Karl Johnson

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

We’re proud that a Bantshire student ambassador is on placement at the OBR today.

Dave watched this government Education Committee meeting so you didn’t have to. But you do have to read his summary (if you have any interest in the future of HE)

This is £600m from the same university sector that is pretty close to collapse in a growing number of major institutions?

Many of them universities that are among the biggest employers in the very ‘left behind’ towns and cities that Labour talks so much about…

404 Ink co-founders launch new book and industry fundraiser for small presses — 404 Ink 404 Ink to publish one final book as part of small press fundraiser, launching in 2026.

Announcing our 2026 bursary for small presses and crowdfunder AND book that Heather and I have secretly been writing about @404ink.bsky.social over the last few months. Our way of saying farewell!

www.404ink.com/blog/publish...

Wonkhe should be ashamed of publishing this propaganda bullshit. Apart from the hallucinations and built-in biases, how is AI remotely ‘ethical’ when operating it burns enormous amounts of power, requires enormous volumes of water and emits thousands of tonnes of CO2 often in minority communities?

🛒 OUR NEW WEBSITE IS FINALLY HERE - 30% OFF ALL BOOKS UNTIL THE 17TH📚

After many years of making do with our clunky old Wordpress site we are thrilled to finally launch a bookshop site that we feel better represents the level of service we strive to offer.

🔗: argonautbooks.co.uk

(1/3)

The senior leadership team at @edinburghuniversity plan to cut staff expenditure by £90m, which is more than 10%.

This would mean about 1 in 8 members of staff losing their jobs. With hundreds of jobs already lost, a further 1,000+ jobs are on the line.

www.instagram.com/p/DQuFjwBjHB5/

Mapping Identities Conference 9/02/26-10/02/26 Call for Papers.

We warmly invite expressions of interest in the form of 250-word abstracts and 100-word short biographies Wednesday 17/12/25

tinyurl.com/3nnacccd

If Wes Streeting ever becomes PM then *that* tweet by the late great Dawn Foster needs to be projected onto Number 10 permanently

'Student Voice' in universities functions the same as 'The People' in contemporary political debate. Discuss.

WORLD BOOK WEEK OFFER Are you a school in the Scottish islands? Would you like an author visit with no author fees? Step this way…. To get to know my new home better, I am waiving my school visit fee for schools in the Scottish islands during World Book Week 2026 (2nd - 6th March). Organisers must cover transport and accommodation. I am based on the Black Isle, and able to drive to Inverness airport, Ullapool ferry port, Oban, and Aberdeen. I can supply books to sell, if given plenty of notice! Please get in touch via my website contact form 📚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

WORLD BOOK WEEK OFFER

Are you a school in the Scottish islands? Would you like an author visit with no author fees? Step this way and check out the alt text below….

Please get in touch via my website contact form 📚🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@scottishbooktrust.bsky.social @asls.org.uk @slgscotland.bsky.social

congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run

Caption: But in spite of its benefits, there were always those who distrusted the computer... Picture: A man looks at a scientific instrument while two others question him. Man 1: We realize your machine aided mankind enormously, Professor! But how do we know it won't suddenly turn on us? Man 2: Yes, it's liable to start giving us wrong answers to vital questions! It might wreck our whole civilization!

Strange Tales 72, 1959. Art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Has anyone cut their university to victory? It's the only idea the executive class have in HE. They only get these executive jobs right now if they're willing to take away the livelihoods of their workers.

84% of trans people polled by YouGov said Britain is “fairly unsafe” or “very unsafe” for trans people. A terrifying story - founded on actual data - which the BBC still refused to carry.

Link to polling in the blog. goodlawproject.org/abject-terro...

This is an excellent paper and brilliant contribution to queer/crip temporality scholarship. It’s also a really important confrontation with some of ways UKHE harms us. As a disabled academic it was at times a difficult read(in a good way I think). I’ll definitely read it again. Thanks for your work

Just Lauren being a legend, as per.

'It's not about gender' - Island's first female Jarl hands over role Only two women have officially led squads in the annual fire festival on Shetland to date.

www.scotsman.com/hays-way/its...

So I've been reading the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. There's some good things in there. But when it comes to universities there's very little to cheer. The situation is very tough and will get worse. The last chance to preserve what we've got has passed. Let me explain why. (1/?)

Know what else was generative? Ridding the planet of billionaires through post-war social democracy.

That scene of the Welsh BBC correspondent being the only person interviewing Caerphilly's new Plaid AM while the rest of the media interviewed Reform's loser in the background was far too on the nose.

this makes me mad EVERY TIME as a shetlander

📣 UWS HAS RULED OUT COMPULSORY REDUNDANCIES

After 8 days of strike action from EIS, and a further 12 days planned from Monday which UCU were due to join, management has today announced that CR has been taken off the table 🎉

I know it's a fool's errand to expect anything from the media but "President posts video of himself dumping diarrhea on America" is an important thing to call attention to for a dozen reasons

Headline: The far right German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchers

Great to see the central role of mainstream parties covered so openly as it's been ignored for too long

However, I can't help but think that if the Guardian was serious about agenda setting, it would also reflect on their own role in the mainstreaming process

Quite a bodying, here, for the UK, from the Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe.

🏮 He points out the Supreme Court ignored human rights (which breaches its legal obligations)
🏮 He says, in effect agreeing with Lucy Powell, Parliament should be involved...

rm.coe.int/letter-to-pa...

Broken equipment at Sullom Voe caused decade-long peak in emissions Shetland's methane emissions reached their highest level in a decade last year, driven by broken kit at EnQuest’s Sullom Voe terminal.

A compressor at Shetland's oil terminal broke for *nine* straight months last year, pushing the isles' entire methane emissions to a near decade high.

"It's an embarrassment for the whole community."

@alexjarmitage.bsky.social @r-dixon.bsky.social

www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/news/broken-...

Hand out from New York Comic-Con with thumbnails of comic book covers and a QR code that leads to https://sites.google.com/schools.nyc.gov/social-studies-and-civics/resources/comics-group From Department of Social Studies and Civics.

Awesome resource from #NYCC. These are comic books for Social Studies and Civics in tons of grade levels and units.

They were giving out free printed copies but they said all the comic books are free in their digital library for all. So check it out.

sites.google.com/schools.nyc....