Ehsan Dehghan

I could not make it to march yesterday in support of protestors in Iran, so I listened to this podcast again. And I really recommend it.

The Iranian digital blackout, and how you can help (#37) Podcast Episode · Read Them Sideways · 02/02/2026 · 53m

Hey BlueSky, most of you have access to internet connectivity that the people of Iran currently do not. Do me a favour and share this podcast episode from the DMRC Digital Publics group.

We can no longer accept catastrophic silence.

Solidarity means paying attention and creating visibility

I had a chat with @pardisyarahmadi.bsky.social about the situation in Iran, and the horrors hidden behind and by the digital blackout. If you'd like to know more about the context and how you can help, have a listen.

What is happening in Iran is horrifying. And the silence is deafening. The people of Iran deserve to have their fight and plight seen and heard - at the very least.

The social media age ban started today. Hear more about what it means for the younger ones, where it all started, and where it may take us in the future, from the DMRC director @antmandan.bsky.social:

Oh wow! Watching it in a cinema is certainly something I would never forget! The most moving quote for me is the "Mathilda, why are you doing this to me?"... (man, I need to watch it again!)

I'm embarrassed to even try to count how many times I've watched it!

a man leaning against a wall with his head resting on his hand ALT: a man leaning against a wall with his head resting on his hand

Well the Matrix would certainly be there in the list, but this one has a special place for me

AI chatbots are encouraging conspiracy theories – new research If you interact with chatbots about conspiracy theories, research shows you can can easily fall down the rabbit hole.

PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald has a new article out in The Conversation today looking at generative AI chatbots and conspiracy theories.

Looking forward to kicking this project off with a dream team!

Hey #AoIR2025 participants, the upcoming @qutdmrc.bsky.social Summer School will be highly relevant to many of you:

It's great! I played the browser version. I'll play more on the desktop app soon. A Steam release sounds exciting!

I was just playing this! Amazing game. I didn't expect it to be this fast paced!

Facebook, the EU and Russia’s war: Challenges of moderating authoritarian news Despite several measures to curb their visibility, this study shows how Facebook mediates predominantly Russian state-aligned news during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine

A highly recommended read: policyreview.info/articles/ana...

I had a lot of fun chatting with Klaus (@klaus.bsky.social) about The Discursive-Digital Link. You can listen to the episode on the Read Them Sideways podcast.

BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! @mahliann.bsky.social, @marcuscarter.com, and myself have combined our collective brains and written a wide-reaching introduction to the complex and interdisciplinary field of Game Studies in this forthcoming book for Polity. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

Thanks Axel!

Thanks Eddy!

Thanks Johan!

And Majid KhosraviNik @mkhosravinik.bsky.social says it provides "an integrative understanding of meaning-making in online spaces".

Nico Carpentier @nicocarpentier.bsky.social calls it "a much needed contribution to strengthening democracy".

Johan Farkas @jfarkas.bsky.social sees it as "a much needed counterpoint to deterministic narratives around digital media".

David Howarth views it as "an urgent, compelling, and original intervention".

Natalie Fenton calls it "though-provoking and challenging", and "written with an urgent elegance".

I am humbled by the generosity of the first readers and endorsers of The Discursive-Digital Link, who dedicated their time to critically engage with the book and share their thoughts and kind words.

In the Discursive-Digital Link, I develop a social ontology that engages with the entanglement of discourse, digital media, and structure. I also present a methodology to critically study these discursive-digital entanglements. Here's a sneak peak of the metaphoric representation of the framework:

"We are in deep shit, literally and figuratively".
That's the first sentence of the book, and it's not hyperbole. Democracy is under threat. The world is in crisis mode, and there is a multitude of entangled components involved. We need new frameworks to understand the how and the why of it all.

Very excited to share that my book, The Discursive-Digital Link, is now available for pre-order on Routledge: tinyurl.com/the-ddl. The e-book is already available to order with a 30% discount!
You can also read the synopsis and the Introduction chapter on my website: essideh.com/ddl/

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Brilliant comments/thread! Very well put, Tim