Our book is out!! Happy publication day to our fantastic team of editors and authors.

If anybody is in Geneva in the week of the 20th of October: Please come on Tuesday, the 21st of October 2025 (5:00pm), to the opening of the exhibition “Masculinity in Question: Remedies and Devices against Nocturnal Emissions (18th to 21st Centuries)” at the CMCSS, Campus Batelle, Bâtiment A! 🗃️

Me and my wandering womb are thrilled to see the Nursing Clio Reader in print! Kudos to the whole @nursingclio.bsky.social team on an amazing volume!

There was even the idea, both in Britain in the 19th & in France's North African colonies in the 20th century, of teaism/theism/théisme, a problem viewed as potentially worse than alcoholism! One of my very favourite topics!

Even though outside my field of research, I've long been aware of the adverts for "Salem Aleikum" cigarettes, produced in late 19th/early 20th century Dresden. Today I have come across this bizarre image from 1903 of a horned (?), pointy-eared bearded smoking man. I am at a loss - ideas? 🗃️🚬 #History

I spoke with the wonderful Diana Abbani about my book "The Hour of Absinthe", published as part of the #MECAM blog series on TRAFO (the Blog for Transregional Research): trafo.hypotheses.org/60708 Do have a look! 🗃️🍸 #DrinkingStudies #Absinthe #HistoryOfAlcohol #Colonialism #ColonialHistory #Maghreb

In preparation of an exhibition on 19th-century machines & treatments against wet dreams that we - @wetdreams-hist.bsky.social - are organising in October 2025 in Geneva, I have written - in French - a summary of one of François Lallemand's most interesting case studies for our blog! 🗃️ #histmed

Why is germ theory in the same air quotes as "miasma theory," I ask as a historian of medicine who is very very tired

Came across on of these "in the wild" - in Stockholm of all places! I spotted it in the street, on the wall of the Bistrot "Pastis"! #DrinkingStudies 🗃🍸

Court cases - many of them murder cases! - are also often "humorously" depicted in these Oxygénée Cusenier sketches in "Le Sourire". In these, absinthe either played a role in the crimes or the defendants referred to absinthe to prove their truthfulness or humanity. Very strange! #DrinkingStudies 🗃️🍸

This looks amazing! #DrinkingStudies 🍸🗃

Since it's International Tea day, here is an article by @drninastuder.bsky.social on historical fears of tea crazes. www.atlasobscura.com/articles/tea... #Drinks #Historians #History #InternationalTeaDay #Tea #TeaDay

🔥🔥🔥 TIL that in the early 1800s people thought alcoholism could lead to spontaneous combustion! (Hat tip to @drninastuder.bsky.social in whose book I read this fascinating fact.)

"La guerre d'Algérie a commencé à Sétif", un texte classique du grand historien algérien Mohamed Harbi. histoirecoloniale.net/la-guerre-da...

Another thematic cluster in these Cusenier sketches in "Le Sourire" particularly surprises & amuses me: mountaineering! Oxygénée Cusenier was depicted as a force of energy - for men & women! - both when the mountain climbing was successful & when it was evidently not! #DrinkingStudies #Absinthe 🗃️🍸

Really looking forward to this meeting on "Psychiatry, Gender and Race" at the TELEMMe in Aix-en-Provence on the 28th of May: telemme.mmsh.fr?evenement=ps... I will be talking about gender and colonial psychiatry in Algeria! #histmed #Colonialism #ColonialPsychiatry 🗃️

As part of our project into the medical history of wet dreams (@wetdreams-hist.bsky.social) Ishita Pande will speak about "(Wet) Dreams of the Indian Nation: Colonialism, Consumerism & the Globalization of an Ailment" on the 13th of May. Do join us over zoom! unige.zoom.us/j/68123992256 #histmed 🗃️

