Some thoughtful person provided a link to a non-paywalled version of this article: gcaptain.com/drowning/

I’d argue the Welsh bit misses a section where Pwll is repeatedly told not to sit Dave and Steve next to each other and the line where we learn that this is the origin of that well known game ‘everyone punch Steve’.

We’re appointing a writer-in-residence! Join us to respond to our holdings related to the Bloomsbury Group (including the archives of Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press) ahead of a major exhibition in 2027. Applications close 19 May. Best of luck! collections.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

We're holding a meet up in London on 1st July. It doesn't matter if you're an author, broadcaster, tour guide or general hustler, you're more than welcome as long as you work in history and aren't part of academia (sorry lovely academics!) DM us for location as places are limited!

We’ve been told our content needs to be more informative so here you go

Hey #literarysky and #blacksky I have a black friend who is searching for a black female editor to edit her young adult novel in which the main character is a Jehovah's Witness (so if you/they are familiar with that it's a big plus). Please reach out to me if you know someone.

The last time I taught my class on the history of Belfast in 2022, @tomhulme.bsky.social Zoomed in to talk about his research; When I teach it again this Fall, I am forbidden from including this material.

Deadline for abstracts for this special issue is the end of the month. ⏰ #Skystorians

My LoTR subway maps have been quite popular, but they're not the only ones I've drawn! I really like my Narnia one, too. With separate lines for the plot arcs of each of the books, it gives you a fun way to see Lewis's world. #narnia #maps #subway #CSLewis It's for sale here: etsy.me/4mkfBsU

Doughnut Economics says: feed everyone, protect the planet, stay in balance. Prof Richard Murphy asks – why is our system built for endless growth? @eastangliabylines.co.uk @richardjmurphy.bsky.social

Erm, they're called palaeontologists, actually.

This is like the bit in every Redwall novel where the main evil rodent succumbs to his final madness

My fellow writers might not want to hear this, but AI is a useful tool for certain aspects of the craft, like for instance when you’re engaged in the process of being a talentless shitbag hack who is too lazy to do any fucking writing.

It's official! Six in ten people aged 16 to 34 identify with no religion, according to new analysis of the gold-standard British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey – and once young people grow up without religion, research shows they almost never acquire one. humanists.uk/2026/04/02/n...

Join our live webinar for a powerful conversation on justice and equality. We’re bringing together four incredible women – including survivors of the Epstein and Harrods cases – to explore power, resilience and building a safer future. 1/ www.tickettailor.com/events/bylin...

My team and I have been looking at Reform's candidates for the Senedd election which were announced last week. We found some pictures alongside far-right figures on their social media as well as some blatantly racist posts. Check it out here: willhaywardwales.substack.com/p/special-re...

Some events coming up, featuring A History Of England In 25 Poems. I'd love to meet you at one of these! All info via my website www.catherineclarke.info #history #event #reading #poetry

Looking forward to US ensuring that Iran never has a nuclear program. Until next month when Iran will once again be days away from a nuclear weapon. #HegsethSpeech #IranWar

Are you a mid-career historian researching 17th & 18th-century British Protestant dissenting traditions? 🏛️ Apply for the Dr Williams's Trust Library Bursaries at the IHR! Three awards of £3,500 are available to support your research in London libraries and archives www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...

Reform are denying me access to the Welsh manifesto launch... Remember a few weeks ago when Reform UK threatened to defund Bangor University in the name of "free speech"? Well despite repeated requests, Reform are not allowing me to attend their manifesto launch. 1/3

By turns hilarious, poignant, inspring and staggeringly informative, the @alexpodyssey.bsky.social is a crowning podcast, and this episode is the jewel. I could literally feel myself getting cleverer as I listened. It is also the only podcast to reference the great Trap Door cartoon. Oh Globbits!

a year is a long time in politics

Early Bird tickets for the World Humanist Congress 2026 are about to close. Get your ticket now: humanists.international/event/world-...

I’ll be appearing at Swansea's Croeso festival at 10am (yes, 10am - in the morning, set the alarm) on the “Pabell Pawb a Phopeth” stage, at the top of Princess Way (where it joins the Kingsway) for the day. See you there!

