Kathy Dodworth

I have a new publication out in Globalizations that explores Chinese non-state legitimation in African contexts, setting out a post-Weberian framework to do so www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The scandal of an overpaid Principal at Edinburgh University setting in motion a "vampiric" programme of job cuts gets even worse. Investigative reporting from the journalists of The Ferret highlights Principal Peter Mathieson's murky second job: www.theferret.scot/peter-mathie...

www.theferret.scot/peter-mathie...

Fintan O'Toole: Kushner’s political and financial relationship with the UAE’s president, Mohammed bin Zayed ...constitutes what must surely be the worst case of US foreign policy being conducted outside the law and democratic oversight since the Iran-contra scandal...

4/Ministers still won’t publish what this deal will cost or what it will do to patients. That’s why we’re taking the government to court, alongside @globaljusticenow.bsky.social. www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-nh...

1/The National Audit Office is to investigate the cost of the government’s drug pricing deal with Trump, after six committee chairs demanded answers. The BMJ reports it could mean 229,000 excess deaths over a decade, with £45bn diverted from NHS services. www.bmj.com/content/395/...

NEW: Trump is a Russian asset. And the UK government is finally waking from its decade-long slumber Read this. And order a wind-up radio. broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-dark-t...

None of these was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Elon Musk was. Odd, that.

Venues Start Canceling on Vivek Ramaswamy Over His Disgusting Ad: ‘People Don’t Want Him There’ Businesses have begun pulling out of Vivek Ramaswamy’s bus tour with other GOP candidates. ‘It’s that damn ad,’ a top Ohio Republican tells Zeteo.

If and when Dems reassume power, they HAVE to tackle campaign finances. It is even in their interests in the long term so have to take any short term hit

Yes. Frankly, these days, we haven’t had enough of experts

So getting Trump to temporarily stop doing something terrible of his own making is sufficient to get some republicans reelected? Give me strength White House lifts tariffs on some Canadian goods as midterm elections loom www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I used to roll my eyes when scaramucci pushed his kompromat theory. But what else explains trumps behaviour? The ‘admiration for strong men’ theory doesn’t cut it

Cancer treatments

Oh wow - never thought there’d be a ray of hope from Dundee! Solidarity to all those who got out there…. cmon Edinburgh, if Dundee can do this (where there was actually a financial crisis), you can….

This is too good - he can’t help but perjure himself if this does go ahead. All hail the BBC! You think you hate it (whether from the left or the right) but you need it Trump ordered to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

"With a seeming flick of a switch, Musk has the power to alter the course of a deadly conflict. " Nobody should have that kind of power www.wsj.com/world/ukrain...

Made a little video about my reporting on “Tommy” from the viral @abdulelsayed.bsky.social town hall

Concerns about course closures to be raised at University of Edinburgh governing body next week. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2663661...

Every Right Wing Goverment ever.

A reminder that Manchester City's UAE owners are playing footsy with the UK far-right, have been credibly accused of torturing scores of UK citizens, deployed an assassin to UK soil, and probably hacked 10 Downing Street. And unlike Man City, we publish our evidence 👇 fairsq.org/petropopulis...

Say what you will about the tenets of Suella Braverman's politics, but she is making academics everywhere feel pretty good about the sales figures for their niche monographs.

New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854

Have done this more than once

agreed. This is opportunity to re-educate about the huge contribution ppl from other countries make to our society (this is separate to the asylum issue). And restoring family visa for students would be low hanging fruit to help unis. Not addressing these is simply ceding ground to the far right

Very strange that he holds to the principle that “universities should have to compete” for students, when he went to one of a small handful of universities that absolutely view competing for students as beneath them.

Given the way Amazon treats its workers, is this what you want to be gifting advertising to?

The amount of Amazon workers relying on SNAP and Medicaid has nearly TRIPLED since 2020. Meanwhile, Amazon's profits have soared by 550% in the same time frame. Watch this before you shop for Prime Day.

Try ‘notorious’ or ‘derisory’ instead of ‘distinguished’ www.ed.ac.uk/news/princip...

From the Scottish Enlightenment to the Scottish Endarkenment Scotland’s universities are falling apart. Edinburgh is axing 90 degree courses in arts and humanities including single honours Scottish Literature. These are the courses that teach Scotland about Scotland In @heraldscotland.bsky.social

The unmitigated disaster of his time at the head of the institution goes on. If I knew that only 6% of my colleagues had confidence in me (staff survey 2025), I don't think I could stay one more day in the job.

Mathieson standing down, but not until 2028, despite votes of no confidence from the Senate, students and MSPs around his secret budgets. Instead of his PR team's chosen words, let's remember his real legacy: ideological cuts to teaching, staff and student experience. www.ed.ac.uk/news/princip...

Our strike continues at the University of Edinburgh for a second week. Conditions worsen for staff, but we remain resilient, and yesterday our principal announced he's stepping down. Solidarity with all who feel helpless in the face of powerful people taking what they want.

Last night, hundreds of people gathered outside Palantir's London HQ to demand an end to their #NHS contract. The rally closed a day of protests at 40+ locations across England, and a week of action against Palantir around the world. ✊ #PeopleVsPalantir #NoPalantirInTheNHS #BackTheBreakClause

I recommend people read this to get a sense of the president's grave cognitive impairment. Trump is either unwilling or unable (or maybe both) to answer the questions he's actually asked, so he just rants and raves while the interviewers do their best to provide structure to his random brain firings

Africa’s coalition-building at the UN is quietly redrawing the world order. It has already changed how the world is mapped. Can it now change how it is governed? Lynda Chinenye Iroulo on @africaatlse.bsky.social

Renee Good's family filed two lawsuits today. The first, against, USG, is a standard wrongful death. The second is a Klan Act lawsuit against Jonathan Ross, AND STEPHEN MILLER and Greg Bovino. It names Nick Shirley and Christopher Rufo as non-party co-conspirators for their racist propaganda.

I should never sit in quiet coach cos people’s phone calls are just twice as aggravating. Same number of people making calls, twice the anger. Better approach is to have a loud coach and go experience intermittent surprised relief when people AREN’T on phones

This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.

🟡 Print Edition Nathan Cofnas and America’s Protection for Anti-Black Racism By Karam Bales The reinstatement by Ghent University of a key figure in the Jason Arday affair followed pressure from Trump’s State Department. It reveals a wider ideology of ‘injustice as illusion’. Karam Bales reports

Ewww! support many of Tedros’ proclamations but this is gross. No one’s health challenge should be an investment opportunity

Hmmmm, well said sir. I might lend you my vote! It is this very issue of this history of persecution that shuts down legitimate debate on Israel’s actions today. I think he conveys well how and why that becomes such an embodied response. #neveragainforanyone

Well well well, someone said the quiet part out loud

Urgh

In these cases, they clearly believe our concerns are illegitimate. So illegitimate that they often associate us with – or even proscribe us as – terrorists. Care about Palestinians? Terrorist. Want to burn and kill asylum seekers? We might not like your methods, but you have legitimate concerns.

Reminder that Elon's DOGE recommended firing government workers at the... -FDA, which oversees Neuralink -FAA, which oversees SpaceX -USAID, which probed Starlink -CFPB, which oversees Tesla's financing arm and a potential payment platform on X. See what DOGE was really all about?

As former Labour minister Tom Watson joins Palantir, please read this devastating exposé by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social & @lucasamin.bsky.social of how the company, with Peter Mandelson's help, wormed its way into the UK government to sell its dire & dangerous products. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...