Benjamin Detenber
@detenber
University professor in Singapore studying media and public opinion.
I have been voting in the US from overseas for more than two decades. It is secure, and it is my right. I will fight anyone who tries to deny me that right, especially if they use fabrications of fraud as justification.
Survey researcher here: totally non-representative sample. Should ignore completely.
On the flight back from London, I binge-watched the first season of The Pitt. (Yeah, I know. I'm behind the curve on this one.) This is how they handled the episode on priapism. There were plenty of children on board, so the caution is understandable.
Amazing comeback by Argentina. Heart-breaking for the English fans who saw a glimpse of glory early only to see it evaporate.
Down 2-0 with just over 10 minutes left in the match, Argentina comes back to win it 3-2 in regulation time. Incredible.
Daughter's flight from the UK to the US has been delayed ~7 hours. She said that with more than 4 hours, passengers are entitled to compensation. I think she was expecting a bit more than this. Way to go @virginatlantic.bsky.social!
The women justices are available; they are just valued less individually. ;-)
I just returned from the #ICA26 conference in Cape Town. It was fantastic, but I was so busy or immersed that I did not have time to post. Maybe I will get around to it, maybe not. (I have to prepare for a PhD oral defense tomorrow.) For now, enjoy this pic titled Leaving South Africa.
It was a great show - a lot of the old hits and some good newer material, too.
I have just finished all of my marking for the term (and academic year!), so now I am rehydrating chanterelle mushrooms. We're going to have a delicious risotto for my supper club tomorrow night.
Last week, I saw a student nodding off in class. She caught herself, reached into her bag and pulled out a small container. She unscrewed the lid and held it under her nose, and that apparently revived her. I asked her after class what it was she sniffed and she told me: this.
I'm really proud of Pengya, who defended her dissertation today so very well. She passed with no revisions needed! Also grateful to her co-supervisor, Sonny Rosenthal, and the committee members.
WTF NYT? Is this really what you think your readers want to see? Or is it just a hat-tip to Bezos as his journalism project craters?
Me and Founding Dean of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication, Eddie Kuo, at the 20th anniversary celebration of the school in 2012. We are about to "liberate" a commemorative statue from a block of ice with ceremonial hammers. I don't know whose idea that was, but it was a fun moment. I miss him.
And here are the prices a few years ago. That's a 45% increase. Americans need to stop bitching and a) drive less, b) drive smaller cars, c) use public transportation more (and support its infrastructure), d) bike more, or e) all of the above.
People in the US have been spoiled by comparatively low gasoline/petrol prices for decades. Much of the world has paid much higher prices for years, and with the current crisis created by Trump, we are shelling out even more at the pump. Today in Singapore, gas was US$10.12/gallon (S$3.43/liter).
The 2026 V-Dem report that was just released has a lot of data that are quite concerning, and perhaps none more than this figure showing the steep drop in democracy indicators on the US in the past few years (Fig. 22 on p. 33 of the report). Link to the full report below.
Working so hard to keep it together... Photo courtesy of The Guardian. Link below.
Me, almost every time I am hold with a company in the US. Even without the 13-16 hour time difference, I would probably still do this.
This is a cluster of Australian digital media scholars (e.g., UQ, QUT, RMIT, USyd, etc.). You are just to the southwest of the cluster, @snurb.info and @aeden.bsky.social