Miranda Bailey
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themarginalia.bsky.social
Miranda Bailey
@themarginalia.bsky.social
Cozy reader 📖| passionate about education (esp. early years development)👩🏻‍🎓| arts and humanities defender🎨 | no relation to the Greys Anatomy character 🩷
A little opinion piece I wrote a couple of weeks ago after watching Christians debate whether or not churches should help feed starving babies

open.substack.com/pub/themargi...
Religion and Theology is more than just “Bible Study”
The choice to axe the religion and theology departments at universities is yet another example of management hopping on the ignorance bandwagon.
open.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Whilst I’ve been engrossed in my post-uni fluffy romance tbr, I’ve been thinking about the importance of book ownership amidst the instability current events

Read more about it here:

themarginalianotes.substack.com/p/so-what-if...
August 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Thank you for this thread. It’s worrying to think that researchers are justifying ignoring the importance of consent in their projects. This was not a case of “it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
The mods of r/ChangeMyView shared the sub was the subject of a study to test the persuasiveness of LLMs & that they didn't consent. There’s a lot that went wrong, so here’s a 🧵 unpacking it, along with some ideas for how to do research with online communities ethically. tinyurl.com/59tpt988
From the changemyview community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the changemyview community
tinyurl.com
April 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
8 days until the Met Gala is going to raise complex issues around wealth and heritage. Because yes, I often find the excessive display of wealth unpalatable, but I also support a museum getting eight-figures a year for its exhibitions and acquisitions
April 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM
At this point, this degree might finish me before I have the chance to finish it
April 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
“Pushed by Zuckerberg, Meta made multiple internal decisions to loosen the guardrails around the bots to make them as engaging as possible.”
Astounding and nauseating. Safeguarding young people has never been more crucial yet Zuck continues to laugh in the face of ethics
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/meta...
Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children
Chatbots on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp are empowered to engage in ‘romantic role-play’ that can turn explicit. Some people inside the company are concerned.
www.wsj.com
April 27, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Miranda Bailey
Social media erodes kindness by rewarding spectacle over reflection.
We don’t abandon kindness—we forge it sharper:
not as politeness, but as deliberate attention, as a refusal to dehumanize.
If poetry still matters, it matters by how it holds us human.
April 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Reminder: You cannot claim to believe in free speech whilst rescinding protections for journalists and their sources. The free press and journalists are not the enemy of the people.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Pam Bondi rescinds Biden-era protections for journalists
Memo from attorney general about criminal leak investigations calls conduct of leakers ‘treasonous’
www.theguardian.com
April 26, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Staff and students at Cardiff Uni aren’t “discombobulated”. We’re distressed, disenchanted, disenfranchised, discarded and disgusted. The VC’s attempts to condescend and diminish the impact of her plans with Langley plans is insulting. #AcademiaSky
nation.cymru/news/change-...
Change guru tells Cardiff University staff that proposed cuts could 'break' it
Martin Shipton The transformation guru behind Cardiff University’s controversial cuts programme has warned staff that the proposals it unveiled in January could “break” the institution. Dr David Langl...
nation.cymru
April 24, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Making an autism register (alongside being horrifyingly 1930s) serves to discourage people from getting a diagnosis.

Fewer diagnoses means they can claim to have “cured autism”. It’s a step closer to them claiming neurodivergent people no longer exist.
April 23, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Miranda Bailey
Reminder to new Bluesky users:

“Liking”❤️ a post doesn’t do anything other than publicly signal a like.

Reposting is the way to boost a post, making sure it reaches a wider audience.

Campaigners like likes, for sure. But they most appreciate reposts, to signal-boost their campaigning messages.
😀
March 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
It strikes me that the bully is the one creating a culture of fear and unease in the workplace … not the people standing up against the corrupt management. But I’m just a silly student, what do I know?
The University’s HR department has informed us that should we provide comment to journalists covering the personal decisions of the Vice Chancellor there ‘will be no alternative’ but to review as a potential breach of the anti-bullying Dignity at Work policy.