When it comes to women who consumed Oxygénée Cusenier, they were often depicted (in "Le Sourire" in the early 20th century) as very elegant & upper-class. As can be seen in the one with the title "Wedding Night", their consumption was however also regularly sexualised! #DrinkingStudies #Absinthe 🗃️🍸

The idea most commonly depicted in these sketches for Oxygénée Cusenier seems to be that women will be more attracted to a man if he is an avid drinker. Amazing! These are just a few examples from the early 20th century by different French artists. Details in the captions! #DrinkingStudies 🗃️🍸

Highly recommend the 'Evelyn De Morgan: The Modern Painter in Victorian London' exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery in the City of London. One of the Pre-Raphaelites, her paintings and drawings are fantastic, full of myth and symbolism. #Art #Culture #London

An appropriate day to post a couple more of our photos of the filming of Andor series 2 on the Barbican Estate in London back in February 2023 - a mocked up shop, and Diego Luna and Adria Arjona. #Andor #MayThe4thBeWithYou #MayTheFourth #StarWars #StarWarsDay

Looking to spice up your #histmed classes? Consider two new books coming out just in time for Fall 2025! Full of pithy and provocative essays, Do Less Harm (ed. me & @drkyliesmith.bsky.social) and The Nursing Clio Reader (@nursingclio.bsky.social) offer new perspectives to meet the moment. 1/2

C'est "l'Autre 8 mai 45" : il y a 80 ans, la France tout juste libérée du nazisme commettait dans le Nord-Constantinois l'un des pires massacres coloniaux de masse de son histoire. Quatre articles pour connaître et comprendre cette tragédie. histoirecoloniale.net/les-massacre...

Original source for the final scene in Murnau's 'Nosferatu' (1922): cartoon in German magazine Kladderadatsch from 1919 titled 'Clemenceau, the vampire'. Later recreated - more authentically - in Herzog's 'Nosferatu' (1978) and Merhige's 'Shadow of the Vampire' (2000)...

We really enjoyed the first preview of The Gang of Three at the @kingsheadtheatre.bsky.social last night! As Darren said: it was intelligent & well-written, and it also pointed out the many disconcerting similarities between what went wrong in the 1970s and today. #TheatreSky

Historians for Trans Rights letter: docs.google.com/document/d/1... Historians for Trans Rights signing sheet: docs.google.com/forms/d/1RA_...

As part of our project into the medical history of wet dreams (@wetdreams-hist.bsky.social) Ishita Pande will speak about "(Wet) Dreams of the Indian Nation: Colonialism, Consumerism & the Globalization of an Ailment" on the 13th of May. Do join us over zoom! unige.zoom.us/j/68123992256 #histmed 🗃️

Our UK Team Principal Investigator Dr Melissa Dickson has opened today’s @cncsi.bsky.social conference on Contagion and Contamination in the Nineteenth Century with an examination of the ‘influenza fiend’, epidemic diseases of the 1890s, & the looming presence of influenza in Dracula #litsci

Very exciting to be following this great workshop via zoom today! #histmed #19thC

Absinthe, the drink with a very bad rep! It maybe green and very strong… but it’s not any worse for you than a regular drink really. As expert @drninastuder.bsky.social explains in our latest episode.

Auf @hsozkult.bsky.social gibt es jetzt eine Rezension zum Band #GefährlicherGenuss zu dem ich einen Aufsatz beitragen durfte ☕️🍺🫖 #DrinkingStudies

And here - slightly delayed - is the audio only version. Also available on all other audio apps and Spotify @drninastuder.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Recording this episode of the Scandal Mongers podcast with @philmcraig.bsky.social was so much fun! Thanks for letting me talk about absinthe's many scandals, Phil - and congratulations again on your new book! #DrinkingStudies #Absinthe #Colonialism #Maghreb 🗃️🍸

So interesting to learn from @drninastuder.bsky.social how Absinthe went from being fashionable to being banned, and why! And how it is now back! cheers.

