Reposted by Rob RalstonMichael Kupperman @mkupperman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026There is no reason for Garfield to hate Mondays, as cats don't observe a schedule. The only possible answer is that Garfield deeply loves Jon and is saddened when he has to work. 2339346
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 05/10/2026just rewatched the scene where Jack Black gets vaporised and it retains the cosmic horror element that I hated as a kid! 110
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 05/10/2026my dad rented Mars Attcks! for 11 year-old me thinking it was a fun, kids film those red skeletons were seared into brain for years 140
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 03/10/2026we might need to operationalise a multi-dimensional definition of ‘hotness’ to unpack this 050
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 03/10/2026this is spot on: no ‘actually existing’ hot dad would ever buy clothes from here, and normal dads would be too embarrassed to shop here. 130
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 03/10/2026which is primarily that I own secondhand records that I’d never have found or listened to, had I not gone to a physical store for me, the value is not because it’s vinyl, it’s because I had to devote time and effort to finding it 010
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 03/10/2026to me, an important divide is not between format (physical / digital) but how people approach discovering new things there’s lots of people who just want a vinyl version of their favourite records (and that’s completely legitimate) but that’s different from how I would see the value of records 110
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 03/10/2026one perspective I feel is missing here, is simply that going to a decent secondhand record shop for a couple of hours is a nice way to spend a saturday morning an algorithm can't substitute for the serendipity / randomness of looking through record bins not knowing what you'll find 111
Reposted by Rob RalstonDavis Allen @davisallen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026The climate crisis we face today wasn't inevitable, and we have the receipts. 411472
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 02/10/2026every recommendation in this piece is a ‘nice to have’ when the sector is falling apart (I also disagree with the claim that some problems are ‘too big’ - surely that’s the point of academia?!) 010
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I think this is what economic sociologists call ‘fictional expectations’ 010
Reposted by Rob RalstonBy Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 01/10/2026The reduction of politics to voting is part of the 50 year neoliberal project whose foremost goal is to make you think of yourself as an atomized individual and not as a member of a polity. 3366120
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026that’s so depressing (and kinda sad to see academics bypass what’s meant to be a fun part of the job) 050
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/10/2026was this hangover text in the submitted manuscript?! 010
Reposted by Rob RalstonThe Empty City @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026NEW The diabolical defending of Manchester City Understanding an aggressive litigation strategy By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk (Prospect paywall is down currently.) www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th... #MCFC 2123895
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 29/09/2026great to see a communicado official with such prolific use of the term ‘sham’ 000
Reposted by Rob RalstonCenter for Climate Integrity @climateintegrity.org · 28/09/2026Alito’s recusal follows a recent investigation by @consumerwatchdog.bsky.social into his financial ties to the fossil fuel industry — and the warnings he received from ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 that climate deception lawsuits could adversely affect his investments.climateintegrity.orgWatchdog group reveals Justice Alito’s financial, ethical conflicts in Big Oil lawsuit before the court | Center for Climate IntegrityJustice Alito must recuse from Suncor v. Boulder under the court’s own Code of Conduct, watchdog says. 11612
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 26/09/2026there must be a case of a team qualifying for Europe while getting relegated? 000
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 26/09/2026there must be a case of a team qualifying for Europe while getting relegated? 000
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 26/09/2026yeah, ideally you want them hovering around the relegation zone. I think you’d have to carefully calibrate it, based on squad value 110
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 26/09/2026I would invert this - higher deduction for lower leagues to create some real jeopardy 110
Reposted by Rob RalstonJennifer Clapp 🇨🇦 @jennifer-clapp.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Was happy to speak with Swissinfo about the important topic of corporate power in food systems! Featuring new data too from @etcgroup.bsky.social and insights from Taarini Chopra! www.swissinfo.ch/eng/agribusi...swissinfo.chHow a handful of big agriculture companies have taken over food productionJust a few companies, including Swiss ones, account for a disproportionate share of the market for agricultural inputs like seeds, machinery and chemicals. 02413
Reposted by Rob RalstonKatharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 20/09/2026Elite athletes, musicians, actors & more often use cultural importance as an excuse for why they're exempt from cutting their emissions. In this new analysis led by @manuelsuter.bsky.social, we argue the opposite: visibility and influence should raise the bar, not lower it! Read more:nature.comThe climate responsibility of cultural influencers - npj Climate ActionIn socially influential fields such as elite sport, music, and film, cultural relevance is often invoked as a special moral status that exempts them from genuine emissions reduction. We argue that vis... 933393
Reposted by Rob RalstonManuel Suter @manuelsuter.bsky.social · 21/09/2026People with cultural influence have a special responsibility to act on climate change. This is the central argument of a new Comment we published, together with Pascal Stegmann and @katharinehayhoe.com. www.nature.com/articles/s44...nature.comThe climate responsibility of cultural influencers - npj Climate ActionIn socially influential fields such as elite sport, music, and film, cultural relevance is often invoked as a special moral status that exempts them from genuine emissions reduction. We argue that vis... 04810
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 21/09/2026some staggering quotes in this piece, including the claim by one IPCC scientist that sinply declaring funding from Saudi Aramco resolves any conflict of interest 27336
