Dan Spicer
@danspicer.bsky.social
Work on local government policy and strategy - mostly health related, also currently working on engagement and participation. Curious about pretty much everything else. Some singing. Cats. (Politically restricted)
Reposted by Dan Spicer
A total and utter hero
November 4, 2025 at 11:08 AM
A total and utter hero
Reposted by Dan Spicer
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
Reposted by Dan Spicer
I think the different reality shows should mix and match their different themed weeks occasionally. I’d love to see Strictly do bread week.
October 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I think the different reality shows should mix and match their different themed weeks occasionally. I’d love to see Strictly do bread week.
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Ooh this is fun- I would go and visit all the transport projects announced as part of Network North that were not, in fact, in the north
What policy themed visitor trail would you do upon retirement? I would pilgrimage to visit the 100 Rishi Sunak outdoor chess sets around the country. I genuinely think it would be one of those fun random things that would take me to places I’d never otherwise go to
October 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Ooh this is fun- I would go and visit all the transport projects announced as part of Network North that were not, in fact, in the north
Thoroughly enjoyed @mrchrisaddison.bsky.social ‘s incomplete guide to chamber music @sheffieldtheatres.bsky.social this evening - so much music to explore afterwards!
October 10, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Thoroughly enjoyed @mrchrisaddison.bsky.social ‘s incomplete guide to chamber music @sheffieldtheatres.bsky.social this evening - so much music to explore afterwards!
As someone who finally read the book recently as part of periodic attempts to read things I feel I should have by now, I can’t emphasise enough how much this is true. The tropes are such huge cultural reference points I felt I knew the story and couldn’t have been more wrong
A lot of people sincerely only know of Frankenstein through a strange series of cultural telephone, a pop culture depiction of a depiction of a depiction totally stripped of any meaning. A sign with no signified remaining.
Has ANYONE read the fucking book?
September 10, 2025 at 8:07 AM
As someone who finally read the book recently as part of periodic attempts to read things I feel I should have by now, I can’t emphasise enough how much this is true. The tropes are such huge cultural reference points I felt I knew the story and couldn’t have been more wrong
Slightly diminish a book: The Ending Story
Slightly diminish a book: Wuthering Mid-levels
Slightly diminish a book: In Search of Lost Keys
September 8, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Slightly diminish a book: The Ending Story
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Georgia Gould to DfE and Jim McMahon out of govt. Worrying news for the place-based public services agenda
September 6, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Georgia Gould to DfE and Jim McMahon out of govt. Worrying news for the place-based public services agenda
Penny for @hpiandycowper.bsky.social ‘s thoughts on this. In fact I’d go so far as a pound
July 4, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Penny for @hpiandycowper.bsky.social ‘s thoughts on this. In fact I’d go so far as a pound
Just got round to reading this and it’s typically excellent and thought provoking
Seeing like a place. A weekend share of this. Some reflections from great summit on child poverty last week. More local approaches can be more intelligent and intentional, but can they rise to the gravity of the political moment?
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Seeing like a place
Place-based work can be smarter and less bureaucratic, but can it rise to the political moment?
medium.com
June 29, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Just got round to reading this and it’s typically excellent and thought provoking
I find it really interesting that people like this never seem to ask themselves “how do I know what information I need?”
June 15, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I find it really interesting that people like this never seem to ask themselves “how do I know what information I need?”
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It’s odd that tech wonks keep insisting that customers want entertainment tailored exactly for them, which nobody else has seen, when for decades the worst thing anyone could hear was the phrase “except for viewers in Scotland who have their own programmes.”
Nobody wants “their own programmes.”
Nobody wants “their own programmes.”
June 1, 2025 at 8:13 AM
It’s odd that tech wonks keep insisting that customers want entertainment tailored exactly for them, which nobody else has seen, when for decades the worst thing anyone could hear was the phrase “except for viewers in Scotland who have their own programmes.”
Nobody wants “their own programmes.”
Nobody wants “their own programmes.”
Reposted by Dan Spicer
Please read this thread. All of it.
A core feature of the Trump regime is its embrace of "authoritarian democracy", as a battering ram with which to demolish any obstacle to its power.
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
Stephen Miller on the court order to release Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk: "There's a judicial coup in this country....This judicial coup by a handful of Marxist judges...can only be understood as an attack on democracy."
May 12, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Please read this thread. All of it.
Reposted by Dan Spicer
A core feature of the Trump regime is its embrace of "authoritarian democracy", as a battering ram with which to demolish any obstacle to its power.
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
Stephen Miller on the court order to release Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk: "There's a judicial coup in this country....This judicial coup by a handful of Marxist judges...can only be understood as an attack on democracy."
May 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
A core feature of the Trump regime is its embrace of "authoritarian democracy", as a battering ram with which to demolish any obstacle to its power.