Latest episode explores the scandalous history of ‘the Green Fairy’ Absinthe - a much demonised drink whose story tells us a lot about race, class and sex in the colonial era. With thanks to @drninastuder.bsky.social youtu.be/zAMy-3HIAeY?...

Londoners! If you woke up this Easter Monday wondering what to do today - why not join me at the "Absinthe Parlour" this evening, where I will talk about the colonial history of absinthe! #DrinkingStudies #Absinthe #Alcohol #History #London 🗃️🍸 thelasttuesdaysociety.org/exhibition/t...

Bluebells in Bunhill Fields, where we also spotted two woodpeckers.

📢📢📢 We are looking for contributors to respond to RFK’s recent eugenic-laden speech, his response to the measles outbreak, or any of his other policies. If you are interested you can DM this account or send us a pitch via our website. Please share widely! nursingclio.org/write-for-us...

In time for Easter: These two sketches show women reacting to being given Oxygénée Cusenier instead of chocolate eggs, with the one on the left (by Georges Léonnec, 1909) describing it as a "talisman of eternal love & youth" & the one on the right as "tasteful" (by A. Bertrand, 1905). #Absinthe 🗃️🍸

The same regret - of not having distributed absinthe to the troops - is shown in this sketch from 1907 by the French caricaturist Jules Depaquit: "If I had given a [glass of] Oxygénée Cusenier to each of my soldiers on the morning of Waterloo, I would not be on Saint Helena!" #DrinkingStudies 🗃️🍸

For those in the UK that cannot make it to Switzerland this week: Good news! I will present my book - and specifically the connections between absinthe & French imperialism - at the London "Absinthe Parlour" on the 21st of April 2025! #DrinkingStudies 🗃️🍸 thelasttuesdaysociety.org/exhibition/t...

If climate justice had a formula, it could be: one tenacious lawyer + 2,500 determined senior women = a ruling that reinvents climate accountability With science, law, and relentless determination, Cordelia Bähr didn’t just fight for justice—she redefined it. Read more:

Another one showing Father Christmas: This one is by the French artist A. Bertrand, from 1906, with Père Noël saying: "Toys for the little ones, Oxygénée Cusenier for the grown-ups - that is how you make everyone happy!" I love the umbrella he seems to be carrying! #DrinkingStudies #absinthe 🗃️🍸

While I was in Môtiers for the vernissage of my book "The Hour of Absinthe", I was interviewed by the Swiss national television RTS about absinthe's colonial history. It's in French, but do have a look: www.avisdexperts.ch/fr/intervent... #DrinkingStudies #Absinthe #FrenchColonialism 🗃️🍸

British Steel employs 3.6k people. Coventry Uni group, which auditors say may not survive, employs 7.7k. But there is an emergency debate in parliament for British Steel and nothing for the whole HE sector imploding

It's official: The Comic Book History of the Cocktail, which I wrote and @deankotz.bsky.social illustrated (and how!) will be out on September 23. 🧵 www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/675535...

Many of these sketches showed political figures. This one here - by Paul d'Espagnat - shows F.D. Roosevelt in 1910. Roosevelt explains that he got through the many events of a recent Europe trip with the help of absinthe: "Thanks to Oxygéne Cusenier, my dear! That's my secret." #DrinkingStudies 🗃️🍸

Register ⬇️ for a free online @cncsi.bsky.social event ‘Contagion & Contamination in the Nineteenth Century’ with #hstm & #litsci speakers on: 🧛Vampires & influenza 🦠Imperialism & germs 🇮🇳Cholera in India 🌊Contamined waterways 🌳Ecology & microbes 🏛️Curation of #19C exhibits cn-csi.com/event/contag...

The Planning Bill is not the win-win for nature & building we were promised 🚨 If the Bill proceeds unchanged, it will break new ground in the destruction of nature across England 🥀 Our full letter to Steve Reed and Matthew Pennycook 👇 www.wcl.org.uk/docs/2025/20...