Nikhil Venkatesh
@nikvenkatesh.bsky.social
Mainly philosophy and cricket
Curling is so good
February 15, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Curling is so good
Susan Wolf, on why she titled an essay "Blame, Italian style"
academic.oup.com/book/4117/ch...
academic.oup.com/book/4117/ch...
February 9, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Susan Wolf, on why she titled an essay "Blame, Italian style"
academic.oup.com/book/4117/ch...
academic.oup.com/book/4117/ch...
The rot is not simply McSweeney or even Starmer, or this week's news cycle. The dominant faction in the Labour Party - and a large part of the centre-left media - regarded Mandelson as a hero and a genius for the past thirty years, when his flaws have been well-known for most of that time
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 AM
The rot is not simply McSweeney or even Starmer, or this week's news cycle. The dominant faction in the Labour Party - and a large part of the centre-left media - regarded Mandelson as a hero and a genius for the past thirty years, when his flaws have been well-known for most of that time
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 2:45 PM
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
Nelson Mandela, on trial for his life, made time for a brutal aside on communist literature
February 5, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Nelson Mandela, on trial for his life, made time for a brutal aside on communist literature
Probably should have thought of that before the purges and stitch-ups but here we are
feels like Labour is stuck in the seventh circle of leadership contest hell, ie pingponging endlessly between 'he should go!' and 'but not be replaced by any of the people available in this actual life'
February 5, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Probably should have thought of that before the purges and stitch-ups but here we are
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
I suspect this is one of the reasons Mandelson always managed to get back into politics: most of the media approved of what he wanted to do, particularly in terms of the regular purges of the left (under Kinnock and Blair, as well as against Corbyn).
"Peter Mandelson, the architect of New Labour, has said he is working every day to undermine Jeremy Corbyn"
It's a good time to remind people, a lot of the smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, in the media, was orchestrated by Peter Mandelson.
www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
1/3
It's a good time to remind people, a lot of the smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, in the media, was orchestrated by Peter Mandelson.
www.theguardian.com/politics/201...
1/3
Peter Mandelson: I try to undermine Jeremy Corbyn 'every single day'
Ex-minister speaks out against Labour leader as Blairite peers express fury about Corbyn’s position on Brexit in Lords debate
www.theguardian.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:21 PM
I suspect this is one of the reasons Mandelson always managed to get back into politics: most of the media approved of what he wanted to do, particularly in terms of the regular purges of the left (under Kinnock and Blair, as well as against Corbyn).
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
losing my mind at this photo, it's literally the 'my t-shirt' meme
February 4, 2026 at 12:52 PM
losing my mind at this photo, it's literally the 'my t-shirt' meme
Oh no, I've been making this exact confusion!
February 3, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Oh no, I've been making this exact confusion!
I was there last time and I will be there again!
one of these promoted teams is going to break Derby's points records at last. unfortunately it might be Derby again.
January 30, 2026 at 10:03 PM
I was there last time and I will be there again!
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Just looked back at this, which I wrote two and a half years ago. A foray into decision theory in memory of a true hero, Daniel Ellsberg. I'm quite proud of it. www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/n...
Daniel Ellsberg: Real Life Decision Theory
www.lse.ac.uk
January 28, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Just looked back at this, which I wrote two and a half years ago. A foray into decision theory in memory of a true hero, Daniel Ellsberg. I'm quite proud of it. www.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/n...
The most rational economic system ever devised, ladies and gentlemen!
January 28, 2026 at 7:39 AM
The most rational economic system ever devised, ladies and gentlemen!
"For the good of all, first the poor" - Rawls lives on in Mexico www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/the...
The Fourth Transformation | David Adler, Vanessa Romero Rocha, and Michael Galant
The political economy of Claudia Sheinbaum’s popularity
www.phenomenalworld.org
January 27, 2026 at 9:03 AM
"For the good of all, first the poor" - Rawls lives on in Mexico www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/the...
