My point is that a refusal to reconsider or apologize when people make a compelling case that you erred isn’t a feature of a culture of free speech. It’s a feature of authoritarianism—a culture that expects people to stay silent and compliant even when they know they’re being lied to.

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

I’m co-organising a medieval conference next year in Oxford! Please take a look at the CfP and consider submitting an abstract, by the 15th of September, to [email protected]. We hope to be able to provide funding to help cover expenses of attendance. #medievalsky #skystorians

It's Friday! What a great day to remind you that I draw maps for a living. It's the thing that supports all the eel facts! I mostly draw maps for books, but I can do all sorts. Here's a few examples. If you need a map, you can check out my website for costs, reviews, etc. surprisedeelmaps.com

If you like seeing someone get salty about textual editors actively erasing asexual and aromantic possibility from early modern texts (I have receipts), have I got the video for you! #asexuality #aromanticism #alloediting

“My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think or of my opinions.”—Eartha Kitt For #WomensHistoryMonth, we celebrate Eartha Kitt, an international star, dancer, singer, actress, performer, cabaret artist, and published author.

So glad I decided to go hard and attend the first day of the Early Modern Trans Studies conference today *after* the RSA / SAA twofer! It was a joy to see so many terrific papers and hang w the (rapidly expanding) premodern trans studies crew - and to taste the @badinfinity2.bsky.social book cake 🎂

I don’t have many photos from #Shax2025, but this one of us walking through the mall where we all lived and learned for several days on sums it up quite nicely. Thanks, as ever, to my friends and colleagues for being in community and sharing knowledge this weekend. 1/2

Boston: City of Knowledge? As if #RSA2025, #shax2025 and #MAA2025 hadn’t been enough, we now have the PrEmoTrans symposium. Great to see such a huge turnout and many familiar faces from the RSA, etc.

April Fools Day is canceled indefinitely because there’s nothing more foolish than our current reality.

Happy Birthday Chaka Khan! Explore her musical legacy (including audio & video highlights) here:

Popping in to share the excellent books I gathered at SAA/RSA. On order is Trans Historical: Gender Plurality Before the Modern (Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov and Anna Klosowska, eds)

There’s just one month until the deadline for this Call for Papers! Submit your abstract for "Reconsidering Courtly Environments, c.1200-1800" by March 15. Further information is available in the attached document 📝 @courtstudies.bsky.social

A very long shot, but does anyone know of any historians working on or who have worked on the history of cancer? It's a very small field but there must be some people out there!

London Theatre Company have today released production photos of Richard II, starring Jonathan Bailey and directed by Nicholas Hytner, this fresh take on Shakespeare’s subtle, caustic and powerful play is currently playing the Bridge Theatre

This April: ‘Shifting Scripts’, a multifaceted event with panel discussions and workshops we organise together with @mkghamburg.bsky.social explores the intersections of Arabic and Persian graphic design with cultural, political and artistic narratives. More info/registration: uhh.de/csmc-shiftin...

The Indigenous People of North America have decided to go back to calling the Gulf of Mexico, “Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl”. It is what the Nahuatl People originally called it as it is the domain of the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, who is assoc w/water bodies, including the Gulf of Mexico.

A landscape commission I completed March 2024... this remains one of my proudest aerial embroideries to date! It was challenging and took its time and that pop of spring yellow in the south-west corner was a perfect choice from the commissioner 💛 I hope you also all love it! #fiberarts #embroidery

We're recruiting for the role of Assistant Professor in Early Modern History, and seek to appoint a historian working on any aspect of the early modern world, excluding the Anglophone world (deadline 17 March 2025): durham.taleo.net/careersectio...

I built a free URL shortener for teachers bc we don't need ads when we're just trying to help each other out Edushare.ing No redirecting to ads, no stealing your traffic, no registration or log-in, no charge I hope you find it useful. Please share with teachers freely #TeachersHelpingTeachers

Happy UK publication day to the first of many amazing New Oxford Shakespeare plays! Here’s Julius Caesar (with my intro) pictured @shakespearesglobe.bsky.social! Thanks to @oldfortunatus.bsky.social for her brilliant work as general editor and to Sarah Neville for her precise editing of the text.

Download a printable version of this card here: www.tomgauld.com/valentine

Current mood in face of all that is happening is Fuller Brooch

Call for Papers – Refugees and Borders: Life, Law, and Limits @chase-dtp.bsky.social Refugee Justice Network for a Borderless World Abstract Deadline – 22 February 2025 Seminar Date – 19 March 2025 at SOAS, London niche-canada.org/2025/02/10/c... #envstudies #migration #refugees

Antipopes should always have the opposite name to the reigning pope at the time; so Urban/Rural Clement/Inclement Paul/Peter Innocent/Guilty Pius/Impius Benedict/Maledict Francis/Dominic ... and so on

I'm only about halfway through the introduction to @badinfinity2.bsky.social 's excellent book, but it's 🔥🔥. Important work in both literary criticism and history.

