Although Westminster stuff is entertaining, true politics is actual policy. Including the serious crisis of state capacity in part caused by the austerity of the 2010s - putting anyone and everyone vulnerable at risk. committees.parliament.uk/committee/12...

Remember that although things seem bleak, there's always hope and you always have allies. www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...

Applications are now invited for a new RHS programme for 2026, co-hosted with @ihr.bsky.social and @chalkefestival.bsky.social 'Pitch my Project' is for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in June bit.ly/44kfUMM. Closing date: 6 February. #Skystorians

Closing date 31 January: applications are now invited for the Society's new Applied History Fellowships with @ihr.bsky.social & DC Thomson: bit.ly/4ijiuII Fellowships support recent post-doc historians and demonstrate the appeal of historical skills for employers. £12,000 for 6 months #Skystorians

The @nytimes.com is now applying its Gaza method to Renee Good's murder. The self-evident horror of the event is buried under evermore minute analysis of details and parsing of legal clauses and definitions. Renee Good was murdered with three shots right to the face by an angry well-protected agent

Chilling story of how self-censorship gradually takes hold when state authority is a threat not a protection.

'The results show that the critical pedagogy, creative assignment and strong focus on supporting students to generate work that speaks to their own lived experience produced more equal educational outcomes.' An important, theoretically-informed, pragmatic, evidence-rich piece. Read it #Skystorians

Non-protesting dad just trying to hustle his kids, as young as 6mo, out of the neighborhood. ICE threw a flash-bang INTO HIS car, all 6 kids in the hospital now. If anyone wondered how things turn against occupying armies there's a case study playing out in front of you.

Follow the money - that backed Trump and that hopes to exploit Greenland’s rich resources- and explore the utopian (dystopian for everyone else) dreams of the US oligarchs .

Important to note that this is self-reported data on social media use, which is not necessarily reliable. Studying this stuff is hard.

BBC report at a headline level that Grok will now not make sexually exploitative images any more. An actual reporter comes on and explains that it will do no such thing, and will just make the images invisible in the UK. These are two very, very different things.

The main bank account holding revenue from the Venezuelan oil sales is located in Qatar. “There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren. www.semafor.com/article/01/1...

Well informed as ever.

"Federal police are turning up on American streets asking people for their identity papers," says Lewis Goodall. "That is reminiscent of a Gestapo". Right-wing podcaster Joe Rogan has compared Trump's ICE Agents to Nazi secret police. Is he right? www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/ice-...

This is consistent with Farage’s support for Enoch Powell whose 1968 ‘rivers of blood’ speech was provoked by Labour’s 2nd Race Relations Act which was extended to various matters including employment. In the speech Powell confirmed he didn’t believe non-whites could be British even if born here.

This should alarm everyone. The FBI searched a journalist’s home and seized her work devices, despite no criminal charges. This is a direct threat to press freedom.

When the interior ministry declares its militia to be above the law in terms that equate dissent with treason there really isn’t any question of whether or not we are looking at an authoritarian regime.

Fascinating and compelling argument from @caitlinrgreen.bsky.social on King Alfred's embassy to India.

Another straw in the wind suggesting that employers may increasingly value 'liberal arts' (Humanities) graduates' skills in the context of the increased need critically to navigate the AI landscape. With a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers.

A study of the calligraphy of early Christian epigraphy in Rome, by Julia Borczyńska... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/SJSXXE... (sharing link)

A study of Hungarian charters from the eleventh century by Pavol Hudáček (sharing link)... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/AVIGDI...

Topics include the archaeology of English lordly centres in the tenth century, by Duncan Wright et al. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... (open access)....

A re-dating of the Astronomer's Life of Louis the Pious, by Simon MacLean (open access)... onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Plaid Cymru and the Greens are surging in Wales, according to this latest poll. Where’s the media narrative around this? Where are the stories saying Farage is failing? When will Labour try to regain ground by appealing to Plaid & Green voters, not just copy Reform? www.itv.com/news/wales/2...

