Mike Jennings

I rescued a goat today. Not saying I deserve a British Hero award, or a peerage or anything. But it did appear quite grateful and had a look that said it would have nominated me if it had been able to.

I didn’t go to a listening party for yesterday’s big new album release, and haven’t been following the media frenzy. But having listened multiple times since Friday, and again this morning, I can confirm Ninebarrow’s new album is fantastic.

No view on anything else that might have been released.

Hi Ben, as I'm sure this has been pointed out many times (though I couldn't spot anything in the comments), you're aware the Royal Society (of which Elon is a member) is a very different organisation from the Royal Society of Arts (of which he is very much not a member)?

I mean, in the context of what is being suggested, and the wider attack on vaccines, the (albeit it throwaway) comment is petty (and, it seems from the paper's own headlines) a bit hypocritical. And yes all papers do this kind of thing, but the Guardian is my paper so I care more.

I don't really mind the term being used in this way (it's fairly standard an aligns with some official definitions). It's the silliness of the barbed comment when the publication is doing the same. Especially when there is so much egregiously bad science to much more rightly criticise and condemn.

Other examples from Guardian headlines: 'epidemic of long-term sickness', 'social isolation epidemic', 'the making of an opioid epidemic'.

In a good piece in @theguardian.com on autism/paracetamol bad science, the implicit criticism of RFK jr for saying 'epidemic' ("better reserved for infectious disease outbreaks") would have more bite if the paper didn't often use it itself. eg 'loneliness epidemic', 'vaping epidemic', etc

Apple Maps has all the regional subtlety of an Andy Burnham speech. For the record, Apple Maps, the M3 is NOT in the “direction of the Midlands”. Harrumph.

And sometimes to wonder what in the hell you were thinking at the time.

I'm fine with getting reminders to respond to journal review applications. But I got one on Friday , and then the reminder on Sunday! This doesn't make me more likely to agree to do the review. And don't send reminders on a weekend. I don't check emails anyway over weekends, but still...

The Inquiry - What is filling the USAID funding gap? - BBC Sounds US President Donald Trump has cut spending to USAID. What happens next?

I'm one of the guests talking about the impact of aid cuts on @bbcworldservice.bsky.social podcast The Inquiry (along with three other great guests: Harvard's CID Fatema Z Sumar, George Ingram from the Brookings Institution, & Edinburgh's Francisca Mutapi. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

US Shuts Down Aid. What about India? These are testing times for international cooperation; India must stand alongside the developing world. Through aid, and otherwise, time is ripe for India to truly earn the title of the leader of the ...

One of our former
@soasdevelopment.bsky.social students, @jyotirsondhi.bsky.social has written on aid from and to India in the context of the attack on USAID. It's a great read, and you can find it here: thewire.in/world/us-shu...

Aid Emergency | The Why Curve The aid tap is being turned off. USAID has suspended all its programmes and the UK is diverting much of the budget for overseas development to buying tanks and...

The aid tap is being turned off - USAID is suspended, and the UK is moving funds to defence. What happens to those who depend on this assistance? Phil Dobbie and I hear from @mikejennings101.bsky.social @soasuni.bsky.social
whycurve.com/episode/aid-...

Thanks for inviting me on - it was an interesting (and important) conversation.

Aid Emergency | The Why Curve The aid tap is being turned off. USAID has suspended all its programmes and the UK is diverting much of the budget for overseas development to buying tanks and...

I was invited by @phildobbie.bsky.social & Roger Hearing to chat about the state of development aid at a point of crisis on their The Why Curve podcast. Interesting conversation, and hopefully addressed a few issues of importance around aid in the episode out now. whycurve.com/episode/aid-...

Aid Emergency | The Why Curve The aid tap is being turned off. USAID has suspended all its programmes and the UK is diverting much of the budget for overseas development to buying tanks and...

Latest Why Curve podcast looks at dev aid in a Trumpian world with a guest appearance from me! Always fun to hear one's verbal tics. But I had fun recording & hopefully an interesting conversation on the state of development aid right now. You can judge for yourself. whycurve.com/episode/aid-...

I’ve been re-reading Pope Paul VI’s 1967 encyclical on development for a project, and reminded just how radical it has remained (or how far the world has moved in the opposite direction perhaps)?

Trump is cancelling a Republican project to wipe out Aids – putting millions of lives at risk Millions of people worldwide are likely to lose access to anti HIV drugs, and thousands more people could die, after the US cut project funding.

I think it's a law now that all academics must pen at least one opinion piece on the latest Trumpian lunacy, & here's mine for @theconversation.com. I look at the cancellation of Pepfar programmes & the implications of destroying it.

theconversation.com/trump-is-can...

I take it back - wild swimming article already in today’s @theguardian.com. Perhaps the 1st sign of summer piece is the article they print annually on people moving out of London to us provinces and being delighted at our simple, happy ways!

Now we just have to wait for the 1st sign of summer in The Guardian: a feature on where the best wild swimming places are.

Ah, the 1st sign of spring: a newspaper article about hot cross buns going all fancy / awful with flavour additions. As reliable a sign of the new season as any daffs beginning to put their heads up.

Brilliant double-bill inaugural lectures tonight at SOAS from Profs @tommytanner.bsky.social and Uli Volz. the theme running through both was climate change, adaptation, resilience and climate finance. A great showcase for the work being done by these two, and at SOAS.

Having spent pre-Christmas seeing present ideas, and then ideas on new year resolutions, self-improvement and wellbeing activities afterwards, in @theguardian.com, it makes me chuckle when it has articles accusing other media of being overtly middle class fantasies!

My favourite list of the year:

He’s making a list.
He’s checking it twice
He’s measured the oven
To see if the space will suffice.
Serving dishes chosen,
Timings are set.
The plan is made
So no need to fret.
We eat at 2
If all are here.
But whether 2, 4 or 6
We’ll be of good cheer
(and drunk!)

Not quite! But I’m staying away from smart white goods just in case.

My secret to stress free Christmas cooking: do it throughout Dec and make the freezer my best friend!

Xmas stuffings, done; bread & cranberry sauces, done; gravy base, done; red cabbage, done and sitting in the freezer with the rest. Xmas pud, steamed and being regularly topped up with enough brandy to stun an elephant. Christmas prep is coming on strong. 🎄

UK university strategy case study UK university strategy case study. Blog post by Vicky Lewis Consulting (https://www.vickylewisconsulting.co.uk/). Posted on 6 December 2024 at 17:15 by Vicky Lewis.

Blog drawing on an article I co-authored for the EAIE's Winter Forum magazine (issue on 'Building Back Better?'). Features @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social Q&A-style case study on integrating social purpose into post-pandemic global engagement strategy.

www.vickylewisconsulting.co.uk/uk-universit...

The Tenth Recipient Test One of the things that makes development assistance less effective than it might be is fragmentation: many donors providing small amount of assistance to a country, each mission head demanding their p...

Many bilateral aid programs—characterized by small, overlapping, & uncoordinated contributions—are fragmented.🔀

To assess if #aid resources can drive real impact, @charlesjkenny.bsky.social proposes the 10th recipient test for the largest donors:
www.cgdev.org/blog/tenth-r...

Today Guardian and Observer journalists are on strike over plans to sell the Observer to a loss-making digital start up and put its journalism behind a paywall. 🧵

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