nation.cymru/news/row-ove...
Row over cost of refurbishing Cardiff University Vice Chancellor's rent-free house
Martin Shipton Concerns have been raised about the cost of refurbishing the “grace and favour” residence of Cardiff University’s Vice Chancellor in the wake of her much-criticised plan to shed 400 job...
nation.cymru
March 16, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Miranda Bailey
I’m going to take away the jobs and livelihoods of 400 of my staff. But if you question my judgement I will accuse you all of bullying me …
A follow-up on this story as Nation.Cymru & Martin Shipton defend themselves against Cardiff Uni boss’ accusations of “fake news” and Cardiff UCU responds to its members about accusations in angry all-staff email from the VC.
👇
nation.cymru/news/cardiff...
March 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Miranda Bailey
Apart from not fully grasping epigenetics, she also doesn't seem to understand how journalism works. Providing a comment to a journalist does not equal 'endorsing' the article.

As any PR manager who's been giving the same bland quote to journalists for the past year could have told her.
A follow-up on this story as Nation.Cymru & Martin Shipton defend themselves against Cardiff Uni boss’ accusations of “fake news” and Cardiff UCU responds to its members about accusations in angry all-staff email from the VC.
👇
nation.cymru/news/cardiff...
March 7, 2025 at 6:31 PM
“The fact that Larner is … cannibalising her own profession is astounding” I couldn’t have said it better.
I wrote a piece on Larner’s academic elitism before coming across this article, but this just makes me even more concerned about her leadership #academiasky
Cardiff Uni VC Wendy Larner implies “things like poverty have a genetic explanation”.
Cardiff UCU: “In the context of her vision for a more elitist university, cutting schools like nursing & favouring ‘higher quality’ students, the attitude indicated here is disturbing.”
nation.cymru/news/cardiff...
Cardiff University Vice Chancellor 'implied poverty is caused by genetics'
Martin Shipton A university vice chancellor who is leading a proposal to cut 400 jobs and close five Schools including Nursing and Music has been criticised for implying that poverty is caused by gene...
nation.cymru
March 6, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Hey #academiasky I made another ramble about the state of education and leadership at Cardiff University👉🏻👈🏻Cardiff deserves better than this, and it would be really great if you could read and share to raise awareness of the destructive behaviour of our VC
wydandiebailey.substack.com/p/does-wales...
Does Wales Deserve an 'Elite' University?
Cardiff University's VC doesn't seem to think so, and it begs the question: is this the right person to make decisions for Wales's capital city university?
wydandiebailey.substack.com
March 5, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Hey #academicsky my university is trying to erase its programs in arts and humanities subjects.

This piece written by one of our academics is really moving, and it would be a really poignant read (if you have the time)

ancientrecipes.wordpress.com/2025/02/19/t...
The Light of the Mind
The last few months have been particularly difficult in UK Higher Education, with constant news of restructuring, loss of jobs, and the end of long-standing degrees. My own institution has not been…
ancientrecipes.wordpress.com
February 23, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Hey #AcademiaSky, what do you think makes governments and universities so willing to attack and dismantle arts and humanities subjects?

Because I’m struggling to understand how a world without music, art, literature, and languages benefits any of us, and yet UK unis don’t think they’re worthy.
February 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Hey #romancelandia is there any room right now for a series about the inside of an elite matchmaking service? 🥂🩷✨
February 16, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Going from writing epic high fantasy to “silly little romance books” was the best decision I’ve made recently. Complex world building? Nah. Writing my manifestations into a manuscript for shits and giggles? Hell yes. #booksky #writers
February 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
If the idea of sacrificing arts and humanities #education for the sake of cost-cutting is worrying to you, please please please consider reading my latest article on the Cardiff University’s Vice Chancellor’s statements to students earlier this week 🩷

wydandiebailey.substack.com/p/in-defence...
February 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
#booksky I’m so exited to start this read 🩷📖 Tequila Leila’s story has been sitting on my tbr since 2019 and I’ve finally gotten around to starting! Curled up with my favourite heated blanket, im ready to dive into the 10 minutes and 38 seconds of Leila’s memories
February 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Watching my university (Cardiff) plan to close down its arts and humanities subjects as the most powerful country in the world is banning books and restricting funding access to research and education shows that the threat is always closer than you might think…
February 15, 2025 at 1:58 PM