Lieven Vandelanotte
@lieven.bsky.social
English lang & ling academic @UNamur & @KU Leuven. THE LANGUAGE OF MEMES out now https://www.cambridge.org/languageofmemes. He/him. https://www.unamur.be/en/profil/lvdlanot
Pinned
PROOF OF AN EXTERNAL WORLD
The Language of Memes was officially published on 11 September, but a +/- 6 MB download doesn't really beat the physical object. It exists in the tangible universe! Yay @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org
The Language of Memes was officially published on 11 September, but a +/- 6 MB download doesn't really beat the physical object. It exists in the tangible universe! Yay @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Bancontact 💪
www.ft.com/content/fcc2...
www.ft.com/content/fcc2...
February 9, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Bancontact 💪
www.ft.com/content/fcc2...
www.ft.com/content/fcc2...
Needless to say, I understand absolutely nothing about the financial hocus-pocus of the world it's set in, but Industry is quietly, devastatingly good again innit. (Much as I miss Robert and Gus 🥹)
February 9, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Needless to say, I understand absolutely nothing about the financial hocus-pocus of the world it's set in, but Industry is quietly, devastatingly good again innit. (Much as I miss Robert and Gus 🥹)
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Children need their families. Refugee children are no different.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugees
Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Children need their families. Refugee children are no different.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
For the avoidance of doubt, me too
February 9, 2026 at 8:21 PM
For the avoidance of doubt, me too
February 9, 2026 at 7:11 PM
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
BIG day for the 18 hyperonline Scottish soft left divas on here, love this for us
February 9, 2026 at 1:33 PM
BIG day for the 18 hyperonline Scottish soft left divas on here, love this for us
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
McSweeney worship is funny because what people are claiming his achievements were (Starmer winning the leadership in 2020 and Labour winning the election in 2024) would have taken an all-time fumble to lose.
What they really want to say is that they love him because he was a relentless left-crusher.
What they really want to say is that they love him because he was a relentless left-crusher.
I do wonder about anyone who thinks McSweeney single-handedly won Labour its majority. They do realise they were up against a catastrophically unpopular government? The 2024 result was very much an underperformance against the fundamentals.
Not *all* Labour MPs wanted McSweeney out.
“Gutted about Morgan”, one texts.
“So many of us know he’s brilliant to work with, so exceptional at the bigger picture strategic thinking, relentlessly focused on the moving pieces… and credit him with winning the majority”.
“Gutted about Morgan”, one texts.
“So many of us know he’s brilliant to work with, so exceptional at the bigger picture strategic thinking, relentlessly focused on the moving pieces… and credit him with winning the majority”.
February 9, 2026 at 11:51 AM
McSweeney worship is funny because what people are claiming his achievements were (Starmer winning the leadership in 2020 and Labour winning the election in 2024) would have taken an all-time fumble to lose.
What they really want to say is that they love him because he was a relentless left-crusher.
What they really want to say is that they love him because he was a relentless left-crusher.
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Gordon Brown by James Macintyre review – a very different kind of politician
Gordon Brown by James Macintyre review – a very different kind of politician
A new biography reveals Brown to be a man of exceptional vision and probity – what a contrast with today’s politics
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:54 AM
Gordon Brown by James Macintyre review – a very different kind of politician
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Will tell the grandchildren I did watch the Superbowl, once
February 8, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Will tell the grandchildren I did watch the Superbowl, once
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Macbeth: SHIT
February 9, 2026 at 2:50 AM
Macbeth: SHIT
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
February 9, 2026 at 3:50 AM
This kind of smart, walkable, mixed-use urbanism is illegal to build in most American cities.
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
My favorite Super Bowl memory is still when Elon Musk was at the 2023 game in Arizona and panicked about his Eagles tweet getting less engagement than Joe Biden's. He then flew immediately to Twitter's San Francisco office to start emergency meetings to fix the site's algorithm.
February 9, 2026 at 3:40 AM
My favorite Super Bowl memory is still when Elon Musk was at the 2023 game in Arizona and panicked about his Eagles tweet getting less engagement than Joe Biden's. He then flew immediately to Twitter's San Francisco office to start emergency meetings to fix the site's algorithm.
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
when a senior scholar cites you
February 9, 2026 at 4:38 AM
when a senior scholar cites you
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
This is good on where things are, but I’m not sure that in lots of cases higher ed has ever really been about the ‘transmission of knowledge’: how many humanities undergrads who go off into work really retain the subject-level knowledge? Thinking and writing have always been more important.
NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores the growing evidence that AI isn't just changing what students produce – it's changing what their brains are ready to do, and asks whether HE can redesign itself around a question it has been avoiding for decades buff.ly/uHtisNU
February 9, 2026 at 6:18 AM
This is good on where things are, but I’m not sure that in lots of cases higher ed has ever really been about the ‘transmission of knowledge’: how many humanities undergrads who go off into work really retain the subject-level knowledge? Thinking and writing have always been more important.
Will tell the grandchildren I did watch the Superbowl, once
February 8, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Will tell the grandchildren I did watch the Superbowl, once
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Labour's structural position is bad (terrible inheritance etc + unwillingness to grasp certain nettles) but has been hugely damaged by an obsession with winning over people who will never vote for them, based on a misread of the 2024 election
February 8, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Labour's structural position is bad (terrible inheritance etc + unwillingness to grasp certain nettles) but has been hugely damaged by an obsession with winning over people who will never vote for them, based on a misread of the 2024 election
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
politics is a brutal game. one week you are riding high (your very thinly-veiled character analogue debuts on Industry). the next week you are resigning in disgrace. all just goes to show
February 8, 2026 at 2:28 PM
politics is a brutal game. one week you are riding high (your very thinly-veiled character analogue debuts on Industry). the next week you are resigning in disgrace. all just goes to show
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Entrance lobby of a 1950s apartment block in Schaerbeek.
February 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Entrance lobby of a 1950s apartment block in Schaerbeek.
Don't stop at Morgan please
February 8, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Don't stop at Morgan please
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Sorry, final comment on this, the real visible tension in Thiel's commentary, if you strip back the pseudo-intellectual horse shit, is a belief that environmentalism and the ensuing regulation is a bigger driver of apocalyptic societal collapse than the climate change it's set out to prevent.
February 8, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Sorry, final comment on this, the real visible tension in Thiel's commentary, if you strip back the pseudo-intellectual horse shit, is a belief that environmentalism and the ensuing regulation is a bigger driver of apocalyptic societal collapse than the climate change it's set out to prevent.
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
This chatgpt conversation could have been a lake
February 8, 2026 at 1:02 PM
This chatgpt conversation could have been a lake
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
Is it just me that reads this as uhh not perhaps supportive
Work and Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden has claimed there would be “no point” in removing Morgan McSweeney “if the Prime Minister stays”.
“In fact, I think if the Prime Minister stays there, I don’t think that would make any difference at all,” he said.
“In fact, I think if the Prime Minister stays there, I don’t think that would make any difference at all,” he said.
February 8, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Is it just me that reads this as uhh not perhaps supportive
Reposted by Lieven Vandelanotte
this year’s Wildlife Photographer exhibition is astounding, if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet
February 8, 2026 at 10:33 AM
this year’s Wildlife Photographer exhibition is astounding, if you haven’t had a chance to see it yet