Leo McCann

YouTube video by BBC World Service AI2027: Is this how AI might destroy humanity? - BBC World Service

AI 2027 is a monumentally stupid crock of shit.

Cod sci-fi projections.

Warnings: footage in this video is AI-generated.

orange cat lying on floor with square lights reflected on his flank that resembles lit windows

live action catbus looking pretty sweet

RNLI crew makes no apologies for saving migrants' lives in English Channel It says it has saved the lives of 58 people crossing the Channel

Lifeboat crew members who are called out to migrants crossing the Channel in small boats have told the BBC they make no apologies for saving lives at sea.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Job in the Sociology Department here at Durham.

Opportunity to work on a really important project looking at the history of a classic study in British sociology and how it ignored/obscured issues of race and gender.

durham.taleo.net/careersectio...

I'm starting to use film clips instead of written documents for analysis (e.g. industry promotional films, Cold War public information, etc). I expect somewhat more AI proof, although not sure.

So, fellow history professor kids, what kind of writing assignments are we thinking about that are AI-resistant? Beyond some in-class reading responses and close primary source readings, what things have been moderately successful for an in-person class? 🗃️

Assessments based on primary source readings can be hit-and-miss. I asked students to analyse a newspaper editorial by Henry Ford from 1920s. Many students seemed to have put it through ChatGPT resulting in very inaccurate results. I need to do more to explicitly warn against AI usage next year.

The landlord gutting America’s hospitals Medical Properties Trust buys up hospitals and then leases them back to health care systems. Dozens of its hospitals have gone belly up.

One reason so many American hospitals are struggling? Investors buy them up, then suck them dry, charging such high rents that services are gutted.
Reveal explores what happened to one Louisiana hospital when Medical Properties Trust came to town. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Optimized for desert ops, carrying man-portable air conditioning unit M-567.

Our world is facing severe and interlocking crises. People are crying out for ‘good leadership’ in a time of uncertainty and anxiety. But what is ‘leadership’ exactly? Why are the standards of leadership often so poor? Who gets to be a leader? What motivates leaders’ pursuit of power and influence? Kingmaker - Sonia Purnell and Leo McCann

👑 What is 'good leadership'? Join @leomc76.bsky.social with author and journalist @soniapurnell.bsky.social, discussing the complexities of leadership as told through her book 'Kingmaker', and the colourful life of trailblazer Pamela Churchill Harriman: www.youtube.com/watc... #YorkFestivalOfIdeas

‘Killing is our business and business is good’: The evolution of ‘war managerialism’ from body counts to counterinsurgency - Leo McCann, 2017 Managerialism versus professionalism is a central axis of conflict across many occupations. ‘The profession of arms’ is no exception. This article explores the ...

I wrote some ideas about this gruesome theme a while ago.

‘Killing is our business and business is good’: The evolution of ‘war managerialism’ from body counts to counterinsurgency - Leo McCann, 2017 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Ukraine launches new points for killing Russians scheme The scheme allows Ukrainian troops to trade videos of confirmed kills on the battlefield for prizes.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Interesting article. I would add that history provides many reasons to be very wary of 'kill ratios', 'body counts' and similar metrics of war.

The broader economic and political context is important. Parts of the US culture industry seems obsessed with the 1950s. It's far enough away to be some kind of imagined utopia; distant and better (at least for some). See 'Peggy Sue Got Married' and other nostalgia products.

Like a lot of 80s pop culture, major themes were 50s nostalgia and USA in decline. See the homeless people in 1985 Hill Valley, and the nice, clean, well-funded high school in '55. Lots of opinion leaders thought US economy was about to be overtaken by Japan.

YouTube video by York Ideas Kingmaker - Sonia Purnell and Leo McCann

Video of the event now available here: youtu.be/bZ706QwKtQw?...

YouTube video by York Ideas Kingmaker - Sonia Purnell and Leo McCann

youtube.com/watch?v=bZ70...
It was a great privilege to talk to @soniapurnell.bsky.social about her new book #Kingmaker. Watch the video of the event @yorkfestofideas.bsky.social here!

'Vietnam was insane, Apocalypse Now only slightly less so': The inside story of the wildest shoot in film history No production has been as troubled as Apocalypse Now. As a documentary about Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 war epic is re-released, its director, and people who were on set, reveal all.

