Andrew McRae
@mcraeandrew.bsky.social
English prof, Uni of Exeter. Prone to talk about UK politics, higher education policy, the 17th century, the excellence of English studies, & Aussie sports.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Today is the OFFICIAL publication day for TEXTILE SHAKESPEARE! Please indulge me: I want to say a little (perhaps rather a lot) about it and share my acknowledgements - and a discount code! Appropriately,🧵1/10
November 11, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Today is the OFFICIAL publication day for TEXTILE SHAKESPEARE! Please indulge me: I want to say a little (perhaps rather a lot) about it and share my acknowledgements - and a discount code! Appropriately,🧵1/10
Reposted by Andrew McRae
It would never occur to Emily that she is at all ideological, or that she and her crank pals were imposing their views and desires upon others. What do you mean, ideology! We’re doing Science
Emily Maitlis admitting she worked at the bbc to try and get healthcare for trans people shut down
November 11, 2025 at 7:56 AM
It would never occur to Emily that she is at all ideological, or that she and her crank pals were imposing their views and desires upon others. What do you mean, ideology! We’re doing Science
Reposted by Andrew McRae
It’s already started - the BBC allows Newsmax boss to opine about bias, suggest some of the Jan 6 mob were merely innocent tourists visiting Congress, without pushback
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 AM
It’s already started - the BBC allows Newsmax boss to opine about bias, suggest some of the Jan 6 mob were merely innocent tourists visiting Congress, without pushback
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Good job #r4today, getting Trump’s buddy and chief exec from Newsmax to tell your listeners that the people marauding the Capital in January 6th were doing nothing wrong when they entered a public building.
Not a squeak of push back during the interview.
Not a squeak of push back during the interview.
November 11, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Good job #r4today, getting Trump’s buddy and chief exec from Newsmax to tell your listeners that the people marauding the Capital in January 6th were doing nothing wrong when they entered a public building.
Not a squeak of push back during the interview.
Not a squeak of push back during the interview.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Whole fucking thing makes me sick to my stomach. An abject fucking liar, a man who lies as easily as he fucking breathes, threatening an organisation which strives for truthfulness. And plastic patriots like the Mail and Farage urging him on. Jackels.
November 11, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Whole fucking thing makes me sick to my stomach. An abject fucking liar, a man who lies as easily as he fucking breathes, threatening an organisation which strives for truthfulness. And plastic patriots like the Mail and Farage urging him on. Jackels.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
I fear that the grumbling, background sound on the air throughout the day is the BBC gearing up to throw trans people under the bus. No bother that this was the weakest, most poorly evidenced Prescott claim. Just, like, trans people: always the easy meat to toss to the rabid dogs of the right.
November 10, 2025 at 6:36 PM
I fear that the grumbling, background sound on the air throughout the day is the BBC gearing up to throw trans people under the bus. No bother that this was the weakest, most poorly evidenced Prescott claim. Just, like, trans people: always the easy meat to toss to the rabid dogs of the right.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.
It’s not at all clear to me how the BBC can do any kind of serious journalism if its top two bosses can be forced to quit over such an obviously confected scandal. There is no substantive error here. How can the BBC report on Trump, or Farage, or anyone else, in these circumstances?
November 9, 2025 at 9:08 PM
We are so far through the looking glass that the man who tried to overthrow an election becomes president, the people who attacked the Capitol are turned into martyrs, & it's the BBC that gets punished - cheered on by the worst news outlets in the UK & the two most dishonest politicians of our age.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
same people who deny the validity of trans identities insist on calling boats “she”
this is known as “assigned female at berth”
this is known as “assigned female at berth”
November 9, 2025 at 1:58 PM
same people who deny the validity of trans identities insist on calling boats “she”
this is known as “assigned female at berth”
this is known as “assigned female at berth”
Reposted by Andrew McRae
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
November 8, 2025 at 8:39 AM
A national newspaper journalist went on a British TV channel to claim police stats showed asylum-seekers committed 44% of sex crimes in Dorset.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
This shocking claim was treated as fact by the channel which promoted the clip on social media where it was amplified by AI.
Except... it's bollocks.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Please read this statement by Anne Health.
Trans children are being subjected by Sussex NHS to the physical torture of being forcibly detransitioned.
This is unnecessary cruelty and in my view constitutes torture, violence and child abuse on the part of NHS Sussex.
Trans children are being subjected by Sussex NHS to the physical torture of being forcibly detransitioned.
This is unnecessary cruelty and in my view constitutes torture, violence and child abuse on the part of NHS Sussex.
Anne Health response: NHS Sussex Investigation into WellBN GP Practice - Anne Healthcare
We are deeply concerned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s updated Code of Practice which has been sent to Secretary of State, Bridget Philipson, this week.While presented as clarification,...
anne.health
November 8, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Please read this statement by Anne Health.
Trans children are being subjected by Sussex NHS to the physical torture of being forcibly detransitioned.
This is unnecessary cruelty and in my view constitutes torture, violence and child abuse on the part of NHS Sussex.
Trans children are being subjected by Sussex NHS to the physical torture of being forcibly detransitioned.