Reposted by Rob RalstonLondon Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 18/09/2026‘Palantir was willing to spend more on securing political access than almost all of its British and Continental competitors. It made donations to London think tanks and hosted parties at Davos.’ @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @lucasamin.bsky.social, from July: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...lrb.co.ukPeter Geoghegan and Lucas Amin · ‘This looks absolutely rubbish’: Palantir and the NHSA decade ago Palantir was largely unknown in the UK. It now holds public contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds... 14525
Reposted by Rob RalstonKaren Gregory @karengregory.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Protect African Studies @ Edinburgh docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...docs.google.comProtect African Studies @ Edinburgh 11315
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 18/09/2026If I remember correctly, the first scene of the first episode uses a diegetic beastie boys track to highlight how lame Kendall is It’s clearly edited to be comedic! 010
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Solidarity we’ve had this threat for what feels like years now, and it’s absolutely horrible 110
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 17/09/2026spoke to @criticaltakes.bsky.social about plastic waste, corporate power and the upcoming round of UN treaty talks to address the enormous global challenge of plastic pollution podcast available via the link below criticaltakes.org/society-and-...criticaltakes.orgNearly half a billion tonnes of plasticRob Ralston talks to Critical Takes about the role of corporate power in the plastic waste and pollution crisis and the prospects for a global treaty. 021
Reposted by Rob RalstonAndrew Simms @andrewsimms.bsky.social · 15/09/2026It’s not normal in a health & climate crisis to actively promote highly polluting products that make things worse. Congrats to Bristol - the latest city to end ads for things like fossil fuels, flights and SUVs. @badvertising.bsky.social @adfreecities.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukBristol becomes first city to ban fast fashion advertsNew rules prohibits the promotion of flights, cars and travel agents on council-owned billboards. 412554
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 07/09/2026one of the clearest cases of corporate capture you’ll find 021
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 07/09/2026all this depoliticization strategy is going to do, is tacitly legitimize the far-right and erode political engagement from citizens 020
Reposted by Rob RalstonNaomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 05/09/2026In our new essay for the @financialtimes.com (you read that right), @astra.bsky.social and I link the extreme weather events we have all been living through to the rise of a new iteration of futureless fascism, wherein the rich and powerful plan for their bunkered survival behind fortressed borders. 391764682
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Its some kind of alchemy that Pablo Torre Finds Out is both incredibly entertaining and serious public interest journalism 010
Reposted by Rob RalstonDes Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Nearly 5000 researchers applied for an ERC starting grand in the last round. Just over 400 (less than 9%) were successful. Many people applying are spending up to 12 months working seriously on their application. This is absolutely crazy. erc.europa.eu/news-events/...erc.europa.euERC Starting Grants: €705 million to back Europe's next generation of researchersThe European Research Council (ERC) has today announced the winners of its latest Starting Grant competition. The funding, worth €705 million in total, will go to 421 early-career researchers across E... 33620
Reposted by Rob RalstonPhilipp Golka @pgolka.bsky.social · 01/09/2026How does assetization and assetmanagement inform social conflict? Join us for an online launch event for our NPE special issue "Asset Struggles" on Sept 17th 2PM (German time), featuring: @melindacooper.bsky.social, @jenmcarthur.bsky.social, @benbraun.eurosky.social ⬇️ Signup in post below ⬇️ 13414
Reposted by Rob RalstonArvind Ravikumar @arvindpawan1.bsky.social · 18/08/2026A geologist and a systems engineer walk in to a bar... ...and start arguing about whether we can actually pump enough CO2 underground to hit net zero. That's more or less how this paper got started with @hdaigle.bsky.social. Read on to find more: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...iopscience.iop.orgCan we sequester carbon fast enough? growing disconnect between models and realityCan we sequester carbon fast enough? growing disconnect between models and reality, Daigle, Hugh, Ravikumar, Arvind P 922864
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Yeah, I think as a ‘fix’ to the problem of waste. It allowed companies to position themselves as environmental champions and shift responsibility to citizens. It’s arguably as central to current corporate strategies as it was in the 1980s (albeit badged as the circular economy) 120
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I think you could make the case that recycling is the single most successful corporate strategy of the past 50 years 120
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026what I find interesting is how little attention has been given to waste as an environmental issue that petrochemical and oil companies were grappling with at the same time as air pollution 120
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I’m not a technical expert on chemical recycling, but I think that would be extremely difficult (if not impossible) to achieve. I think the only solution is producing less plastics, though that requires confronting powerful interests 110
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026link to the doc: www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/all-industri...industrydocuments.ucsf.eduIndustry Documents LibraryIndustry Documents Library: a searchable archive of internal industry documents to support research, education, and public interest. 230
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026been doing some archival research on recycling as a 'fix' to plastic waste and the parallels with climate delay are striking corporate actors knew that recycling was not a viable or environmentally sustainable solution in the 1970s, but spent millions persuading publics and govts otherwise 1115
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I suspect that’s a dimension of AI use that would need to be addressed at school or institutional level. I guess more point is more bounded and engaging with reflections in the quoted thread 020
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 01/09/2026this is a very insightful thread that I think identifies the core issue with AI use in teaching: students have to be taught traditional research skills before they can assess how to use AI (if at all) in a way that is valuable 2288
Rob Ralston @policyrelevant.bsky.social · 29/08/2026yes that’s definitely true in terms of budgets. I’m not saying that corporations are always efficient or successful, but lobbying has been used for decades which indicates that there is some strategic value in it on advertising, it could be that it also normalises certain forms of consumption 000