This is the kind of twitter sh'tposting that bluesky has struggled to adopt and I, for one. I am comforted to stumble across such this sh'tpostery as this out in the wild on here.

And this chap is why the cats aren't allowed out after sundown!

I have to inform you that there is nothing more important in the entire world 🩷

When your research is relevant but you’re not in academia anymore

I am working on 'The Asian Mother and Baby Campaign' which ran from 1984-1986. I would love to interview any linkworkers who were employed by the campaign or any women who were supported by linkworkers. Please spread the word or get in touch if this is you! My email is [email protected]

My friend showed me her dad's diaries from the 1960s today and every entry (in every diary for decades) ended with a sentence about how much he loved his wife!

Please do the YouGov opinion poll today 🙏🏼

This is amazing 🤯🤯

My coach, somewhat exasperated, questioned if I had any other special interests than prison history. I responded I liked running on treadmills... And then - without even realising the irony - promptly asked her if she was aware that treadmills were invented in a 19th century prison 🤦🏼‍♀️

Kudos to the bird that managed to shit an image of itself onto this bloke's car.

In today’s #PeoplingPodcast, we are joined by @hardeepdhindsa.bsky.social to discuss the relationship between classical culture and imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Listen in to find out more about Classics, the Grand Tour, and Invented Legacies here: peoplingthepast.com/2025/06/03/p...

The scorn heaped on "Underwater Basket Weaving" was based on college courses in experiential indigenous anthropology. Reeds are traditionally softened underwater to make them flexible for bending into baskets. It's a more useful skill for most than memorizing the 3 orders of ancient Greek columns.

Update: I cried on the way to work and then at my desk - both times thinking about this scene. 🫠

I took the child to see Lilo & Stitch and I've genuinely not cried this hard in the cinema, at the end of a film, since All Of Us Strangers. #EmotionalDamage

This week I learned that if I read my book walking between the tube station and the office I read an average of 47 more pages a day than if I just read on the tube/at home. And I walk into just as many lampposts as when I look at my phone and walk.

Hedges over hedge funds!! 🌿 A great day for the people of Devon yesterday! Ramble, rest, resist 💚 www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc....

For a HE perspective, last time these fellas had a 🏆, this year's school leaver applicants were newborns

I used to think that being high glam and parenting/caregiving was not incompatible. That was until my - obnoxiously long- gel nails burst 3 out of 10 happy birthday balloons I was trying to blow up last night and then melted two nails trying to light candles this morning 😖 💅🏼🎂

Netflix’s doc The Quilters is brilliant. At 30 mins I wish it had been longer. It follows men in a maximum-security prison who design, make and sew these intricate quilts for foster children. The care that goes into making them is so touching. An object they see as being with these children forever.

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Obsessed with Ukraine's flares #eurovision

Solidarity to survivors of staff on student abuse who have to retell their experience over and over because decades of research on impact is still apparently not enough

I'll end with two practical steps: Find out who your congress delegates are and urge them to support HE38 - and ask them how they voted when they get back. Pass the @the1752group.bsky.social model motion in your own branch.

1752group.com/ucu/ The pack has a model branch motion, along with a range of interesting research and resources that members can use to learn more about why this matters.

Several UCU branches have passed motions calling for bans on staff-student intimate relationships already. I was pleased to work with @the1752group.bsky.social on this resource pack for @ucu.org.uk branches, setting out the research and the need for a strong UCU stance, with some practical steps.

In Wales, Medr is gathering information on tackling domestic abuse and sexual violence in higher education: www.medr.cymru/en/News/medr...

UCU claims to challenge 'all forms of sexual violence'. Let's start with action rather than platitudes. and take a strong position on this. Clear rules protect staff and students alike.

When the union fails to stand against this kind of abuse, it sends a message to survivors (who are often members) that it's not just their abuser against them, nor their institution, but their whole *trade union*.

It's all there, in union branding, in the 2021 UCU Sexual Violence Task Group report: www.ucu.org.uk/article/1081...

It also matters that *UCU* has a position on this. When all this was happening, I was a UCU member. PGR members and casualised members of staff are, the union's own research tells us, most vulnerable to gender based violence and harassment in the workplace.

I ended up doing a combination of leaving the country, interrupting my studies, and avoiding being on campus, all to avoid the situation. It should not have been on me as the survivor and a student to manage this. It should have been on the institution to protect me.

As it stood, with no ban and no protection in place, when the relationship turned abusive, there was no protection and colleagues closed ranks to protect one of their own.

My abuser (staff member in the dept where I studied, no current, but 'potential' responsibility) refused to disclose. There was no way to make them. Even if they had, would there have been regular check ins about whether the relationship had become abusive? How would this be managed?

Other solutions suggested include introducing 'registers' or asking staff to disclose to HR/the employer where they have such a relationship. This is problematic for reasons I can personally attest to as a survivor.

The banning of relationships where there's a potential future teaching/pastoral responsibility often raises opposition from colleagues saying 'but how do I know who I might teach?' There's a simple answer here - if there's a possibility, then don't enter into that relationship.

The motion calls for policies to prohibit relationships between staff and students where the staff member has a current or potential learning, teaching, or pastoral responsibility for the student.

It astounds me that, in 2025, after #MeToo, with all the research around the harms of these relationships and what survivors repeatedly say, that UCU still doesn't have policy on this issue. And it astounds me further that these abuses of power are often presented by colleagues as 'complicated'

Good work, as always, by @drrhianelinor.bsky.social

We have a vacancy for a new curatorial assistant to join our team and work with our amazing collections. Please follow the link for more details and the application form. Deadline 27th May. www.bdcmuseum.org.uk/news/job-opp...

The President will see you now

I am begging commentators to stop contributing some form of "this will reduce migration!" About a paper that was set out... To reduce migration. Yes, they know. We know. That was the point!

Closing Day 1 #SEDAConf25 #SEDAconf with a high energy @profsallybrown.bsky.social @kaysambell.bsky.social @suebecks.bsky.social et al. workshop. Generous with sharing sector wise practice, including national pilot to launch @it-se.bsky.social Pre-arrival questionnaire wonkhe.com/blogs/the-po...

Nosebleed! At the nail salon!

Britain Isn't Working: Understanding the Rise of Reform. Part 3 of 3: identity politics, criminal justice, human rights law and the pension triple lock. Why people are angry - and how the political mainstream consensus has immiserated the country. www.edrith.co.uk/p/britain-is...

The only thing more exciting than parliament is parliament with another former officer from your SU www.linkedin.com/posts/sunday...

If you're not returning to London from the west country after a bank holiday like this then you do not appreciate the west country.

We gotta accept that 2ndhand overconsumption is overconsumption! Packaging & postage fuels waste & "I'll just sell it on vinted" attitude incentivises fast fashion purchases in sellers! Piles of clothes you don't wear is still waste! 2ndhand is key to circular economy but you gotta cut back, too! 🌿