Does anyone know of anywhere in #Bournemouth that sells chargers for Samsung watches? iAccessories are sold out and CEX doesn't stock them. Or has anyone at #BAFTSS2026 got one I could borrow to charge my watch at the conference?

Current mood: recalling right-wing national newspapers and F*r*ge getting wound up about my research, and feeling even more proud of it being published as a result Artoo-Detoo’s Footprint: Star Wars and the Environmental Impacts of Practical and Digital Filmmaking 📽️ mediaenviron.org/article/1586...

I spoke to Jamie at BBC Bitesize last week about toxic fandom and why fans can be such passionate critics (even haters) of the things they purport to love. The article is now up here: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/art...

Dancing to The Cure in my bedroom with the cat. Am I a teenager again?

Looking forward to giving a talk at the Alan Turing Institute's AI in the Media Era seminar series this Thursday. We'll be exploring how algorithmic systems increasingly act as affective infrastructures of memory through a number of case studies. Register here: forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Wish I was at SCMS this year but I hope everyone's enjoying the conference.

Going for stupid walk for my stupid mental health.

I had a great time chatting with Laura and @jenkidd.bsky.social about the increasing use of AI to speak with the dead and the myriad ethical issues it can raise (especially in relation to crime and justice). Have a listen if you're so inclined! m.youtube.com/watch?v=nsv9...

I came up to my dad's this evening because he offered to cook tea then he said he'd recorded the Channel 5 'best of' X-Files episodes so we've been watching those. Baby!Mulder is so cute! And Gillian Anderson looks so young. Loving sharing my wealth of TXF knowledge with my dad though.

Had a new tattoo this week which is the start of finishing up my half sleeves (some 20 years after I started them). I love how the colour fits with the dawn colours in the sky, which you can't see very well in this photo. The other arm (which will be a dog) will do the same with blues and purples.

You can now listen to me talking about the X-Files for nearly two hours here if you're so inclined! m.youtube.com/watch?v=PuBT...

I had the best time talking to Dinara about X-Files fabfic, femslash and Diana Fowley for this episode!

Watching the AI Confidential with Hannah Fry programme on BBC2. While the title (The Boy Who Tried to Kill the Queen) is rather clickbaity it's very relevant to the work we're doing in the Synthetic Pasts research project. Which we did a podcast interview for today, funnily enough!

Looks like Ryan Coogler's X-Files reboot is progressing! It'll be interesting to see who's cast as the other lead and how Coogler is envisioning the new X-Files. I must admit I'm looking forward to seeing this... variety.com/2026/tv/news...

A part of Akinola Davies Jr's speech the BBC decided not to air

After I heard about the incident a few hours ago, I spent some time reading about N-word tics and intrusive thoughts and what I came away with was a feeling of deepened anger about the way white supremacist society has associated “Black person” with this word so it’s there, in people’s brains

More decorating/hanging up art today. I'm loving how the house looks, and the fake flowers on the kitchen windowsill work so well with the yellow tiles. The purple light says 'eek' though, not 'eel'...

Despite Loki's help I got my print (that I made!) framed and up on the wall alongside a paper carrier bag from my 2018 trip to Japan and a museum exhibition leaflet from Brazil last year.

Just realised I've been in the office three days in a row this week. I haven't done that since before covid! No wonder I'm so tired.

The Venn Diagram between racists and transphobes is a circle. The actions of the far right against migrants and how likes of many "gender critical activists" act towards trans and non-binary individuals are one and the same. It was inevitable it would escalate. www.thepinknews.com/2026/02/06/t...

Happy to have been accepted for BAFTSS this year! I'll be presenting in a panel on true crime (obviously). Anyone else going?

I've just discovered that Station 19 was cancelled after season 7. I'm gutted! Though maybe this means I won't be crying in front of the TV every evening (honestly the amount of times I've ended up in tears watching this show!).

I can't believe that 10 years ago today I was watching the first *new* episode of The X-Files since 2002. And then (shameless plug) I wrote a book about it! The Truth is Still Out There: Thirty Years of The X-Files examines the show’s fandom, real world politics and its impact on TV.

