Geoffrey Hughes
@geofffhughes.bsky.social
Teacher, Ethnographer, Arabist; Lecturer in Anthropology and author of Affection and Mercy: Kinship, Islam and the Politics of Marriage in Jordan ♥️🇯🇴♥️🇵🇸 (he/هو)
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lLU0JwkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=lLU0JwkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
In the last decade, the BBC has legitimised climate change denialism, paved the way for Brexit, defended the coup that was prorogation, over-platformed Farage's Far Right projects, and is neutral on our abandonment of human rights norms.
What is this 'good' it supposedly does?
What is this 'good' it supposedly does?
November 11, 2025 at 8:30 AM
In the last decade, the BBC has legitimised climate change denialism, paved the way for Brexit, defended the coup that was prorogation, over-platformed Farage's Far Right projects, and is neutral on our abandonment of human rights norms.
What is this 'good' it supposedly does?
What is this 'good' it supposedly does?
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
The next great depression will manifest as a series of struggle meals viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to what you’re currently eating until you’re the one filming it.
November 11, 2025 at 8:15 AM
The next great depression will manifest as a series of struggle meals viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to what you’re currently eating until you’re the one filming it.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Sharaa shoots his shot - my new piece on Trump’s attempt to lock Syria into the US regional order as an autocratic partner against Iran, and how Syrian domestic challenges and Israel could blow it up.
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/sharaa-shoot...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/sharaa-shoot...
Sharaa shoots his shot
Crazy things happen in world politics all the time, yes, but there really aren't many scenes as surreal as Ahmed Sharaa – not so long ago a leading jihadist insurgent in Iraq and Syria and now Syria's...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io
November 10, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Sharaa shoots his shot - my new piece on Trump’s attempt to lock Syria into the US regional order as an autocratic partner against Iran, and how Syrian domestic challenges and Israel could blow it up.
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/sharaa-shoot...
abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/sharaa-shoot...
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
“New York Times conducts hostile interview with children’s education influencer questioning her recognition of comprehensively documented war crimes” is not a sentence I could have imagined a few years ago
November 10, 2025 at 2:41 PM
“New York Times conducts hostile interview with children’s education influencer questioning her recognition of comprehensively documented war crimes” is not a sentence I could have imagined a few years ago
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Go volunteer for a progressive launching a “hopeless” campaign against an extremely entrenched incumbent currently squatting in a safe Blue seat. The worst thing that happens, is that you drag the incumbent to the Left. Best case? Zohran Mamdani, who was polling at 6% in January.
November 10, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Go volunteer for a progressive launching a “hopeless” campaign against an extremely entrenched incumbent currently squatting in a safe Blue seat. The worst thing that happens, is that you drag the incumbent to the Left. Best case? Zohran Mamdani, who was polling at 6% in January.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
"The soldiers who agreed to talk confirmed the IDF’s routine use of human shields, contradicting official denials, and gave details of Israeli troops opening fire unprovoked on civilians racing to reach food handouts..." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
"The soldiers who agreed to talk confirmed the IDF’s routine use of human shields, contradicting official denials, and gave details of Israeli troops opening fire unprovoked on civilians racing to reach food handouts..." www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Classic New York Times here on the growing academic boycott of complicit Israeli universities. Not a single Palestinian is quoted, but they have this from unnamed Israeli academics speaking on their behalf:
November 10, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Classic New York Times here on the growing academic boycott of complicit Israeli universities. Not a single Palestinian is quoted, but they have this from unnamed Israeli academics speaking on their behalf:
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
“More and more cabinet members — Rubio, Miller, Noem — live on military bases now, & it's another parallel to Iraq, where the administration lived in the Green Zone. There’s something deeply unhealthy about a society where leaders are literally shut off from the communities that they govern.”