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
Composition by Jean Hélion, 1934
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137344
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137344
January 26, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Composition by Jean Hélion, 1934
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137344
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137344
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
It's obviously good that citizens with smartphones can create multiple records of these shootings and undercut propaganda and government lies about them. But I find it a little deranging that being an informed news consumer in 2026 requires watching what are essentially snuff videos in slow-mo.
January 25, 2026 at 6:29 PM
It's obviously good that citizens with smartphones can create multiple records of these shootings and undercut propaganda and government lies about them. But I find it a little deranging that being an informed news consumer in 2026 requires watching what are essentially snuff videos in slow-mo.
Preventing the most popular politician in the country from standing for Parliament is a total dereliction of duty by the NEC www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Andy Burnham blocked from byelection race by Labour ruling committee
Decision likely to set off ferocious row between Keir Starmer loyalists and allies of Greater Manchester mayor
www.theguardian.com
January 25, 2026 at 12:20 PM
Preventing the most popular politician in the country from standing for Parliament is a total dereliction of duty by the NEC www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
"I really like the ideas of Jeremy Bentham."
"The ones about maximising pleasure and treating everyone equally?"
"Not those ones, no."
"Animal welfare? Decriminalising consensual sexual acts? Expanding democratic accountability?"
"Not exactly."
"Which ones then?"
"Oh, you know the ones..."
"The ones about maximising pleasure and treating everyone equally?"
"Not those ones, no."
"Animal welfare? Decriminalising consensual sexual acts? Expanding democratic accountability?"
"Not exactly."
"Which ones then?"
"Oh, you know the ones..."
Shabana Mahmood here, whose “ultimate vision” is to turn the world into a prison
January 23, 2026 at 3:59 PM
"I really like the ideas of Jeremy Bentham."
"The ones about maximising pleasure and treating everyone equally?"
"Not those ones, no."
"Animal welfare? Decriminalising consensual sexual acts? Expanding democratic accountability?"
"Not exactly."
"Which ones then?"
"Oh, you know the ones..."
"The ones about maximising pleasure and treating everyone equally?"
"Not those ones, no."
"Animal welfare? Decriminalising consensual sexual acts? Expanding democratic accountability?"
"Not exactly."
"Which ones then?"
"Oh, you know the ones..."
Very interesting thread
Last term I tried an experiment: I walked into my Tech and Design Ethics class, admitted that I had *no idea* what to do about ChatGPT - so I would let them figure it out.
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
As in: their first project was to decide and write the ChatGPT policy for the class.
Here's what happened:
January 23, 2026 at 11:41 AM
Very interesting thread
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
My Sheffield colleagues are locked out for not mitigating strike action and doing the teaching they haven’t been paid for, please donate to @sheffielducu.bsky.social if you can spare a few quid: www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
January 21, 2026 at 2:23 PM
My Sheffield colleagues are locked out for not mitigating strike action and doing the teaching they haven’t been paid for, please donate to @sheffielducu.bsky.social if you can spare a few quid: www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
Well that’s me locked out. No pay for the foreseeable future, all because I refuse to reschedule lost teaching, for which I have already lost pay as part of the strike. Please donate to support @sheffielducu.bsky.social members like me at www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
January 19, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Well that’s me locked out. No pay for the foreseeable future, all because I refuse to reschedule lost teaching, for which I have already lost pay as part of the strike. Please donate to support @sheffielducu.bsky.social members like me at www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
Reposted by Nikhil Venkatesh
Gilt traders be like..
January 22, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Gilt traders be like..
Not my subdsicipline, but I remember enjoying and being persuaded by Bas van Fraassen's The Scientific Image when I read it as an undergrad dailynous.com/2026/01/21/b...
dailynous.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Not my subdsicipline, but I remember enjoying and being persuaded by Bas van Fraassen's The Scientific Image when I read it as an undergrad dailynous.com/2026/01/21/b...