Robin Gill reviews Life on the Breadline by @chrisshannahan.bsky.social in @churchtimes.bsky.social: 'a deeply passionate book'...'This is the necessary prophetic voice of an archetypical Christian Dissenter.'
20% off orders this week via the link at the end:
www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/202...
I have very few parenting hacks, but one unexpected one has been re-branding insects.
"AAAAHH....wait! It's just a Simon the Adventure Bug!' screamed my 9yo when a woodlouse invaded her toilet trip today.
Turns out re-naming them after middle-aged office managers diffuses the fear factor entirely.
Really grateful for Mwenza from @foodandsolidarity.bsky.social repping the north-east and speaking out so clearly about the grim picture of #ukpoverty2026 as a continued political choice, and highlighting the urgent need for collective care and action on issues such as rent control.
a spurious selection of snacks and a cake allegedly designed to resemble host of the Traitors, Claudia Winkleman
This year we are practicing celebrating more. Because why not? So tonight that looks like going all-in on tenuously-remaining-contestant-themed snacks for the @thetraitors.bsky.social finale!
A picture of a timetable for the event ‘Reclaiming the Sociological Imagination’
Thanks so much to the @britsoci.bsky.social for funding our regional postgraduate event today in Newcastle! So many fascinating presentations already. Looking forward to a screening of a local film about community, resilience and hope this afternoon!
PGRs interested in ‘social transformation’ - come and join us and share your work at a free, friendly day conference in Newcastle on the 17th July! CfP open until this Friday.
PGR presentations and then a showing/discussion of a wonderful film, ‘100 People’ with the filmmaker.
Please share!
Still buzzing after a brilliant away day with the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry Uni last week. It's just absolutely full of committed, thoughtful, passionate researchers who are using research to make the world a better place and it's a privilege to get to study there.
I find myself wondering often - will I one day wake up + find myself fully IN that world, communicating in ways that others not on the inside just can't penetrate? Or will something in me always resist that and believe that we should be able to communicate things simply and accessibly? Any thoughts?
One of the things I notice coming from a biomedical/public health background into the social sciences is just how much language is absolutely foreign to me. Every day in articles (+my emails!) are words I don't understand. It's exciting but also part of me wants to push back. Why so much fanciness?
#TraitorsUk #TheTraitors
I really want someone to tell Alexander “Look at where you are
Look at where you started
The fact that you're alive is a miracle”
#Hamilton
This is my very favourite subtitle mistake of all time.
The winter sun sits low over the bay, its reflection sparkling in the water.
The peace of the sea is always a gift to me.
Yesterday I learned that in 2004, a group of Welsh sheep were quarantined because they were a threat to millions of £s worth of national infrastructure
What did they do that was such a threat? They learned to cross cattle grids.
By tucking in their legs and rolling.
I can’t stop thinking about it
I'm sure this was coincidence, but I want to believe that having a mammy researching faith responses to hardship (including food insecurity) fed into this response.
That said, my older kid keeps me humble by regularly telling me I should be doing something that actually changes the world, so...
Really loved that my 7-year-old was practising good and healthy disagreement in school this week - building confidence in listening respectfully and saying 'I agree because...' and 'I disagree because...'
Primary schools so often feel to me (from the outside) like positive little micro-societies.
Aging is so underrated. Your peers are more interesting, and conversations richer. You're able to revisit books you first read twenty years ago. There is less jealousy, and God willing less pride. It's just a great time of life, aside from the thing that contains you (or is you) falling apart.
Hahaha agreed. I also hate spreadsheets and so will join you in the chaos of searching through all communication streams for fragments of information
Hahaha this is SO relatable! I need to streamline all my communications, I think, to one platform per person, and then make a spreadsheet of who I talk to about what, where. Good luck!
Red sparkly nails, a lap top and a sign that says ‘you are enough’ framed by fairy lights
Motivational Christmas nails and fairy lights to help with the sniffly writing efforts this week. Will it be enough? We’ll see!
I had a conversation this morning that reminded me that it is okay to find things that are objectively hard, hard.
I find it extremely easy to remind other people of this, and extremely difficult to remind myself of this.
I'm thankful for external perspective.
interestingly seeing a great film they were involved in was one of the things that made me think about this question!
*Call for researchers, teachers and practitioners in religious groups - share widely*
Save the date: SocRel Response Day 2025!
This years SocRel Chair's Response day will be held at King's College London on the 29th March 2025, 10am - 5pm. The theme will be Religion, Disability and Neurodiversity.
So I’m wondering if anyone can signpost me to a) literature about this phenomenon, or b) examples of orga that ‘do’ arts in a very mutual-learning kinda way? Like, one that creates opportunities for co-creation in ways that are reciprocal and recognise gifts on all sides?
I’m really keen to do some learning about external organisations doing arts projects in traditionally working-class communities. I have some internal bias about how *sometimes* that sort of work feels like it comes with top-down, imposed, middle class assumptions. I want to interrogate that… 1/2
Just read this one. Loved it too. Thank you.
Just discovered by chance that John McKnight passed away last month. His work and thinking on ABCD, all about the strengths of communities and how we might spot, connect up and strengthen those assets, has been so important to me in making sense of my community experiences. I'm grateful for him.
Just a reminder:
All vaccines used in public health have been rigorously tested. Their benefits greatly outweigh their risks. While a few people have a medical reason for not taking vaccines, most people (and the population overall) will benefit. Doctors who claim otherwise are irresponsible.
Wealth inequality = health inequality. Where all but the very richest lose out.
The underlying mechanisms are complex and varied, but that’s the headline, as far as I understand it.
We know what we need to do to fix this - but is the political will there?
Festive nibbles and port!
My new favourite tradition is hiding some money with the decorations when you put them away, so you can treat yourself to fancy shmancy nibbles and a drink in the skint Christmas lead-up as a reward for managing to get the Christmas tree up.
