LORT BURN SPECIALS: 3 Featuring OWEN HATHERLEY, ANDREW HANKINSON, KATE LISTON and music from BEN LOWES-SMITH SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER 7PM @alphabettitheatre.bsky.social MAKE NEWCASTLE MITTELEUROPA AGAIN

This is a great book that you should all read (as well as everything by Jen because she is very cool)

It’s wonderful to see Kieran’s book on multicultural Britain getting the plaudits it deserves… you will not find a more humane and beautifully written book on this complex topic. Unfortunately, it is also both timely and essential reading for the moment in which we find ourselves.

reminder we’re kicking off tomorrow 5:30- 7:30pm Hybrid/IHR @profpanayi.bsky.social & @kabcommons.bsky.social will open, then I’ll will speak on history & social studies; @marcloureiro.bsky.social on history & law; and Natalya Din-Kariuki on history & literature. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

⚡ Ukrainian journalist and human rights defender Maksym Butkevych has been awarded the 2025 Vaclav Havel Prize. He is the first Ukrainian to receive the award. Earlier, UkraineWorld had an interview with Maksym, who spent over two years in Russian captivity: ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts/...

THE MEME IS REAL

We're fundraising for a vehicle for the UAV Interception Platoon of UA's 129th Separate Heavy Mechanised Brigade, who work tirelessly to detect, track + neutralise incoming threats, so they can deploy at speed to intercept missiles and drones. www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-defen...

Whatever your views of Palestine Action, considering that we have people attempting to set alight to hotels housing people seeking asylum, attacks on minorities, backlogs for sexual assault cases etc etc, can we not agree that this is a massive overreaction by the Met?

Timeline cleanse

An appropriate time to listen to the supercut of Melvyn saying hello: pascalwyse.com/blog/2017/12...

Très bien. Et maintenant : l'Elysee.

I am excited to post the CFP for the workshop "Reframing community through mobility: an interdisciplinary perspective from the early modern to the present" organised by @tamsinprideaux.bsky.social and me at la Sapienza, University of Rome, 19-20 January. Please apply and circulate! Deadline: 30.09.

This fall brings not one but two books I had the privilege to co-work on. I’m especially eager for English-language readers to follow Andriy Lyubka's journey as a wartime volunteer, told with his signature wit. Please spread the word—you can preorder now. www.academicstudiespress.com/9798887198408/

Pls sign and share this open letter to the Bristol VC, against the School of Humanities's decision to withdraw the BA in English Literature and Community Engagement (ELCE): the only part-time, flexible undergraduate degree programme available at the University forms.gle/SbyhXPSJgQTc...

'Sophisticated computers can become linguistic experts. But if fewer people acquire these skills, the world risks becoming a less connected place — just when it needs it most.' on.ft.com/4mP3rrf

A strong case here. “…it is a rational and principled choice to not use GenAI products unless and until we have determined that their benefits outweigh their costs. Radically revising and restructuring our discipline around GenAI is premature at this time…” Yes and amen 1/

smash everything important about learning, knowledge production, critical thought, language, and personal growth with one artificially big, dumb, environmentally disastrous piece of crap technology, all for a bit more money, a bit more political influence, all to stay up top

Join us in June 2026 in Dublin! Keynotes by @renskehoff.bsky.social ; @wynkenhimself.bsky.social and Aditi Nafde #REBPAF #MSCA #ResearchImpactEU

Down 8% in French. Put the cut in obligatory language GCSE alongside the other reason(s) you’re angry with Blair.

🚀 Cover reveal + pre-order link! 🚀 Our sixth Praspar Press title is the speculative epic BEFORE THE ROCKET by Loranne Vella translated from Maltese by Kat Storace. Winner of the National Book Prize of Malta Winner of a PEN Translates Award Out this September 🚀 www.praspar.com/product/befo...

On 28 July, join us in London for the launch of campaigning to say "Another Ukraine is possible - free from occupation" Register: bit.ly/anotherUAmeet With Vitaliy Dudin & Snezhana Oleksun of UA democratic socialist organisation Social Movement speaking from Ukraine.

