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Zoe Tongue

@whiterxbbit.bsky.social
3.1K followers 1.3K following 232 posts

Dr | Lecturer in Law at the University of Leeds | abortion, international human rights, animals, science fiction, comics | vegan | bisexual | she/they

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Reposted by Zoe Tongue
Cal Horton (they/them) @fiercemum.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My new article, co-authored with @sandraduffy.bsky.social is out today, please read & share: "Criminalising and eliminating affirmative healthcare: Trans childhood in a moral panic" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Criminalising and eliminating affirmative healthcare: Trans childhood in a moral panic - Cal Horton, Sandra Duffy, 2026
Trans children in the UK are the targets of an escalating moral panic, centred around access to affirmative adolescent healthcare. Combining moral panic theory ...
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My book exists!
Photo of a cardboard box with books inside. The book is titled 'Recognising a Human Right to Abortion' by Zoe Tongue. The cover artwork features a blue background and a white abstract figure of a pregnant person, with pink details.
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Robin Hayward 🌳 🏳️‍⚧️ @canopyrobin.com · 25/09/2026
We're publishing new guidance to support trans people who do fieldwork (any work outside the office)! Now we need your help to get them seen so please share! inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/trans/
a cartoon of three fieldworkers. One has a small trans flag. The logos of the university of leeds, research england, and canopy robin are shown, as well as the URL: InclusiveFieldwork (dot) Leeds (dot) AC (dot) UK (slash) trans
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Kate McAllister @katemcal993.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Last week was World Suicide Prevention Day. I saw lots of well meaning posts elsewhere on social media, about how ‘asking someone if they are okay’, or ‘sending them a song because it reminded you of them’, is suicide prevention. But it’s really not and it’s dangerous to pretend it is
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 08/09/2026
I really thought I was too sophisticated to ever fall for a Le Creuset brand deal
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Dr. Sandra Duffy Golden @sandraduffy.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Coming in November from @brisunipress.bsky.social, In the Aftermath of Empire explores the impact of British imperialism on gender and sexuality law in four jurisdictions. Please tell your libraries to pre-order! bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/in-the-after...
bristoluniversitypress.co.uk
In the Aftermath of Empire
In the Aftermath of Empire - Coloniality, Gender, and Sexuality; In the Aftermath of Empire explores the impact of colonial law on gendered subjects in Ireland, India, and Pakistan, focusing on queer ...
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
More excited about the fact that my book cover artwork is my own art than I am about the book itself 🎨
Image of a book cover with the title 'Recognising a Human Right to Abortion' by Zoe Tongue. The cover artwork features a blue background and a white abstract figure of a pregnant person, with pink details.
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Franziska Schutzbach @fschutzbach.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Our handbook on “Strategies Against the Backlash” will also be published in English. Please help spread the word among English-speaking audiences! It will be released as a special edition by the Swiss Association for Feminist Studies (FemWiss). We will only print as many copies as are pre-ordered.
Graphic showing the cover of the handbook Hope Calls for Action: A Feminist and Queer Handbook for Authoritarian Times. The dark burgundy book cover is set against a pale pink background and reads “Fem*Fém 71 | Special Edition” at the bottom.
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Harare Review of Books @hararereview.com · 24/08/2026
Finally! Harare Review of Books, Issue 2, 2026 shonatiger.substack.com/p/harare-re…
shonatiger.substack.com
Harare Review of Books, Issue 2, 2026
Hello Hello!
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alyson “end journalism” greaves @badambulist.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
much as the murder of Brianna Ghey mysteriously stopped being about the climate of transphobia in the UK and became about teen access to social media, the death of Jason Arday is, equally mysteriously, no longer about racism and is becoming about free speech in academia
