Ben Goldacre
@bengoldacre.bsky.social
Prof of EBM @UniOxford, author, Bad Science person, more... I run http://bennett.ox.ac.uk making tools+papers from data http://OpenSAFELY.org http://OpenPrescribing.net
Pinned
Ben Goldacre
@bengoldacre.bsky.social
· Dec 19
ACCIDENTALLY BOUGHT CHRISTMAS WRAITH. EVERYONE DEAD.
The world has its problems, yes. But I've just bought Brigitte Fontaine's 1969 album with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Don't look on Spotify: you won't find it there.
(But YouTube link below...)
youtu.be/XgTdI4S3hns?...
(But YouTube link below...)
youtu.be/XgTdI4S3hns?...
January 20, 2026 at 8:02 PM
The world has its problems, yes. But I've just bought Brigitte Fontaine's 1969 album with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Don't look on Spotify: you won't find it there.
(But YouTube link below...)
youtu.be/XgTdI4S3hns?...
(But YouTube link below...)
youtu.be/XgTdI4S3hns?...
I once met a man at hotel breakfast who was in the Potters Bar rail crash. He told a very harrowing story. Then his wife said "ask him what he did after he got out". He looked embarrassed, shrugged, and said "I walked to work". He didn't call. Disasters are incredibly disorienting. Sorrow for Spain.
January 19, 2026 at 11:47 PM
I once met a man at hotel breakfast who was in the Potters Bar rail crash. He told a very harrowing story. Then his wife said "ask him what he did after he got out". He looked embarrassed, shrugged, and said "I walked to work". He didn't call. Disasters are incredibly disorienting. Sorrow for Spain.
How you pop to the shops, if it's minus 64° Celsius in your town. This is what I want from the internet: other people's fascinating lives. Not lies about crime in London invented by boring racists.
youtube.com/watch?v=uPGI...
youtube.com/watch?v=uPGI...
What I Wear at –64°C (−83°F) in the Coldest City on Earth | Yakutsk, Siberia
YouTube video by Kiun B
youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 1:15 PM
How you pop to the shops, if it's minus 64° Celsius in your town. This is what I want from the internet: other people's fascinating lives. Not lies about crime in London invented by boring racists.
youtube.com/watch?v=uPGI...
youtube.com/watch?v=uPGI...
Three Yorkshiremen drive their Ford Transits overland from Bradford to Pakistan in time for Eid in the 1990s. Ultimate cosy retro TV. The voiceover is funny, candid, and incredibly warm in its frustrations (eg minute 7, but watch the whole thing). Highly recommend!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfbe...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfbe...
The Punjab Road Runners Bradford to Pakistan in Ford Transit Mk2
YouTube video by Davy
www.youtube.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Three Yorkshiremen drive their Ford Transits overland from Bradford to Pakistan in time for Eid in the 1990s. Ultimate cosy retro TV. The voiceover is funny, candid, and incredibly warm in its frustrations (eg minute 7, but watch the whole thing). Highly recommend!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfbe...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfbe...
I'm too cheap to buy one - and too lazy to learn the skillz - but this guy's polyphonic ceramic bass whistles are the goat. youtube.com/shorts/X57nT...
Innato in B3, more info at www.stonewhistle.com
YouTube video by Stonewhistle
youtube.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:40 PM
I'm too cheap to buy one - and too lazy to learn the skillz - but this guy's polyphonic ceramic bass whistles are the goat. youtube.com/shorts/X57nT...
Really enjoying the new series of Gone Fishing, tho it was a fierce choice to replace Bob Mortimer with Tom Waits and that guy from the Jim Jarmusch movies
youtu.be/sF4OkZ0B-q8?...
youtu.be/sF4OkZ0B-q8?...
Tom Waits - Fishing With John, Episode 2 (1991)
YouTube video by Tom Waits
youtu.be
January 11, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Really enjoying the new series of Gone Fishing, tho it was a fierce choice to replace Bob Mortimer with Tom Waits and that guy from the Jim Jarmusch movies
youtu.be/sF4OkZ0B-q8?...
youtu.be/sF4OkZ0B-q8?...
Reposted by Ben Goldacre
I think we forget sometimes that barometers are miracle machines. It’s not windy yet at home; it is raining but nothing exceptional. Without the barometer, if you were just relying on local observations (like most mariners for most of history) you would have no idea it was time to run for your life.
January 8, 2026 at 1:32 PM
I think we forget sometimes that barometers are miracle machines. It’s not windy yet at home; it is raining but nothing exceptional. Without the barometer, if you were just relying on local observations (like most mariners for most of history) you would have no idea it was time to run for your life.
Fuel poverty is more than twice as common among people aged 16-24 than it is for older people.
