Janne Mantykoski
@mantykoski.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Politics at UWL
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Short new post from me about Bloc Politics. A lot of commentators have argued, with evidence from @profjanegreen.bsky.social, @robfordmancs.bsky.social and others, that British politics has split into blocs. So what does that mean for electoral strategy? 1/n
benansell.substack.com/p/bloc-parties
benansell.substack.com/p/bloc-parties
Bloc Parties
In a world of bloc politics, what's a good offensive strategy?
benansell.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Short new post from me about Bloc Politics. A lot of commentators have argued, with evidence from @profjanegreen.bsky.social, @robfordmancs.bsky.social and others, that British politics has split into blocs. So what does that mean for electoral strategy? 1/n
benansell.substack.com/p/bloc-parties
benansell.substack.com/p/bloc-parties
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
‘I’ll also invent the mockumentary.’
Rob Reiner: I'm going to make a coming of age drama, a fantasy adventure story, a romantic comedy, a psychological horror and then a courtroom drama.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
Us: Across your entire career?
Reiner: In a 6 year period.
Us: That sounds-
Reiner: -Each one will be arguably the best movie in that genre.
December 15, 2025 at 10:38 AM
‘I’ll also invent the mockumentary.’
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Because the issue of population change is so widely misunderstood, here's a short thread which seeks to lay it out simply.
It explains why there is almost nothing anyone can do to change the global population trajectory, both as numbers rise, then as they fall.
🧵1/13
It explains why there is almost nothing anyone can do to change the global population trajectory, both as numbers rise, then as they fall.
🧵1/13
December 15, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Because the issue of population change is so widely misunderstood, here's a short thread which seeks to lay it out simply.
It explains why there is almost nothing anyone can do to change the global population trajectory, both as numbers rise, then as they fall.
🧵1/13
It explains why there is almost nothing anyone can do to change the global population trajectory, both as numbers rise, then as they fall.
🧵1/13
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
you'd think that the fact the president of the united states is completely fucking insane would be a bigger news story
December 10, 2025 at 3:35 PM
you'd think that the fact the president of the united states is completely fucking insane would be a bigger news story
This is the creepiest thing I've seen this year.
AI sitcom accidentally a Lynchian fever dream. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and insane lament.
October 30, 2025 at 12:11 AM
This is the creepiest thing I've seen this year.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Today I offer a reminder of the word ‘forswunk’ (13th century): exhausted from too much work. To be ‘foreswunk’ (my own version) is to be exhausted before you even begin.
September 19, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Today I offer a reminder of the word ‘forswunk’ (13th century): exhausted from too much work. To be ‘foreswunk’ (my own version) is to be exhausted before you even begin.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Last night fighting an ex Liz Truss minister (for goodness sake) on Newsnight about what to do about asylum accommodation.
Pitch forks are dictating UK asylum policy now. 🤦♀️
My thanks as always to the brilliant @implausibleblog.bsky.social for the clip ❤️🙏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8auh...
Pitch forks are dictating UK asylum policy now. 🤦♀️
My thanks as always to the brilliant @implausibleblog.bsky.social for the clip ❤️🙏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8auh...
Epping asylum hotel CLOSED BY MOB RULE? Where should they go?
YouTube video by Zoe Gardner
www.youtube.com
August 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Last night fighting an ex Liz Truss minister (for goodness sake) on Newsnight about what to do about asylum accommodation.
Pitch forks are dictating UK asylum policy now. 🤦♀️
My thanks as always to the brilliant @implausibleblog.bsky.social for the clip ❤️🙏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8auh...
Pitch forks are dictating UK asylum policy now. 🤦♀️
My thanks as always to the brilliant @implausibleblog.bsky.social for the clip ❤️🙏 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8auh...
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
‘Why has the number of PIP claimants gone up since 2019?’, I keep seeing asked in SW1 like it’s a proper mystery
We have an aging population, we have had a pandemic which disabled people, and the cost of living has exploded in recent years!
If you live in the real world it’s not a mystery, surely!
We have an aging population, we have had a pandemic which disabled people, and the cost of living has exploded in recent years!
If you live in the real world it’s not a mystery, surely!
