Who doesn't love a bit of gossip?

Every time we look at this beautiful mural we notice something new! This artwork is called Living Landscape and it was painted by the very talented @annadillon.bsky.social

We’re back. Latest episode is here!

I see JK Rowling has been hobnobbing with royalty in Edinburgh. Here’s a poem I wrote in another old University with links to her. It’s about Praxe hazings.

The Government Estate Nature Plan has been published – revealing the first official map of all central government land, and that 37% of the public estate is being protected & managed for nature (thereby counting towards the 30by30 goal). Thread 1/ assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a3ce5...

Solidarity with our Exeter colleagues. c.org/xyyMPzBYR5

🐑 The breeds of the domestic animals of the British Islands / London, England: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1842. [Source]

The hot & shadeless fields. Days & nights scented with sweet coumarin from the cut grasses & honeysuckle from the hedges, in a process combining work, community, weather & nature, & knowledge just beyond our weather apps. In @environment.theguardian.com today. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Absolute Units returns next Thurs! We're joined by @uniofreading.bsky.social's Professor Tom Oliver and Marzia Briel, to explore their work rethinking our relationship with nature and how we can better advocate for the natural world. Catch up on past pods: merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

I see your Mambo No. 5 and I raise you…

It was a joy and a privilege to visit the amazing @annadillon.bsky.social today, to see her studio, and wander in her beautiful garden.

Some goodness in the world! Scottish spirit 'has no equivalent in American sport' www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.

I got an Absolute Unit of a Father’s Day card and it was bang ‘on brand’.

Brilliant explainer on the ill-fated and barmy Groundnut Scheme from @badsocialism.bsky.social. Nice to see a few bits of @themerl.bsky.social content finding a place in this woeful tale.

Spotted this on a bookshelf at home. There are quite a few cultural and racial stereotypes at play inside. But the Morris Dancer looks very animated. Happy Thursday folks.

We're having a party, and you're invited! Join us this Weds evening for our next Late, opening after hours with drinks (alcohol and non-alc), gallery tours, and activities. Plus it's free, thanks to @uniofreading.bsky.social centenary funding! merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/sum...

Today I had the privilege of talking with Neil MacGregor about @cprecountryside.bsky.social, Festival of Britain, and other early-mid-C20th rural narratives. Really enjoyable conversations.

this World Cup we should stop asking 'is it coming home' and focus instead on 'are you coming to The Museum of English Rural Life'

'We have a simple message for the Environmental Agency... come and do your job or we WILL do it for you' 😆 Peak EA that, having abandoned this river, it's prosecuting those taking action to recover it. Yet hasn't prosecuted any illegal sewage dumping 🤔 All the power; none of the responsibility.

Update: James Hutton and I share a birthday with CURTIS MAYFIELD! Birthdays have never been so exciting.

Who is punishing the birds? www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

It’s my birthday. I was today years old when I discovered that I share a birthday with James Hutton, C18th Scottish farmer geologist, and author of Theory of the Earth. Happy 300th birthday to you old man!

This was such an unexpected uplift, the 3rd from readers in as many days, & I can’t tell you what it means to writers. Ghosts of the Farm was a wild thing to write, a real obsession & a proper haunting. I took risks in writing it (as I did with the last, but different ones.) I am so glad I did…

Back with a great chat with Anahita Harding. Enjoy!

Absolute Units returns! Listen to our latest episode with artist and disability rights activist Anahita Harding, exploring disability in museum spaces and collections. Plus, how we can shape a future that better includes and represents people with disabilities. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Into folk culture and film? Come see Peter Treherne's 'Matter of Britain' at @uniofreading.bsky.social on Monday evening! The film documents an English country village’s performance of the Holy Grail myth. Stuff of legend. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/screening-...

Tickets are now available for our Summer Late (17 June, 6pm-9pm), and they're free thanks to a @uniofreading.bsky.social centenary grant! Come and discover our galleries in a whole new light, with drinks, crafts, talks, tours and more. merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/sum...

Today sees the launch of a new campaign by Dartmoor Nature Alliance to bring back Dartmoor’s rainforests 🌳🌿 Last night we gathered at Black Tor Copse to call for its restoration - and to double the area of rainforests on Dartmoor’s commons. Get involved: www.dartmoornature.org.uk/rainforests

A poem for World Bee Day.

Great evening watching the superb documentary, Gentle Angry Women, and the Q &A about the legacy of Greenham women.

On my way to @themerl.bsky.social and Reading Biscuit Factory for a documentary screening about Greenham Common. I'm hosting the Q & A.

Latest episode finally out!

Absolute Units returns - again! In the episode we meant to release last Thursday (lol), we pick up once more with @guyshrubsole.bsky.social to continue exploring the land ownership and access in rural England. This time, with a specific focus on hunting. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

A poem from this weekend. Written following a dermatology appointment to get a mole checked.

Why not go digging with the brilliant @hillfortian.bsky.social?!

Scope for a 90s electronic music trail of @themerl.bsky.social? Firestarter - The Prodigy Little Fluffy Clouds - The Ord Texas Cowboys - The Grid Justified & Ancient - KLF Or perhaps a performative reworking of @nicolawriting.bsky.social’s writing for the dance tent?!

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...

Thank you @nicolawriting.bsky.social!!

Want your own folk giant? Now’s your chance! Old Crockern gets a shout out here. You can see him @themerl.bsky.social @uniofreading.bsky.social until 24th May. www.theguardian.com/2026/may/14/...

"For those that don’t have a large voice or who feel lost or helpless, giants can show our collective desires and strength... putting on a mask lets us behave differently and say the unsayable in the folk world – a processional creature has the same effect." Great piece on the Goliath revival.

Folks: if you're a regular listener to our podcast and you've downloaded our latest episode with @guyshrubsole.bsky.social, it might give you a sense of déjà vu. That's because ...we just realised we accidentally uploaded the same episode as last time.

Come all you rural changemakers, space & access creators & housing innovators; come all you quietly radical countryside champions, apply! Nominate! Let us shout about you! #CPRE100

Excited to be judging @cprecountryside.bsky.social’s Centenary National Awards, for Best Green Space Project. So much good stuff is happening & we want to hear about it! There are 6 Awards in all, from countryside changemakers, to access & housing. More here: www.cpre.org.uk/cpre-nationa... 1/2

The countryside has always needed people, communities, collaboration & innovation to keep it the vibrant place we love, no more so than now. Nominate yourself or others, individuals or groups by noon, 24th June. There is so much good stuff happening for our #FutureRural, let’s celebrate it!

so great to have you all with us!

So chuffed too! In awe of everyone there, tbh!

Dead chuffed to be part of @themerl.bsky.social’s ‘Radical Rural’ gallery trail, with my books featured alongside the work of @righttoroam.bsky.social, the inspiring writing of @nicolawriting.bsky.social, the songs of @threeacresacow.bsky.social & many other rural rebels!

what an amazing evening 😻 even if I was forced to do physical labour, marring my delicate townie hands 😹 still thinking about century-long transitions from liberation (of economic energies) to control, now time for sharing? Radical Rural runs until the 24th May 👇🏽 merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rad...

We have a very exciting opportunity for someone to become our new Community Partnerships Curator! You'll lead on the co-creation of a major public exhibition, exploring and reimagining Britain’s relationship with displaced communities. Find out more and apply: jobs.reading.ac.uk/tlive_webrec...