'hollowing out...the humanities is no longer a theoretical threat: it is an active, policy-driven dismantling, creating vast regional “cold spots”....we are burning humanity’s maps just as we enter the least charted psychological & philosophical territory in our history: artificial intelligence.' 1/

The good news is that SIX seasoned federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned rather than engage in a bogus 'investigation' of Renee Good and her wife rather than investigating Good's killer. The bad news is that there are now six fewer honest, dedicated federal prosecutors with DOJ.

"The forthcoming Elections Bill is the perfect opportunity for the government to introduce such a a measure." @electoralreform.bsky.social

China is now the leading clean energy powerhouse with the West falling behind. The transition is inevitable; the key question is where and how fast it happens. I look forward to discussing this in Davos next week at the World Economic Forum, facilitating a live-streamed session on electrostates.

These are object lessons for anyone who writes to how the normal and often ignored is a rich, continuous seam of poetic imagery. It’s also a brilliant way to connect with the world around you. If you are a poet, follow Ian. You will learn a very great deal, and you will improve your work.

@memsunikent.bsky.social term card until March, featuring yours truly on Wednesday 14 January. For more details links to online access for each paper, see here: research.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear...

✂️ Yesterday I finally responded to @agakowalska.bsky.social’s challenge to make a collage from a single piece of packaging. I present to you a green (tea) woodpecker, made from a big Yorkshire Tea box. It was fun and I’ll be rooting through our recycling bin for more materials later on ♻️

Foreign financial interference is not the only threat to our electoral resilience: misinformation and disinformation are all flaws in the system. We need to address these in the upcoming elections and democracy Bill that is coming this year. Full clip: https://loom.ly/3eME_z8

‘make choices based on a new value system, even if all this means at first is encouraging manufacturers to make a washing machine that again lasts 20 years. Catch-as-catch-can, a new order might well emerge.’ Would need lot of thought about how wd work in v different UK culture but v interesting.

Some good reading here . .

Helen Barnard is Director of Policy at Trussell Trust and a serious voice on questions of poverty. We should be hearing much more about the policies she highlights here. Labour really does have a story to tell on tackling poverty. labourlist.org/2026/01/labo...

'The grave included a fully harnessed horse' ... 😍

Ian's early morning musings are now on Bluesky. Very welcome.

"It's a thing that tin pot dictators do right before starting a hyperinflation and destroying their own economies." youtu.be/XGYHbCJVQCg

Trump has just declared himself the "acting president of Venezuela" over on Truth Social in case you're wondering about his mental health.

You can't support restrictions on social media in schools and jump to defend X at the same time .. #Toryincoherence

Anti ICE protests, yet the only protest western media and politicians are interested in discussing is the one in Iran

"Disappointing Number Of Deaths in the Deadliest Place On Earth", writes the Telegraph

A reminder that Elon Musk did not in fact design Teslas or space rockets. He is a glorified PR man.

Agree, though not necessarily with the ultra pessimistic conclusion of this thread that the U.K. will become a vassal state. Or perhaps I’m clinging too much to hope in the face of - at least recent - experience.

Since becoming leader Starmer has prioritised winning back ‘hero voters’ - & completely failed. Lab won in 2024 despite that busted strategy & we can see the results of persisting with it. Luke et al are more of a danger to Lab than Corbyn ever was. magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/01/09/o...

Part of an excellent and thoughtful thread on why Farage is likely to win over Starmer on the new Europe/Brexit issue - in the short term at least.

So with the inevitability of a brain that refuses to switch off when something bothers it I thought “I bet if some Silicon Valley boon thought Greenland would make a great project they would have boasted about it” And what do you know: www.insidehook.com/internet/pet...

I fear for the future of the Labour Party when I read such articles. For good or ill, Akehurst is an influential figure and a listened to voice.

How do you become a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society? What kinds of activity lead to Fellowship? RHS Fellows are elected for their 'original contribution to historical scholarship'. We've a new guide to the many ways Fellows achieve and demonstrate this bit.ly/48mpcJa #Skystorians 1/2