Andrew Doig

King’s College London is pressing ahead with a centrally driven overhaul of teaching and assessment across the university under an EDI framework centred on “inclusive marking” and “decolonising” the curriculum. Internal documents seen by the Committee for Academic Freedom (CAF) suggest the scale of change is far greater than previously understood, raising serious questions about #academicfreedom. Full story 👇

@flurofour This is why only 220 million people watch the Superbowl, while 750 million watch Liverpool-Man City in the English Premiership

question for americans, ignore my ignorance but do you always watch sports like this where you have 30 seconds of playing, ads, 30 seconds of playing, ads and then all over again

The 1979 Islamic Revolution was as world-changing a revolution as those of France in 1789 and Russia in 1917 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, heralding a new era of Islamist mobilization across the entire Middle East that promoted a Sunni as well as Shiite radicalization as well as establishing a theo-monarchical dictatorship and a repressive Iranian state hostile to America and Israel and later forging an informal (and shortlived) Iranian empire – sometimes known as the ‘Shiite crescent.’ An Iranian Revolution in 2026 will be just as momentous = a decisive world changing event as important as 1789, 1917, 1979 and 1991. It is one that would resonate across the world, leading to other revolutions: Prince Metternich said ‘when France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches cold” meaning that when a revolution struck Paris, the whole of Europe shook. Repeatedly revolutions in France sparked revolutions all over Europe – particularly in 1848. In the so called Arab Spring of 2011, we saw a similar phenomenum when a revolution in Tunisia spread to Egypt, the most populous Arab state, and that led to protests all over the region including in Iran. Just as the Khomeini revolution of 1979 sparked Islamist violence all over the Middle East so its downfall in 2026 would rebound in all sorts of unexpected ways and would not only completely change the geopolitics of the Middle East – a process that has already started – but would lead to revolutions elsewhere too. It would be a boost to the Open World of the liberal democracies, a blow to China-Russia’s Closed World and the infection of revolution could spread across hemispheres. Would it spark revolution in the already-flimsy Castroista Communist regime in Cuba which is bankrupt and sclerotic? Would it lead to protests against the Turkish Sunni Islamist autocracy of President Erdogan which is unpopular and increasingly repressive even as, like Iran a few ago, it enjoys success abroad? What if it spread to Russia? That will certainly on Vladimir Putin’s mind. He has also faced the threat of popular protests against his dictatorship and he himself was threatened by the sight of the Libyan ruler Muammar Kadaffi being lynched and killed on camera and that of another ally, Bashar Assad, would spark revolutions against autocrats that could spread to Russia. It was one of the reasons he intervened to save Assad in Syria, an intervention that he launched in conjunction with Iran and its vassal militia, Hezbollah and one that saved the Assad dynasty for several years. As momentous as any of these richochets, the greatest could be this: after the failure of the Islamist paradigm, from the long disaster of Iranian dictatorship and its proxy vassals Hamas and Hezbollah, this may also end this era of Islamism or at least diminish its allure.

@dazchad So is being a writer

@dazchad Doing a PhD is very poorly paid

@TolkienWorldG Lucky it wasn't foggy

Still in awe at the fact that Howard Shore and Peter Jackson made lighting a bunch of haystacks on fire so entertaining.

🚨🇮🇷 Meanwhile in Iran There is a massive revolution going on across a run right now against the Islamic regime in power. However, for some bizarre reason, most legacy fake news media outlets including the BBC are simply refusing to report on it!

"What Americans in a 1998 poll expected to happen by the year 2025..."

During the Covid lockdown, if you had family round on Christmas Day, police could force entry to your home and make them go home. Does anyone know if this is service is still available, and if you have to book?

@epkaufm @HeterodoxCentre @royalsociety Research funding should be based on merit. Ethnicity should have nothing to do with it.

No White Brits Need Apply for research funding. A thread. The politicisation of UK research , which I highlight in my new @heterodoxcentre report, includes racially exclusionary grant calls. 1/ Award from @royalsociety for up to £690,000. No whites or Asians allowed...

@PatientStormDoc @GeneSmi96946389 @prewittse Run the predictor on a range of modern populations. Measure their intelligence and compare. That would give confidence (or lack of it) in the method

@GeneSmi96946389 @prewittse How can the results be falsified? Real question.

One of the most interesting questions about human history is one no one is asking right now: why did human intelligence increase so much between 9000 and 6500 years ago, and why has it mostly leveled off since then?

@irisshackleton If you watched six hours of cricket you would see 300 runs scored

Today’s game was tied for the longest game in World Series history. Sorry baseball fans but I’m not cut out for hours and hours and hours of baseball. Too much like Test Cricket*. *Sorry cricket fans. PS: it’s me, not the game

Over 600 scholars have now signed the open letter condemning the campaign against Professor Michael Ben-Gad and supporting his personal and intellectual freedom as an academic. Credit to colleagues at @AFAF_freespeech and the London Universities’ Council for Academic Freedom (LUCAF) for their work behind the scenes in building support and getting the letter up and running. Read and add your name here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… Full story here: afcomm.org.uk/2025/10/20/jew…

@CaitTzar @DrBritWilliams Brit here. I got cancer last year. I had a biopsy, MRI, CT scan and bone scan. I was treated with hormone therapy, chemotherapy, brachytherapy surgery and radiotherapy. About 40 hospital visits in all. All my treatments were state-of-the-art. Total cost zero.

@DrBritWilliams Basic health coverage is doing a lot of work there. That assumes that every developed countries with two tier systems fully cover the basics and haven't had cut backs. If I got cancer I might get treatment for free but not be able to afford to get the scan to prove I have it.

I'm currently reading a comparison of health systems globally. There are about 4 sentences that really sum it up. 1/4: “The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage”

@lefineder No London in the 19th century?

@CaseyBibiana @Viral_vortex1 @veggie_eric South-west of England

@Viral_vortex1 @veggie_eric What is West Country?

Has anyone actually successfully learned a language using Duolingo Seems like a lot of cute graphics and satisfying sound effects but I'm not buying that it actually works...

@nrken19 Epicenter? Did the epidemic originate underground?

Ancient DNA solves Plague of Justinian mystery to rewrite pandemic history phys.org/news/2025-08-a…

@dbkell Lovely to see total genius being celebrated

Just caught the final of #UniversityChallenge on catch-up. No spoilers but it simply was THE most exciting one I can remember. Nice too that the folk on the ends of both teams answered a lot, and not just the middle two bods.

@ArtemisConsort I wrote a book on this

People who are desperate to retvrn to the past can’t understand how nightmarish the past was. When you tell them, they don’t believe it.

@terrychristian @bobdylan @BobDylanProject There are a couple of great tracks on there

Just arrived in post - one album closer to having the full set of none live/greatest hits @bobdylan @BobDylanProject albums . Only taken me 50 years so far 🤣🤣🤣