David Storey

The triumph of measurement over meaning

Scream! Mural outside Worcestershire cricket ground, New Road

Absolutely

Bureaucracy is putting universities on the wrong track to respond to AI We cannot bureaucratise our way into producing better thinkers, any more than we can automate wisdom, says Akhil Bhardwaj

"Thinking, especially the kind education is meant to cultivate, resists standardisation. We cannot bureaucratise our way into producing better thinkers, any more than we can automate wisdom"
@timeshighered.bsky.social
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/bure...

Indeed

Tomorrow @worcesteruni.bsky.social

David Harvey at Ninety Late last year David Harvey reached the august age of ninety. There can be very few who have made such far reaching contributions to the field. In his honor, there have been a number of celebration…

'Geographers of the world unite'
Kevin Cox in praise of 'restless scholar' @davidharvey.org
kevinrcox.wordpress.com/2026/03/05/d...

there are like 50 people in the country who want the UK to get involved in the Iran War, one of them is Kemi Badenoch, one of them is Nigel Farage, and the other 48 are newspaper columnists

"Iran is run by lunatics, religious fanatic lunatics" Marco Rubio

Imperial geographies and the return of lebensraum

@professorchadwick.bsky.social
@paulwiddop.bsky.social

He seems more than capable of doing that himself

An eclectic mix of recent purchases
#WorldBookDay

Read these words from 100 years ago about immigrants in Britain – and see how history is chillingly repeating itself | George Monbiot Shabana Mahmood’s new rights clampdown looks outlandish until we remember that this kind of hardline action is part of our country’s fabric, says George Monbiot

'"Scheming aliens undermining our values” is a narrative built across a century and more... It has been drilled into our heads as if it were an incontrovertible truth. It creates an environment in which every minority becomes less safe"
@georgemonbiot.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Book Group The last Thursday of every month was Book Group,
when the books would gather together to discuss Brian. “It’s no fun here any more,” remarked Bleak House, glumly.
“Why doesn’t he read us?” whined the Grapes of Wrath. “It makes me so angry!” 
“I’m sure he only bought me so he can show me off to his friends,”
complained Ulysses, in a stream of self-consciousness. “I bet he can’t even remember my name, The Idiot,”
muttered a voice from the Russian literature section.
“That’s because he avoids you like The Plague,” said another.
“C’est vrai!” came a cry. “It is like I do not exist.” “Let’s not give up on him yet.” It was Brave New World.
After some Persuasion, they agreed to give him one last chance.
“Be quiet!” cried Waiting for Godot with Great Expectations.
“Here he comes now!” Brian entered the room, with his phone.
He sat down and watched some videos of baby pandas falling over.
After an hour or so, he started googling cats dressed as celebrities. On the shelf, the books waited with uncracked spines,
their silence speaking volumes. Brian Bilston

In celebration of World Book Day, here’s a poem called ‘Book Group’.

Aston Villa, Ireland, and the market for memory The Premier League club has just released new merchandise to mark St. Patrick's Day

The market for memory:
Football, identity and nostalgia
@professorchadwick.bsky.social @paulwiddop.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/profchad...

Cricket in the Crossfire of Politics As the 2026 World Cricket Cup unfolds under diplomatic strain, rising tensions between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh show that the sport is no longer just a game but a stage where politics, national...

"Cricket’s economic heart lies in a region defined by enduring geopolitical tension. Its most profitable rivalry is also its most diplomatically fragile"
Sport, politics & commercial interests entwined
@joursajad.bsky.social & Rehan Qayoom Mir
@jacobinmag.bsky.social
jacobin.com/2026/02/cric...

