Björn Heile
@bjornheile.bsky.social
Berlin-born and Glasgow-based academic, primarily interested in weird music. Oh, and I'm associate editor of Contemporary Music Review.
Professional profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cca/staff/bjornheile
Professional profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/cca/staff/bjornheile
Pinned
Björn Heile
@bjornheile.bsky.social
· Nov 14
This is kind of my introductory post. It's great to meet so many people over here again. I'm not a direct refugee from Twitter/X: I have left that years ago but went to Mastodon. That's still great but rather quiet.
As you may know, I'm primarily interested in #music, particularly #modernist.
As you may know, I'm primarily interested in #music, particularly #modernist.
Reposted by Björn Heile
When Boris Johnson was Prime Minister one of his senior advisers confided to me that one of the only things in politics his boss actually cared about was “killing off the BBC”.
Five years on, and it is a campaign that appears to be finally coming to fruition.
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
Five years on, and it is a campaign that appears to be finally coming to fruition.
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
The BBC’s Attempts to Appease the 'Right-Wing Coup' Against It Are Now Seeding Its Own Destruction
By attempting to appease those forces seeking to destroy them, the BBC has helped trigger a crisis that now threatens its very future, argues Adam Bienkov
bylinetimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:49 PM
When Boris Johnson was Prime Minister one of his senior advisers confided to me that one of the only things in politics his boss actually cared about was “killing off the BBC”.
Five years on, and it is a campaign that appears to be finally coming to fruition.
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
Five years on, and it is a campaign that appears to be finally coming to fruition.
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
I took this yesterday morning on the train journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I was too slow to catch the best moment, so this will have to do.
November 8, 2025 at 8:10 AM
I took this yesterday morning on the train journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh. I was too slow to catch the best moment, so this will have to do.
Reposted by Björn Heile
November 8, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by Björn Heile
I am hearing that on his deathbed Dick Cheney received the light of Islam and unhesitatingly recited the Shahada. Even now he looks down on the Ummah from the gardens of Jannah. Truly there is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet!
November 4, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I am hearing that on his deathbed Dick Cheney received the light of Islam and unhesitatingly recited the Shahada. Even now he looks down on the Ummah from the gardens of Jannah. Truly there is no god but Allah, and Mohammad is his prophet!
Reposted by Björn Heile
Let's just take a moment to reflect on the self-sacrifice and hope this person embodies - not the evil, hateful monsters thirsting for violence.
November 2, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Let's just take a moment to reflect on the self-sacrifice and hope this person embodies - not the evil, hateful monsters thirsting for violence.
I only just learned that Udo Lindenberg (yes, that Udo Lindenberg) plays the drums on Klaus Doldinger's famous theme tune for _Tatort_.
November 2, 2025 at 12:15 PM
I only just learned that Udo Lindenberg (yes, that Udo Lindenberg) plays the drums on Klaus Doldinger's famous theme tune for _Tatort_.
Reposted by Björn Heile
‘I think we were so desperate to get out of the EU that at the time we basically came up with a very bad deal.’
Former Tory Brexit minister David Jones, who has since defected to Reform UK
#Traitors
Former Tory Brexit minister David Jones, who has since defected to Reform UK
#Traitors
November 1, 2025 at 6:56 AM
‘I think we were so desperate to get out of the EU that at the time we basically came up with a very bad deal.’
Former Tory Brexit minister David Jones, who has since defected to Reform UK
#Traitors
Former Tory Brexit minister David Jones, who has since defected to Reform UK
#Traitors
Reposted by Björn Heile
Whilst a lot of what Bill Gates wrote in his memo makes a certain amount of sense, his main point that short term emissions reduction is not the priority is based on flawed and out of date data.
I’ve scribbled on his graph below to add a very important line - reality.
#climatechange #acceleration
I’ve scribbled on his graph below to add a very important line - reality.
#climatechange #acceleration
October 30, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Whilst a lot of what Bill Gates wrote in his memo makes a certain amount of sense, his main point that short term emissions reduction is not the priority is based on flawed and out of date data.
I’ve scribbled on his graph below to add a very important line - reality.
#climatechange #acceleration
I’ve scribbled on his graph below to add a very important line - reality.
#climatechange #acceleration
Unlikely to happen, but fun to see Greens in second place.
Westminster Voting Intention:
RFM: 32% (=)
GRN: 17% (+2)
CON: 16% (-1)
LAB: 16% (=)
LDM: 12% (=)
SNP: 2% (=)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 29 Oct.
Changes w/ 22 Oct.
RFM: 32% (=)
GRN: 17% (+2)
CON: 16% (-1)
LAB: 16% (=)
LDM: 12% (=)
SNP: 2% (=)
Via @findoutnow.bsky.social, 29 Oct.
Changes w/ 22 Oct.
October 30, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Unlikely to happen, but fun to see Greens in second place.
Reposted by Björn Heile
I do hope you all watch Gogglebox. Here’s a clip that works for anyone who works in British higher education. And indeed everybody else.
October 29, 2025 at 10:47 AM
I do hope you all watch Gogglebox. Here’s a clip that works for anyone who works in British higher education. And indeed everybody else.
That's not a new discovery, but it bears repetition and emphasis.
The whiter the area the more likely it is to have a Reform problem. Immigration isn’t the problem, otherwise you’d get Reform in more diverse areas - it’s fear of change among older people.
