Civil debate is not what you're doing if you are telling people that they have no right to exist or are inherently inferior to others.

It'd be very Death of Stalin if Trump was actually perfectly alive, saw the shitposting and then had a rage-induced heart attack. Just saying.

Which way, historians.

In Edinburgh for a couple of days and experiencing the Fringe again for the first time since the pandemic. Everything feels so familiar, except that the comedians now all have their neurodivergences diagnosed.

Train service: sorry we need to cancel half the trains for reasons Traveller: can you at least keep the half with more than the minimum number of carriages to compensate for the increased crowding Train services: lol no

What a week for senior US academics going mask-off about how much they despise any traditional or principled notion of what a university should be.

As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview. cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...

When it's my turn to be world dictator my platform will definitely include all airports being forced to provide numerous sources of fresh, clean water past security.

Even without the typo, this slogan is somehow less meaningful and more word salad-y than the first one. We need to be prepared for the next iteration to bend the rules and logic of language use in hitherto unimagined ways.

Just imagining some genius management consultant howling at the moon after their all-nighter managed to distill the brand down to its purest essence

I've been putting off opening some much dreaded tax letters for the last few weeks. Just girded my loins and actually opened them, to find that news of a decent-sized refund. The lesson: nasty letters become nice letters if you leave them alone long enough.

#SkyStorians Question for you: Anyone recently/currently researching the British General Strike of 1926? It's not my field, but thinking of organising a small event in May 2026 to mark the centenary. If you'd be interested or know people who would be, then get in touch on here or by email. Thanks!

For every like, I will resentfully internalise one opinion.

I've been thwarted from being sarcastic at AI researchers using an institutional account, so if you need me you can find me down at the salt factory.

Private entities align themselves with authoritarian wishes without being directly forced, to curry favour and insulate themselves from future reprisal. In designing Connections categories to reflect Trump's 'America First' rhetoric, the NYT is therefore 'obeying in advance'. In this essay I will

Happening now on r/AskHistorians: AMA! www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

Our AMA with historian Sarah Gold McBride, author of Whiskerology, is now LIVE! 🚨 Join now to learn all about the history of hair and facial hair in America: tinyurl.com/yc7nh3mt 🥸

Murder on the Orient Express, but it's just a bunch of crows going on a nice holiday

Murder on the Orient Express, but it's just a bunch of crows going on a nice holiday

Cannot emphasise enough how much I do not want to see a film that is deliberately targeting Reddit users.

Quite the trajectory for the fathers next week then.

Someone left an unfinished tin of sardines in the secluded sink near my office a few weeks ago, and no one willing to take responsibility ever noticed. It is now a thriving ecosystem.

Submitted two pieces of writing this week - a chapter yesterday and an article today. The pressure on tomorrow is now acute.

Reminder: this Sunday 5pm (6 July) is the deadline for the open call of the Open Archief residency, so apply now! 🫵 Read more on our website: iisg.amsterdam/en/blog/open...

Were I a boomer, I would simply be ok.

Today's ratio of work done to caffeine consumed has been abysmal

The "misinformation" in question here is that gender-affirming care reduces suicides among youth. It merely reduces depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideation. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Last call for abstracts for SHoW 2025! Find the full CFP here: www.show.org.uk

Two of my favourite photos from Budapest Pride, mostly due to the juxtaposition of political symbols

Maybe if Orban was more in touch with LGBT+ icons, he'd have heard of the Streisand effect.

Literally an order of magnitude bigger than previous years I think. Question isn't whether the crowd is over 100k, but how many hundreds of thousands.

Yeah this is massive. Bigger than any year I've attended. Would not be surprised if the crowd was over 100k.

Anecdotally, a lot of Budapest people who don't usually go to Pride are coming this year. The crowds in the centre are still growing. I will be very surprised if this record prediction doesn't prove correct. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Does rainbow dazzle camouflage work on Hungarian police facial recognition software? Let's find out!

These feel like the kind of decisions you hand down when you're a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary who feels like they finally don't need to step carefully in case the next president isn't one of them.

The Dutch: The idea that everyone in the Netherlands is a drug dealer is tired and overdone The Netherlands:

Commissioning reviews has become increasingly difficult over the few years that I've been a reviews editor. If you like reviews, if you use reviews, if you'd like your book to be reviewed, please consider writing a review.

You have to absolutely hand it to Bush and Blair cabal in retrospect, they did a much more thorough and convincing job of manufacturing consent to invade Iraq. This lot are jumping straight to the 'In The Loop' version.

Absolutely wild to see how mediocre a grade of supervillain that unchecked capitalism managed to produce.

Had a few days to come down from the post-event high, and am still holding to the view that @emmaelinor.bsky.social and Kate Law organised the platonic ideal of an academic workshop with @globalsolidarity.bsky.social. Amazing people, amazing conversations - thank you both (and Katya) so much!

No court can erase the history of trans people existing. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...

tl;dr: The Budapest local government has figured out that they can host the banned Budapest Pride march by redefining it as a "municipal event" using legislation designed to allow the city to host concerts etc. No police or national government permission needed.

1. Finding legal loopholes to avoid bad governance should be the Hungarian national sport. 2. For any New Yorkers out there, this is why you elect mayors who are willing to stand up to despots rather than roll over for them. telex.hu/belfold/2025...

Democracy? Die. Sin. Darkness.

Everyone: wow Scandinavian design is so functional, so aesthetic Scandinavian design:

Day 2 begins with a panel on violence, peace, and cultural work in solidarity activism, featuring @hannhkarina.bsky.social, Laura Evans, Rachel Sandwell, Ragnar Øvergaard Aas, Wichuta Teeratanabode, Linda Austin and @jadeburnett.bsky.social.

This has been a fantastic day of papers - so much conceptual and topical overlap within and between sessions.

And so we begin: the first panel on friendship and solidarity, with papers on Portugal and Cuba, emotional work in the Zimbabwean anti-apartheid movement and women in the Uzbek Friendship Society during decolonisation.

Somewhat ironically, navigating a nationwide train strike to make it to Malmö for this workshop! For the avoidance of doubt, no picket lines were crossed in the delivery of this paper.