Ian Hunt

@ianhunt.bsky.social

104 followers 153 following 185 posts

art, architecture, environment & politics | former UKHE worker | GPEW (but here as a civilian) | chief distractions: novels, poetry, botany, buildings | he/him

Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 10:09 UTC

Timely to be reading about Runcorn and New Towns. I hope your work is firmly being landed on Someone's Desk.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 09:42 UTC

Meanwhile, for a little longer, enjoy the view of the Victoria station that has opened up.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 09:39 UTC

4 (Wilton Road development). The problem? At ground level there will be all the active frontages you like, in comparison with what was here before. But the openness and proficiency of architecture like this sends a signal to passers by: another bit of London not for you, not really. Move on.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 09:33 UTC

3 (Wilton Road development) This horizontal/vertical thing is not boring, visually, it may have a chance to age well. There is a case for building tall near stations and there would surely have been a fight over getting a building this height here. That's not really the problem.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 09:29 UTC

2 (of maybe a thread, Victoria station, Wilton Rd). In pure design terms (which don't exist but I sometimes park my brain to act like they do) this isn't bad. No stupid brick skin or vertical emphasis windows of the New London Architecture. The verticals make a kind of exoskeletal effect.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 09, 2024 at 09:24 UTC

1 of maybe a thread. Triangular site by the side of Victoria station, Squire and Partners. I guess the deco-ish curves are meant to work with the nice deco theatre where WICKED plays, opposite. Suspect the social housing contribution will be not in this building, but elsewhere entirely.

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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 08, 2024 at 07:22 UTC

Some striking takeaways from the voter demographics of the exit polling. The RN is clearly the party of the have-not un-voters: unsatisfied, unpaid, uneducated village-dwellers. But it's also the party of the haves: white collar, €3K/mo, Bac+3, city-dwellers. 1/2

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 17:30 UTC

Squinancywort, in Bedstraw family. Pleased to find this in the same site I found it in . . . (checks notes) 1969. Coney Banks, Chatham, Kent. I have a suspicion that it does not compete well with the Yellow Rattle that is otherwise such an asset on this site, but I could be wrong. #WildflowerHour

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 10:51 UTC

I think, according to the rules, unless these statements are in Latin, preferably engraved on a boulder, they don't count!

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 10:18 UTC

Not me but here is another relevant map for now, you probably know it: -- London Boroughs of Golf. golfbelt.russellcurtis.co.uk

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 09:41 UTC

More Anthony Vahni Capildeo! Thanks for the news.

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 08:21 UTC

A good long read on RN. Timely for both French and British politics:

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 08:08 UTC

Thank you! adding Oxford East to the list

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 07:23 UTC

This list is not necessarly a guide to where our next MPs will be; it doesn't map onto places where we have numbers of councillors. The strategy of focusing on two places where we won off Tories was right. It will be hard to hold onto those seats next time but it can be done.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 07:16 UTC

here is my list of GPEW second places (incomplete -- what did I miss?). No one is pretending that us having four MPs is going to change everything but they/we worked hard and well to do this. I am proud of the people in these mostly Labour safe seats who voted Green.

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drow zelensky @dov.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 07, 2024 at 03:18 UTC

You know how I think a mature society ensures that its parliament has no bams? Instead of trying to rig the game against the bams, how about you just don't have any bams in the first place. And if you do have them, find a way to make them go extinct.

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Prof. Farhana Sultana @farhana.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 17:03 UTC

🚨My book is online!🚨 "Confronting Climate Coloniality: Decolonizing Pathways for Climate Justice" This was a journey & labor of love to clarify what climate coloniality is & how to decolonize climate justice. Thanks to many for their support! Details below.🧵

4 replies 46 reposts 116 likes

Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 16:49 UTC

So I am here as #GPEW civilian, honest, but here is a hand crafted list of GPEW second places in 2024 election. One may be missing. From Guardian map. Full list in Alt text. #UKPolitics #Green

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 16:33 UTC

I have hand crafted a list of #GPEW second places in the 2024 election, in no particular order. I think one is missing, or perhaps I can't count.

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kim yi dionne (she/her) @dadakim.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 14:18 UTC

🇲🇼 Drawing on my recent @jodemocracy.bsky.social essay, I wrote in @goodauth.bsky.social today to celebrate #Malawi turning 60.

The takeaway? Malawi's democratic journey has something to teach those of us who want to resist democratic backsliding in our own countries. 💪

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 12:47 UTC

Yes I miss seeing those bits of news from HoL too . . .

