ProfAFinlayson
@profafinlayson.bsky.social
Prof of Political & Social Theory @ UEA: regularly a political theorist, often a political analyst, always a rhetorician. Sometimes I teach people how to make political speeches; usually they are happy about it. Mostly I study Reactionary Digital Politics.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
I love to catch up with the avant garde of Tory opinion
December 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I love to catch up with the avant garde of Tory opinion
I jumped into a Wikipedia hole & am now pitching a Netflix series about the 18thC acting/producing/Laureate Cibber family. No need to Bridgerton it up: money; succession crises; threesomes; restoration decadence; a woman disguised a man working as a valet etc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlot...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlot...
Charlotte Charke - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 3, 2025 at 8:29 PM
I jumped into a Wikipedia hole & am now pitching a Netflix series about the 18thC acting/producing/Laureate Cibber family. No need to Bridgerton it up: money; succession crises; threesomes; restoration decadence; a woman disguised a man working as a valet etc.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlot...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlot...
I am in some ways an early-adopter, & very online but I’m sceptical of so-called AI for all the obvious reasons. Yet I’m
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
How AI has made my life better
And why is my experience so different to everyone else?
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I am in some ways an early-adopter, & very online but I’m sceptical of so-called AI for all the obvious reasons. Yet I’m
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Very much enjoyed going back to UEA yesterday, where I did my undergrad degree, to speak to my old pal @profafinlayson.bsky.social's engaged, smart politics students. Any chance to repeat my various war stories from the volatile borderlands of media, government, research and comms.
December 3, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Very much enjoyed going back to UEA yesterday, where I did my undergrad degree, to speak to my old pal @profafinlayson.bsky.social's engaged, smart politics students. Any chance to repeat my various war stories from the volatile borderlands of media, government, research and comms.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
December 1, 2025 at 1:09 PM
All this budget news, claims, counter claims is confusing, but two things of consequence.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
1. We're all talking about that, not any financial benefits (or losses) of the budget.
2. Yet more focus on the very weird few weeks and politics of it all. Starting to feel dangerously like a norm.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Stirring stuff from the PM today. Stuff off, Gloomsters!
December 1, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Stirring stuff from the PM today. Stuff off, Gloomsters!
It’s a problem that ‘did you mislead?’ is an easy question to ask if you have limited understanding of (or interest in) economic policy. It’s also a problem that our archetypes of politician are now all characters in conspiracy theories; it’s a problem for Labour that they never go on the offence.
December 1, 2025 at 8:28 AM
It’s a problem that ‘did you mislead?’ is an easy question to ask if you have limited understanding of (or interest in) economic policy. It’s also a problem that our archetypes of politician are now all characters in conspiracy theories; it’s a problem for Labour that they never go on the offence.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
If Reform gets in, they should submit the Cambridge Divinity faculty as an impact case study
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
November 30, 2025 at 3:53 PM
If Reform gets in, they should submit the Cambridge Divinity faculty as an impact case study
21C Political Aesthetics Update: it’s phony war in the Norfolk/Suffolk mayoral election as an ‘independent’ businessman builds his TikTok profile ahead of announcing. In response the Tory candidate films himself rejecting the budget - whilst on the swings at a play park.
vm.tiktok.com/ZNRenaUNm/
vm.tiktok.com/ZNRenaUNm/
TikTok - Make Your Day
vm.tiktok.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
21C Political Aesthetics Update: it’s phony war in the Norfolk/Suffolk mayoral election as an ‘independent’ businessman builds his TikTok profile ahead of announcing. In response the Tory candidate films himself rejecting the budget - whilst on the swings at a play park.
vm.tiktok.com/ZNRenaUNm/
vm.tiktok.com/ZNRenaUNm/
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
What makes a great British leader? Can Starmer survive? Farage for No.10? Tory comeback? Packed room + brilliant Q&A with @tobysjames.bsky.social , @timbale.bsky.social , @emmanuelleavril.bsky.social, Professor Patrick Diamond and and Professor Charles Clarke. Watch it! 👇 #UKPolitics #Leadership
www.youtube.com
November 28, 2025 at 9:26 AM
What makes a great British leader? Can Starmer survive? Farage for No.10? Tory comeback? Packed room + brilliant Q&A with @tobysjames.bsky.social , @timbale.bsky.social , @emmanuelleavril.bsky.social, Professor Patrick Diamond and and Professor Charles Clarke. Watch it! 👇 #UKPolitics #Leadership
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a…
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
November 27, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a…
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Great piece updating the critique of culture industries for the age of the platform mega-rentier www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
The Same Stream Twice | Rob Arcand
Two recent books, Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine and Andrew deWaard’s Derivative Media, explore the consequences of these technological intermediaries for the music, film, and television industries. While P...
www.nplusonemag.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Great piece updating the critique of culture industries for the age of the platform mega-rentier www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Anyone angry about their income taxes rising due to frozen thresholds, can recommend a career in academia
November 27, 2025 at 8:24 AM
Anyone angry about their income taxes rising due to frozen thresholds, can recommend a career in academia
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Worth saying they tech policy (which is currently economically driven) is not at all left-wing though - strongly influenced by Silicon Valley tech and US foreign policy, with a sprinkle of Centrist Dad tech authoritarianism
Starmer and Reeves run probably the most economically left-wing government of past five decades and yet bleeding support to its left thanks to dumb strategy www.economist.com/britain/2025...