🌡️ For the third year in a row, every day in 2025 was more than 1°C warmer than the 1850–1900 pre-industrial level. Over a third of days were above 1.5°C. ⬇️

This week we celebrated #DarwinDay, commemorating the birth of the man who did so much to help us understand the meaning of our lives on this planet. What's less widely known is that Darwin had a black tutor, John Edmonstone, who taught him taxidermy in Edinburgh. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RNs...

One of my favourite pieces of Welsh folklore 🔮 In certain regions of Wales, daffodils are called 'babies' bells.' It's said that only infants and very young children can hear their ringing 🛎 #Wales #History

Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott

ICYMI

Due to a terrible misreading of a hashtag, we prepared something to post tomorrow, then realised it was wrong. So today, let's celebrate #GalenTines Day. Here's what Galen of Pergamon (c129BCE-216BCE) had to say about the gynaecological anatomy which influenced physicians for over a millennium...

If you're in the UK, this is one way you can make a difference. Please sign this petition! Recognise Cultic Abuse in Statutory Safeguarding Guidance petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75...

Fantastic news: @faith2faithless.bsky.social's powerful new animation raising awareness of the dangers faced by those leaving high-control religions or cults is a finalist in the 2026 Smiley Charity Film Awards.

Looking forward to this talk on the Book of Kells by Victoria Whitworth tomorrow : www.eca.ed.ac.uk/event/estran...

This is going to be so special - an evening of #history, #poetry and #music in support of the beautiful All Saints Church, #Southbourne. I'll be reading from my book #AHistoryOfEnglandIn25Poems, with new content and reflections too. Tickets available now via the QR code or link. #Bournemouth #Dorset

Wednesday.

Bring back the noble Welsh tradition of dressing in drag and sowing chaos

Age verification? Look at my driver’s license:

We don't send you surveys to find out how satisfied you were with the driver who put your parcel in the bin just before it was emptied. We just need to maximise the opportunities for you to accept cookies so we can track you and sell data.

Gambia is one of the most difficult places in Africa for FGM survivors to access clitoral reconstruction. The country has one of the continent's highest FGM rates, and activists are fighting to uphold a national ban, report George Okachi and Aminata E. Sanyang. www.dw.com/en/why-clito...

I have today been informed that, despite personal assurances to the contrary, the Green party have once again used my image and misrepresented my words on a second leaflet circulated in Gorton and Denton ahead of the by-election. I have now lodged an official complaint with the returning officer.

Hello Monday. Book of Hours, c.1460. #OwlishMonday

Since #bbclaurak is trending, let’s remind ourselves that ONE MONTH ago, the BBC invited Mandelson on for a soft-ball interview on her show. While HIS CLIENT , Palantir’s Louis Moseley appeared as a pundit Both, as I wrote at time, were ‘abject failures of journalism’ 1/

For anyone who needs cheering up... here's Britain's smallest bird having a bath today in a woodland puddle. 😁😍🐦❤️ #birds 🪶

A paedophile, a convicted felon and narcissist walk into a bar, and the barman says "on your own tonight Mr Trump?"

One of the wickedest things Wes Streeting has ever done is push politically convenient falsehoods about suicide rates amongst young trans people. We have new data from the National Child Mortality Database that exposes the truth he tried to cover up.

With #Bridgerton back on our screens, let's revisit a classic thread. Queen Charlotte included a scene of King George III eating pussy. So it falls upon us, dear readers, to answer the crucial question: is it historically accurate? Did King George III eat pussy?

Mandelson’s malign influence runs right through the heart of this Government. Not least in the govt’s NHS data deal with Palantir – a spy-tech firm co-founded by a man who thinks the NHS should be ‘ripped up.’ I've written to Wes Streeting urging him to ditch this dangerous deal.

Friday plans: 🖼️ Clare Hulfish #FrogForFriday

Radio host James O’Brien was taken aback when a woman, asked what she most wishes for, replied “To be able to go out at night alone.” The awful reality for 51% of the UK’s population What we need is a change in the behaviour of men In the mean time, there is this organisation… strutsafe.org#about