Rebecca Priestley

Deal news! Delighted to share that NZ academic & science journalist @rkpriestley.bsky.social's forthcoming "Melting Ice, Rising Seas: How Antarctica’s Ice Sheets are Reshaping our World" has been acquired by @monashuniversity.bsky.social Press in OZ, & will appear from @thwupbooks.bsky.social in NZ!

Room service!

An engraving from the 1870s of a large banner with the words 8 hours labour 8 hours recreation 8 hours rest.

Folks, wishing everyone a restful & restorative Labour weekend, wherein we give thanks to Sam Parnell & the Labour movement & unions for the 8 hr day:

In Mexico, blackouts caused by data centers destroyed people's refrigerators and oxygen equipment in hospitals, and water shortages meant toilets couldn't flush in schools.

AI is another version of colonial extraction.

"Is suffer how I am seen? Is suffer what I am reduced to? Is suffer my default?" Lovely short piece of writing here about pain, suffering and stigma

Is It Perimenopause or the Fascist Death Knell of Late-Stage Capitalism? Are my hot flashes due to an estrogen imbalance or a rapidly warming planet hastened by unaccountable oil barons who own our elections? Am I irrita...

"Are my migraines hormonal, or am I thinking too hard about how Peter Thiel has more money than all nurses on Earth combined?"

Happy birthday! I hope there is cake in your day 🎂

This is what Marsden Grants in Humanities (now scrapped!) and a decade of research can achieve — "a compelling and significant contribution to understanding the reordering of power that shaped Aotearoa in the nineteenth century". www.bwb.co.nz/books/garris... @bwbnz.bsky.social 👏 #NZHistory #history

“Sometimes I think the ice was the best
place I’ve ever been”
Sames xxx 🇦🇶 🦭 ☕️

A ‘lack of ambition’ over livestock emissions targets now threatens NZ’s reputation and trade The government’s weakened methane reduction target mirrors the approach promoted by industry lobby groups but rejected by the Climate Change Commission.

My recent comments on NZ methane targets summarised here.
theconversation.com/a-lack-of-am...

Four protesters with signs saying Think climate: fly less; A low carbon economy: what’s the holdup?; Thank you to those councillors and staff who are pushing for a low carbon future; Christchurch: 50% emissions by 2030 … HOW?

Went to more sessions on coastal adaptation today then had a chat to protesters outside the @adaptationfutures.bsky.social conference. Totally agree: we are in a climate emergency and mitigation (reducing emissions) should still be top priority, unfortunately we now also need to adapt to 🥵 🌊 ⛈️

SCIS 317 Climate Change Communication   | Course | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Examine how scientists, writers, Indigenous advocates, artists, and activists engage public audiences with the realities of climate change and the need for mitigation and adaptation. You will explore ...

In 2026 we are offering a new course on Climate Change Communication. You can study this important topic as part of a wider programme or as a standalone course, at undergraduate (SCIS 317) or postgraduate (SCIS 417) level. More info here, or ask me questions #kikorangi www.wgtn.ac.nz/courses/scis...

At the @adaptationfutures.bsky.social in Ōtautahi Christchurch and there is so much going on here! I'm mostly here to attend anything about sea level rise, sea walls, coastal adaptation – especially in the Pacific – but having massive FOMO about everything I'm not managing to get to! 🏝️🌊

SCIS 417 Climate Change Communication   | Course | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Examine how scientists, writers, Indigenous advocates, artists, and activists engage public audiences with the realities of climate change and the need for mitigation and adaptation. You will explore ...

Next year, my colleagues and I will be teaching a new course on Climate Change Communication. You can study this important topic as part of a wider programme, or just as a standalone course. More information here, or message me with questions: www.wgtn.ac.nz/courses/scis...

Master of Science in Society - MScSoc. Look at science in its wider social context. Explore how scientists can work with different groups and communities. Use traditional knowledge, the arts, and the humanities to respond to pressing issues facing society today.

Our 1-year Master of Science in Society, at Victoria University of Wellington, is open for enrolments. We draw on science communication, STS, traditional knowledge, and the wider humanities, to look at science in its broader societal context. More info here: #Kikorangi www.wgtn.ac.nz/explore/post...