Buxton: Why one small town with very little immigration turned to Reform UK
How national concerns affected a local election in the heart of the Peak District.
www.bbc.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:29 AM
That's not a new discovery, but it bears repetition and emphasis.
Crashing the economy and then this?! www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Javier Milei hails ‘tipping point’ as his far-right party wins Argentina’s midterm elections
The result falls short of giving Milei a congressional majority but has been widely described as surprising by Argentinian analysts
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Crashing the economy and then this?! www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Reposted by Björn Heile
“We don’t have illegal aliens… the legal term for my people were slaves….”
🚨This is what leadership looks and sounds like in 2025.✊🏼
🚨This is what leadership looks and sounds like in 2025.✊🏼
October 26, 2025 at 2:49 AM
“We don’t have illegal aliens… the legal term for my people were slaves….”
🚨This is what leadership looks and sounds like in 2025.✊🏼
🚨This is what leadership looks and sounds like in 2025.✊🏼
Hurray for Plaid! Also some indication that Reform is being hit by tactical voting, which gives me some hope that they're not going to do as well as widely predicted.
October 24, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Hurray for Plaid! Also some indication that Reform is being hit by tactical voting, which gives me some hope that they're not going to do as well as widely predicted.
Reposted by Björn Heile
"Nearly 40% of the electricity produced by Scottish wind farms has been wasted so far this year, because the grid was not able to move it to other parts of the UK or store it."
theconversation.com/why-electric...
theconversation.com/why-electric...
Why electricity costs so much in the UK (it’s not all about the weather)
Many countries in Europe pay much less for their energy.
theconversation.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:47 PM
"Nearly 40% of the electricity produced by Scottish wind farms has been wasted so far this year, because the grid was not able to move it to other parts of the UK or store it."
theconversation.com/why-electric...
theconversation.com/why-electric...
Reposted by Björn Heile
I have a third cartoon in the current Private Eye.
I'm fully expecting to appear in Pedants Corner with this one.
I'm fully expecting to appear in Pedants Corner with this one.
October 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM
I have a third cartoon in the current Private Eye.
I'm fully expecting to appear in Pedants Corner with this one.
I'm fully expecting to appear in Pedants Corner with this one.
Saying that Nazis are arseholes is a 'group generalization' and some of them were the 'kindest, most wonderful people'. You heard it here first!
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Saying that Nazis are arseholes is a 'group generalization' and some of them were the 'kindest, most wonderful people'. You heard it here first!
Reposted by Björn Heile
"Listen love.." says Nigel Farage to Mishal Husain, someone streets ahead of him intellectually. A little glimpse into the Britain he wants to get back to.
October 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM
"Listen love.." says Nigel Farage to Mishal Husain, someone streets ahead of him intellectually. A little glimpse into the Britain he wants to get back to.
Reposted by Björn Heile
Good news: carbon intensity has declined
Bad news: carbon emissions increased, due to the rapid rise in world GDP
Also bad news: the chance of staying below 2°C remained low, at 17%
Better news: chance of going above 3°C has gone down substantially, from 26% to 9%
Bad news: carbon emissions increased, due to the rapid rise in world GDP
Also bad news: the chance of staying below 2°C remained low, at 17%
Better news: chance of going above 3°C has gone down substantially, from 26% to 9%
Mitigation efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and meet the Paris Agreement have been offset by economic growth - Communications Earth & Environment
Global carbon dioxide intensity declined from 2015 to 2024 following the Paris Agreement, but total emissions still increased due to economic growth, according to a global analysis of population, gros...
www.nature.com
October 18, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Good news: carbon intensity has declined
Bad news: carbon emissions increased, due to the rapid rise in world GDP
Also bad news: the chance of staying below 2°C remained low, at 17%
Better news: chance of going above 3°C has gone down substantially, from 26% to 9%
Bad news: carbon emissions increased, due to the rapid rise in world GDP
Also bad news: the chance of staying below 2°C remained low, at 17%
Better news: chance of going above 3°C has gone down substantially, from 26% to 9%
Now, here's a surprise! 🙄
Maybe, just maybe, people will finally learn. But chances are, they'll continue to make the same mistake over and over again, with the same, long discredited arguments.
Maybe, just maybe, people will finally learn. But chances are, they'll continue to make the same mistake over and over again, with the same, long discredited arguments.
There is evidence supporting this globally already. When you repeat far right framing you end up normalising it. We're seeing same thing with Labour pandering to the far right, and how they're actually helping Reform gain support with their rhetoric and policies.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
German far right setting agenda as opponents amplify its ideas, study finds
Normalisation of far-right stances likely to affect success of such parties at ballot boxes across Europe, say researchers
www.theguardian.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Now, here's a surprise! 🙄
Maybe, just maybe, people will finally learn. But chances are, they'll continue to make the same mistake over and over again, with the same, long discredited arguments.
Maybe, just maybe, people will finally learn. But chances are, they'll continue to make the same mistake over and over again, with the same, long discredited arguments.
Reposted by Björn Heile
Every white English person must apologise.
That’s how it works, yes?
That’s how it works, yes?
October 17, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Every white English person must apologise.
That’s how it works, yes?
That’s how it works, yes?
October 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Björn Heile
Reddit comment of the day.
October 15, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Reddit comment of the day.