Reform fury as someone else wins by Our By-election Editor Tim Shipsink The losing candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwhinge, has demanded an immediate re-run of the election on the grounds that he lost comprehensively to someone else. "It's totally unfair and rigged," said Goodwhinge. "I shouldn't be required to sit there and suck it up, just because I lost." Mr Goodwhine continued, *I can't believe that all those voters I demonised failed to back me. Especially after I was endorsed by Tommy Robinson and ten million Russian bots on X. "We have clear evidence of family voting, where people voted in order for me to stop deporting their families." Mr Badloser concluded. "I'm the victim of colour prejudice. They didn't vote for me simply because I'm not green." Reform leader Mr Farage, speaking from a sun lounger on a rock near the Chagos Islands said, "It's a tragedy that the people of Manchester won't see Matt in Westminster, but my constituents don't see me in Clacton either." PLUMBER DEFEATS MATT GOODWIN Photo of Hannah Spencer with speech bubble saying… I've stopped the cock

Beautiful from Private Eye on the massive toddler-tantrum that Matt Goodwin and Reform are having, because they got whooped in Gorton and Denton.

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi | The dry and the wet burn together The war launched against Iran by the United States and Israel is a war of choice and of hubris. There is scarcely even...

'The dry and thewet burn together' -
"Wars of choice rarely confine themselves to their intended targets. They consume not only the combatants but the assumptions that animate them"
@eskandarsadeghi.bsky.social
@lrb.co.uk
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...

I enjoyed participating in the opening session of this event today. Looking forward to some more interesting sessions tomorrow

Boys With Toys Try to Blow Up Iran Once again, the United States and Israel have launched an unlawful war of aggression against another country. Once again, US and Israeli officials claim “self-defense” and “pre-emption,” attempting to...

"US/Israel have consistently gotten away with/been rewarded for their illegitimate unjustifiable attacks against other countries..has emboldened both to be perpetual bullies, armed willingly by other govts"
@rayacheson.bsky.social
@counterpunchmedia.bsky.social
www.counterpunch.org/2026/03/04/b...

Fundamentalist genocidal maniacs

Ballymore to Buenos Aires: Spotlight on Midlands links From Ballymore to Buenos Aires: For around 100 years, there was large-scale emigration from Ireland to Argentina.

From Ballymore to Buenos Aires: Irish migration to Argentina
www.rte.ie/news/regiona...

Alanna O'Malley: US multinationals will not flee Ireland just because we stand up to Donald Trump Time we put down the St Patrick’s Day shamrock bowl and speak up for international law

"To avoid accusations of complicity and complacency in a war that has the potential to devastate the Middle East, it’s time we put down the bowl of shamrock and stand up for the basic principles with which we have ordered the world"
@amomalley.bsky.social
www.linkedin.com/redir/redire...

Thanks Russell

David Squires on … Gianni Infantino’s accomplishments in 10 years as Fifa supremo Our cartoonist on a decade of magic moments in the big job for world football’s leading ‘man of the people’

@davidsquires.bsky.social on the many accomplishments of Gianni Infantino
www.theguardian.com/football/pic...

From South Africa to trains, how boycotts have shaped Irish sport The public profile of sports events makes them a valuable forum for pursuing and drawing attention to social justice issues and other matters

"While many argue that sport is not political and works as distraction from social and civic issues, they are ignoring those who do not have access to sport due to existing inequalities"
@rtebrainstorm.bsky.social
www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Webinar: Geography and Sports Studies | Jonathan Ferreira 📣 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿: 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 - 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽l𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗲 📣 I am delighted to announce the international webinar: 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, an initiative that brings together scholars from di...

www.linkedin.com/posts/jonath...

FIFA Peace Prize Recipient Peacefully Starts New War — The Shovel Proving to the world that he does peace better than anyone in the history of peace, FIFA Peace Prize recipient Donald Trump has calmly, respectfully and very peacefully started a harmonious new war wi...

"Nothing says ‘peace’ like bombing the Government of another nation with advanced military technology. Some people call it war, but we prefer to call it a peaceful, conflict-forward approach to foreign relations”.
@theshovel.bsky.social
theshovel.com.au/2026/03/01/f...

Western media in Iran propaganda overdrive It's like Gaza, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya all over again

The Western media is acting as a propaganda machine for the illegal Iran war 👇

www.owenjones.news/p/western-me...