'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

Scholars urge BBC to rethink changes to archive access Matthew Reisz for @timeshighered.bsky.social on the profoundly problematic (my words) research restrictions at BBC Written Archives [£; but free to read if you register] www.timeshighereducation.com/news/scholar...

Bridget Phillipson will introduce new laws to make it possible for Universities to be fined millions of pounds if they don't silence students who protest bigots invited onto their campuses. It's like the Tories never left office.

We are pleased to be supporting the "Modern British History and the 'Environmental Turn'" worshop at Lincoln College, University of Oxford @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social) on 16 - 17 September 2026 See call for papers (closes 15 May 2026) below: pastandpresent.org.uk/call-for-pap...

🔔⏰Just over 1 month to go! ⏰🔔 Call for papers: Modern British History and the 'Environmental Turn' A two-day workshop organised by @andrewseaton.bsky.social and myself at Lincoln College, Oxford, 16-17 September. Deadline for abstracts is 15 May. Details in poster below!

This is a wonderful resource for teaching and also really fun to browse as a general reader - would highly recommend especially to those (historians and not) who are newer to this material! It has never been easier to include queer & trans perspectives in your teaching of modern British history!

an exhibition that will be everywhere across all media and largely define London’s cultural and tourist offer in the autumn: salary c.25% lower than median for London, and barely scraping above national average

An excellent opportunity for anyone interested in film & computational analysis, DH, etc!

I learned to love cinema at the Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford as an undergrad. It's been around since 1911, and is now a fantastic community-owned venue. But it's at risk of development by Oriel College. This would be a terrible loss for independent cinema. Save the UPP! c.org/TpFdQMnhRN

Exhibit two: the BBC Written Archives are becoming much more difficult for researcher access, as outlined in depth in this response to the Charter Review from @greavesian.bsky.social and many others drive.google.com/file/d/1n5aX...

💥New | What oral histories can teach us about effective environmental research ✍️ Paul Merchant & @angecass.bsky.social #OralHistory #ResearchImpact #CoProduction

The drunk uncle theory. You don’t argue with the casually homophobic uncle at Thanksgiving dinner to change his mind; you argue so that the closeted cousin at the kids table knows there’s safe people and better possibilities out there

Friends, can I ask you to spread the word that we have a THREE-YEAR postdoc in American history at Cambridge up for grabs - ANY field, but applications are due March 1 so don't delay - apply, apply, apply! networks.h-net.org/jobs/69790/u...

#Skystorians Exciting conference klaxon!

Very excited to announce this workshop on environmental approaches to modern British History taking place this September at @lincoln.ox.ac.uk. Please share!

CALL FOR PAPERS - Modern British History and the 'Environmental Turn'. A two-day workshop organised by @maxlong.bsky.social and myself at Lincoln College, Oxford, 16-17 September. Deadline for abstracts is 15 May. Details in poster below, please share.

For anyone interested in our 18-month post in British Studies please follow the link below. @ihr.bsky.social www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

A packed house @bbkhistorical.bsky.social for History Workshop Journal's 50th anniversary/100th issue celebration! It's a joy to see so many wonderful historians here to mark @historyworkshop.org.uk's incredible 50 years.

My first book, Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life, will be published by Yale University Press on 11 August (UK) and 8 September (US). Please help spread the word! 🙏 UK: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... @yalebooks.bsky.social 🏳️‍🌈📚🐵 US: yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300... @yalepress.bsky.social 🏳️‍⚧️ 🗃️🦋

my dad didn’t go to university and he was extremely happy to pay taxes for his four children to do so; and, indeed, for the doctors who treated him at Addenbrookes to have gone to university as well.

Are you a teacher, parent or youth worker looking for an engaging way to get young people to think critically about digital technologies? Use our new zine series, which provides arts-based activities and prompts for children to explore the personal, social and environmental impacts of technologies.

Amazon literally hosts the Palantir ICE surveillance database -- so this is not even a hypothetical. Buy local!

