Is there a link between Arnold Wesker the DC comics Batman ventriloquist and Arnold Wesker the disgruntled / brilliant playwright?

Stumbled upon this 1966 Joseph Strick film of hecklers at the 1964 General election. Amazing footage of hecklers and politicians in creative dialogue. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

Why do I instinctively dislike it when people claim a city is really just a number of villages?

Oh no. I consumed plenty of Hayes on LBC back in, you know, the day. radiotoday.co.uk/2025/11/form...

A very comprehensive and informed analysis (as usual) from the Wonkhe team, helpfully putting the pieces of the English jigsaw in one place.

📚 Whether you're an undergraduate, postgraduate, academic, or independent researcher, our research grants and By-Fellowships are designed to support work using our collections here at Churchill Archives Centre. 🔗 Click the link to find out more & apply: buff.ly/JGsTtHK

Looks interesting

How to finance old age has been a problem since the inception of Britain’s welfare state. Why is #pensionreform so difficult? 🔓 Chris Renwick’s new Behind the Times is free for 7 days www.historytoday.com/archive/behi...

I’d also be interested to see polling differentiating between the willingness of ex-Labour voters to hold their noses and vote Labour vs. ex-Labour members to return to the fold. For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.

Interesting that the BBC is no.2. I’ve always been a fan of the weather channel: today.yougov.com/politics/art...

An AI is spreading the rumour that the University of Yorkshire is planning on renaming AI, Aye Up.

Things I only just learned. Rachel Bowlby, the brilliant scholar of shopping (and other things), is the other Bowlby's progeny. Who knew? Presumably everyone but me. I blame the parents.

Amusing review. TLDR: a book, not a good book. I wonder if it touches on his utterly hopeless management of Middlesbrough? www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

interesting(ish) if this is in any way your jam: rateyourmusic.com/list/Kentuck...

So I've been reading the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper. There's some good things in there. But when it comes to universities there's very little to cheer. The situation is very tough and will get worse. The last chance to preserve what we've got has passed. Let me explain why. (1/?)

If you’re a postgraduate student or ECR researching any aspect of post-1914 European history (including the UK and Europe’s overseas empires), we’d love to hear from you. To submit a blog idea, or for more information about New Voices, please email [email protected]

A rival to 'Labour isn't working'...? (1978)

FT columnist Janan Ganesh recently wrote of his conversion to the 'Great Man' theory of history - but only a minority agree -History is primarily shaped by major figures: 27% -Primarily shaped by broad social / economic / cultural / tech changes: 51% yougov.co.uk/topics/enter...

A personal opinion is that if an archive is moving to ‘structured content releases’, it is no longer an archive but a private comms repository. What an incredible loss to our understanding of UK culture and heritage.

Isn’t this extended opening hours idea straight outta Crosland?

Or boiling lobsters...

la-di-da...

I'll be putting a tie on... shoddily x

We offer #bursaries up to £500 for final-year undergraduates or taught Masters students to support archival and library research that will contribute to a dissertation on a labour history. Find out more sslh.org.uk/bursaries-gr...

The Modern British City 1945-2000 is out on November 28th, and is available for pre-order from ‪@lhartbooks.bsky.social‬: www.lundhumphries.com/products/the....

Calling historians and researchers. The BBC Written Archives Centre has changed its access rules without consultation. This means an end to proper independent research into the BBC's rich history. 178 have already signed the open letter. Please join the campaign: tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign

And you can now read the (just published) book for free on the @uolpress.bsky.social website uolpress.co.uk/book/democra... !

Interesting... newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

Deep play: notes for a Bethesda dust bath.’ ?? I know nothing about birds, had to google what on earth was going on

Are you an early-career historian interested in radical, public and digital history? We are currently looking for two part-time, paid Editorial Fellows to join History Workshop. Deadline is at midnight on 15th August. See below for more details! www.historyworkshop....

@wshcommanders.bsky.social name suggestion: the Washington Offenders?

Limehouse. But wasn’t he teetotal?

We'll be launching a book inspired by Peter's research on 26th September in Cambridge. Sign up for tickets here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/democratis... @camhistory.bsky.social @cammbhw.bsky.social

JOBS! Two post-doctoral Research Fellowships with this Leverhulme-funded project on 'the impacts of New Labour on the lives and life-courses of those born around the year 2000'. I'm on the steering committee, and it's going to be great: jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancy.aspx...

Waiting for Lefty anyone?

Nobody asked or cares (self included), but I'm currently reading Mary McCarthy's 'The Group'. It's not exactly 'summer reading', but nor is it Philip Roth, which I have to wean myself off. It's really really good, but I cannot tell if it is slightly taking the proverbial.

The salience of Glastonbury in UK culture is interesting, no? Much greater than 30 years ago. It’s a mainstay now. An annual ritual, like… the Proms?

Look, research fellow U O Westminster. Urban and housing inequalities in modern Britain vacancies.westminster.ac.uk/hrvacancies/...

The club has today parted company with head coach Michael Carrick. Full statement ⤵️ www.mfc.co.uk/news/2025/ju...

London Evening News, 3 May 1979. The day of the general election

Archie Bunker for President is now available for pre-order on the UNC Press site!! Pre-ordering is the best way of support a book so please consider heading over to the @uncpress.bsky.social site and make sure to use the code 01SOCIAL30 at checkout to save 30%!!

Historians of Labour and class on the Starmer Labour Government in Historical Perspective. Open access roundtable discussion in Labour History Review with Peter Gurney, Laura Beers (@fieryparticle.bsky.social), Laurence Black (@lawrenceblack.bsky.social) Martin Wright sslh.org.uk/2025/04/23/r...

NEW ISSUE | Vol 90.1 examines trade union responses to European workers in Britain 1945-1948, and a historical perspective on the Starmer labour government. @fieryparticle.bsky.social @lawrenceblack.bsky.social @martinwright97.bsky.social @slyporks.bsky.social 🔗bit.ly/LHR-90-1 @sslh.bsky.social

Congrats to Laura Beers! ORWELL'S GHOSTS is the 2025 winner of the Goldsmith Book Prize awarded to books that "improve democratic governance through an examination of the intersection between the media, politics and public policy." wwnorton.com/books/978132...

University management teams when consultancy firms give them the same advice they've given everyone else:

Perfect description of why so many historians in particular are hostile to AI

In case you missed it earlier in the week, I've been writing again about British universities' deep (and in some cases I fear terminal) crisis: www.ft.com/content/0ec7...