Tobias Denskus

Tobias Denskus

@aidnography.de

Associate Professor in Development Studies at Malmö University, Sweden. Global development. Humanitarianism. Communication & Social Change.

2.2K followers1.2K following4.5K posts

Always the litmus test: How do Silicon Valley parents respond to a new technology...AI, mobile phones, surveillance technology...are they ok that their children are exposed to it, or not so much??

This post is unavailable.

Maybe Bolsonaro’s son could also be a candidate now that he lost the elections? Many countries prefer to keep the global rotation with a UNSG from Latin America??

Social Media Lab@socialmedialab.ca

"Viktor Orbán, U.N. Secretary-General? Trump officials push the idea of a U.S.-Russia-China joint candidate." Yes, you read that right. www.wsj.com/opinion/vikt...

You can criticize Nusseibeh & other UN SG candidates, but the fact that 1 of the 200 members can have a decisive vote puts UN on the level of FIFA or IOC-not a somewhat democratic forum that aims for global legitimacy and leadership

Tobias Denskus reposted

📰 Our Newsletter's out:⏰Check right here what's in it for you! 🔎Featuring "Commodifying Plunder": open access book by @crelis.bsky.social 📣 Call for Book Editors 📽️ Our latest videos 🖥️ Upcoming Webinars ⏰ Jobs and Calls from our community & more 👓 blogs and publications mailchi.mp/eadi/nl2octo...

Once feared, always criticized & sometimes vilified, IMF & WB are now part of a declining multilateral system..."no new answers (...) to the questions posed by a spreading Middle East war, continuing war in Ukraine, rising debt payments and a potential AI bubble" www.reuters.com/business/imf...

reuters.comIMF/World Bank meetings leave developing countries with more questions than answersLast week's meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank yielded no new answers for the developing world to the questions posed by a spreading Middle East war, ​continuing war in Ukraine...

Really interesting how the visual language of Angelina Jolie as humanitarian has changed from 2019 to 2026…from frontline refugee camp to cozy cabin fireside chat-style; something to discuss with the students during next class…

"Skype will make business travel obsolete as everyone is going to use video calls in the future"

Gianmarco Soresi@gianmarcosoresi.bsky.social

Man who won’t give his employees piss breaks claims many piss breaks on the horizon

Tobias Denskus reposted

RFK Jr is funding a grotesquely unethical study on newborn babies in Guinea-Bissau; ethicists, pediatricians, clinical trial experts, & infectious disease experts are calling this horrific trial The New Tuskegee. It is unethical to withhold a life saving intervention from half of newborns FFS.

Stand Up for Science!@standupforscience.net

The CDC just re-opened a previously shelved study that would withhold the hepatitis B vaccine from children in Guinea-Bissau, despite decades of evidence showing it is safe and effective. This is a violation of human rights, using “science” to harm some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Maybe one day we can have a discussion why "attracting bright minds" is often equated with "pay someone 4-5 years to get a PhD"...probably nice for the individual, but I remain skeptical about broader academic & social impact

Daniel Munro@dkmunro.bsky.social

“Winners will be paid $80,000 a year for four years, twice the current minimum base funding for PhD candidates at U of T. Half of the $100-million endowment comes from an anonymous donation, the rest from the university.” www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

A network without ethics & morals really doesn’t care about journalistic ethics or morals…

NPR@npr.org

The family members of two Fox News journalists killed while covering the war in Ukraine are suing the network, saying it put getting the story ahead of its people. n.pr/4rJiyG6

Social networking platforms were great, then ads showed up & now it's "pay monthly, get fewer ads" News sites were great, then ads showed up & now it's "pay monthly, get fewer ads" Streaming was great, then ads showed up & now it's "pay monthly, get fewer ads" AI was never great, then...

IGN@ign.com

Disney+ has altered its user agreement to clarify that ads will be allowed on all subscription tiers. https://bit.ly/4hhOjBo

Tobias Denskus reposted

Our new volume on Global Platform Governance is now available for pre-orders, gathering perspectives from academics and practitioners all over the world on key debates around regulating platforms so that folks are not just engaging what works for the US or the EU. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/global-pl...

bloomsbury.comGlobal Platform GovernanceThis is a field-defining open access playbook for identifying and responding to the global regulatory challenges created by large digital platforms.Here Nanjala…

Todd Moss' "Death to the boring think tank event" makes some important points-many are also true for academic events. The other day I came across a 90-minute panel featuring 7 speakers + 1 moderator & I wonder what I could possible learn from such a set-up...

Last year I wrote a post about development Think Tanks: "I think many TTs seem to sit things out-wait for the famous “next election”, look for more funding elsewhere or believe that the social, political and cultural climate will change" aidnography.blogspot.com/2025/12/what...

aidnography.blogspot.comWhat is the future of global development Think Tanks?Tobias Denskus blogs about international development, focusing on media, communication for social change & professionalism in the aid industry

Todd Moss' "Death to the boring think tank event" makes some important points-many are also true for academic events. The other day I came across a 90-minute panel featuring 7 speakers + 1 moderator & I wonder what I could possible learn from such a set-up...

Todd Moss' "Death to the boring think tank event" makes some important points-many are also true for academic events. The other day I came across a 90-minute panel featuring 7 speakers + 1 moderator & I wonder what I could possible learn from such a set-up...

