Venus Bivar

I will be writing to my MP Jaime Battiste.

Read @lisang.bsky.social's lucid analysis: newlinesmag.com/spotlight/yo...

For the first time in a very long time, the Guardian landing page made me happy! Brazil! Serbia! (If only I had stopped there, but still, FUCK YES.)

Hubby's citizenship application just went in. All told, with the cost of visas and surcharges, we have paid £10,702 for him to become British. Can't imagine doing this for an entire family, and yet immigrants are doing just that, all of the time. And the UK treats them like free riders. Insanity.

Workplace mental health and wellbeing module, but, hear me out, as PRIMAL SCREAM THERAPY.

I've been rage reading Guy Shrubsole's Who Owns England? and last night I read that 18% of the land in England is owned by corporations. EIGHTEEN PERCENT. Truly ridiculous. Pales in comparison to the legacy of the aristocracy, but still. www.theguardian.com/books/2019/a...

OCTOBER!

Oh heck yeah. Well done Sam! @echomikeromeo.bsky.social

Our friends at Category Is Books made this very cool poster for it!

We are having a Trans History Festival! You can see Ruth talk to Susan Stryker, and also many other exciting things!

I know I'm very late to the party, but I heard Chappell Roan last week for the first time and I cannot. get. enough. It's Robyn meets the early Cars and I LOVE IT ALL. Do yourself a favour, immerse yourself in the Pink Pony Club. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR3L...

I am still picking and eating raspberries off our canes. In early October!

As always @rebeccanagle.bsky.social nailed it with this new podcast, all about how white settler violence is embedded in the US constitution, legal systems, etc. www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/fir...

Oooh heck yeah.

Great cartoon on police violence and student protest in France from artist Johann Danielis.

Back on the train commute to Oxford from York and I've got two guys on phones and one snorer. I like people a lot one-on-one, but humanity as a mass is a supreme disappointment.

Heyo. Any good articles out there on the 'resource curse'? Hopefully something that picks apart the foolish assumptions behind it?

This is an excellent listen: @thedigradio.bsky.social with @quinnslobodian.com and @bentarnoff.com about their recent book. I went in cautiously b/c I can't spare another brain cell for Musk, but the emphasis is squarely on the 'ism'. Super interesting analysis. thedigradio.com/podcast/musk...

I just spent two days at a writing retreat and it was effing glorious. I managed to accomplish in two days what I had thought was going to take two weeks. And now today, back at regular work, I am BEREFT.

This is grade-A academic class politics right here.

If you're in Newcastle, go check out this new radical bookstore - Books from Below - and cafe that was just launched by @emilywebz.bsky.social , @drrobertchapman.bsky.social , and @benbowsher.bsky.social.

I had the choice to go to Marseille in July or September. I chose July. And now that the cold has set in I am really regretting my decision. I could be swimming in the sea and enjoying a perfect 27 degrees. Instead I boiled my insides in July and now have to sport a jumper 🤷‍♀️

You cannot find better co-panelists than these two ....

I was talking to @momoulton.bsky.social about the purpose of BlueSky, and he said it's like the water cooler in a physical office, and honestly, this has helped a lot to clarify for me which boundaries I do and do not want around this place. And in that spirit, Sheep Detectives is delightful.

The people behind this letter to the AHA are looking for more Europe-based academics to sign. If you support Palestine, please add your name! www.usscholarsspeak.org

Join us for an excellent environmental humanities programme this term!

Well this seems absolutely amazing from @sarannmcd.bsky.social. Just listened to the NBN interview and am eager to read the book. press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Just keeps getting worse doesn't it.

If you're near Manchester I really recommend this show. Loads of fun - who doesn't love a sing-a-long?

wonderful E is making good progress on her fundraiser - but it's slow, and new obstacles keep cropping up. click to read the recent update - any amount, no matter how tiny, helps, and a share/repost goes a long, long way. thank you so much 🙏 www.gofundme.com/f/help-e-a-l...

More of this please.

People who travel frequently between London and Oxford: Does GWR not do cheaper tickets anymore? Even 8 weeks out all I am seeing is £34. Is this for real? Because that is CRAZY.

I have done nothing but admin today. Make it stop.

Nothing quite like getting PhD inquiries that were written by AI. How on earth do we run graduate admissions in this world????

Pesto has always been my favourite food and I really missed it after going vegan, until I realised I could just make it with cheeze - and holy cow the results are amazing. No photo because I inhaled it. I recommend the sharp Cathedral cheddar over the fancy faux parmesan. Better bite.

Somehow a signature doesn't feel like enough. But alas it's what we have.

Well this looks outstanding.

Starting the series Furious while under a writing deadline was a serious mistake.

Greetings from the Lake District and this 1200-year-old Yew tree. I love me some old trees. And apparently, Wordsworth was also a fan on this particular bad boy.

Interesting research on neo-colonialism in Africa. Turns out the Eurozone is a much worse offender (by an enormous margin) than China. @70sbachchan.bsky.social and @katemac.bsky.social might be interested.

Well this looks cool. A new French media site devoted to reporting on the environment. reporterre.net

For @cdanby.bsky.social : Pics from this evening's post-rain walk. Excellent sky. Excellent Loki.

Oh man. Apparently yesterday was International Dog Day and I had no idea. I *live* for excuses/reasons to share photos of my glorious Loki Bear. So here we are, a day late. Loki enjoying some homemade doggie ice cream in the front garden.