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Anurag Deb @anuragdeb.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
A lot of opinion-havers, including academics, could benefit from the general civil/public service restrictions on public speech. Do you have an opinion? Think 10 times about posting it. And then don't 😊
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Sneha Krishnan @snehakrishnan.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I wrote this in rage mostly because I wish we could have done more to stop the “free speech” defence of Cofnas and also because our Dalit colleagues’ vocabulary is powerfully true. This is institutional murder www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...
aljazeera.com
Jason Arday’s death is institutional murder
Arday was subjected to a vicious campaign fuelled by anti-Black racism.
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callymeg.bsky.social @callymeg.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Arday leaves a partner and two small children. If anyone wants to help, Sir Patrick Vernon has set up a Gofundme: www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-...
gofundme.com
Donate to In Memory of Professor Jason Atta Kwei Arday, organized by Sir Patrick Vernon OBE
Help us support the family of Professor Jason Arday with funeral a… Sir Patrick Vernon OBE needs your support for In Memory of Professor Jason Atta Kwei Arday
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Yeah, don't do this. If you want to take action, write your own complaint, email your MP, sign the Good Law Project's petition for a media inquiry. goodlawproject.org/petition/jas...
goodlawproject.org
Jason Arday: Demand a public inquiry now | Good Law Project
Commission an immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press given its contribution to Dr Arday’s tragic death.
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Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
While this was all happening, friends and I were literally listing off senior white men who were still in post despite not being able to work with students because they're actual sex offenders.
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 14/08/2026
This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.
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Jason Arday found dead
2 hours ago — Mr Arday was found •unresponsive• at an address in Battersea. south London. on Froy
afternoon. He was uter pronounced dead at the scene. A Read rnore
Jason Arday says he was an illiterate, mute child. His .
6 hours ago — Jason Arday says he was an i&erate. mute child. Cambridge's youngest-ever black
professor in 2023. Arday attended from the age of four to 11
r— mm-WI 3
A PhD is no longer a sign of brilliance — take it from Dr Arday
1 day aeo — Juon Arday resigns from the Unwersity of Cambrdge after The Telegraph reports he had
falseb• claimed to have pubåshed a book
We are all Jason Arday now
S days ago — Jason Arday resons from the University of Cambridge after The Telegraph reports he had
falsew cGimed to have published a book Aug 7.2028. Read more
Cambridge professor claimed he was on Seven Up..
2 Aug 2026 — He was not bom until 1985. Prof Arday is at the centre of a row about academk
plagiarism after The Tekgragh that he had been accused
The Jason Arday 'memoir' that now appears to be more .
7 days ago — Instead of tales of triumph over adversity. the now-fomer Cambridge professors
autob"qraphy is a case study in self-rnythobgising,
Arday failed to mention 'months-long coma' in autobiography
8 days ago — Jason Arday toz publishers he was k•ft a three-month coma fohwhg a car gash. but
never wrote about the ordeal his memoirs_
Jason Arday is living proof that you reap what you sow
6 Aug 2028 — The Cambridge professor feed plagiarism alegations and made fantastical clä'ns about
his life. so what did he expect woUz happen? Read rmre
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Arday 'accused student of Miite privilege' after she
4 days ago — Forrner Cambrdge professor alleged* htplied that Roehamptm student was racist after
cornplaint about essay SOOre.
Jason Arday is rnerely a symptom of the Leffs corruption
Aug 2026 — Lab-curs on school standards is on the same toxic assumptions that created his
academic career.
Cambridge hired Arday after 'listening to black stu…
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Dr Phoenix CS Andrews @thatdocphoenix.com · 14/08/2026
It is in fact about ethics in journalism, and I for one would like to see some
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Una McCormack @unamccormack.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A little empathy and human kindness, eh, even when people have made mistakes. Perhaps especially so. Imagine where that might get us.
