Catherine Pope

An illustration of a man laying on a prison floor mattress. Under his pillow is an MP3 player tucked away. From the speaker: "From WBEZ Chicacgo, it's THIS AMERICAN LIFE. I'm Ira Glass... Stay with us..."

Jailed during the 2021 coup in Myanmar, American journalist Danny Fenster passed the time by meditating and listening to podcasts that had been smuggled in.

Read the comic Notes from a Burmese Prison: www.theverge.com/cs/features/...

It's almost time for Ramadan, as Muslims tonight peered to the crescent moon to see if the month of Ramadan starts tonight or the day after. As with every year, I'm starting this thread so that people can ask questions, and learn about Ramadan from one person's perspective of it.

The mathematician lifting the lid on Trump’s ‘attacks’ Scientist behind Trump Action Tracker uses skills in data collection to look for patterns in president’s seemingly scattergun approach

Delighted to see the TrumpActionTracker feature in this @timeshighered.bsky.social profile by @patrickjack.bsky.social today :-)

was great to chat to him about it!

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/mathema...

Ditto. I'm doing/struggling with polish language for similar reason.

Migration reforms are unkind and, it turns out , also stupid...."You don’t have to deter very many high earners to have a significant [fiscal] cost [ ] people most likely to leave the UK as a result of the policy changes were high flyers with other career options, rather than the lowest paid."

More reasons to respond to this consultation www.gov.uk/government/c... which also uses the illegal migrant terminology.

Spiers & Boden Official NEW TOUR DATES ANNOUNCEMENT: Spiers & Boden are delighted to announce that we're going back on the road in Feb/Mar 2026 and that tickets are going on sale today. Ticket links and details available...

As a pick-me-up for rainy February and March I can highly recommend Spiers and Boden... currently on a splendid foot tapping tour www.facebook.com/100046525253...

Earned settlement The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.

www.gov.uk/government/c...
UK people - this is your chance to point out the cruelty and unworkability of the current government's proposals on leave to remain. You have until 12 Feb. #migration

UNRWA has the capacity, expertise and reach to provide essential services across the #Gaza Strip — but systematic restrictions are hindering this work.

Full op-ed by UNRWA’s Sam Rose:
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...

Lots of great lines in this furious piece but this, on McSweeney asking if PM could be US ambo part time, replacing Karen Pierce, is 👌
“This gives you a good indication of Westminster’s relative assessment of value: One full-time experienced woman is worth less than a part-time inexperienced man.”

If you've cancelled your Washington Post or NY Times subscription but HAVEN'T subscribed to an independent news media organization - consider doing that today.
Some options: @propublica.org, @theappeal.org, @thenarwhal.ca, @404media.co, your local public radio or independent newspaper.

Brilliant letter from the Fawcett Society CE, Penny East. About ALL THIS SHIT.
us5.campaign-archive.com?e=7cf967225b...

St. George's flag being removed, next to the E4 bus stop. It is dark.

Local residents removed 8 flags hung around Oxford last night in response to an organised campaign from a group calling themselves the ’Raise the Colours Oxford’, who brought activists from the Midlands and Sheffield to ‘make Oxford look patriotic’

*chilling note in one of the reviews here dctheaterarts.org/2017/07/15/r....

"Beneath the surface, of course, Cabaret is another story, a tale of a country spiraling downward – defeated by war and economic depression – while fascism, in the form of the Nazis, is on the rise."

I was privileged to see Cabaret at the Kennedy Centre in 2017. It was spectacular, wondrous, provoking, and, now it seems, sadly prescient* of what was to come.

I hope one day to return, when the abomination is long gone, and those misplaced extra letters in front of the name have been removed.

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

Gov. Walz: "What side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that can kill, injure, menace, and kidnap its citizens off the street, or the side of a nurse for a VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government?"

“Hungary is to the American right what Sweden used to be to the American left”

I'm currently brushing up on what Orban did in Hungary open.spotify.com/episode/31VU... it's grim but sets out the modern playbook for authoritarianism. Worth a listen (in between your many projects).

currently listening to 24-2 podcast about how Orban gained control in Hungary. The parallels -gerrymandering, control of the courts, mobilising the base - it's all right there. It doesn't bode well for the midterms ... open.spotify.com/episode/31VU...

A woman with curly hair and glasses speaks at a podium during the Primary Care Tutors Conference 2025. A presentation screen is visible behind her.

Congratulations to our Primary Care Medical Education team on achieving Sustainable Quality Improvement Beacon Site Status from the @sushealthcare.bsky.social – an international recognition of leadership in sustainable medical education.

Read more: https://f.mtr.cool/zfaazmjptu

Nice to see this important research by colleagues @oxprimarycare.bsky.social getting some coverage.

Always first Andy. We're so proud of you....😁

This lengthy checking process is now a core, mind-numbing and soul destroying feature of marking of dissertations and coursework essays and the reason why our teaching team are discussing vivas and closed book exams...but hey, the tech bros promise that AI is making everything better. 😭

It's brilliant satire. Bravo Martin.

Great to see our Citizens' jury paper add to the understanding of how best to widen engagement in the development of orphan drugs @cjpope.bsky.social

🎧Governing Body Fellow Catherine Pope @cjpope.bsky.social joins a panel of leading ethnographers in the latest Thinking In Between podcast to explore how ethnography shapes health and social care research.

Listen now 👇https://open.spotify.com/episode/72Vffh8ycM8a4qhXRONoyG?si=d52b3b763aaf4268

Thanks Louise.

And a most useful blog it is too. Thank you Ros for continuing to nudge my thinking !

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

RCEM has backed a new statement from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges calling for urgent action to protect and grow clinical research across the NHS.

rcem.ac.uk/news/rcem...