Gary Rawnsley
LightNews LightNews
banner
garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley
@garydrawnsley.bsky.social
1.4K followers 520 following 920 posts

Head of the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. Research on propaganda, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy & soft power. Lover of all things literary. Has Crohn’s Disease. Views expressed here are mine & mine alone. .. more

Videos

Gary David Rawnsley is a British political scientist whose research is located at the intersection of international relations and international communication. Rawnsley writes extensively on soft power, public and cultural diplomacy, propaganda, international broadcasting, media and democracy, and political cinema. He is the author/editor of 13 scholarly books, and the book review editor of Journal of International Communication and International Journal of Taiwan Studies. Since 2023, he has been Professor of Public Diplomacy & Soft Power and Head of the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. From 2020 to 2022, Rawnsley was a professor of public diplomacy at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHSS) of this university. .. more

Political science 46%
Sociology 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · Aug 29
Now available - the 2nd edition of my co-edited Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media. Covering the PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, & Macao + impact of Covid on the media, communications, & information landscape. More details available here: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Ha...
Routledge Handbook of Chinese Media
The new, second edition of this successful Handbook explores the growing and evolving field of Chinese media, offering a window through which to observe multi-directional flows of information, culture...
www.routledge.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 8h
Congratulations to David Szalay, author of Flesh & winner of the 2025 Booker Prize. An excellent choice. @thebookerprizes.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 9h
Happy birthday to one of the most important programmes in the history of television. Sesame Street has been transforming lives in the US & across the world for 56 years. It reflects the power of education, tolerance, inclusion & cultural diversity - values under attack today in too many places

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 10h
Luke Turnock has also published (with Tim Piatkowski from Griffith University) “The new DNP”: Discussion of the experimental ‘fat burner’ BAM15 on bodybuilding forums and YouTube, again in Performance Enhancement & Health (14:1): www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 10h
Congratulations to School of Social & Political Sciences's Luke Turnock. His new new article (with PhD student Mikey Hirst) is in Performance Enhancement and Health: 'Off-label Semaglutide & GLP-1 weight-loss medicine use for anti-ageing' is available at
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Off-label Semaglutide & GLP-1 weight-loss medicine use for anti-ageing: A Netnography of older bodybuilders’ experiences and understandings
GLP-1 weight-loss medicines (e.g. Semaglutide; Tirzepatide) are increasingly prevalent, with many users accessing these drugs off-label through the in…
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Gary D. Rawnsley

savevoa.bsky.social
Save VOA @savevoa.bsky.social · 11h
When VOA was silenced by the Trump administration, we stopped telling America's story to 360 million people worldwide. America lost its voice. Join the fight to save VOA. Go to savevoa.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 15h
Good luck to all authors shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2025 announced tonight. It’s an extremely strong shortlist this year - I can’t call it. #BookerPrize

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 17h
Read this back in June. Loved it! Now one of my all time favourites (thanks to @backlisted.bsky.social for recommending)

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 1d
A Sunday afternoon stroll along the Fossdyke Canal, Lincoln, with views of Lincoln Cathedral #photography

Reposted by Gary D. Rawnsley

michaelwarburton.bsky.social
Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 1d
Remembering DYLAN THOMAS - who left us 72yrs ago today, aged just 39.

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Stephen M. Walt, Michael E. Mann , and 68 more

newyorker.com
The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 4d
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 4d
More brilliant news from the School of Social & Political Sciences. Delighted my colleague @fferrazdealmeida.bsky.social has co-edited this fascinating new interdisciplinary book Lights and Shadows: The Ongwen Case at the International Court published by Brill. brill.com/display/titl...
brill.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 4d
Congratulations to my School of Social & Political Sciences colleague, @mcslaven.bsky.social and his co-author, @emile-chabal.bsky.social on the publication of their timely & important new article on the immigration debate in the UK @foreignpolicy.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Mary Corcoran, Gary D. Rawnsley , and 1 more

mcslaven.bsky.social
Mike Slaven @mcslaven.bsky.social · 4d
Wrote something with @emile-chabal.bsky.social in @foreignpolicy.com about how the immigration debate in the UK has gotten so off the rails recently: foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...
Britain Is Having the World’s Most Extreme Immigration Debate
The British discourse makes even the Trump administration look moderate.
foreignpolicy.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 4d
I have always loved A Prayer for Owen Meany. Such a well plotted story with one of the most satisfying endings in literature. I couldn’t read anything for several weeks after finishing it

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 4d
Just arrived on publication day: John Irving’s 16th novel, Queen Esther, prequel to The Cider House Rules. Looking forward to adding it to my full collection of books by John Irving who I started reading 40 years ago. #Booksky

Reposted by Louise Edwards

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 4d
The arts & humanities, & languages especially, are again under attack, easy scapegoats for problems in HEIs. Nottingham prides itself on being a global university, but without language provision, that is now a problematic boast
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is
www.bbc.co.uk

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 6d
Never thought I would say this but thank you, Reviewer #2, for your constructive and helpful feedback on my new paper. (Now need to lie down in a dark room and hope normality returns shortly.)