YouTube video by Auckland University Press 'Chris Knox: Not Given Lightly', a biography by Craig Robertson | Book Trailer

Craig Robertson’s biography of CHRIS KNOX, NOT GIVEN LIGHTLY, is out now and I had the honour of making a trailer for it (from Chris’s own music and films).

Places to drop off your vote Locations for orange voting bins and post boxes in Wellington.

Wellington. please vote, the city needs you.
According to "Inner-City Wellington" it looks like only around 1 in 5 people have voted! I know you voted, but have you checked on your friends? Link to voting drop box locations.
Maybe a cheeky re-post too.

wellington.govt.nz/your-council...

A digital flatlay of two Karearea t-shirts, white with red ink, featuring a swooping falcon snapping an arrow in half above rising flames. It says Nature Reigns Eternal

A digital artwork featuring a swooping falcon snapping an arrow in half above rising flames.

A mockup of a unisex Karearea t-shirt, white with red ink, featuring a swooping falcon snapping an arrow in half above rising flames. It says Nature Reigns Eternal

Artwork of a Karearea, white with red ink, featuring a swooping falcon snapping an arrow in half above rising flames. It says Nature Reigns Eternal

KĀREAREA WINS BIRD OF THE YEAR!
(and I fortunately had a design of this beauty already cooking...)

Now available for pre-order, this fierce tee for the defenders of nature, non-tolerators of bullshit, and friends of the forest.

Pre-order at pepperraccoon.com

Day 1! Let’s go! #baah

Renata Muylaert presents at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium.

🚨Deadline extended 🚨 Get your abstracts in for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 by Tuesday 7 October → forms.gle/vdMooRs2srtz...

#cccss26 #complexsystems 🧪

Excellent article. Yet so many of our educational institutions have an “AI is here to stay” attitude and are acting accordingly 🤷‍♀️

Doctorow on the impending economic collapse when the AI bubble bursts. pluralistic.net/2025/09/27/e...

I'm attempting to raise money to make a limited series podcast looking at how the campaign to get New Zealand to pull out of the Paris climate accords, we've a little over a third of the way toward the goal, can you help make this happen?

www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/861...

We have a project that has been in motion for a LONG time and we are looking to launch for this summer. Between me and my cousins we are launching a cultural eco tours in Wairarapa. If you're interested, let us know via the form below if weekday or weekend tours work for you.

wairarapatours.com

YouTube video by Marsh Family "Measles and Polio Down in the Schoolyard" - Marsh Family parody of Paul Simon "Me and Julio" on RFK

PARODY VS LUNACY

youtu.be/FDiXrd-R68U?...

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

Tonight in Wellington, a panel celebrating Maurice Gee's writing for children features Kate De Goldi, Claire Mabey, Harry Ricketts, Anna Jackson, Tatjana Schaefer and Dr Vivien van Rij, chaired by Emeritus Professor Kathryn Walls.
Floor 12, Rutherford House, Bunny Street, 5.30-7pm - all welcome!

Trump attacks Tylenol as officials unveil highly contentious conclusions on autism President says acetaminophen – also known as paracetamol - increases risk when taken by pregnant women, assertion contradicted by research

Please know that this is Trump scaremongering.

There is no good scientific evidence linking paracetamol (Tylenol) to autism.

A 2024 Swedish study of 2.4 million births found no relationship whatsoever between exposure to paracetamol in utero & subsequent autism.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Opinion | What the Government Autism Announcement Got So Wrong

A gift link to @maiasz.bsky.social's op-ed on the RFK-Trump autism debacle. The comments are well worth reading too. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/o...

Call for EOIs for editors, New Zealand Journal of History - PHANZA Call for Expressions of Interest, Editors, New Zealand Journal of History The New Zealand Journal of History is a scholarly refereed journal publishing original and previously unpublished articles. Es...

Call for EOIs for editors, New Zealand Journal of History. Expressions of interest should be received by 31 October 2025.

phanza.org.nz/call-for-eoi...