Hearts of Darkness - a doc on the making of Apocalypse Now - is back in cinemas this week. I spoke with its director, along with a couple of cast and crew from the original film, to dig into a troubled production that produced a landmark despite the chaos. www.bbc.co.uk/culture/arti...

Students in England now graduate with average debt of £53,000, data shows Student Loans Company figures show 10% jump in a year as individuals increase borrowing to meet cost of living

Students in England graduate with average £53,000 debt.

Total debt £266bn, up to 7.3% interest.

Most European nations don't charge university tuition fees, England does.

What was public debt, is now personal debt.

People penalised for education, can't start family, business.

Abolish uni fees.

Share your real-world COD Zombies maps here.

Kingmaker Join bestselling author and journalist Sonia Purnell for a discussion of the complexities, intricacies and mysteries of leadership, focusing on Pamela Churchill Harriman, daughter-in-law of Winston Ch...

yorkfestivalofideas.com/2025/calenda...

Greatly looking forward to this event on Sunday 8th June @yorkfestofideas.bsky.social. If you are in York that day, please come along to hear @soniapurnell.bsky.social discuss her wonderful new book 'Kingmaker'. All welcome, but booking is required.

It was a real pleasure to work on this, alongside co-editors @edgranter.bsky.social, ‪@odulbozkurt.bsky.social, Rachael Finn, Carolyn Hunter, @ninakivinen.bsky.social,
@draykay.bsky.social and Brian Wierman.

Also a great experience working with @elgarpublishing.bsky.social

Police officers. Text reads: University of York Research. County Lines. National policing strategy needed to tackle County Lines child exploitation, study shows.

A landmark study involving 117 interviews with key officers across 44 police forces has examined how the police process young people and vulnerable adults involved in drug distribution in cross-border and local drug markets.

Read more: www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

The future of paramedic education: Problematizing the translucent curriculum in paramedicine - Michael K. Corman, Peter Phillips, Leo McCann, 2025 This article questions the extent to which paramedic education is adequate for a changing prehospital and ambulance world and to more advanced forms of professi...

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
0ut now: an essay with Michael Corman and Peter Phillips on what we call the 'translucent curriculum' in paramedic education. Any comments and views are very welcome!

Every Story Matters - UK Covid-19 Inquiry Your pandemic experience is unique. Share your experience of the pandemic with the UK Covid-19 Inquiry to help us understand the full picture of its impact across the UK

#EveryStoryMatters – including yours.

The UK Covid 19 inquiry is asking for public submissions.

UCU members lived the reality of the pandemic: unsafe campuses, impossible workloads, health risks, and loss.

Just one week left! Make sure your experience is counted. everystorymatters.co.uk

Will be a great event! @uoysbs.bsky.social

Interested in #leadership and #history? Join us at @yorkfestofideas.bsky.social where @soniapurnell.bsky.social will discuss her recent book 'Kingmaker': a pathbreaking new history of Pamela Churchill Harriman's extraordinary life and career.

Sunday 8 June at University of York - all welcome!

UCU has written to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson over the OfS’s damaging £585,000 fine against the University of Sussex.

This sets a dangerous precedent for free speech, inclusion, and university funding.
Our universities are not culture war battlegrounds.

www.ucu.org.uk/media/15036/...

Join us for the next JoPP leadership webinar! Our guest speaker is @jojoresearch.bsky.social who will draw on her recent PhD findings @uoysbs.bsky.social on ambulance workers during the COVID pandemic. All welcome - NHS, ambulance and beyond. May 14th 6pm UK time.

12th May - Mass Observation Archive Our 12th May diary day is your chance to be part of recording everyday life. Sending us your dairy helps us record everyday life in the UK.

UK folk: Have you heard of the Mass Observation Archive? Remember the film Nella Last’s Diary? They’re creating an archive of ordinary people. 12 May every year is Mass Obs’ Diary Day. Write down what you do that day & upload it to their website #OnePlaceWednesday
massobs.org.uk/the-archive/...

This is a good sign: at last some pressure on the government from MPs. Excellent from @helenhayes.bsky.social and thanks to @drjogrady.bsky.social and UCU for the lobbying.

committees.parliament.uk/publications...