Simon Christmas
@simonxmas.bsky.social
Independent social researcher and writer. Www.simonchristmas.net. Some have enjoyed this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Annie-Simon-Christmas/dp/B086PQQ9NJ/
Reposted by Simon Christmas
No system beats First Past the Post for creating scenarios in which people inadvertently help their opponents. It's ideal if you want to strongly disincentivise talented, morally motivated people from going into politics (something Britain has successfully done for centuries).
January 26, 2026 at 5:56 PM
No system beats First Past the Post for creating scenarios in which people inadvertently help their opponents. It's ideal if you want to strongly disincentivise talented, morally motivated people from going into politics (something Britain has successfully done for centuries).
@bexbookaholic.bsky.social Are you aware of this corner of Bloomsbury?
January 24, 2026 at 1:44 PM
@bexbookaholic.bsky.social Are you aware of this corner of Bloomsbury?
Reposted by Simon Christmas
As promised, one aspect of what I do every day this week.
I also work on 'gender mainstreaming' which is basically creating better places which are more gender equal. The great thing about this is that great examples of good practice already exist in Europe so I get to be positive.
I also work on 'gender mainstreaming' which is basically creating better places which are more gender equal. The great thing about this is that great examples of good practice already exist in Europe so I get to be positive.
January 6, 2026 at 12:27 PM
As promised, one aspect of what I do every day this week.
I also work on 'gender mainstreaming' which is basically creating better places which are more gender equal. The great thing about this is that great examples of good practice already exist in Europe so I get to be positive.
I also work on 'gender mainstreaming' which is basically creating better places which are more gender equal. The great thing about this is that great examples of good practice already exist in Europe so I get to be positive.
Reposted by Simon Christmas
It has a name now 😜
Many thanks to Ken for agreeing to put his good name to my...artwork. The image is in the public domain (CC 0), but citations to the linked documents are warmly welcomed.
✅ zenodo.org/records/1808...
✅ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24452418/
Many thanks to Ken for agreeing to put his good name to my...artwork. The image is in the public domain (CC 0), but citations to the linked documents are warmly welcomed.
✅ zenodo.org/records/1808...
✅ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24452418/
December 29, 2025 at 11:19 AM
It has a name now 😜
Many thanks to Ken for agreeing to put his good name to my...artwork. The image is in the public domain (CC 0), but citations to the linked documents are warmly welcomed.
✅ zenodo.org/records/1808...
✅ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24452418/
Many thanks to Ken for agreeing to put his good name to my...artwork. The image is in the public domain (CC 0), but citations to the linked documents are warmly welcomed.
✅ zenodo.org/records/1808...
✅ pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24452418/
Reposted by Simon Christmas
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
The Americans Who Saw All This Coming—but Were Ignored and Maligned
Call them the Cassandras: the people—mostly not white and male—who smelled the fascism all over Trump from jump street. Why were they “alarmists,” and how did “anti-alarmism” become cool?
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:26 AM
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Reposted by Simon Christmas
I think the fundamental gap here is that non-creative people think that creative people make things for the end product, when in fact it’s the act of creation and not the end point that makes it worthwhile.
I have grown to believe that excessive wealth does something to your brain that is analogous to a serious head injury
December 15, 2025 at 6:26 AM
I think the fundamental gap here is that non-creative people think that creative people make things for the end product, when in fact it’s the act of creation and not the end point that makes it worthwhile.
Reposted by Simon Christmas
We've partnered with Mental Health Innovations since 2020 to help improve digital mental health services for young people. Behaviour Change MSc students gain real-world experience while their research informs service design & the wider evidence base.
🔗 mentalhealthinnovations.org/news-and-inf...
🔗 mentalhealthinnovations.org/news-and-inf...
December 15, 2025 at 9:17 AM
We've partnered with Mental Health Innovations since 2020 to help improve digital mental health services for young people. Behaviour Change MSc students gain real-world experience while their research informs service design & the wider evidence base.
🔗 mentalhealthinnovations.org/news-and-inf...
🔗 mentalhealthinnovations.org/news-and-inf...
