Very useful explainer on what's going on.

Three-year research fellowship (i.e a postdoc) in History at Cambridge @girtoncollege.bsky.social. A great job at a great institution. No restrictions on the field of history studied. Deadline 12 January.

An author asked for guidance on how to write a response to reader reports. My answer was pretty quick and dirty for practical reasons, but here's what I said. It ends with a link to much more thorough, helpful advice: Responses can take the form of a letter to the editor/press . . . 1/?

This is a really good and condensed summary of when & why genAI/slopAI/LLM outputs etc should not be used in teaching. And it's by someone in CS/programming to anticipate the usual techblowhard anti-humanities responses.

Henry Vincent, Chartist orator and editor of the Western Vindicator, died #OnThisDay 29 December 1878. He was buried at Abney Park Cemetery, on a day that was ‘bitterly cold, the frozen snow lying everywhere upon the grass and paths’. His story is in Chartist Lives www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

Following the tragic shootings at Bondi Beach and Brown University this weekend, I wrote about the long history of debates on gun control for @historyandpolicy.bsky.social

Next Wednesday 3-12 we are holding a joint seminar with @histparl.bsky.social! Join us at 17:30 at the @ihr.bsky.social or online via zoom to hear Dr Helen Wilson discuss ‘Black & Political: Black Political Participation in Britain, 1750-1850’. Register now! 👎 www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

When I used to study Victorian children’s diaries, it seemed to me that children sometimes had more diverse social lives than their parents - as was the case here.

The delegates to the First Chartist Convention, 1839 chartistancestors.blog/2025/12/02/d...

What can history teach us about the future of globalisation? Watch Professor Jeremy Adelman give the inaugural Girton Global History Lecture now on our YouTube ⬇️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vNdntTrroo

Chartist Lives - the paperback #Chartism #C19th #BritishHistory 🗃️ www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0G3Q7PR7Y

Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round

Unsurprisingly, the Budget statements are typically very long. To date, the longest Budget speech was that of Gladstone in 1853, coming in at a whopping 4 hours and 45 minutes. The shortest was Benjamin Disraeli's budget speech in 1867 which lasted just 45 minutes. (7/10)

The tradition of holding up the red box – which contains a copy of the Chancellor’s Budget speech to Parliament – apparently began after George Ward Hunt was unable to find it before making his 1868 Budget speech, which as a result was one of the shortest ever! buff.ly/16QwgkA (6/10)

Today is #BudgetDay 2025! To mark this important day in Parliament's calendar, here is a short thread on the history and traditions of the UK's annual Budget. 💸 (1/10)

📚 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

I was honoured to unveil a plaque for Sam Green, the first openly gay politician to be elected in the UK. He did so much for his community and his courage and dedication remind us to keep championing equality, respect and the rights of everybody.

An obituary for William Thomas, whose book The Philosophic Radicals remains a standard work. www.thetimes.com/article/ae37...

Charles George Lyttelton, born #OnThisDay 1842, became Liberal MP for East Worcestershire at a by-election in June 1868. He was one of the most accomplished cricketers to sit in the Commons, as our post on him explored: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/t...

AI here, making a basic error in calculation (the product is actually £25,397)

An excellent essay from @michaelledgerlomas.bsky.social

It doesn't matter how many grant writing workshops you put on, or how much pressure you put on academics to apply - if the money isn't there, the money simply isn't there.

An academic career in the UK - constant anxiety. Every moment of every day you're thinking, oh **** I need to do that, and that too, and oh **** that too, and **** I've forgotten that, & that, & that... And still you're working flat out... #academia

After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results: - AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2% - ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1% - ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%

Since I just got back from seeing Rick Wakeman and his amazing band play live, here’s a link to one of the greatest rock and roll shaggy dog stories ever: it runs from 28.45 to 39.15, and I bet you can’t guess who had come to tea. youtu.be/zppfjeculUs?...

RFK Jr. has shut down the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice, gutted funding, and derailed trials and studies.

For those interested in the decision to remove the presumption that parental contact is in the best interests of a child, I wrote about the history of paternal rights and the development of the concept of a child’s best interests here: doi.org/10.1093/past... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Behind the sensationalised headline, there’s some excellent and fascinating research here. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Having reached Q in our #1832AtoZ, we are looking at Queer history, revisiting Martin Spychal’s series of articles on Lord Ronald Gower, elected as MP for Sutherland in 1867. historyofparliament.com/2025/08/11/l...

We're excited to announce the call for papers for #MBS26, the next Modern British Studies conference, at Birmingham in June 2026. We'll be launching the #MBS Association at this event, to support further regular conferences in Modern British Studies. www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

#OnThisDay 1834 London's largest fire since 1666 destroyed much of the old Palace of Westminster. Find out more about this event and how it was perceived in our article: victoriancommons.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/p...

Victorianists get ready for BAVS 2026 in Liverpool!

PLEASE TAKE OUR MONEY! With the new academic year now well under way, a reminder that we offer University Research Grants of up to £1,000 for students carrying out research on the British Army or of the land forces of the British Empire & the Commonwealth. Details at: www.sahr.org.uk/university-r...

Look what just arrived! An intellectual treat in the form of @singingarchives.bsky.social’s new social history of the modern voice.

JOB Assistant Professor, History of the United States since 1920 @ University of Cambridge www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/assista...

I wrote about Cecil Rhodes for @lrb.co.uk www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Look what just arrived! An intellectual treat in the form of @singingarchives.bsky.social’s new social history of the modern voice.

Joel Mokyr, a newly announced Nobel laureate in economics, contributed to our special issue The Future of Capitalism 12 years ago. For a limited time, enjoy free access to his essay:

For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research. Reposts welcomed.

Delighted to see my article exploring how Britons planned for retirement in the mid-to-late 20th century out in the world! It tries to capture the mixed feelings prompted by ageing & retirement whilst connecting those themes to wider histories of social democracy, selfhood & financialisation.

Universities in the UK are heading for a financial calamity like the 2008 crash, the head of @ucu.org.uk has warned @drjogrady.bsky.social told @matildamartin.bsky.social: "The people who should be either governing from government or governing institutions are asleep at the wheel"

There’s a comment piece in The Times about sickness benefits mysteriously going up and no mention of Covid, long Covid, the effects of lockdown etc. Boosters help people stay healthy, but now they are only available to the very old or people who can afford them.

Duncan Bell, “John Stuart Mill on Federation, Civilization and Empire,” History of Political Thought (2025) go.shr.lc/4mTZyBp

My new article is out in Nineteenth-Century Music Review! ‘Hearing London’s Sailortown in Shanty Repertoire’ explores how 19th-century sailors’ songs reflect the noisy, lively, often precarious world of London’s docklands. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #MaritimeHistory #Musicology #SeaShanties

Homeless people 'deeply failed' as deaths in UK reach record high www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

There's a touch of the Liz Truss about Kemi Badenoch. Both in the tax cut paid for by fantasy figures and also a belief there's This One Special Trick The British State Doesn't Want You To Know About! that will somehow solve everything. Be rude to some civil servants and the UK's problems vanish!

Great thread. I have a go at explaining why it has been so easy to perceive masculinity as being in crisis in my contribution to this book (which is free to download): manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526174697/

Jenrick now proposing sacking judges he doesn't like. I can just about remember when Conservatives cared about things like the rule of law.

A rather good puncturing of some of the silly claims underpinning demands that we should leave the ECHR. www.thetimes.com/article/14ad...