Sameer Padania
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sdp.bsky.social
Sameer Padania
@sdp.bsky.social
I work on public interest journalism and information ecosystems worldwide - and how they are funded and financed.

https://macrosco.pe / linkedin.com/in/sameerpadania

#THFC #COYS #FRSA
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

“Is that NHS Direct? Can I get an emergency prescription please? Yes, I have somehow been underprescribed cumin cheese and my health is suffering…”
December 26, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Landed on @theguardian.com and thought “that’s a bombshell of an interview to land”
December 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
In case you’re looking for a more global soundtrack to your Christmas:

www.nts.live/shows/the-nt...
NTS Guide To Joy To The World - Christmas Songs from across the Globe 23rd December 2023
Playing Christmas. ¡Feliz Navidad!, Joyeux Noël!, メリークリスマス, Buon Natale!, Nollaig Shona!, Feliz Natal!
www.nts.live
December 25, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Sameer Padania
.@nataliaviana.bsky.social: Journalists talk about the elephant in the room: our relationship with Big Tech

www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/jour...
December 24, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Sameer Padania
It’s a tradition
December 22, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Excited to see @hazelsheffield.bsky.social has a book coming out in February!

And this story - not just about Brighton - is definitely worth your time:

www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Brighton’s struggling independent stores: ‘The nation of shopkeepers will go on the dole’
City’s small shops are reaching tipping point amid higher business rates, staff costs and big chains eager to move in
www.theguardian.com
December 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Sameer Padania
#Brazil 🇧🇷 @indexoncensorship.org covers how Meta removed multiple Brazilian left-wing influencers from Instagram, with politicians calling the bans a “direct attack on freedom of speech” and on voices denouncing corruption and police violence.
Meta bans Brazilian left-wing influencers - Index on Censorship
Politicians say it is a "direct attack on freedom of speech and the work of those who denounce injustices within Brazil"
buff.ly
December 20, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Sameer Padania
A survey of more than 1,000 artists found that 56% of participants are mired in debt. What’s worse is that this number climbs to 59% for those with gallery representation and museum shows under their belt.
Debt Plagues Artists Regardless of Career Stage, Survey Finds
Data compiled by artist mentor Paddy Johnson from over 1,000 respondents indicates that “artists across all levels struggle with a lot of the same things.”
hyperallergic.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:37 PM
“My name’s Paul Nuttalls of the UKIPs”

youtu.be/a17duTUK6qw

#migration
Stewart Lee Coming Over Here!
YouTube video by Brexit Sham
youtu.be
December 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Alexei Sayle in 1995 - just exceptional:

youtu.be/7aglun7Xrgw
The All New Alexei Sayle Show 2 - BBC 1995 - Anarchic Comedy Insights From The Scouse Sartre.
YouTube video by Chillmax
youtu.be
December 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Need a last-minute Christmas present?

Fear not, as @steampowered.com has got you covered:

store.steampowered.com/app/1221260/...

(first time reading #popbitch in ages)
Pope Simulator on Steam
Pope Simulator features many themes from the fascinating history of the papacy in the second half of the 20th century. Inspiring adventure, political intrigue, moral dilemmas and many themes based on ...
store.steampowered.com
December 20, 2025 at 10:09 AM
“Auditors – so-called because they play at being citizen-journalists, “auditing” what they see around them – post hours-long videos... They are wind-up merchants, antagonising people & using their reactions as evidence that Britain is “finished”, hoping to get clicks & advertising revenue.”
December 18, 2025 at 6:35 PM
“If you had to pick a single text to sum up the last few decades in political economy, it would be ‘for he that hath, to him shall be given.’ If I had to bet, it would be on the continuation of that trend.”

John Lanchester in the @lrb.co.uk on #AI:

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst?
Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM
“In space, there is no air.”
an important read for at least 2 reasons:

1. shows how big tech operates on intuitions and vibes and not rigorous research

2. this is a masterpiece in how to breakdown complex scientific concepts in simple language and elegant pros that captivate the lay reader

taranis.ie/datacenters-...
Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea.
There is a rush for AI companies to team up with space launch/satellite companies to build datacenters in space. TL;DR: It's not going to work.
taranis.ie
December 17, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Having a There's Too Much News moment, so I put on this performance of Luigi Nono's Prometeo while I do some writing. Unfortunately, the introductory explanation, in subtitled Czech, is quite intense. As is the setting for the performance. Back to Steve Reich.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jote...
Luigi Nono: PROMETEO. TRAGEDIA DELL'ASCOLTO (1981–84, rev. 1985)
YouTube video by newmusicostrava
www.youtube.com
December 16, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Went to sleep thinking about this, as some chancer lobbed his law-bomb last night.

And then got up and read the BBC Green Paper consultation document and felt a lot better.
December 16, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Sameer Padania
Do you make freedom of information requests?

Do you respond to them?

Interested in the future of #FOI?

Do we have the conference for you!

FOI Fest - Thu 19 Feb 2026 - London & online

Free tickets: pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...

And coming soon... an FOI Network www.mysociety.org/transparency...
FOI Network
The FOI Network The FOI Network is a currently an informal coalition of civil society organisations, journalists and academics with an interest in freedom of information in the UK. Those involved incl...
www.mysociety.org
December 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Sameer Padania
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Please take the time to read this thread from @alisonkilling.bsky.social.
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.

He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.

www.wsj.com/world/china/...
ICE Holding Chinese Man Who Documented Uyghur Camps
Heng Guan is awaiting an immigration hearing on Monday that could lead to his removal from the U.S. and ultimately land him back in China, according to his lawyer and a New York-based activist group.
www.wsj.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:39 PM
“It couldn’t happen here, part 7,943”

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Immigration judges targeted by far right after Tory MP’s campaign | The Observer
observer.co.uk
December 13, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Bleak outlook on the attacks on #civicspace in Europe…

monitor.civicus.org/globalfindin...
Europe and Central Asia - Civicus Monitor
Global Findings from the CIVICUS Monitor (People Power Under Attack 2025)
monitor.civicus.org
December 11, 2025 at 11:50 AM