Hannah Forsyth 🍉

this would never happen

Why do we call it the “male gaze” and not the Manopticon?

The Misuses of the University - Public Books Have the funds that might have trained the next generation of scholars at the nation’s first research university have been blown on ostentatious new buildings?

“Maybe the leaders of our nation’s wealthiest universities can’t think a generation ahead anymore, beholden as they are to board members who think in terms of the next quarter….” - François Furstenberg @publicbooks.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/the-misuses-...

This is shameful

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

Algorithm-based tool for home support funding is ‘cruel’ and ‘inhumane’, Australian aged care workers warn Mark Aitken, who worked in the sector for 16 years, said eight times out of 10 he disagreed with the integrated assessment tool

How could [checks notes] Robo-Care go wrong? www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Petro-masculinity: Fossil Fueks and authoritarian desire. Cara Daggett (2018) Millennium 47: 25-44 As the planet warms, new authoritarian movements in the West are embracing a toxic combination of climate denial, racism and misogyny. Rather than consider these resentments separately, this article interrogates their relationship through the concept of petro-masculinity, which appreciates the historic role of fossil fuel systems in buttressing white patriarchal rule. Petro-masculinity is helpful to understanding how the anxieties aroused by the Anthropocene can augment desires for authoritarianism. The concept of petro-masculinity suggests that fossil fuels mean more than profit; fossil fuels also contribute to making identities, which poses risks for post-carbon energy politics. Moreover, through a psycho-political reading of authoritarianism, I show how fossil fuel use can function as a violent compensatory practice in reaction to gender and climate trouble.

Just learnt a new term:
Petro-masculinity

Where burning down the planet is a strong thing

The quote here is from someone talking about tech bros trying to maximize AI agent productivity, and.

I would add that the metaphor of "whips" driving "labor" suggests power over a VERY specific sort of body that is subjugated under a VERY specific system of labor

This thread is the we are going to win thread, is the kids are alright thread, is the STOP ICE thread, is the civil society rising thread; read it through.

It's a bit unnerving, in 2026, just how lightly you only need to scratch many conservatives to have them admit that believe white people are supreme...

I want this at all conferences. And I want the bear to be armed.

2nd story on BBC radio 4 bulletins now

Still huge questions to answer about Labour Together smearing journalists and sources

As I revealed yesterday, senior Labour insiders knew - and person who commissioned it, Josh Simons, now a Starmer minister….
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/starmer-al...

"Write an e-mail announcing that 1/3 of the staff are to be laid off. Include two sentences about how painful it is to *me.*"

I really don’t understand why more countries don’t have compulsory voting.

More inspiration for University staff and Union branches to act when their management do not. ✊

Nick Hanna is running this free clinic tomorrow. Might be useful for a bunch of you.

Sheep!

Dr Sylvia Martin and Jeff Sparrow in conversation We are delighted to have Jeff Sparrow join Dr Sylvia Martin in conversation about her joint biography, Double Act. In Double Act, Sylvia Martin delves deeper into the unconventional lives of two of A...

www.readings.com.au/events/dr-sy...

Fuck.

Opinion | This Is the Real Reason to Make Bus Rides Free

So damn sane! Thank you! Pass it on!

@galvinalmanza.bsky.social
@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

This Is the Real Reason to Make Bus Rides Free www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/o...

오이를 서리하는 고슴도치 민화랑 비슷하네요. 귀여움.

I don’t/didnt know either of these cartoonists personally but I teared up anyway. Beautiful.

Preston Campbell

Australian Census on University Staff Wellbeing results are out. Every uni recorded scores indicating high/very high psych risk.

And in news surprising no one, "only senior execs and deans rated their workplaces as medium or low risk while all other staff groups reported high-risk conditions."

This study really deserves a good long multiple reads look. I think it illustrates a lot of useful knock on problems from NLP gone too far ("AI").

“What is the point of a court letter saying you can’t be arrested? The first thing they look at is if you are black or Latino”

Peter Lalor, pepper-sprayed, debunks the Herzog propaganda - Michael West Sports journalist Peter Lalor was pepper-sprayed by NSW Police at the Herzog protest in Sydney. He debunks the propaganda.

This from Pater Lalor - shocking. pls listen -
michaelwest.com.au/peter-lalor-...

Herzog protests. Medics attacked too, lawyers question police violence - Michael West Monday's police actions against anti-genocide protestors in Sydney represent a significant escalation of unwarranted violence.

NSW Police on the defensive in the wake of Monday's attacks on protestors as details of victims/those arrested begin to emerge - such as Ali (below)
#auspol #Herzog @sstephanietrann.bsky.social
michaelwest.com.au/herzog-prote...