Reposted by Simon Christmas
Looking for the perfect ethical #Christmas gift?
Treat someone (or yourself!) to this delicious box of macaroons that supports two amazing causes: #LGBTQI refugees and young people with complex needs.
A partnership between Miss Macaroon & Micro Rainbow
🔗 missmacaroon.co.uk/products/chr...
Treat someone (or yourself!) to this delicious box of macaroons that supports two amazing causes: #LGBTQI refugees and young people with complex needs.
A partnership between Miss Macaroon & Micro Rainbow
🔗 missmacaroon.co.uk/products/chr...
December 15, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Looking for the perfect ethical #Christmas gift?
Treat someone (or yourself!) to this delicious box of macaroons that supports two amazing causes: #LGBTQI refugees and young people with complex needs.
A partnership between Miss Macaroon & Micro Rainbow
🔗 missmacaroon.co.uk/products/chr...
Treat someone (or yourself!) to this delicious box of macaroons that supports two amazing causes: #LGBTQI refugees and young people with complex needs.
A partnership between Miss Macaroon & Micro Rainbow
🔗 missmacaroon.co.uk/products/chr...
I try to be the kind of person who remembers taken-for-granted privilege: things being able to turn on a tap and have clean drinking water. But then there are the days when all I can think is: enough, finish the damn bathroom already!
December 9, 2025 at 6:56 AM
I try to be the kind of person who remembers taken-for-granted privilege: things being able to turn on a tap and have clean drinking water. But then there are the days when all I can think is: enough, finish the damn bathroom already!
@dannybate.bsky.social I had to delay starting your book but, having at last done so, am already delighted by the Introduction: “there is nothing unmanageable about precise, academic vocabulary, so long as it’s introduced and explained properly.” (Never a better judged contraction.)
December 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM
@dannybate.bsky.social I had to delay starting your book but, having at last done so, am already delighted by the Introduction: “there is nothing unmanageable about precise, academic vocabulary, so long as it’s introduced and explained properly.” (Never a better judged contraction.)
Reposted by Simon Christmas
Because of course Henry had got the full roll call from Dulwich College and of course Trevor Phillips couldn’t even be bothered to read the stories he’s writing about
On a purely factual point, Trevor Phillips’s column in the Times misrepresents our reporting in casting doubts on claims that there were more boys called Patel than Smith at Dulwich in 1980 (we did not report 1976 as the year it occurred). 1980 roll shows 13 Patels and 12 Smiths.
December 8, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Because of course Henry had got the full roll call from Dulwich College and of course Trevor Phillips couldn’t even be bothered to read the stories he’s writing about
@nickeardleybbc.bsky.social Can you do anything about headline on your (good) piece on BBC website? Should surely be: “Government to ban profiteering by taxi companies”. This is weaponised clickbait sub-editing - implying asylum seekers choose to do this. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Government to ban asylum seekers from using taxis
The ban is set to come in February and any exemptions will have to be signed off by the Home Office.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
@nickeardleybbc.bsky.social Can you do anything about headline on your (good) piece on BBC website? Should surely be: “Government to ban profiteering by taxi companies”. This is weaponised clickbait sub-editing - implying asylum seekers choose to do this. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
On the Expressions of Sheep
November 25, 2025 at 7:25 PM
On the Expressions of Sheep
@elhammahan.bsky.social Who is the GOAT? 🐐
I like that sports is blessed with more and more data visualizations these days. This football chart is mad! Good old Haaland has a goal scoring rate TWICE as good as Mbappe on international level.
November 21, 2025 at 7:52 AM
@elhammahan.bsky.social Who is the GOAT? 🐐
I know astrology is bunk but… This bird is clearly a Virgo.
It takes an exceptionally gifted bird to maintain such a pleasing clutch arrangement.
"Nesthetics" would be a great topic for a coffee table book.
"Nesthetics" would be a great topic for a coffee table book.
November 18, 2025 at 1:25 PM
I know astrology is bunk but… This bird is clearly a Virgo.
