Jason Dittmer

If I have learned one thing living in the UK for ~20 years, it is that British rearmament won’t happen because of the war in Ukraine or anything that Trump says; what matters is that the UK has been shown to be less capable than France in the current crisis. That will drive the politicians crazy.

How has nobody bought the IP for AskJeeves.com and used it for an AI chatbot?

📘 New book out: rethinking how diplomacy is learned

Diplomatic Training: Histories, Geographies, Politics brings together voices from across the world to examine how diplomatic training shapes international relations, and who it includes.

Read more here: academy.unpo.org/diplomatic-t...

Rubio Walks Back Suggestion That Israel Forced U.S. Hand in Iran Strikes

Incredible to start something like this and not even get your story straight in advance
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/w...

Probably not the most important news right now, but I think it is worth passing on that buying a white sweatshirt when you have a three-year-old is a terrible idea

Smearing Sussex (and Me): Responding to Nigel Biggar’s Latest Attack in The Spectator The University of Sussex, Feb 2026, taken by the author. Alan Lester The Spectator has published an article by Nigel Biggar smearing the University of Sussex as repressing students who ‘don&#…

Fantastic blog by my former colleague @alanlester.bsky.social forensically refuting the disgraceful attacks on the University of Sussex by the disgracefully ignorant Nigel Biggar.

If you’re interested in protecting academic freedom please do read and share

American ambassadors in the EU are bringing a new style of more abrasive and confrontational diplomacy to the EU.

It is not a bug in the system. It is the new system.

🔗 www.politico.eu/article/fran...

Is Email Making Professors Stupid? It used to simplify crucial tasks. Now it’s strangling scholars’ ability to think.

“in the modern academic environment professors act more like middle managers than monastics…forces driv[e] us to constantly look at screens..But there’s nobility in pushing back..
universities have..the opportunity [&!] obligation to integrate..sustained concentration into their social mission”

‘Don’t go to the US – not with Trump in charge’: the UK tourist with a valid visa detained by ICE for six weeks Karen Newton was in America on the trip of a lifetime when she was shackled, transported and held for weeks on end. With tourism to the US under increasing strain, she says, ‘If it can happen to me, i...

A retired British primary school administrator with a British passport and a valid visa was shackled, chained and detained for six weeks by ICE

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

I will await your compost with bated breath!

I care naught for the other sports. There is only curling for me!

Winter Olympics 2026: GB men into Olympic final as women squeezed out Bruce Mouat and his rink have guaranteed Team GB's fourth medal of these Winter Olympics after seeing off unbeaten Switzerland 8-5 to reach the men's curling final in Cortina.

This was an absolute nail-biter of a match! Bring on Saturday night!
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Arrested on Suspicion of Misconduct Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of the UK’s King Charles, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after further details of his relationship with convicted sex offender Je...

Surely we could do with one more season of the Crown
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The UK universities cutting geography have lost their bearings From climate change to geopolitics, the knowledge, skills and insights of geographers have never been more relevant, say five professors

important commentary!!!

www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/uk-u...

Robert Duvall, a Chameleon of an Actor Onscreen and Onstage, Dies at 95

I was a big fan of Robert Duvall, but was still stunned to read about how many classic movies he was in. The obituary proves its own thesis, that he sank into his own roles so deeply you didn’t see him
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/m...

One for @alpinkerton.bsky.social

a man wearing sunglasses and a shirt with flames on it is eating a hot dog ALT: a man wearing sunglasses and a shirt with flames on it is eating a hot dog

The German curling uniforms look like they have been stolen from Guy Fieri 🇩🇪

Please God yes.

Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...

This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.

The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:

The Gulf of What? Has Trump's name change caught on? It's been a year since President Trump renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. We asked people along its shores what they actually call it.

"He was not simply changing the name. He was actually enacting a different worldview..."

Kudos to @derekgeographer.bsky.social for contributing remarks for another national news piece on place renaming!

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

Reading and writing can lower dementia risk by almost 40%, study finds Cognitive health in later life is ‘strongly influenced’ by lifelong exposure to intellectually stimulating environments, say researchers

New hope for academics everywhere!

When infrastructure policy becomes political metaphor

PhD candidate within Gender Studies and/or STS: Imagining Positive Energy Futures (294972) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology Job title: PhD candidate within Gender Studies and/or STS: Imagining Positive Energy Futures (294972), Employer: NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Deadline: Sunday, March 15, 2026

Some colleagues in my old department in Trondheim are recruiting a PhD candidate in Gender Studies and/or STS on the "Imagining Positive Energy Futures" project. 3 years, fully funded. Norway's a good place to do a PhD and Trondheim's a nice place to live!

Nobody tell me what happened - about to watch the curling on catch-up

Would be amazing if Bad Bunny sang Lee Greenwood’s Proud to be an American at halftime

US Justice Department removes lawyer who told judge in immigration case 'this job sucks' The U.S. Justice Department has removed a government lawyer from an assignment in Minnesota after she told a federal judge "this job sucks" and immigration authorities had failed to comply with court ...

"Sometime I wish you would just hold me in contempt, Your Honor, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep," Le told Blackwell, according to a transcript.

www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

We've launched our new migration masters @uclgeography.bsky.social – Migration, Politics and Society
Full of creative and critical approaches, and taught by really good people. Please pass on to students who might be interested!

www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...

We're recruiting 2 PhD candidates in human geography here in Uppsala, one position focused on urban/housing issues and one in political ecology.

Please spread the word/repost etc. Being a PhD student in Sweden is a good gig.