This is a cold country right now.
trustforlondon.org.uk/data/fuel-po...
This is a cold country right now.
trustforlondon.org.uk/data/fuel-po...
January 6, 2026 at 8:02 PM
Fuel poverty is more than twice as common among people aged 16-24 than it is for older people.
This is a cold country right now.
trustforlondon.org.uk/data/fuel-po...
This is a cold country right now.
trustforlondon.org.uk/data/fuel-po...
My old friend Patrick Matthews slogged for years to build up a few small struggling cafes in London parks. Now they're a success, so the parks are rewarding him by giving the cafes to someone who offered them more money.
www.change.org/p/require-th...
veganconfidential.substack.com/p/the-park-c...
www.change.org/p/require-th...
veganconfidential.substack.com/p/the-park-c...
Sign the Petition
Require the City of London to retain current cafe operators
www.change.org
January 6, 2026 at 7:06 PM
My old friend Patrick Matthews slogged for years to build up a few small struggling cafes in London parks. Now they're a success, so the parks are rewarding him by giving the cafes to someone who offered them more money.
www.change.org/p/require-th...
veganconfidential.substack.com/p/the-park-c...
www.change.org/p/require-th...
veganconfidential.substack.com/p/the-park-c...
At this time of year (a) I want a notarised statement from 1991 to say that I loved port and cheese as a teenager before I became an ancient Oxford prof; and (b) I'm annoyed that delicious port obligatorily contains the drug alcohol. It's like if all hobknobs were laced with ketamine.
December 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
At this time of year (a) I want a notarised statement from 1991 to say that I loved port and cheese as a teenager before I became an ancient Oxford prof; and (b) I'm annoyed that delicious port obligatorily contains the drug alcohol. It's like if all hobknobs were laced with ketamine.
Reposted by Ben Goldacre
In lovely science news, it is now official: I am the inaugural Writer in Residence at the Royal Institution to mark 200 years of the Christmas Lectures: www.rigb.org/explore-scie...
Tracy King announced as Writer in Residence to the CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Critically acclaimed author appointed as Writer in Residence to the 2025 CHRISTMAS LECTURES from the Royal Institution.
www.rigb.org
October 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM
In lovely science news, it is now official: I am the inaugural Writer in Residence at the Royal Institution to mark 200 years of the Christmas Lectures: www.rigb.org/explore-scie...
ACCIDENTALLY BOUGHT CHRISTMAS WRAITH. EVERYONE DEAD.
December 19, 2025 at 6:33 PM
ACCIDENTALLY BOUGHT CHRISTMAS WRAITH. EVERYONE DEAD.
How do we get better dental data? A huge opportunity for the UK! Our editorial in @bmj.com
In @bmj_latest, @kristinawk.bsky.social, @bengoldacre.bsky.social & @marydixonwoods.bsky.social argue that better dental data ecosystems could transform care & suggest ways that dentistry might learn from the digital transformation of primary care. Read the article: ths.im/4a3J4mY
www.bmj.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:03 PM
How do we get better dental data? A huge opportunity for the UK! Our editorial in @bmj.com
21 year sentence for using a car as a weapon. Good
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
But YouTube is full of examples, with 1000s of approving comments. Every driver doing it should be banned, for life. We can discuss how to manage protesters blocking roads: it's not this.
youtu.be/u-8qd_5_sAo?...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
But YouTube is full of examples, with 1000s of approving comments. Every driver doing it should be banned, for life. We can discuss how to manage protesters blocking roads: it's not this.
youtu.be/u-8qd_5_sAo?...
Bus driver rams Just Stop Oil protesters blockade nearly running them over
YouTube video by The Scottish Sun
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 6:39 PM
21 year sentence for using a car as a weapon. Good
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
But YouTube is full of examples, with 1000s of approving comments. Every driver doing it should be banned, for life. We can discuss how to manage protesters blocking roads: it's not this.
youtu.be/u-8qd_5_sAo?...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
But YouTube is full of examples, with 1000s of approving comments. Every driver doing it should be banned, for life. We can discuss how to manage protesters blocking roads: it's not this.
youtu.be/u-8qd_5_sAo?...
I'd love it if there was a music subscription service where anyone who wanted to could make a radio show with them talking to introduce the music, and then the actual copyrighted music. Not just a playlist. Not just a podcast with no music. Have I missed this, and it actually exists?
December 6, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I'd love it if there was a music subscription service where anyone who wanted to could make a radio show with them talking to introduce the music, and then the actual copyrighted music. Not just a playlist. Not just a podcast with no music. Have I missed this, and it actually exists?