AI cannot feel. Its incredibly demeaning to both humans and non-human animals that feel actual emotions to frame it like this, Amanda, you weirdo. You should feel judged.

The winners of last year's Capturing Ecology photography competition are truly amazing. You can see them all here: www.britishecologicalsociety.org/capturing-ec...

Two weeks left to apply for a postdoc position on my project! I'm looking for historians, anthropologists, STS and Global Health researchers with a broad interest in #Brazil, #rural populations, #health, #medicine, and #zoonosis. For more information👇

My latest in History Today, on the Pride of Derby river pollution case of 1952. Now available in newsagents etc!

Huge news for the little owl! Its transformation from 'vermin alien' and 'worst bird in Britain' to 'cute little bird' is now almost complete 🦉

It’s funny how Wikipedia used to seem relatively unreliable, because it was written by regular people instead of encyclopedia experts, and now it seems relatively reliable, because it’s written by regular people instead of glib CliffsNotes robots

Nice workshop on georeferencing coming up Jan 31 w/ @oldinsurancemaps.net @openhistoricalmap.org & more as a part of the @osmus.bsky.social virtual conference - openstreetmap.us/events/mappi...

We’ve got a stellar lineup for this term’s Modern British History Seminar in Oxford. Do come along if you’re around! talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/series...

Nobody in The Moral Maze gets eaten by the Moral Minotaur, which is a fundamental flaw in the programme.

Nick Robinson's political interviews perfectly illustrate the invariable reality of the BBC: strong with the weak and weak with the strong.

When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.

What if there was a way to link museum collections based on the way an object looks? Kaspar Beelen and I have a paper out now talking about 'Heritage Weaver,' a project that used multimodal AI to link and explore museum data across collections: doi.org/10.63744/txx...

Just discovered that my nemesis has a very obviously self-written Wikipedia page. My moral victories abound!!!!

Graduate of the American Studies programme that the University of Nottingham wishes to close wins 2025 Wolfson History Prize for Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade. History, it's a long game. Divest in haste, repent for the longue durée.

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.

Little Owl of the day. Colour photograph by Skoflek István (1960s-1970s), from the collections of the Museum of Kuny Domokos (Tata, Hungary)

Little Owl of the day: ‘I think you will consider this proof enough of the mischief it does’. The Field, 1919

It is amusing to me that some people were speculating that The Times had been taken in by a deepfake as part of some shadowy political interference campaign. Nope. They just emailed and then interviewed the wrong Bill DeBlasio.

My book UP IN THE AIR: A HISTORY OF HIGH-RISE BRITAIN is out today!

Teaching the histories of slavery and keen to inform your students with insights from the most recent research? Just a month to go before @uclpress.bsky.social publishes this open access (free to download) expert volume. uclpress.co.uk/book/teachin...

Little Owl of the day, 1938 Photograph by G. A. L. Bisseling & F. Kooymans, published in the Illustrated London News

MUST READ! In the latest CST blog about the damaging changes going on at the BBC Written Archives Centre, @marklewisohn.bsky.social delivers his cri de cœur squarely at those who came up with or are signing-off on this policy shift. Please read and share widely. cstonline.net/defending-th...

Thrilled to say I'm a judge for the first ever Inspiring History Teaching Awards, in association with Historic Royal Palaces. Do you know a great history teacher in the UK who deserves to go down in history? Nominate them here bit.ly/42yhGZP

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Most people who use it say it’s amazing at every field other than the one they’re experts in. This seems to be a trend among AI boosters.

During this period of open peer review of the Living w/Machines book, 2 new chapters are available: 1. MapReader - a deep cut on the epistemological shift it offers for computational map studies 2. Environmental Scan - a method for digital source criticism at scale #skystorians #dh #maps #histstm

As I head off in search of a branch of Caffe Nero's so I can look at the British Library Online Newspaper Archives for free, I'd like to remind people that this is something you can do.