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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 14/08/2026
worth saying this isn't just a British press problem, for some reason Arday was also written about extensively in mainstream national publications in the US and in France, among others, we really do have an entirely fucked up global media ecosystem
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
its worth asking whether this ending would have happened without the endless, gleeful, hunting and dismantling of Arday's choices on Twitter, where he represented all the sins of DEI made flesh for a range of assorted disgruntled academics who once had to go to a training and hated it
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
None of this shit is worth our lives.
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CN Lester 🏳️‍⚧️ @cnlester.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I genuinely don't know how Britain can move forward as a society with our toxic press culture dragging us down at every step, poisoning everything.
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Dr Zara Bain @zaranosaur.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Fucking hell. All I can think of is Seyi Akiwowo’s post about how whatever Jason Arday did or didn’t do he deserved to be SAFE But those out for blood wouldn’t stop hounding him, then dragging him through the press repeatedly over his attempts to secure his safety. Atrocious.
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Jo @octavosaurus.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The grief and rage and sadness from this entire story breaks my heart and everyone involved in reporting this over the past few weeks should be taking a long hard look at themselves. As should academia, because we are nowhere near where we should be on treating everyone equally.
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Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
If you've been interested in Rachel Hope Cleves' accusations against Tillie Walden, go read this lengthy and careful post. It establishes, convincingly, that not only are Cleves' accusations completely without merit, but Cleves was not even Walden's primary source.
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Met Office - weather and climate @metoffice.gov.uk · 13/08/2026
Temperatures have now provisionally exceeded 37°C 🌡️ Before 2026, the UK had recorded 37°C or higher on only six occasions. This year alone, we've already reached that mark three times.
A table of top temperatures so far. The highest currently at 37.6°C at Charlwood.
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Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I wouldn't call myself a cartoonist, but I had the vision and just needed it to be on paper to the best of my ability.
A hand drawn eight panel cartoon. First two panels are a colander sitting frowning on a shelf. Then the colander is frowning straining pasta, then three more panels of frowning sitting on a shelf. Then a big panel where it's projecting a bunch of crescent eclipse shapes and smiling with speech bubbles around saying "Wow! Look! Amazing! Beautiful!" And then one final panel where it's sitting on a shelf smiling.
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Matthew Dow Smith @matthewdowsmith.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I can't even think about this without getting belligerently angry. All the creators of color, the women, the LGBTQIA+ creators struggling to survive in the comic book industry, desperate for a chance to tell stories, and instead we get more Ellis comics. Fix your goddamn souls, comics.
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Speculative Insight journal @speculativeinsight.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Brides of Frankenstein: in The Bride!, Honeysuckle, Penny Dreadful, and now IRL with AI companions. Read Zoe L. Tongue's discussion of how such characters are portrayed in this new essay: www.speculativeinsight.com
Purple background, white text, which says With AI companions... this belief that there could be a human-like mind there takes on a sinister edge when that companion's programmed sycophantic behaviour means that it will not (or cannot) tell you 'no'. 
"Permutations of The Bride: Frankenstein, Violence, and Robot-Wives" -- Zoe L. Tongue
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Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Respondents to the 2019 UK government survey on variations in sex characteristics reported a range of negative experiences in school, including bullying, coercive gendering, issues with uniforms and toilets. These will no doubt be exacerbated by England's new segregation regime for schools.
Respondents with VSC