Todd Moss also highlights good reasons for holding events-and the bar is actually not very high as man Thinks Tanks would probably too easily agree that they are networkers, alliance-builders & key information sharers... (2/x)

Tobias Denskus reposted

NYT: In his 25 years as an OBGYN, Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas repeatedly sued patients for outstanding medical debt. At least 81 were arrested during their court proceedings. Some had debt from c-sections; others from miscarriages.

NYT: In his 25 years as an OBGYN, Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas repeatedly sued patients for outstanding medical debt. At least 81 were arrested during their court proceedings. Some had debt from c-sections; others from miscarriages.

….and just like that we’ve reached the stage where an Institution basically turns into a prison including forced participation in digital activities & degrading rituals …

This post is unavailable.

The reason they are starting this in SF is to trick the robot/AI bubble into believing that they are already living the future & that everybody will "soon" have a "humanoid robot" doing vacuuming worse than a professional cleaner, your current robot vacuum & you when you have little time

This post is unavailable.

The normalization of turning your child into a closely surveilled data source is part of the American digital psychosis

This post is unavailable.

Researchers estimate that people in 140 African cities now lose an average of about 64 hours of sleep each year because of warm nights. Climate change accounts for about seven. (...) In the early 1970s, climate change was estimated to contribute about 2.6 hours of sleep loss each year (1/2)

Repeated sleep disruption can affect health, concentration, productivity, and quality of life. Unlike a flood or drought, a hot night may pass without attracting much attention. But when it happens night after night, the cost begins to accumulate. (2/2) 54science.substack.com/p/too-hot-to...

54science.substack.comToo Hot to Sleep: What’s Africa’s Hidden Heat Cost?In the early 1970s, climate change was estimated to contribute about 2.6 hours of sleep loss each year in the African cities studied. Today, that figure has risen to about 6.7 hours.

Tobias Denskus reposted

A new low even for the Economist: "Whatever the company’s flaws..." and then they continue with some drivel about "illiberal critics" of Palantir. "If Palantir does become indispensable, that would mean its software is keeping hospital beds free & criminals jailed"- chef's kiss from The Onion!

Archie Hall@archiehall.bsky.social

BRITAIN WOULD BE BONKERS TO DITCH PALANTIR New @economist.com leader from me on Palantir. I most wanted to highlight its critics' troubling illiberalism—many seem far too blasé letting politics determine which businesses governments buy from. You can read it here: www.economist.com/leaders/202...

Academic books have always been ridiculously expensive, I know-but why does it feel like a company like Routledge raises their prices by 10-15% almost every time I visit the website?1?? I remember paperbacks for 30 Euros & hardbacks for 85 Euros??

Florida police embracing "smart glasses" is like Trump announcing that getting rid of Infantino would be a mistake-you immediately see the moral corruption & know that the opposite is good & true; they are just perv & spy glasses after all...

This post is unavailable.

Tobias Denskus reposted

UN WFP 'is finalizing a five-year renewal of its contract with US data software firm Palantir despite “key privacy concerns” raised in a leaked 2025 internal audit.' Esp concerning due to the huge biometric database WFP has as part of its humanitarian aid & supply chain passblue.com/2026/08/07/n...

passblue.com‘Never Speak About It’: Leaked Audit Reveals the UN’s Palantir Problem - PassBlue‘Never Speak About It’: Leaked Audit Reveals the UN’s Palantir Problem - PassBlue

Tobias Denskus reposted

In 2026 you are forced to watch commercials in your BMW so one of the main shareholders can continue to be one of the richest women in Germany…

KetAnthropic JoshAI@ketanjoshi.co

EV advocacy world really needs to contend with the fact that car companies are hell bent on making them into the most exhausting, enshittified, advertising-infected subscription model oversized junk tanks imaginable www.techspot.com/news/113327-...

At the end of the day all these lofty AI goals will probably boil down to being inundated with "targeted ads" from speakers you won't be able to turn off because the vehicle will no longer move...always ads (or subscriptions for features you really use), never "a better experience for you"

This post is unavailable.

Between 1920 and 2018 Bordeaux had 1(!) day above 40 degrees; all the others have been since, including 6 days in 2026 alone-more than the combined total of the previous 100 years!

Important reminder that other than grassroots civil society, big NGOs & foundations will easily sell out to the mighty AI dollar. Stark reminder that the sector is broken & will not work towards sustainable social change.

Katie Drummond@katie-drummond.bsky.social

Hundreds of OpenAI and Anthropic employees will soon become extremely wealthy. Among non-profits, competition for their philanthropic dollars -- which will likely number in the billions -- is already fierce:

Tobias Denskus reposted

These images of First Nations community members evacuating Collins, Ontario on motorboats are absolutely surreal www.facebook.com/reel/1548244...

Luke LeBrun@lukelebrun.ca

These photos of FNs community members fleeing their homes by boat are genuinely apocalyptic (Photo via Wayne Wastaken of Collins, Ontario, who says his “hometown is gone”) www.facebook.com/share/r/1ArN...

Tobias Denskus reposted

Following the horrifying death of Ann Widdecombe, the former Conservative minister and Reform UK spokeswoman, Professor Stuart Gordon explores what her faith, and her friction with organisations like the British Red Cross, reveal about the deep crisis of trust facing modern humanitarianism.

shorturl.atI disagreed with Ann Widdecombe. But her distrust of charities is something humanitarians cannot ignore - LSE International DevelopmentFollowing the horrifying death of Ann Widdecombe, Professor Stuart Gordon reflects on his encounters with the formidable politician, exploring what her faith and conservative friction with organizatio...