A reminder about the long #16thC starter pack. If you are a scholar of #EarlyModern history who should be on this list and isn't, let me know! There are still a dozen or so spots left ☺️ Also, don't forget that feeds are your friends. Check out #16thC, #17thC , #18thC, etc. #skystorians

The trick to reading lots of books is to not read lots of books

Is Bristol a cool city or is everywhere cool on a nice summer’s evening?

Surely I’m not the only one who was on the way to Bristol for @srsrensoc.bsky.social conference and is now sitting on a train at the mercy of failed overhead power lines at Birmingham

No government can build infrastructure as well as beavers

My milk is advertising gravestones.

The disappearance of public adult education in the UK over the past twenty years - whether local authority or government - is a national disgrace.

Open letter for academics and trade unionists to oppose government overreach in stifling protest - please sign:

It is unclear to me why a 62-year-old politician cannot simply say "I've never heard a note by this group, have no plans to, and could not be less interested in whether they play at Glastonbury or not."

"If killing 23 civilians at an aid distribution site is not terrorism, how can we possibly be expected to accept that spray-painting a plane is?" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

📢 REGISTRATION OPEN! Built with books: shaping the shelves of the early modern library 9–10 Sep UCL @livesandletters.bsky.social This symposium will explore the rich field of early modern library studies, inviting fresh, interdisciplinary perspectives & methodologies. www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Not a palaeography but a "find the book" challenge: There was an edition of Johannes Eck's Homiliarum super evangelia de tempore in an unknown number of volumes (likely 3) printed in Paris in 1553 by Sebastian Nivelle. CCPB potentially lists the third volume (CCPB000484460-2), but... #BookHistory

It seems to be a broadly held premise on the elite media conservative ecosystem that Trump in America proves that is what people really think/want here in Britain too. There is nothing much to support that hypothesis

💯 we are abandoning Truth in favour of grammatical accuracy

I queued once (for about four minutes) and I felt so ALIVE at the vibrancy of democracy

Only £9,535 a year. Bargain!

This book is such a treasure!

LONDON NW5 FRIENDS: a very poorly cat is being discharged from hospital tomorrow. This is fab, but the timing is tricky - the wonderful owner is receiving in-patient medical care until Monday. Can you help cover the care gap? Or know someone who can? Pls share 🙏🏽

Are you a PhD student/ECR working on contemporary European history? If so, consider submitting to the @conteurohistory.bsky.social article prize. Deadline 12 September. I strongly encourage submissions from those working on Central/Eastern Europe & the USSR! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

stately, plump Buck Mulligan

www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/new... "Archaeologists have uncovered what could be a 16th-century merchant vessel’s remains off the coast of southern France, marking the deepest shipwreck ever uncovered in this part of the Mediterranean." That's some pretty ceramics!

”Launch forth, my soul”: Medieval and Early Modern Religion and Seafaring 18 June 2025, 5:00 pm–7:30 pm Showcases the work of Ukrainian academic, Dr Andrii Pastushenko. With co-speakers, Dr David Harrap (QMUL) and Dr Richard Blakemore (University of Reading). www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

The Jesuit "Relations" explores the intricate relationships between the published Relations and the many other texts written in New France, revealing a rich picture of a historical source that has shaped public understanding of colonial North America. Out now! buff.ly/9yDMh81

Call for Papers: 'Charles Ignatius Sancho: A Black British Man of Letters and His World' conference. Deadline for submissions 14 July 2025. Conference will be held 13-14 March 2026 at Northeastern University, London: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

It’s publication day for The Penguin Book of Polish Short Stories. It took 39 authors 100 years to write, and me about 4 years to compile and translate, with the help of 11 other translators. It aims to show the variety and brilliance of modern Polish literature.

Apparently the cat drinks water now? In five years I have seen him drink water four times: once yesterday and once again today

The Chechenization of Georgia is gradually becoming more and more irreversible. Late Saturday night, Kote Ioseliani, a former politician and the husband of the UNM chairwoman, was abducted by masked individuals using force. 1/3