Don Moynihan on "Purge, Merge, and Surge"
"Instead of surging in Iraq, it’s happening here in American cities."
www.publicnotice.co
November 8, 2025 at 4:44 PM
“More and more cabinet members — Rubio, Miller, Noem — live on military bases now, & it's another parallel to Iraq, where the administration lived in the Green Zone. There’s something deeply unhealthy about a society where leaders are literally shut off from the communities that they govern.”
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
man
November 8, 2025 at 2:06 AM
man
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
The newsletter also has some deep thoughts about the bloodbath at Teen Vogue
November 4, 2025 at 4:57 PM
The newsletter also has some deep thoughts about the bloodbath at Teen Vogue
This is a hilarious, self-deprecating and insightful piece. It also contains far more generalizable advice than advertised because there are actually a lot of other circumstances in which ACAB includes reporters from the New York Times...
Peter Coviello isn't on Bluesky, but this definitely should be: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
This is a hilarious, self-deprecating and insightful piece. It also contains far more generalizable advice than advertised because there are actually a lot of other circumstances in which ACAB includes reporters from the New York Times...
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
A lot has been written about how a bunch of liberal, Jewish Americans are in love with a version of Israel that hasn't existed in decades but less has been written about how a lot of Israeli leaders think they're dealing with an America that no longer exists...
"Netanyahu sought to forge an alliance with the Christian right..reasoning..that evangelicals were more reliable supporters. of Israel than liberal US Jews..Having lost the left, Israel is losing the right, as Christian nationalism supplants Christian Zionism"
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Israel's right wing bet the country's future on U.S. Christian nationalists. It backfired
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ron Dermer Failed to Account for a White Supremacist Takeover of Their Cherished MAGA Evangelical Base. Now, Israel's Fate Lies With an American Right That Increasingly Embraces...
www.haaretz.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:21 AM
A lot has been written about how a bunch of liberal, Jewish Americans are in love with a version of Israel that hasn't existed in decades but less has been written about how a lot of Israeli leaders think they're dealing with an America that no longer exists...
Highly relatable. Overheard some of mine talking optimistically about model collapse.
My slightly spicy take is that it's actually good that all of the worst people and institutions are lining up to force AI on our students. What better way to make clear to them what's really going on here?
My slightly spicy take is that it's actually good that all of the worst people and institutions are lining up to force AI on our students. What better way to make clear to them what's really going on here?
me at the end of class: here's a little speculative exercises; imagine you wake up from cryosleep in 2085. what's the kind of tech-society r/ship you'd like to see around you?
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
students: no AI
I honestly think students' views are missing from the 'should AI be integrated in classrooms' discussion
November 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Highly relatable. Overheard some of mine talking optimistically about model collapse.
My slightly spicy take is that it's actually good that all of the worst people and institutions are lining up to force AI on our students. What better way to make clear to them what's really going on here?
My slightly spicy take is that it's actually good that all of the worst people and institutions are lining up to force AI on our students. What better way to make clear to them what's really going on here?
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Someone at a Russell Group university was moved to almost-poetry by their Faculty Meeting… Can anyone do better?
November 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Someone at a Russell Group university was moved to almost-poetry by their Faculty Meeting… Can anyone do better?
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
RIP Keith Hart
"I never got over that primal scene of moving between Manchester and Cambridge. They seemed to be two completely different civilizations...
"I never got over that primal scene of moving between Manchester and Cambridge. They seemed to be two completely different civilizations...
November 7, 2025 at 1:36 PM
RIP Keith Hart
"I never got over that primal scene of moving between Manchester and Cambridge. They seemed to be two completely different civilizations...
"I never got over that primal scene of moving between Manchester and Cambridge. They seemed to be two completely different civilizations...
On the one hand, the Graud is talking nonsense here, but on the other hand just think about the numbers this is going to do on Facebook among liberal American boomers...
I don't think I've been in a single European city where buses were free, let alone it being a "given." This smug fantasia from an increasingly fascist continent is honestly bizarre. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:16 PM
On the one hand, the Graud is talking nonsense here, but on the other hand just think about the numbers this is going to do on Facebook among liberal American boomers...