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 11:09 UTC

Thanks for your coverage Mark. I lost all my Green nerd election follows in the Big Platform Shifts . . . am left wondering if anyone has seen a list of seats where Greens were in second place, as this needs to be publicised just as much as the Bad List of Where Reform did.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 11:05 UTC

happy day and birthday! x

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 10:16 UTC

my quick take is: although I know an absurd amount about PR struggles, the LP may have a chance to legislate on how political parties are funded. They should take it. I am less certain of their ability to take apart the hostile environment, but they must, and voices within & without will tell them

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 09:36 UTC

I am very happy about the GPEW gains, which were really worked for. I look forward to hearing the new Green MPs' voices in parliament as I look forward to not being in a country run by conservatives. I hope work is done across political divides to dramatically draw attention away from the right.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 09:17 UTC

Money & media attention is carelessly flung at far right & populist parties; little money or attention goes to left & green. I wonder what the conversations are among UK centrist parties, Lib Dem and Labour, about the situation in France, excellently analysed here by Alexander Clarkson

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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 08:06 UTC

With elections across Europe there has been a recent tendency of overcorrecting from past mistakes to focus entirely on far right dynamics that were once scoffed at It means dynamics that are just as important such as factional positioning in France's Left or the rise of England's Greens get missed

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Municipal Dreams @municipaldreams.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 16:47 UTC

Quai de la Passerelle, Amiens: the city's first social housing (HBM = habitation bon marché - inexpensive housing) opened in 1932 by OPAC, the Office Public de l'Habitat d'Amiens. Fully renovated 2016. Note the caretaker's office and the shed for each tenement.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 17:06 UTC

Wow! This looks stunning -- having looked so much at UK housing of this period, it is amazing to see similar social goals differently expressed.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 13:17 UTC

Can't this time -- have to be at a football averse 70th party hence the elaborate planning. Another time though . . .

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 11:57 UTC

De Hems sounds good. It used to be easier to just walk into a pub near where you needed to be but the pub count is lower now, and the wankers! (am one, ofc)

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 11:24 UTC

where is an ok not too rammed pub to watch football on Saturday, do they all charge extra now for this? Or outdoor screen. Highbury & Islington / Dalston Junction / Haggerston

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 07:16 UTC

"Today’s Israel/Palestine might thus be thought of as an instance of “neo-apartheid”"

New article by Saul Dubow, who knows a thing or two about apartheid...

scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/pir/art...

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 07:22 UTC

#Goldsmiths update: this week it has been announced who is on the list of planned redundancies. This letter about the situation in just one department, #VisualCultures , is indicative. Please sign #UCU #ArtHistory #HigherEducation

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 11:40 UTC

I have added them in as comments on your blog -- glad to see Bessie Head has been mentioned already, so I don't have to . . .

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 11:32 UTC

I connect with few specifically #Kent people here, but the Local Nature Recovery Strategy #LNRS is nationwide -- UK #NatureCrisis alert to another framework to volunteers and wildlife workers to map out areas of concern and pressure, use local knowledge, help to link up existing campaigns.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 11:24 UTC

I have become interested in the exceptional Coney Banks & Horsted Valley, protected as a LWS & I think Village Green status. Is that enough or does it need flagging here /upgraded protection? The struggles I see coming are about balance of harms (loss of land, wildlife, connectivity) w housing.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 09:46 UTC

This is incredibly useful and I will learn from it. Thank you. One author I really admire is #ZoëWicomb. Still Life, her last book, may be her best - but for teaching purposes her book of short stories, The One That Got Away, would be more appropriate, and of the other novels Playing in the Light.

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folukeifejola @folukeifejola.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 12:09 UTC

In this #newblogpost, taking up @afua_td_imoh's challenge that we use African fiction to teach about African realities, I make 20 suggestions.
What other African works or authors would you recommend?
folukeafrica.com/20-contempor...

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Reposted by Ian Hunt

Katherine Ibbett @eparpillee.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 17, 2024 at 08:23 UTC

Clearing the book piles /pretending I don’t have marking to do: this is one of the most captivating things I read this year - Rosa Luxemburg’s botanical journals (and letters to the friends who brought her plant samples in prison), here in French translation, edition by Muriel Pic for Héros-Limite

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 07:03 UTC

"The result is an inspiring political narrative based on elision." An astute analysis of contemporary political identities "fashioned in the colonial heartlands".

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 20:03 UTC

#WildflowerHour #GrassChallenge Quaking grass, Briza media: from Coney Banks, Chatham, Kent a local wildlife site on calcareous ground close to centres of population

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 15:46 UTC

www.theguardian.com/world/articl...

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 08:55 UTC

Hogweed. I have started to see a wider range of insects on my travels, but am continually shocked to find how few there are feeding on the flowers where I would expect to see them. The 'Nature Crisis' is real and it it is underway #Insects #Extinction

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 08:07 UTC

I left #Goldsmiths a year ago. My friends and colleagues are fighting an even more dreadful set of redundancies now and are on strike -- people in the art dept have put together this incredible raffle, tickets £5. #HigherEducation #UCU www.gucu-raffle.com

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 12:23 UTC

The contrast with #PJHarvey -- who is great -- is that her musical intelligence, with the line-up of greying white guys in church hall setting, means she does not have to go towards the audience much, and then when she do some rockist stuff her occasional smile is astonishing.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 11:39 UTC

#LowCarbonFestivals LCD Soundsystem at #Glastonbury via iPlayer: good! They are music fans first, it's emotional, messy, varied. The irony of their self-positioning (their surprise at being the ones on stage) means that they actually do establish warmth and a sense of equality with the audience.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 19:00 UTC

Bridgefoot Street Park is firmly on my visit list whenever I can get a boat to Dublin.

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 27, 2024 at 09:53 UTC

that's too weird!

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Ian Hunt @ianhunt.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 27, 2024 at 09:40 UTC

what form does your tangible yoghurt take? In GPEW policy discussions I sometimes see there is disagreement on whether it should be knitted or plaited

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