June 26, 2025 at 1:03 PM
‘Why has the number of PIP claimants gone up since 2019?’, I keep seeing asked in SW1 like it’s a proper mystery
We have an aging population, we have had a pandemic which disabled people, and the cost of living has exploded in recent years!
If you live in the real world it’s not a mystery, surely!
We have an aging population, we have had a pandemic which disabled people, and the cost of living has exploded in recent years!
If you live in the real world it’s not a mystery, surely!
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Some refuse to accept that Londoners include people enduring great poverty as well as others who make big money and have great wealth. In fact, there's quite a lot of them: www.onlondon.co.uk/londons-high... #london
London's high poverty rates revealed in new report - OnLondon
London has the second highest rate of poverty of any English region, with 2.2 million of its nine million people meeting the criteria, according to a new report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. On...
www.onlondon.co.uk
June 10, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Some refuse to accept that Londoners include people enduring great poverty as well as others who make big money and have great wealth. In fact, there's quite a lot of them: www.onlondon.co.uk/londons-high... #london
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
What do we think?🤔
Hmm…. A Daily Mail headline so clearly designed to make you furious.
Being shared by salivating Tory MPs who love a good rage farming story!
So, what’s going on here?
Let’s take a look!👀
🧵
1/13
Hmm…. A Daily Mail headline so clearly designed to make you furious.
Being shared by salivating Tory MPs who love a good rage farming story!
So, what’s going on here?
Let’s take a look!👀
🧵
1/13
June 8, 2025 at 12:30 PM
What do we think?🤔
Hmm…. A Daily Mail headline so clearly designed to make you furious.
Being shared by salivating Tory MPs who love a good rage farming story!
So, what’s going on here?
Let’s take a look!👀
🧵
1/13
Hmm…. A Daily Mail headline so clearly designed to make you furious.
Being shared by salivating Tory MPs who love a good rage farming story!
So, what’s going on here?
Let’s take a look!👀
🧵
1/13
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet.
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
Diabolus Ex Machina
This Is Not An Essay
amandaguinzburg.substack.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet.
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social
amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Here's Gary Stevenson calling for a return to the 1970s, when the top rate of tax was 98%. But did the rich ever pay it?
We spoke to 1970s tax dodgers and ex-HMRC staff & and crunched the data.
A 🧵, but here's a spoiler: the rich pay more tax *now*.
We spoke to 1970s tax dodgers and ex-HMRC staff & and crunched the data.
A 🧵, but here's a spoiler: the rich pay more tax *now*.
May 8, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Here's Gary Stevenson calling for a return to the 1970s, when the top rate of tax was 98%. But did the rich ever pay it?
We spoke to 1970s tax dodgers and ex-HMRC staff & and crunched the data.
A 🧵, but here's a spoiler: the rich pay more tax *now*.
We spoke to 1970s tax dodgers and ex-HMRC staff & and crunched the data.
A 🧵, but here's a spoiler: the rich pay more tax *now*.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
WELKER: When does it become the Trump economy?
TRUMP: It partially is right now. I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy
TRUMP: It partially is right now. I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy
May 4, 2025 at 2:02 PM
WELKER: When does it become the Trump economy?
TRUMP: It partially is right now. I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy
TRUMP: It partially is right now. I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
In the long run, the save the rich strategy is nothing more than bad economics. Me for @theleaduk.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...
open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...
I’d like to ask the flighty millionaires: where is your sense of civic duty?
In their rush to defend the rich, the right have revealed a depressing truth – public service is now optional for the elite
open.substack.com
April 9, 2025 at 11:08 AM
In the long run, the save the rich strategy is nothing more than bad economics. Me for @theleaduk.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...
open.substack.com/pub/theleadu...
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Bill Burr is a national treasure 🎯!
"You journalists need to get your balls back"
"You journalists need to get your balls back"
April 3, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Bill Burr is a national treasure 🎯!
"You journalists need to get your balls back"
"You journalists need to get your balls back"
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Possibly the best analysis of Trump’s tariffs so far 👇
Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.
No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.
1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.