So we’re at the point of using a “divided country” to justify doing what one extreme of that division want. Like the time I heard David Wilshire saying Section 28 was needed to prevent “blood on the streets”. Like Powell seeing the Tiber foaming with blood. Point of no return for Labour, I fear.
November 16, 2025 at 9:53 AM
So we’re at the point of using a “divided country” to justify doing what one extreme of that division want. Like the time I heard David Wilshire saying Section 28 was needed to prevent “blood on the streets”. Like Powell seeing the Tiber foaming with blood. Point of no return for Labour, I fear.
Reposted by Simon Christmas
We are a long way indeed from systematically collecting and acting on the voices of patients. Abolishing Healthwatch and handing responsibility for its work to ICBs (which are themselves undergoing massive reorganisation) is in my own view a very bad move indeed by DHSC.
NEW: Andy Burnham will issue a warning to Wes Streeting over the government’s abolition of a national network of “patient voice” bodies
Burnham's intervention comes amid fears locally that the move could “silence” residents' views
By me, for Politics Home www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Burnham's intervention comes amid fears locally that the move could “silence” residents' views
By me, for Politics Home www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Andy Burnham To Warn Wes Streeting About Closure Of Health Bodies
Andy Burnham will issue a warning to Health Secretary Wes Streeting over the government’s abolition of a national network of “patient voice” bodies...
www.politicshome.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:17 AM
We are a long way indeed from systematically collecting and acting on the voices of patients. Abolishing Healthwatch and handing responsibility for its work to ICBs (which are themselves undergoing massive reorganisation) is in my own view a very bad move indeed by DHSC.
I wanted to repost every part of this excellent thread. This one will do. Amen.
Qualitative research isn't a consolation prize for when we can't get 'real' numbers. It's a different way of knowing; one that captures complexity, context, and meaning that statistics alone cannot provide.
November 6, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I wanted to repost every part of this excellent thread. This one will do. Amen.
Reposted by Simon Christmas
Qualitative research isn't a consolation prize for when we can't get 'real' numbers. It's a different way of knowing; one that captures complexity, context, and meaning that statistics alone cannot provide.
November 5, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Qualitative research isn't a consolation prize for when we can't get 'real' numbers. It's a different way of knowing; one that captures complexity, context, and meaning that statistics alone cannot provide.
Well this is very delightful. Went to the bookshop to get this - which is already exciting - and on getting home realised it’s signed by @dannybate.bsky.social himself.
October 27, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Well this is very delightful. Went to the bookshop to get this - which is already exciting - and on getting home realised it’s signed by @dannybate.bsky.social himself.
How excited am I? (Clue: more than very.)
October 23, 2025 at 10:31 AM
How excited am I? (Clue: more than very.)
All morning R4 has been saying that this will be the first time the head of the Church of England has prayed with the Pope *certainly* since the Reformation and *possibly* ever. I, meanwhile, am screaming at the radio and reaching for the green ink…
October 23, 2025 at 8:29 AM
All morning R4 has been saying that this will be the first time the head of the Church of England has prayed with the Pope *certainly* since the Reformation and *possibly* ever. I, meanwhile, am screaming at the radio and reaching for the green ink…
Reposted by Simon Christmas
People are not average #532. This train seat has little wings to support your head which are in fact digging into my shoulders.
October 14, 2025 at 7:59 AM
People are not average #532. This train seat has little wings to support your head which are in fact digging into my shoulders.
Reposted by Simon Christmas
Is there anything Aristotle *didn't* already think about?
Aristotle noticed that when bees returned to the hive, they shook or "danced" in front of a group. Millennia later, scientists debated whether it was a form of "language" amid shifts in scientific methods and philosophies in the 20th century.
#histsci 🗃️ #bees
daily.jstor.org/the-bee-danc...
#histsci 🗃️ #bees
daily.jstor.org/the-bee-danc...
The Bee Dance Debate - JSTOR Daily
Can insects communicate? In the middle of the twentieth century, scientists disagreed on whether bees could possess a “language” expressed through motion.
daily.jstor.org
October 8, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Is there anything Aristotle *didn't* already think about?