Random colleagues in other disciplines now commonly say "the code's on OSF". It's just so great to see an academic org like COS, that goes beyond advocating for change, and actually builds the tools and services that make science work better. More!
Each year, hundreds of people donate to COS, helping keep OSF free and strengthening our open scholarship training and community support across research fields. This #GivingTuesday, we’d be grateful for your support: www.cos.io/support-yef25.
December 2, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Random colleagues in other disciplines now commonly say "the code's on OSF". It's just so great to see an academic org like COS, that goes beyond advocating for change, and actually builds the tools and services that make science work better. More!
I bought a £150 thing from France. I'm truly delighted to pay £40 tax on import: that's for schools and hospitals. The £11 handling fee for DHL, on the other hand, is purely to cover the expensive slow additional bureaucratic admin needlessly created for us all by Brexit voters. Merry Xmas!
December 2, 2025 at 8:14 PM
I bought a £150 thing from France. I'm truly delighted to pay £40 tax on import: that's for schools and hospitals. The £11 handling fee for DHL, on the other hand, is purely to cover the expensive slow additional bureaucratic admin needlessly created for us all by Brexit voters. Merry Xmas!
Pluribus - in case you've not - is absolutely brilliant theory-driven sci fi. The central concept is a gloriously versatile projection screen for Big Thoughts About Life. Is it better to be efficient and happy, or a messy human schlong? Etc. Also: every frame a photograph!
November 28, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Pluribus - in case you've not - is absolutely brilliant theory-driven sci fi. The central concept is a gloriously versatile projection screen for Big Thoughts About Life. Is it better to be efficient and happy, or a messy human schlong? Etc. Also: every frame a photograph!
Reposted by Ben Goldacre
I'm delighted to say we have won the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education with our work on OpenSAFELY, inventing new methods that let researchers analyse NHS GP data while protecting everyone's privacy, and with complete transparency, in a hugely productive platform!
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
OpenSAFELY team awarded Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further
Oxford’s OpenSAFELY team wins the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for revolutionising secure NHS data research, protecting patient privacy while unlocking life-saving health insights.
www.ox.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I'm delighted to say we have won the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education with our work on OpenSAFELY, inventing new methods that let researchers analyse NHS GP data while protecting everyone's privacy, and with complete transparency, in a hugely productive platform!
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Ben Goldacre
If you'd like to learn more about how OpenSAFELY works - and how we solved the privacy and efficiency challenges, to make national GP data securely accessible - here's a 5 minute video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRjR...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRjR...
OpenSAFELY in a nutshell
YouTube video by Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:09 PM
If you'd like to learn more about how OpenSAFELY works - and how we solved the privacy and efficiency challenges, to make national GP data securely accessible - here's a 5 minute video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRjR...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRjR...
I'm delighted to say we have won the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education with our work on OpenSAFELY, inventing new methods that let researchers analyse NHS GP data while protecting everyone's privacy, and with complete transparency, in a hugely productive platform!
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
OpenSAFELY team awarded Queen Elizabeth Prize for Higher and Further
Oxford’s OpenSAFELY team wins the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Prize for revolutionising secure NHS data research, protecting patient privacy while unlocking life-saving health insights.
www.ox.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I'm delighted to say we have won the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education with our work on OpenSAFELY, inventing new methods that let researchers analyse NHS GP data while protecting everyone's privacy, and with complete transparency, in a hugely productive platform!
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
Reposted by Ben Goldacre
November 18, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The @bennettoxford.bsky.social conference this year is the Oxford Medicines Data Symposium, we thought it was niche, but it's now heavily over-subscribed: if you're on the waiting list and think we should get you a space, then do email the team! www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/events/2025-...
2025 Bennett Institute Medicines Symposium | Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science
The two-day 2025 Bennett Institute Medicines Symposium will take place at Jesus College in Oxford on 10–11 December 2025.
www.bennett.ox.ac.uk
November 18, 2025 at 12:24 PM
The @bennettoxford.bsky.social conference this year is the Oxford Medicines Data Symposium, we thought it was niche, but it's now heavily over-subscribed: if you're on the waiting list and think we should get you a space, then do email the team! www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/events/2025-...
I don't want to be around when the owner of these glasses comes back to find them.
November 8, 2025 at 6:39 PM
I don't want to be around when the owner of these glasses comes back to find them.
This is genuinely extraordinary
My latest: Move over bat tunnel, here’s the wild story of how HS2 were forced to build a multi-million pound bridge for a road that… doesn’t actually exist.
How HS2 built a bridge to nowhere
A state-of-the-art road bridge has been built deep in the heart of rural Buckinghamshire. Designed to carry traffic over the HS2 railway, there's just one tiny problem - there's no actual road.
martinrobbins.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This is genuinely extraordinary