April 3, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Possibly the best analysis of Trump’s tariffs so far 👇
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
This is:
1. an absolutely nonsensical way to think about trade
2. nothing to do with tariff barriers, it’s just…relative trade. It’s just something else entirely
3. a CRAZILY back-of-the-envelope way to set global trade policy
It is mad that this is real.
1. an absolutely nonsensical way to think about trade
2. nothing to do with tariff barriers, it’s just…relative trade. It’s just something else entirely
3. a CRAZILY back-of-the-envelope way to set global trade policy
It is mad that this is real.
james surowiecki has discovered where the completely fabricated trump tariff rate has come from for each country
"...for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us."
"...for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us."
April 2, 2025 at 10:42 PM
This is:
1. an absolutely nonsensical way to think about trade
2. nothing to do with tariff barriers, it’s just…relative trade. It’s just something else entirely
3. a CRAZILY back-of-the-envelope way to set global trade policy
It is mad that this is real.
1. an absolutely nonsensical way to think about trade
2. nothing to do with tariff barriers, it’s just…relative trade. It’s just something else entirely
3. a CRAZILY back-of-the-envelope way to set global trade policy
It is mad that this is real.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Quick reminder: Le Pen wasn't found guilty because the French courts hate democracy. She was found guilty because she broke the fucking law.
open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
April 1, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Quick reminder: Le Pen wasn't found guilty because the French courts hate democracy. She was found guilty because she broke the fucking law.
open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...
Apparently she is held in custody by ICE, and this sort of thing now seems to be happening quite regularly. I'm not going to risk visiting the US any time soon.
Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.
Video of the international student at Tufts being arrested by "federal authorities" in Massachusetts has been released and it's terrifying.
They're not even uniformed officers. Just secret police thugs in hoodies and masks.
From WCVB: youtu.be/PuFIs7OkzYY
They're not even uniformed officers. Just secret police thugs in hoodies and masks.
From WCVB: youtu.be/PuFIs7OkzYY
March 28, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Apparently she is held in custody by ICE, and this sort of thing now seems to be happening quite regularly. I'm not going to risk visiting the US any time soon.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
March 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene refuses to take a question from a British journalist saying,
“Ok we don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you go back to your country”
I guess Keir Starmer hasn't told her about the special relationship 🤷♂️
“Ok we don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you go back to your country”
I guess Keir Starmer hasn't told her about the special relationship 🤷♂️
March 26, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene refuses to take a question from a British journalist saying,
“Ok we don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you go back to your country”
I guess Keir Starmer hasn't told her about the special relationship 🤷♂️
“Ok we don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you go back to your country”
I guess Keir Starmer hasn't told her about the special relationship 🤷♂️
A shocking read which crystallises into a story about government contracts and the business of detention centres. Dehumanising people for money.
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I’m the Canadian who was detained by Ice for two weeks. It felt like I had been kidnapped
I was stuck in a freezing cell without explanation despite eventually having lawyers and media attention. Yet, compared with others, I was lucky
www.theguardian.com
March 19, 2025 at 10:54 AM
A shocking read which crystallises into a story about government contracts and the business of detention centres. Dehumanising people for money.
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
Every single one of the Trump supporters sounds like a domestic abuser. "You should've let him hit you, you shouldn't have complained in public, you're never grateful, you never say thank you."
March 1, 2025 at 7:26 AM
Every single one of the Trump supporters sounds like a domestic abuser. "You should've let him hit you, you shouldn't have complained in public, you're never grateful, you never say thank you."
Reposted by Janne Mantykoski
My thoughts on the Russian-American talks on Ukraine, without Ukraine. The simplest interpretation of the available facts is that the Americans are using Russian violence to try to exploit Ukraine.
snyder.substack.com/p/peace-or-p...
snyder.substack.com/p/peace-or-p...
Peace or Partition?
Russians and Americans speak about Ukraine, without Ukrainians
snyder.substack.com
February 18, 2025 at 9:22 PM
My thoughts on the Russian-American talks on Ukraine, without Ukraine. The simplest interpretation of the available facts is that the Americans are using Russian violence to try to exploit Ukraine.
snyder.substack.com/p/peace-or-p...
snyder.substack.com/p/peace-or-p...