November 27, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Worth saying they tech policy (which is currently economically driven) is not at all left-wing though - strongly influenced by Silicon Valley tech and US foreign policy, with a sprinkle of Centrist Dad tech authoritarianism
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Parliament & press are having the most basic seminar on ‘media bias’ after decades of denouncing Media Studies.
November 24, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Parliament & press are having the most basic seminar on ‘media bias’ after decades of denouncing Media Studies.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
answer is great but also it's telling that the guy who's been saying this since day 1 has to answer about whether he's an antisemite for 5 min every interview while the same people grin vacantly at the jewish space lasers lady and call her a brave warrior
WELKER: What is your message to Jewish New Yorkers who feel you won't be tough enough in your response to antisemitism?
MAMDANI: That I am looking forward to being the next mayor and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them
MAMDANI: That I am looking forward to being the next mayor and fulfilling the commitment I've made to Jewish New Yorkers to not only protect them but to celebrate and cherish them
November 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
answer is great but also it's telling that the guy who's been saying this since day 1 has to answer about whether he's an antisemite for 5 min every interview while the same people grin vacantly at the jewish space lasers lady and call her a brave warrior
This is well worth a read. The interviewer is a bit stuck on being surprised that he departs from liberal orthodoxy but it does let him show that he has a wide ranging political philosophy/theology - one that is part of both a long historic tradition and a contemporary international alliance (1/?)
‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger
He was a Conservative party big-hitter who wrote speeches for David Cameron and worked with Boris Johnson before he suddenly jumped ship. He talks family, flags and why Nigel Farage is ‘top dog’
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:26 PM
This is well worth a read. The interviewer is a bit stuck on being surprised that he departs from liberal orthodoxy but it does let him show that he has a wide ranging political philosophy/theology - one that is part of both a long historic tradition and a contemporary international alliance (1/?)
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
"I expect to be helping him, not hurting him. A big help" -- Trump is totally charmed by Mamdani
November 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM
"I expect to be helping him, not hurting him. A big help" -- Trump is totally charmed by Mamdani
Incredible. At several levels.
Q: Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
MAMDANI: I've spoken about--
TRUMP: That's okay. You can just say yes. I don't mind.
November 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Incredible. At several levels.
Empirical verification of the effectiveness of a political speech, confirmation of what we know happens when you amplify your opponent’s issues and a demonstration of the - still inexplicable? - wrong-headedness of Labour’s self-destructive political strategy.
Latest piece for the @thehousemag.bsky.social, on the island of strangers speech and similar. Also ft Bob Hawke.
www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
The Professor Will See You Now: Island of strangers
Lessons in political science. This week: island of strangers
www.politicshome.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Empirical verification of the effectiveness of a political speech, confirmation of what we know happens when you amplify your opponent’s issues and a demonstration of the - still inexplicable? - wrong-headedness of Labour’s self-destructive political strategy.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
Just catching up with this amazing bit of London Centric reporting and this is such an excellent description of the weird epistemic ambiguity produced by AI: "There’s clearly something political about it but nobody knows what it is." www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
London's giant AI artwork to be torn down
The bizarre story of why a much-talked-about creation is being torn down. Plus: Docklands Light Railway extension, giant laser stalks the night sky, and more tales of Android phone theft rejection.
www.londoncentric.media
November 21, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Just catching up with this amazing bit of London Centric reporting and this is such an excellent description of the weird epistemic ambiguity produced by AI: "There’s clearly something political about it but nobody knows what it is." www.londoncentric.media/p/ai-artwork...
Interesting numbers. In 2023 YouGov found 69% of Americans rewatch TV episodes monthly; 16% daily. Part of a shift to TV viewing as 'emotional regulation' or ambient background to home working. Breakdown of a common culture but also a change in the uses and gratifications of popular culture.
The Rise of "Mindless" TV: Quantifying a New Way of (Kinda) Watching Television
How “mindless” viewing became a common way of watching TV.
www.statsignificant.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Interesting numbers. In 2023 YouGov found 69% of Americans rewatch TV episodes monthly; 16% daily. Part of a shift to TV viewing as 'emotional regulation' or ambient background to home working. Breakdown of a common culture but also a change in the uses and gratifications of popular culture.
Reposted by ProfAFinlayson
New @carefultrouble.bsky.social paper out today with a whole bevy of academic partners, on the impacts of AI in urban environments. As the plan for AI Growth Zones starts to roll out, we find innovation policy is disconnected from the real impacts of AI on people and places
November 19, 2025 at 8:43 AM
New @carefultrouble.bsky.social paper out today with a whole bevy of academic partners, on the impacts of AI in urban environments. As the plan for AI Growth Zones starts to roll out, we find innovation policy is disconnected from the real impacts of AI on people and places