing tax on refugees
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