- 65% of respondents reported that their VSC was never discussed, either by themselves or their guardian, with their education staff

    almost three-quarters of respondents believed that VSC had affected their school life (73%)

    1 in 5 respondents felt that they were absent from school often or very often (20%) 

Respondents who care for someone with VSC


- 43% of carer respondents didn’t agree that the educational institutions attended by their child/person they care for had appropriate support available for pupils with VSC (in comparison to 21% who agreed)Respondents also mentioned changing rooms, toilets, uniforms, sport, and same-sex schools as triggers of anxiety and stress.

“Using the changing rooms was absolutely humiliating, especially as I was made to use the ones for the wrong gender. At age 13, the same time I found out I was intersex, I refused to enter them any more.” Woman, 18 to 24 years, East Midlands.

“I was forced to choose between girls or boys uniforms. At sixth form, I was not allowed to use the toilets of either gender.” Non-binary, 18 to 24 years, London.

Puberty was mentioned by some respondents as a key time in VSC impacting upon education experiences. Respondents noted that puberty was when their VSC made a noticeable difference between themselves and their peers. 

“My failure to undergo puberty was noted by all of my peers, and resulted in a fair amount of bullying.” Man, 35 to 44 years, London.

“I was physically so androgynous looking, as well as having female body language and instinctive social behaviour more female than male. That hadn’t mattered so much before puberty (when the physical and behavioural differences between boys and girls aren’t as great), but after puberty I stuck out like a sore thumb.” Identify in another way, 45 to 54 years, West Midlands.

Some respondents mentioned that they were bullied or harassed at school due to having VSC. These experiences included both verbal and physical assault. Respondents often referred to being seen as ‘different’ from their peers.

“I was visibly different from other children of my assigned sex during and after puberty, making me the subject of frequent comments and bullying throughout high school.” Prefer not to say, 18 to 24 years, Scotland.
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Mitch Travis @profmitchtravis.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
A few weeks ago, after a 7 year delay, the UK government quietly dropped the results of their 2019 Call for Evidence on variations in sex characteristics The results are striking but will of course seem deeply familiar to anyone working in this field. www.gov.uk/government/c...
gov.uk
Variations in sex characteristics (VSC): experiences of life in the UK for people with VSC and those who care for them
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Paul Duane 🥔 @paulduane.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Fritz Lang didn't build a seventy-foot-long mechanical dragon, operated from the inside by ten puppeteers, breathing out actual fire via a built-in skull flamethrower, in Die Nibelungen (1924) so you could rock up and tell me "AI is inevitable".
Beautifully detailed working drawings of the articulation inside the 70 foot dragon puppetA shot of the dragon puppet in operation on set, it towers over the performers
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Solaris Books @solarisbooks.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Due to recent reader discussions, a selection of Solaris Fantasy Books written by women that are NOT Romantasy. Not that we don't love a good romantasy too, but there are women writers in all subgenres, from dark to eco, comic to epic, indigenous dragonriders to goblin emperors, something for all!
Fantasy written by women that is NOT romantasy:

The Mirror Realm Cycle by Ariel Kaplan (THE POMEGRANATE GATE, THE REPUBLIC OF SALT and THE KINGDOM OF ALMONDS)
The Hanged God trilogy by Thilde Kold Hodlt (NORTHERN WRATH, SHACKLED FATES and SLAUGHTERED GODS)
The Heartwood duology by Juliet Marillier (THE AMBER OWL and THE HIDDEN WAY)
The Crowns of Ishia novella trilogy by Karin Lowachee (THE MOUNTAIN CROWN, THE DESERT TALON, A COVENANT OF ICE)
Between Earth and Sky trilogy by Rebecca Roanhose (BLACK SUN, FEVERED STAR and MIRRORED HEAVENS)
SAINT DEATH TRILOGY by C. S. E. Cooney (SAINT DEATH'S DAUGHTER and SAINT DEATH'S HERALD)
The Chronicles of Osreth by Katherine Addison (THE GOBLIN EMPREROR, THE WITNESS FOR THE DEAD, THE GRIEF OF STONES, THE TOMB OF DRAGONS and THE ORB OF CAIRADO)
ASUNDER by Kerstin Hall
CRY, VOIDBRINGER by Elaine Ho
THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY by Roanne Lau
THE PERILOUS GODS trilogy by L. D. Colter (WHILE THE GODS SLEEP, WHEN THE WINDS SING and WHERE THE SHADOWS DWELL)
A THEORY OF HAUNTING by Sarah Monette
The Tuniverse by Randee Dawn (TUNE IN TOMORROW and WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM)
THE WATER OUTLAWS by S. L. Huang
IF FOUND RETURN TO HELL by Em X. Liu
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Jenny with a Green Ribbon Around Her Neck @readingtheend.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"Writer-director Christopher Nolan’s genius ends when a woman enters the frame." eat em up, @angelicabastien.bsky.social
vulture.com
The Odyssey’s Circe Is the Best Female Character Nolan Has Ever Written
Nolan’s never been great at writing women, but what doesn’t exist on the page Samantha Morton conjures through a tricksy, powerhouse performance.
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
I have a new essay out in Speculative Insight on the brides of Frankenstein 👇
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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 05/08/2026
We have also written a detailed legal explainer about why we think the code of practice gets the law wrong.
goodlaw.social
How the Code of Practice gets the law wrong | Good Law Project
We’re supporting a legal challenge against the government’s transphobic statutory guidance – here’s why
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Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 05/08/2026
We aren't backed by billionaires. We can only defend trans rights with your help. Please give your support.
goodlaw.social
Fight back against the code of practice
The government’s transphobic code of practice is now up and running. But we’re not going to take it, we’re helping to fight back. Join us
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
📍Heidelberg, Germany
View looking over Heidelberg's old town and bridge over the Neckar river, with the castle in the background and trees in the foreground.View of Heidelberg's old bridge, castle, and town from the river.View of Heidelberg Castle and houses nestled among the green valley.A large beer tank in front of an old building, with tables and chairs in front of it. To the left is another building with what looks like old farming equipment displayed on the wall.
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I have a chapter setting out a decolonial feminist approach to violence against animals in this newly published Research Handbook on Gender, Violence and Law, edited by Nikki Godden-Rasul and Sidonia Lucia Kula www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/res...
e-elgar.com
Research Handbook on Gender, Violence and Law
This Research Handbook rigorously explores how law responds to gender and violence, how law (re)produces gender and violence, and how law is gendered and violent. It analyses various legal systems, in...
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Speculative Insight journal @speculativeinsight.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
I am SO excited about the new essay we're publishing this Friday (for free!). If you have Thoughts about The Bride!, and other versions of Frankenstein's bride, I think you're going to Be Intrigued...
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Zoe Tongue @whiterxbbit.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
If you teach or are interested in international human rights law, check out the fully open-access textbook put together by my wonderful colleagues, with a couple of contributions from me!
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University of Leeds - School of Law @lawatleeds.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
"Human Rights are supposed to be universal, we believe knowledge and understanding of them should be universal too!" - Associate Professor Stuart Wallace The new textbook 'Open Access International Human Rights Law' has been published!👇 tinyurl.com/4h26x826
tinyurl.com
Open Access International Human Rights Law
<p><em>Open Access International Human Rights Law</em> provides an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the principles, institutions and substantive protections that underpin international hum...
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James Greenwood-Reeves @jgreenwoodreeves.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
As an academic, I have decided to pre-empt AI taking my job, so I am going to take ITS job! I am going to start hallucinating, lying to my students, and drinking 700,000 litres of water
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Lizbeth Myles @lizbethmyles.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
I've an essay in the latest issue of Uncanny Magazine! Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with AI Slop, 1969 AD. www.uncannymagazine.com/article/doct...
uncannymagazine.com
Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with AI Slop 1969 AD - Uncanny Magazine
One of the joys of Doctor Who is when decades after first broadcast, a story’s themes are suddenly painfully relevant again, and you can marvel at the timelessness of the world’s greatest Science Fict...
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Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
🎻🎻 ONLY $1500 away from meeting our base goal and staying alive through 2027! 🎻🎻 Help us get there: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/s...
backerkit.com
Strange Horizons 2027 Fundraiser
The annual Strange Horizons fundraiser! Support this free, online, award-winning, weekly magazine of SFFH, which runs entirely on reader - YOUR - donations!
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Alice Wickenden @awickenden.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
I agree with all the takes about an attack on the humanities being an attack on critical thinking, &c. It’s also about joy, though. ‘Why bother studying that’ is always also a sneer at — why do you think you should get to do something you enjoy? Grow up and be miserable all the time!
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Thought Bubble Festival @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
📝 Call for Papers! Comics Forum, the amazing Leeds-based comics academic conference, has announced its theme for this year; Welfare! The conference will take place on 12-13 November 2026 at Leeds Central Library (UK) as part of Thought Bubble Festival.
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