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 6d
I am not a huge Rushdie fan and enjoy only few of his books. It may be a cliche but my absolute favourite is Midnight’s Children - a masterpiece of storytelling & imagination.

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 6d
Congratulations to Salman Rushdie on the publication today of his new book, The Eleventh Hour. Just received my copy & looking forward to reading it #booksky

Reposted by Anna Tarrant

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 6d
School of Social & Political Sciences is launching an online short course An Introduction to Supporting Fathers and Male Caregivers led by @profatarrant.bsky.social. 28th January 2026, 09:30 – 12:30, £75 per person. Scan the QR code or email OAS@lincoln.ac.uk.

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 8d
Delighted that my Social & Political Sciences colleague, Dr Marianna Charountaki, has written a blog for the LSE Middle East Centre @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social. Titled ‘From Inquiry to Theorisation: Towards a Holistic Framework in International Relations’, Marianna’s essay is available below.
From Inquiry to Theorisation: Towards a Holistic Framework in International Relations - Middle East Centre
What explains the behaviour – and relative success – of certain armed non-state actors (NSAs) in the Middle East? A new typology suggests groups like HTS and the PLO are better understood as 'states-t...
blogs.lse.ac.uk

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 8d
Congratulations to School of Social & Political Sciences colleagues Alex Oaten & Ana Jordan. Their new article (co-authored with colleagues from Edinbugh Uni) has been published in Sociology & calls for sociology to contribute more robustly to contemporary suicide research. (doi.org/10.1177/0038...)
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
doi.org

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 9d
A late afternoon stroll along the Fossdyke Canal behind Burton Waters, #Lincoln #photography

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 11d
Oh, for goodness sake, @backlisted.bsky.social - why do you do this to me? Listened to your excellent programme & now I have to stop reading my current book & start Wuthering Heights (again)!
backlisted.bsky.social Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · 13d
Hallowe'en special up now. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, with guests Andrew Male and Laura Varnam in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. 🌬️🎃🧟 @andrewmale.bsky.social @drlauravarnam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/0Zde...
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
open.spotify.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 12d
Two new reads arrived today. Homeland: The War on Terror in American Life by Richard Beck (following a terrific review by Cora Currier in @nybooks.com & On Freedom by @timothysnyder.bsky.social because … well, it is Timothy Snyder

Reposted by Gary D. Rawnsley

savevoa.bsky.social
Save VOA @savevoa.bsky.social · 13d
“VOA isn’t a propaganda tool,” says South Asia expert Michael Kugelman. He stresses that press freedom is vital to U.S. interests — and cutting VOA language services would be a mistake.
#SaveVOA #PressFreedom
Propaganda isn’t VOA’s job
Propaganda isn’t VOA’s job VOA isn’t meant to serve as a “propaganda organ of the U.S. government,” says South Asia regional specialist, Michael Kugelman. He believes the promotion of press freedom and freedom of speech is critical to U.S. interests. Thus, “it would be a mistake only to maintain a few (VOA) language services,” Kugelman adds. #SaveVOA #PressFreedom #short
youtube.com

Reposted by Gary D. Rawnsley, Melanie Williams

backlisted.bsky.social
Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · 13d
Hallowe'en special up now. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, with guests Andrew Male and Laura Varnam in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. 🌬️🎃🧟 @andrewmale.bsky.social @drlauravarnam.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/0Zde...
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
open.spotify.com

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 15d
Sailing to Hong Kong island from Kowloon on the Star Ferry, December 2017 - the last time I visited #photography

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 16d
On Wednesday the School of Social & Political Sciences welcomed Professor Gillian Youngs to deliver a talk in our Research Seminar series.
Gillian shared insights from her new book, Feminist International Relations Through a Technospatial Lens. Thanks to colleague Dr Gao Xinchuchu for the photos

garydrawnsley.bsky.social
Gary Rawnsley @garydrawnsley.bsky.social · 18d
Harper Lee’s The Land of Sweet Forever is now officially one of my favourite books. Lee is known for writing To Kill A Mockingbird but this collection shows she had so much more to offer. Vividly painted characters & places, raw emotion & laugh out loud moments. Lee was a huge talent #booksky