'Hey for the New Jerusalem! The Millenium! And peace and eternal beatitude be unto the soul of Thomas Paine.' (Thomas Holcroft, 1791.) Thanks @gclaeyshistory.bsky.social et al. for all their painstaking work, & congratulations on the timely publication of this landmark scholarly edition.

Also working-class autodidacts didn't just read alone - they read in groups, set up libraries and reading rooms, and battled for Mechanics' Institutes (many long ago merged into unis) to teach music, history, and politics. They built the public adult education infrastructure that's being destroyed

Sending this pic to every boomer in my contact list

I'm looking for some extra work this summer so if anyone has anything - e.g. remote research (especially London archives or Cambridge area), transcription, editing, proofing, etc, or knows of anyone looking, then feel free to let me know!

It seems a good day to remind people that in the UK 3 times as many people work in Indian restaurants or for McDonalds as in the whole coal and steel industry. 5 times as many are academic staff at universities. If Labour does not understand its electorate, there is no way to appeal to it.

Anybody who opposes or even scrutinises British defence spending - which, after all, gave us the Tank That Deafens People, the Innovative Self-Jamming Gun, and HMS White Elephant - is clearly a nefarious agent of the Kremlin.

Nice reminder to what remains of the Starmer project that there might be an easier way of "winning over Reform voters" that doesn't entail bragging about robbing refugees of their personal possessions in militarised detention centres.

British Palestinians feel ‘gaslit’ and unable to speak out, says leading activist

The BBC’s description of people who choose to attend a Tommy Robinson march. “Peacefully expressing their interpretation of British identity”

Sharing, without comment, British newspapers’ depictions of the only Jewish person currently leading a UK political party . Times. Mail. Telegraph. Sun.

Yesterday in Hastings, in the wake of antisemitic attacks in Golders Green, I faced Nazi salutes. Today the Prime Minister uses his office to attack the only Jewish party leader to score political points.

In a *new* post, I have pulled together the latest data on historians in UK universities and PhDs granted. The results are ... not great. Staff numbers have been mostly shrinking since 2019. PhDs have been roughly flat. 1/3. 🗃️ More info here: manyheadedmonster.com/2026/04/23/h...

'Universities across the UK have reported more than 1,000 job losses in the first four months of this year, with the actual number likely to be far higher as institutions continue to roll out cost-saving initiatives.' 1/4