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
The very notion of "authoritarian democracy" can sound contradictory.
But it's an old & dangerous idea, that needs to be better understood. [THREAD]
Reposted by Dan Spicer
God this is endlessly sad. If you don't understand that a core aspect of friendship is someone who can choose not to be your friend, you are missing something very important in your life.
Mark Zuckerberg says Meta's chatbots will supplement your real friends: "The average American has fewer than 3 friends ... but has demand for ... 15 friends" (h/t x.com/romanhelmetg...)
May 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
God this is endlessly sad. If you don't understand that a core aspect of friendship is someone who can choose not to be your friend, you are missing something very important in your life.
Reposted by Dan Spicer
Man, this is a pretty fucking gross move from Amazon, huh? Good on @bookshop.org for not mincing words, though:
April 25, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Man, this is a pretty fucking gross move from Amazon, huh? Good on @bookshop.org for not mincing words, though:
Reposted by Dan Spicer
Wooah. 18.5% reduction in sick leave reported.
(And this was pre-Covid:
"Our sample periods for the LEZ and ULEZ analyses are 2005–2009 and 2016–2019, respectively.")
(And this was pre-Covid:
"Our sample periods for the LEZ and ULEZ analyses are 2005–2009 and 2016–2019, respectively.")
📢A new study from @uniofbath.bsky.social shows London's low emissions zones have had major benefits for human health and the economy, with a 10.2% decrease in respiratory issues following LEZ implementation, an **18.5%** reduction in sick leave, and annual public health savings of over £37 million.
“And Breathe Normally”: Impacts of low emission zones on sick leave and mental well-being
Air pollution poses a global concern due to its detrimental effects on climate, healthcare, and human capital accumulation. However, there is limited …
www.sciencedirect.com
April 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Wooah. 18.5% reduction in sick leave reported.
(And this was pre-Covid:
"Our sample periods for the LEZ and ULEZ analyses are 2005–2009 and 2016–2019, respectively.")
(And this was pre-Covid:
"Our sample periods for the LEZ and ULEZ analyses are 2005–2009 and 2016–2019, respectively.")
I have been to and run workshops in a range of venues but this is very much a restriction that I have not previously come across
April 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I have been to and run workshops in a range of venues but this is very much a restriction that I have not previously come across
Struck by the sudden thought that these people are approaching Canada through the lens of mergers and acquisitions
discussing annexation of a free country with smiling faces.
2025 is such a great year to be alive
2025 is such a great year to be alive
Lutnick: "The best way to actually merge the economies of Canada and the United States is for Canada to become our 51st state ... Canada is gonna have to work with us to really integrate their economy, and as the president said, they should consider the amazing advantages of being the 51st state."
March 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Struck by the sudden thought that these people are approaching Canada through the lens of mergers and acquisitions
This is as good a thread as everyone is saying it is, but I think there is another point that really matters for AI and art - it’s that generative AI tools are prediction machines, using their training data to drive those predictions. But the history of art is littered with huge paradigm shifts,
One of the most common arguments you hear from fans of generative ‘AI’ is that it’s not plagiarizing people’s work, it’s just learning like a human learns. So I’m going to break down why that’s just not true, and why it can never be true, with the existing systems. 1/
February 28, 2025 at 11:32 AM
This is as good a thread as everyone is saying it is, but I think there is another point that really matters for AI and art - it’s that generative AI tools are prediction machines, using their training data to drive those predictions. But the history of art is littered with huge paradigm shifts,
Reposted by Dan Spicer
"I am one hundred per cent a Faithful."
February 28, 2025 at 9:05 AM
"I am one hundred per cent a Faithful."
“I will demonstrate support for personal liberty by restricting what my columnists can write about”
SCOOP: WaPo Opinion editor David Shipley is out. Jeff Bezos emails staff about a change to Post Opinions: "We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets."
February 26, 2025 at 6:01 PM
“I will demonstrate support for personal liberty by restricting what my columnists can write about”
Pretty sure I saw something the other day about Musk being upset about not being invited to an EV event by Biden - how much of this chaos is down to two emotional toddlers having their egos pricked?
I still maintain that none of any of this would have happened if Obama hadn't mocked him savagely at that Press Dinner thing. He only became a candidate to shit on Obama's legacy - such as it was - and now here we are.
Trump can’t handle the faintest criticism so, when he hears that Zelensky should have been invited, he lashes out saying “He started it”. When Zelensky mentions the disinformation that feeds Trump, Trump lashes out again.
A monstrous spoiled brat wrecking the world with his dull-witted vengefulness.
A monstrous spoiled brat wrecking the world with his dull-witted vengefulness.
February 19, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Pretty sure I saw something the other day about Musk being upset about not being invited to an EV event by Biden - how much of this chaos is down to two emotional toddlers having their egos pricked?