Extreme & dangerous ice out there, & a nasty winter storm too, so stay in with all the great public scholarly writing, podcasts, new & forthcoming books in my 260th #ScholarSunday thread. Add more below, share widely, & stay warm & safe, all! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."

Oh my way to London as I'm giving a talk at the @engmediacentre.bsky.social student conference tomorrow on fandom, participatory culture and TV drama. I'll be talking about some of the texts that A-Level media studies students are covering, including Killing Eve, Peaky Blinders and Stranger Things.

#icanhazpdf Has anyone got access to the chapter "Streaming Audiences: Deconstruction of Fashion Gender Stereotypes Through the Imitation of TV Series Outfits" by Antonella Mascio in The Routledge Companion to Media Audiences (2024)?

Following the Digital Darkside symposium at The DIGSUM Centre for Digital Social Research at Umeå University last year, I'm co-editing a special issue of Journal of Digital Social Research on the topic of digital darkside. For further info see the CFP at www.digsum.org/digsum-feed/...

As Deep Throat said* "The lies are out there, but so is the truth". You might find it in this episode of @historyonfilm.bsky.social, which I had a whale of a time recording. *Or did he...

Danish soldiers arriving in Greenland. Delegations from Germany, Sweden, Norway, France, Finland, the Netherlands and the UK on their way.

Our panel on Synthetic Media Resurrections has been accepted for #ICA2026! Looking forward to attending my first ICA conference. Who else do I know is going?

Stephen's reactions throughout the cabin mission were absolutely hilarious! And when he asked if the person in the grave was okay 🥹 #TheTraitors

The faithful are making some really bizarre plays in #thetraitors this season. And I've really gone off Harriet given the way she spoke to Roxy at breakfast.

I've no idea what's wrong with me at the moment. I've been feeling really flat and I keep putting off the writing and research I need to do. And now I'm crying at episodes of Station 19.

No I'm not posting off writing my MRes by sorting out my books and rearranging my office... @philefest.bsky.social

What the hell was Fiona thinking with that game plan?! #thetraitors

#TrueCrime: Digital Culture, Ethics and True Crime Audiences has been published! My chapter undertakes a content analysis of school-shooter fanfiction, arguing that it can function as a form of resistance to dominant cultural narratives. The book is available at link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Nigel Farage & compliant right wing media are directly responsible for this surge in crime. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

Hi folks! I’m currently co-editing a special issue for GAME about queer and trans games studies. Find the full cfp here www.gamejournal.it/n-132025-bey..., deadline for abstract submission is 12 January 2026!

Just found out that Participatory Culture Wars, which I co-edited with @simoned.bsky.social and @benlitherland.bsky.social, has been named one of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2025! Great news to end the year on.

Time for the best Christmas tradition! #thexfiles #howtheghostsstolechristmas

This song in The Muppet Christmas Carol always make me tear up for some reason.

Time for another Christmas tradition and the annual reread of The Hogfather. ‘Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little -’ YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES. ‘So we can believe the big ones?’ YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING. #Discworld

Been loving watching the London International Horse Show on iPlayer. Me and my sister used to watch it with my gran every year so it's a proper tradition. And it's amazing seeing John Whittaker still jumping at 70!

SIG members: We're compiling a list of fan- and audience studies publications by our members that came out in 2025. Enter yours here by Dec. 31, and we'll compile a list to share: forms.gle/V7zsgTowJahU...

🚨CFP Alert!🚨 "TV Matters" is a new series of short monographs (40K-50K words) on TV series- production history, cultural context, main themes, & fandom/audience reception Have a series you want to write on? Send short pitch! 🔗 www.intellectbooks.com/tv-matters #FanStudies #MediaStudies

Always love seeing places I know in BBC Cymru Wales programmes. This time its the inside of CP2, my old Welsh Government office in Cardiff, in The War Between the Land and the Sea.

Thanks for including mine and @dianearodgers.bsky.social' episode on @historyonfilm.bsky.social Ben!