Am I missing something? AI says something completely insane and impossible, and you just believe it? And blindly follow? Even though it is telling you something that can't be real?

I did a lot of research on Machiavelli (him, not his works) for my latest book, and he was nothing as you would expect.

✉️ Explore 145,000 medieval merchant letters as a live map: the correspondence network of Francesco di Marco Datini (c.1363–1412), spanning Florence to Barcelona to North Africa. Visualise routes, travel times & seasonality. docuracy.github.io/datini/ #DigitalHumanities #MedievalHistory

New Zealanders: Can anyone tell me what Maiki Sherman did? Is it just being brown at work?

It's funny you should say that. I was musing on this right now. And also on the whole 'support your independent bookshop' notion. But independent bookshops are not supporting independently published authors.

I'm not the only one. Google "Unbound books" or "Boundless" for full details. But once bitten... I now self-publish on Amazon. I'm sorry if your opinions about Amazon mean you won't read my books. My options about feeding my family mean I won't change my mind.

Literall every article, especially those written by men, was like this, where at the end I realised oh it’s because they flatter you

New Zealand, a colony built upon being as tight as a fish's arse, where generations of colonisers have taken pride in DIY, bodged repairs, and being cheap as fuck, and spend their dotage complaining about people not spending money on their rentals, businesses etc etc

i keep thinking about this more and more with each passing day

no YOU'RE crying about the clip of anne hathaway saying it takes zero courage to love trans kids

We’re going to see a lot more of this kind of dubious research that uses technology to “solve and discover” things as the humanities continues to be devalued.

the future is here and unavoidable.

I see NZH ran another story today about autistic kids suffering health problems as a result of being unable to eat. It's such a complex medical issue, and it gets framed as vitamin deficiency. And the lies that there are options in NZ for treatment! Shrugging and saying eat more is not treatment!

If the rich are donating to a particular political group, you know it's evil. It's basically automatic

The ballroom, the arch… I have a PhD in Egyptology and I know a mortuary temple complex when I see one.

If you feel like the world sucks, trying reading New Scientist. It's a nice weekly feel-good read about positive things happening and tales of past endeavours to improve the world.

Call me when the NYT is ready for a "12 Bitches Who Were Right about Everything" piece.

yeah I’m not gonna lie Michelle you do look dumb as hell

When a King and direct descendent of King George III has to remind the American government about the utmost importance of checks and balances, you know we're in deep trouble.

'Protecting what matters': a new government policy paper identifies history as central to social cohesion. At the same time, history teaching and research, in our schools and universities, is at risk as never before. To ensure cohesion, we must protect what matters: bit.ly/3QyZQCO #skystorians

My new novel comes out next week, my first fiction release since 2019. ON THE FICKLENESS OF LOYALTY is the first part of the Becoming Thomas Cromwell series, covering 1503-1513. Part one covers 1503-1506, as Cromwell sets himself up in Florence, working for the Frescobaldi family

"Holy shit, this is BRILLIANT: This dude breaks down why everyone thinks the whole WHCD event was fake... everything about trump is FAKE. "Best video you'll see today." — BrooklynDad_Defiant!

Baby turtle getting a scrubbing 🥹

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif

I’m not convinced when an Australian pretends to not know that when an Aboriginal person talks about Country, they’re not talking about the continent of Australia. They’re talking about the lands from which different Indigenous peoples or ‘tribes’ come from. 1/3

Guess she stayed with her Israeli handler

the irony is that there are many journalists who are threatened and killed for their work globally, except they don’t overlap at all with the people willing to attend the MAGA White House correspondent’s dinner

Where are they even getting these would be assassins? Temu?

this chart was life altering to me

Lost Pages of a Medieval Manuscript Recovered, Revealing New Testament Text www.medievalists.net/2026/04/lost... #history #medievalmanuscripts #digitalhumanities

What do you do when someone says they love using substack

Begging, screaming, throwing up

I’m no fan of organised religion, but this guy is starting to grow on me. #nzpol #WokeAF #OneTermGovernment

Look I like to have fun but this is incorrect. It is true that arctic means bear and Antarctic means no bear but it's not because of the animals that inhabit the regions it's because of the Ursa Major bear constellation that lets you know where north is so Antarctic (South) is the opposite direction

I will never stop pointing out, that our refusal to recognise of the Armenian Genocide for the sake of ANZAC Day is an insult both to the Armenian people as victims, and to any ANZACs who were at Gallipoli. #nzpol

The name of the POUM, the Marxist anti-Stalinist militia with which Orwell fought on the Aragón front, inscribed by some militia fighter in 1936-37 on the stone of this old farm hut, near Tierz, Huesca.

A bit of sparkle on this sunny Friday. Photograph taken this morning on Glastonbury Tor shortly after sunrise.

i’ve worked in tech more than 20 years. it has never been more ridiculous.

this is clearly not true, a 19 metre anything isnt prowling, it's sauntering around the place like it has the title deed in its back pocket and 6 real estate lawyers on speed dial

this is one of the best memes of all time

Pope Leo has lost the Protestants, I repeat Pope Leo has lost the Protestants, this is unpreced— <wait my producer is just whispering something in my ear> Apparently this is precedented

I love hearing people talk shit about Ozempic face. I let them be nasty and then jump in and ask if I really look that awful. Oh, now you realise you're a twat and shouldn't have been so public with your words? Spoiler, it shouldn't have been said anywhere.

This tweet exists in the year 2026

I'm so tired from hearing people label minor issues as trauma. Like, what are you going to do when an actual crisis hits?

Share an '80s movie that you will always love.

The next person who coughs on me is getting mouthful of something else

Woke 2: A Fresh Peel

People are dying, Liam