This is unnecessary cruelty and in my view constitutes torture, violence and child abuse on the part of NHS Sussex.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
The BBC’s in a mess, but it’s not the mess you think www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC has bigger impartiality problems than its coverage of Trump
It is the BBC’s entire governance structure–rather than individual stories–that should cause most concern
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
The BBC’s in a mess, but it’s not the mess you think www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Home Sec describes a widely held public perception (UK is the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe) + endorses it as true. Home Office data shows it is not true. Whatever merits of her policy change, should not make false factual claims
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
Migrants come to Britain because they think we're Europe's most generous country
TODAY’S small boat numbers are shameful, and the British people deserve better. They contain a lesson: we must go further and faster to secure our borders. Under the last Conservative Government, t…
www.thesun.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Home Sec describes a widely held public perception (UK is the destination of choice for asylum seekers in Europe) + endorses it as true. Home Office data shows it is not true. Whatever merits of her policy change, should not make false factual claims
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
www.thesun.co.uk/news/3709465...
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Horrific, stupid news from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social — they are closing their music department. Apparently they all found out suddently in a meeting yesterday.
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Horrific, stupid news from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social — they are closing their music department. Apparently they all found out suddently in a meeting yesterday.
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
It is one of the best music departments in the country — solidarity with my colleagues and their students
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Andrew McRae
England today - people having their ongoing medical treatment unilaterally withdrawn, without appeal, because that treatment, agreed with their doctors, makes some bigots uncomfortable.
the minutes of the October meeting between WellBN and SussexICB are chilling. Andrew Dodson from the Sussex side just openly saying patients will be “deprescribed,” that they’ll have no choice and won’t be allowed to talk to the team taking their healthcare away
November 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM
England today - people having their ongoing medical treatment unilaterally withdrawn, without appeal, because that treatment, agreed with their doctors, makes some bigots uncomfortable.
Not her worst interview of the morning, but Emma Barnett asking a Russian dissident, twice, how she feels ‘willing her country to lose’ in Ukraine is just odd. It’s not a bloody football match, Emma. #r4today
November 6, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Not her worst interview of the morning, but Emma Barnett asking a Russian dissident, twice, how she feels ‘willing her country to lose’ in Ukraine is just odd. It’s not a bloody football match, Emma. #r4today
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:23 AM
Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Reposted by Andrew McRae
The way all of these people convinced themselves that Mamdani is antisemitic is a subject far more worthy of media examination than any of the ‘groupthink on campuses!’ thinkpieces we’ve been subjected to
November 5, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The way all of these people convinced themselves that Mamdani is antisemitic is a subject far more worthy of media examination than any of the ‘groupthink on campuses!’ thinkpieces we’ve been subjected to
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Mamdani got a humanities degree.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
November 5, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Mamdani got a humanities degree.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
His win helps to illustrate that one of the central forces driving higher ed’s dissolution of the humanities is the fear that teaching people how power works can also lead to their interest in seizing it on behalf of the less powerful.
Reposted by Andrew McRae
‘If the industrial strategy is to succeed, we’ll need English graduates as well as engineers, historians alongside computer scientists, and social scientists together with health professionals.’
www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/do-we-n... @timeshighered.bsky.social
www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/do-we-n... @timeshighered.bsky.social
Do we need humanities graduates to deliver the industrial strategy?
Policymakers should take a broad view of the value of degree courses when building our future workforce, says Charlotte Hallahan
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:44 AM
‘If the industrial strategy is to succeed, we’ll need English graduates as well as engineers, historians alongside computer scientists, and social scientists together with health professionals.’
www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/do-we-n... @timeshighered.bsky.social
www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/do-we-n... @timeshighered.bsky.social
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Very poor headlineby Guardian, making it seem she was guilty of something. What she actually did, was try to maintain a last shred of respect for human rights in Israel. More evidence of grotesque abuse of Palestinians. Israel long ago lost its legitimacy. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Israel top military lawyer arrested after she admitted leaking video of soldiers’ abuse
Rightwing politicians and pundits have called the soldiers accused of attack on Palestinian detainee ‘heroes’ and military investigators traitors
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Very poor headlineby Guardian, making it seem she was guilty of something. What she actually did, was try to maintain a last shred of respect for human rights in Israel. More evidence of grotesque abuse of Palestinians. Israel long ago lost its legitimacy. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Andrew McRae
An extraordinary riposte from @racheltaylormp.bsky.social to the transphobia of the EHRC.
Labour will spend decades atoning for how it utterly betrayed LGBT+ people, not least because Ms Taylor shows here how *very easy* it is to defend us when you bother to try.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Labour will spend decades atoning for how it utterly betrayed LGBT+ people, not least because Ms Taylor shows here how *very easy* it is to defend us when you bother to try.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Equality commission’s guidance after sex ruling is fundamentally unworkable | Letter
Letters: The EHRC has ignored warnings about the contradiction between possibly being sued for challenging someone’s gender versus being sued for failing to, says Rachel Taylor MP
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:33 PM
An extraordinary riposte from @racheltaylormp.bsky.social to the transphobia of the EHRC.
Labour will spend decades atoning for how it utterly betrayed LGBT+ people, not least because Ms Taylor shows here how *very easy* it is to defend us when you bother to try.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Labour will spend decades atoning for how it utterly betrayed LGBT+ people, not least because Ms Taylor shows here how *very easy* it is to defend us when you bother to try.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Andrew McRae
Looks like extraordinary cowardice. "...following pressure from the Chinese state and a separate defamation law suit against the university, Sheffield Hallam decided not to publish a final piece of research by Prof Murphy and her team into forced labour." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 3, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Looks like extraordinary cowardice. "...following pressure from the Chinese state and a separate defamation law suit against the university, Sheffield Hallam decided not to publish a final piece of research by Prof Murphy and her team into forced labour." www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...