Are you a scholar of the fifteenth century and have an interest in the British Isles and its wider connections? If so, then you will want to know that @memsunikent.bsky.social will be hosting the 2026 Fifteenth Century Conference in Canterbury and the CfP is now open: www.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

This is worth reading closely. The piece makes a very strong case for being very careful when embracing AI for historical research.

That renowned and respected lover of truth and journalistic integrity.... THE KREMLIN.... has stepped up to defend Trump in his battle against the BBC. SO that's Farage, Netanyahu, Putin, and Boris Johnson...

Does Britain value culture any more? Ask the striking workers at the British Library | Zadie Smith www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We're so glad you like them! We've been lucky to work with some very talented illustrators throughout our History and the Crisis in Higher Education series

Was really impressed with these illustrations when I saw them - captures what I’m trying it say about A.I

"Historical analysis is fundamentally different and more complex than producing a mass of visualizations and statistics that are the lifeblood of many A.I. programmes." Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.

Nowhere in the hysterical pile-on against the BBC in the British press has anyone mentioned that BBC News now has 77 million viewers & listeners in the US and has established itself as the second most trusted news source there.

Something from me on the dangers of A.I for historians and the neverending cycle of job cuts www.historyworkshop.org.uk/practice-his...

@bjennings90.bsky.social absolutely nails it. (www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...)

Which one is more English?

Osborne deserves a lot more condemnation, for not just doing austerity but doing it so cackhandedly: 1. Not borrowing to invest when borrowing costs were at essentially zero 2. Cutting spending by salami slicing every part of the public sector with no real analysis of where could take it

Though on an unrelated note - there probably is a comedy to be written about monotheisms being the result of external consultants suggesting streamlining. ‘Rather than an infinite number of combinations of Gods to worship, just focus on one which gives a very clear message to the customers’

Worth a read, particular for a hardline non-believer like myself who nevertheless hates bad history.

At @ihr.bsky.social we can now offer PhD by Publication in History! For those with a substantial body of existing published research (within past 10 years), but without a PhD, should be of particular interest to #heritage professionals and independent scholars!

Hollow laughter

You know you’ve been a UCU rep a while when you get a long service award and one of the first things you do is work out what that would mean for any statutory redundancy payout

The UAE is an authoritarian autocracy, a petro-state with no income tax for citizens, to bribe them for the lack of democratic voice or free speech It is 85% migrant, a segregated society with a ban on integration in principle and practice, few rights, equal opportunities, nor voice for incomers

No, it never existed, and then the imaginary target was scrapped by the Conservatives years ago anyway. The rise in numbers going to uni was entirely down to higher demand from students.

Nope. This is in no way a good thing. Not even remotely

Journalism is a tough gig in 2025. News desks are pared to the bone, specialists are all but gone, nobody wants to pay to consume and advertising is in a death spiral. So let's be honest about why Farage and co get so much coverage: they provide endless, cheap, easy stories and promote rage clicks.

Anyone shocked that Reform plan to deport immigrants with Indefinite Leave to Remain hasn’t been paying attention. Next it will be stripping citizenship from dual citizens, then deporting them. Who do you think Reform are? This. This is who they are.

Modern language education is probably the best educational crisis in Britain but gets very little coverage because we assume the rest of the world just speaks English as a second language

Asst'd reasons, incl that in laboratory sci subjects 1. You need buildings w labs (£££); 2. having undergrad lab classes to staff limits how bad you can make your staff-student ratios; 3. demand for sci PhDs means Unis can't staff lecture courses w casualized staff like they often do in arts/hums.

As we keep saying: when the humanities are in trouble, the sciences are, too; generally, at UK universities, the sciences are cross-subsidised by the arts and humanities. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

The worst kind of policy moaner is a middle aged arts or humanities graduate grumbling that not enough young people study STEM subjects.

The UK’s problems aren’t caused by immigration on.ft.com/46p3BPl

The best advice to students beginning university can be summed up as: if in doubt, ask your teachers (or librarians, or student support staff, etc. as relevant) and not the plagiarism robot. The Guardian can send my fee to my PO Box.

I am wondering if the death of Alexander III in 1286 could be the basis of a Carry On Film?

It would be good at some point to see and MP for a Scottish constituency have a role in cabinet that isn’t Secretary of State for Scotland

📣 Call for participants 📣 Have you ever used any History Workshop Journal articles in your teaching practice? If so, we would love to hear from you! Please let us know by sending an email or feel free to DM.

Other historians have already pointed out why the article in question has flawed methods and data, so I won't discuss. The underlying issues are power, publication venues, & collaboration. 1) Nature articles on history are almost always framed as "scientists figured out what historians couldn't." 1/

I suspect that the many who say that the humanities are not ‘career-related’ or to be blunt, those who dislike people studying the humanities, actually don’t want to hear evidence to the contrary

Call for papers, Leeds IMC 2026 - Big data and medieval manuscripts. Please consider submitting a proposal!

It’s here

it's "cool" that every conservative pundit in the UK basically seems to want to turn the country into Norsefire

Educators encouraging students to use AI is like medical doctors encouraging people to stop exercising and washing their hands. It reveals a fundamental lack of understanding of the entire point of their field.

Tilly Macdonald recently wrote in The Spectator that she doesn’t want her husband to have more paternity leave, because he doesn’t know how to do the laundry and “clatters about’ in the kitchen. But paternity leave isn’t the problem, says Paul Nowak. Tilly’s husband is.

Happy to see this out as an ebook - hard copies out next month. It’s something I was interested in writingall the way back as an undergraduate in 2006 link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

CFP: Leeds IMC 2026 The Society for Fourteenth-Century Studies invites papers on any aspect of the long 14thC across the Plantagenet estates. 📅 6–9 July 2026 📨 Title + abstract by 31 Aug 2025 ✉️ [email protected] & [email protected]

Decades of mechanistic talk about university degrees as if they were bundles of 'skills' and 'prep' are about to be proved completely wrong (obviously). Want to get a real boost? Do History or English.

We are calling on the UK Government to not introduce a levy on higher education provider income from international students, reduce visa costs to attract global talent, and to review higher education funding to create a sustainable model www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/58...

Delighted to catch up with Gordon McKelvie at #IMC2025. Save 50% on "Rebellion in Medieval Europe, c.1000-c.1500", co-edited with Adrian Jobson and Harriet Kersey - quote code BB094. buff.ly/xHH5fjU #MedievalSky @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social

Go fuck yourself

The fact this is genuinely newsworthy, when it isn’t for a foreigner player coming to Britain, tells you everything you need to know about language learning in Britain. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

What we’re dealing with here is a media law that pre dates the internet. Think about that. Essentially UK law says that people read entire articles and not just headlines. buff.ly/JunQ62t

EXC: Rangers legend Graeme Souness has blasted Nigel Farage as a “chancer” who does not care about Scots. He is urging locals in the Hamilton by-election to vote Labour tomorrow. www.dailyrecord.co.u...

‘R&D is a long-term source of prosperity, and an area of UK competitive advantage… but to maximise the impact on UK productivity, innovation policy needs to link more strongly with industrial strategy for a services based economy.’ Me in CityAM ahead of the SR www.cityam.com/dont-forget-...