Explores free speech, critical political economy, social movements, monuments, digital media, public space, and social class, but not necessarily in that order.
Joined March 2021
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Here's a short reply piece I've written against some specific claims of a 'free speech crisis' in society. It's open access.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…
John Michael Roberts retweeted
New statistics released today show two abysmal new records:
- A record high number of people sleeping rough
- A record high number of households and children living in temporary accommodation
These are the most devastating indicators of the failure of our housing system ⬇️
ALT Graph showing a record high number of people sleeping rough in Autumn 2025
John Michael Roberts retweeted
In our new report with @SocialGuarantee, we lay out a universal basic services approach to housing - to ensure sufficient, sustainable, and secure homes, all within planetary boundaries.
Learn how we can provide good, green homes for all:
neweconomics.org/2025/10/goo…
What on earth has happened to Ben Elton...????
nitter.cf/TimesRadio/status/1975…
“I find it very hard not to despair.”
Ben Elton, though he disagrees with most of Thatcher’s policies, says she was at least “a woman of principle”, as “all honour is gone” in politics today.
@StigAbell | #TimesRadio
Robert Redford, who recently passed away, made some terrific films. I watched many of his classics when I was a kid. In the plaudits I've so far read, none highlighted a fantastic movie he starred in. The Hot Rock is a wildly funny film. Try and see it if you haven't already.
John Michael Roberts retweeted
#ERSNew 🐣🔓 This article explores how Palestinian university students in the West Bank narrated the precarity of life under Israeli occupation. Article: doi.org/10.1080/01419870.202…
John Michael Roberts retweeted
Last time a Labour Chancellor spoke about financial regulations was to apologise for his role in reducing them in the face of pressure from the City. This was after handing over hundred of billions to bailout the banks because of regulatory failure.
theguardian.com/politics/202…
Now published as open access in the current edition of The Sociological Review, the snappily-titled, 'Outline of a Critical Sociology of Free Speech in Everyday Life'.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.…
The end of global hegemony of the dollar...?
jacobin.com/2025/04/trump-gl…
John Michael Roberts retweeted
"Socialism”
Professor and ‘Godfather of AI’ @geoffreyhinton says that socialist policies are the only way to ensure that wealth generated from AI is fairly distributed
#Peston
This has been on the cards for a while now:
nitter.cf/resfoundation/status/1…
John Michael Roberts retweeted
Poorest fifth in England pay 4.8% of household income in council tax; richest fifth 1.5%.
Council tax based on out of date valuations
So many regressive taxes
VAT
Fuel duty
Wages taxed at higher rates than dividends, capital gains.
Need tax justice.
theguardian.com/business/202…
If there was ever an example of the truism that, in Stanley Fish's words, there's no such thing as 'free speech', then it's found here:
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ceve…
On Peter Mandelson...
jacobin.com/2025/02/mandelso…
Tyburn hanging tree is also important because it represents the unofficial origins of arguably the most famous public space in the world for free speech, namely Speakers' Corner in London.
nitter.cf/_pasttense_/status/189…
#OnThisDay in London's medical history: A crowd tries to rescue the body of a soldier executed at Tyburn from dissection, 1770. Surgeons had legal right to bodies of the hanged for medical experiments; friends, relatives often fought to bury the body whole
wp.me/p74yfw-iT