Come work with us! 🚨 Job Opportunity: Ad Astra Fellow @UCD School of Classics / School of Art History and Cultural Policy !!! 🚨 📍 Specializing in Digital Technologies & Antiquity 💼 Salary: €62,855–€99,533 📅 Deadline: 21 Feb 2025, 12 PM (Irish Time) 👉 Apply now: my.corehr.com/pls/coreport...

Decolonising the Curriculum in the Humanities workshop with Evelien Geerts (UCC) and Ciarán O'Neill (TCD) on Monday 10 February eventbrite.ie/e/decolonisi... For details contact Alison Forrestal [email protected] @sarahannebuckley.bsky.social

The ecosystem of writers, editors, copyeditors, illustrators, book cover artists, and agents that AI could harm is mind-boggling. Please continue to buy books by real authors, and art by real artists. We are going to need your support.

Shakespeare Bulletin is out with this review of a fantastic book! Read the journal! Read the review! Read the book!

Giving the starter pack for people interested in early modern women another little boost. Lots of great scholars here! go.bsky.app/Cqqbspt

Endlessly fascinated by 14th C, transformed Europe: Black Death, Wars of the Roses and Hundred Years War begin, Peasants' Revolt, Hanseatic League, Guelph/Ghibelline war, Avignon papacy, Casimir the Great welcomes Jews fleeing western pogroms, Dante/Petrarch reinvent poetry, Giotto reinvents art...

Why does this feel like the religious version of the Borgs

We're working on it! :) @emdigit.bsky.social

Exciting PhD Opportunity! Come join @memsunikent.bsky.social for a CHASE-funded collaborative doctoral award with Westminster Abbey to investigate the manuscript fragments held in the Abbey’s Archives. Learn more at the link below, deadline to apply 17 Feb 2025 📜🎉 research.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

Someone at Trader Joe's never studied the Middle Ages...

Has anyone seen a production of Romeo and Juliet w/ a disabled Mercutio? Or with either title character performed with a visible disability? I appreciate all leads! #Shakespeare #earlymodern #disability

Hello, friends! We've made a starter pack. Please give us a nudge if you're a WSG member, colleague, book contributor, or a speaker past or present. We're keen to put our lovely community in touch with each other here. We've started small, so come back and check as we grow! go.bsky.app/88zFAoB

Seen some demand for a Shakespeare starter pack, so I’ve half-heartedly made one. I know I’m missing A LOT of people, so if you’re a scholar/student/practitioner working on/with/against Shakespeare, let me know and I’ll add you (someone else can do an early modern one!) go.bsky.app/UrSRue1

So you’re a recent PhD who is looking for an independent school job. How do you go about finding one? Given the lack of information in most university departments on that, it can be harder than it looks. So, some advice, and a dirty little secret about where schools hire. 1/18

Simpler times. Newspaper clipping from 1906.

Coming soon! The SAGE Handbook of Decolonial Theory, of which I’m the lead editor. All royalties will be donated to Gaza. Since these books tend to be expensive, ask your libraries to purchase it when it’s published in July 2025. Cover is not official.

Just in case you lost your recipe and you wanted to make this today

🥳 Better late than never! We’re excited to announce that The Journal of Cultural Analytics is now on Bluesky! Follow us to stay updated on our latest publications, special issues, and other exciting content 📚 ✨

It appears there is no Tudor starter pack, so I've started one! The app did start having a meltdown as I scrolled through people to add, so I've started with a few and can add. If you'd like to be added/removed, please let me know! go.bsky.app/KWLHF6i

In case you haven't heard – Medieval Women: In Their Own Words is open! *cue medieval fanfare* Step into the Middle Ages and explore the lives of women both well-known and long-forgotten, and their stories of creativity, courage, and resilience: bit.ly/BLMedievalWo... P.S. Members go free!

What, you want me to sell you the right to have AI scrape my work? What's the offer? $2,500 a book? Okay, here's my counteroffer: Go fuck yourself lithub.com/harpercollin...

Art drawn by people who very rarely make art and think they are “bad at art” is 1000x cooler than AI art. It’s life-affirming. It’s often unexpected. I cannot overemphasize how much I love when people just go for it. You do not need the machine for this human endeavor.

Made a medieval manuscripts and book history starter pack (broadly defined). It is definitely not exhaustive so please comment and I'll add you and the accounts that you think are missing! go.bsky.app/AN9pLVo