A lot has been written about how a bunch of liberal, Jewish Americans are in love with a version of Israel that hasn't existed in decades but less has been written about how a lot of Israeli leaders think they're dealing with an America that no longer exists...
"Netanyahu sought to forge an alliance with the Christian right..reasoning..that evangelicals were more reliable supporters. of Israel than liberal US Jews..Having lost the left, Israel is losing the right, as Christian nationalism supplants Christian Zionism"
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Israel's right wing bet the country's future on U.S. Christian nationalists. It backfired
Benjamin Netanyahu and Ron Dermer Failed to Account for a White Supremacist Takeover of Their Cherished MAGA Evangelical Base. Now, Israel's Fate Lies With an American Right That Increasingly Embraces...
www.haaretz.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:21 AM
A lot has been written about how a bunch of liberal, Jewish Americans are in love with a version of Israel that hasn't existed in decades but less has been written about how a lot of Israeli leaders think they're dealing with an America that no longer exists...
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
Probably because the ban has absolutely nothing to do with child safety whatsoever, it is about limiting and controlling access to information for young people, as well as slowly forcing everyone to adopt a digital ID. The whole thing is an absurd farce that’s going to fail in spectacular fashion.
This story by Sarah Martin has generated huge interest today all around the world. A question it poses for Aus - why is Roblox not in the government's social media ban?
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
My chilling week on Roblox: sexually assaulted and shat on as a child avatar roaming the online world
In seven days my young alter ego is cyberbullied and attacked while exploring clubs, casinos and horror games, all with parental controls in place. Is the platform safe for children – or an ‘X-rated p...
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Probably because the ban has absolutely nothing to do with child safety whatsoever, it is about limiting and controlling access to information for young people, as well as slowly forcing everyone to adopt a digital ID. The whole thing is an absurd farce that’s going to fail in spectacular fashion.
Reposted by Geoffrey Hughes
The recursive logic of this conspiracy theory posits that Mamdani is a horrible antisemite BECAUSE he's a puppet of wealthy Jewish capital. An anti-antisemitic stance ("I am pro-Jewish") gets recursively embedded within an antisemitic discourse ("antisemitism is caused by a Jewish cabal")
Am I meant to believe Mamdani is a horrible antisemite, or that he's a puppet of wealthy Jewish capital?
November 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
The recursive logic of this conspiracy theory posits that Mamdani is a horrible antisemite BECAUSE he's a puppet of wealthy Jewish capital. An anti-antisemitic stance ("I am pro-Jewish") gets recursively embedded within an antisemitic discourse ("antisemitism is caused by a Jewish cabal")
If you haven't already cancelled your subscription for all of the other nonsense they've published, this seems like a good reason to do so. Be sure to tell them why too:
This guy (who not incidentally looks like a thumb)! Just "asking questions"! Because "Interesting Times" with the NYT imprimatur!
November 6, 2025 at 12:01 PM
If you haven't already cancelled your subscription for all of the other nonsense they've published, this seems like a good reason to do so. Be sure to tell them why too:
It's funny though because the phenomenon is very real (Jehovah's Witnesses still exist!). But this is all about prestige economies within academia and how academics broker their status in relationship to their ability to claim exclusive access to various forms of "data"...
Ok, just wow. If the content of this article is right, this is depressing. We're slowly reaching the point where ~100% of what I was taught in Social Psych was either innocently wrong or plainly frauded
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Debunking “When Prophecy Fails”
In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted an apocalyptic flood and promised her followers rescue by flying saucers. When neither arrived, she recanted, her group dissolved, and efforts to proselytize ceased....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:53 AM
It's funny though because the phenomenon is very real (Jehovah's Witnesses still exist!). But this is all about prestige economies within academia and how academics broker their status in relationship to their ability to claim exclusive access to various forms of "data"...