Ben Potter

@Guggsey I agree but I can also understand being absolutely raging for getting a booking for the first one

@empireofthekop Impressive mental gymnastics going on here

Hmmmmmm

Have written an article for @CHASE_BE digging into what effects our digital networks have on polarisation. Go check out the amazing other submissions as well! briefencounters-journal.co.uk/article/id/11/

One of our DiSCo Divas @Benpotter10 was published this week @CHASE_BE journal. It's about understanding social media polarisation through Althusser 🔥 briefencounters-journal.co.uk/article/id/11/

Our Summer Doctoral Programme is in full swing! Great to welcome so many people to @oiioxford to share research and learn from experts and peers alike. Find out more about #OIISDP here: oii.ox.ac.uk/study/summer-d… @VickiNashOII @NewlandsGemma

A jam-packed #OIISDP day yesterday! After covering AI in defence, AI bureaucracy and research on the future of work, the 2023 Summer Doctoral Programme cohort enjoyed a traditional afternoon tea! 🧁☕

It’s time to talk about sheep. The unavoidable truth is that sheep are the principal obstacle standing in the way of meaningful nature recovery in Britain’s national parks and other agriculturally marginal landscapes. There is no getting around it. The sheep have got to go. It is because of forensic grazing by tens of millions of sheep that great swathes of Britain are largely of trees and scrub, and impoverished of wildflowers, birdsong, wildlife. Go and visit any of our national parks and you’ll see for yourself. If it wasn’t for sheep, there would be little meaningful objection to the reintroduction of lynx, wolves, and other iconic but temporarily missing British species - the absence of which has triggered a parallel explosion in the number of deer, which only exacerbates overgrazing in what should be our most precious landscapes. Sheep have a brutal impact on the hydrology of our landscapes, compacting the soil and expunging vegetation, thereby making soil erosion, flooding and seasonal drought ever more frequent and ever more severe and costing the country billions each year. Sheep are not native to Britain. They come from the arid hills of Asia Minor. They must suffer terribly soaked through and exposed on our windy, wet hillsides year-round. The fact that even English acorns are toxic to sheep says it all. Britons don’t eat much lamb or mutton. So why are our landscapes stuffed with sheep? Sheep farming is in economic terms hopelessly non-viable, propped up solely with taxpayer subsidies. The average age of sheep farmers creeps ever higher, while their net income (including subsidies) creeps ever lower. There are no winners, only losers. Yes there is something of a tradition of keeping hefted sheep in some landscapes, but the numbers were dramatically lower than they are today. Perhaps half a million across all of Britain in early Victorian times. There are now more than thirty million! A few sheep as a hobby in some places, fine. But what’s really needed is a fair and just transition across our sheep-wrecked landscapes back to extensive farming with native cattle, of the kind that once grazed and browsed in vibrant wood pastures across vast swathes of Britain. Traditional silvopasture (cattle amid scrub and trees) really is a silver bullet if ever there was one. I don’t buy lamb or mutton any longer. It’s not right. If people want to keep sheep, of course that’s their absolute right, but they should not be subsidised with public money for doing so.

@cowan_lisacowan @davidallengreen not codified, just vibes

Everything wrong with our politics, in one story: Hedge fund manager buys large estate on Dartmoor. Uses vast fortune to challenge the right to camp there. Wins. Local people call on their MP to amend the legislation. Discover he's been funded by the hedge fund manager.

@KasiaTee “Gifts must affect the receiver to the point of shock.”

@ryder_withawhy The idea that these AI models are capable of doing journalism of the type required for a healthy and functioning public debate is in itself a reason why we need more people to go into journalism! The shape of journalism is changing but that doesn't mean its dying

@Benpotter10 Can elaborate? Keen to give him solid advice

Serious Question: if a young person comes to you and says "they want to be a journalist", what do you tell them (given how AI is developing + the demise of traditional media)? Specifically, what do you tell them without quashing their ambition?

@ryder_withawhy I will do man!

@Benpotter10 Come to next meeting, we can talk more about. there's. an update on discord partnerships channel you might find interesting too : )

Any idea how one sets up a think tank? DiSCo is growing and changing and we think this might be the best the route, but honestly I haven't a clue really 🤷🏽‍♂️

@ryder_withawhy That’s exciting stuff!

@Benpotter10 It should happen! Just need to find out how, and if it's true if we can raise from public funding + take-on for profit work.

We are so excited about this! 🎟️Grab a FREE ticket while you still can and join us for a discussion roundtable & workshop on hustle culture / the grind 🧂💸 Oh, and we'll offer free Tea & Cake 🍰🧁☕️ Thank you for hosting us @Turf_Projects !

@guyshrubsole @EdenProject Brilliant work Guy! Really enjoying your book. Do you have any suggestions for a beginners guide to identifying all of the wonderful plants, lichens and epiphytes you describe?

An honour to speak to a packed roomful of people at @EdenProject today about The Lost Rainforests of Britain - followed by a quick visit to say hi to some tropical rainforests in the humid biome! :) Thanks Eden team!

What are the links between hustle culture, land ownership + artificial intelligence? Come discuss these topics with us over tea and cake in our Culture of Optimisation Café on 19 November @Turf_Projects, part of @BeingHumanFest and supported by @CHASE_DTP: bit.ly/optimisation-c…

Come to this roundtable/workshop I'm organizing with @Benpotter10 and let's talk through why we should (or shouldn't) stop glamorizing the grind 🚫💪