Tolkien (pathetic naïve rube) writing prequels: And so Melkor who was called Morgoth tainted all creation and Arda Marred shall suffer under the shadow of his evil until the end of days George RR Martin (edgy, dark, and modern) writing prequels: INTRODUCING THE ADVENTURES OF LARGE LAD AND BALD BOY

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

I sort of love this. www.ft.com/content/c30d...

People often mock left-wing protesters for trying to shoehorn their particular niche cause into any given protest, but you'll never see anything as mad as this...

Not only is the World Service something to, completely unironically, feel deeply proud of, it's also got to be one of the most cost-effective tools of overseas influence that Britain possesses. This would be catastrophic.

just remembered that recently out of the blue my 7-year-old asked “dad, what was the collapse of the soviet union?”

Labour source: "It seems bizarre Morgan has gone just for giving advice. There are plenty of other people still around Keir who have hidden behind Morgan and tried to pretend they weren’t pushing for this appointment. They will no longer be able to." www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/morgan...

If you missed this week's seminar by Ciara McAllister on 'A class apart: Representing the ‘Troubles’ and the working class', a recording is now available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o1J...

My new article, 'Selling Education in England, 1650-1715' is now out (open access) in the English Historical Review! academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...

CHOTINER: That's very interesting. It reminds me of this rope I have here. The rope is tied into a noose. Would you like to try it on? It might look good on you. INTERVIEWEE: yes, I think that would suit me very well. Let me see how it fits around my neck.

Breaking: Matt Goodwin says his internal polling has him up by 814%.

If you missed Connal Parr's talk this week on 'No borders: The Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement and its legacies', a recording is now available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OLY...

On Monday 2 Feb. Ciara McAllister will be speaking about ‘A class apart: Representing the “Troubles” and the working class’ - all welcome in-person or online www.qub.ac.uk/schools/Iris...

How is the concept of culture wars rooted in the social and political struggles of nineteenth-century Germany? Robert D. Priest explores these little-known origins.

I am very happy my article on the secret training facilities of the British Army of the Rhine for postings in Northern Ireland during the Troubles has now been published! Thank you @ghilondon.bsky.social for the excellent cooperation. www.ghil.ac.uk/publications...

I just thought everyone should see this

Highlight from last semester!

Now that the paperwork is done and my flights are booked, I’m excited to share that I’ll be spending a month from mid-February in California as a Visiting Postgraduate Researcher at the @ucberkeleyies.bsky.social, as part of the IES-QUB HAPP Exchange Scheme!

We can either live in a world made by 14-year-old boys who never grew up, for 14-year-old boys who never grew up, or maybe OFCOM could finally act like an actual regulator?

Uncivil War, my book about the British Army and the Troubles in the early 1970s, is out in paperback on 15 January. Come and hear me talk about it at the National Army Museum on 13 February: www.nam.ac.uk/whats-on/unc...

Strathclyde seeks 'to save £35m over the next two years.' 'Details of which jobs may be at risk have not been made public by the university. It is thought they could include roles at Strathclyde Business School and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland.' Industrial policy anyone?

"Each socio-economic group – and viewers from any other category – could adopt Parr as their own, the chronicler of an inherently ridiculous people: that is, not them." Michael Prodger is so brilliant on Martin Parr:

Glad to learn that tomorrow is 100 years since one of the finest bits of inter-government-relations-handling ever, when the UK, NI and Free State governments got together and said ‘We all hate this Boundary Commission report, albeit for completely different reasons. Let’s suppress it!’

How do democracies respond to extremist attacks? Selen A Ercan, Jordan McSwiney, Emily Beausoleil, Claire Fitzpatrick & @andreafelicetti.bsky.social explore 2 approaches to resilience- ‘bouncing back’ & deepening democracy. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/ituNUoP @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social @sagepub.com

Wrote my take on the retreat on day one rights against unfair dismissal, for Renewal. Basically Labour made a promise it turned out it couldn't deliver, a small group of serious trade unions then decided to try to salvage this, but this isn't without severe trade offs renewal.org.uk/blog/pragmat...

PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

“Dangit I hate gift shopping for my family, they’re so hard to buy f—“

Noise and Nuance: What the public really thinks about immigration Read the new report from @britishfuture.bsky.social on public attitudes to immigration, asylum, settlement + the contested politics of the issue www.britishfuture.org/publication/...

The longer we have a political class that refuses to tell the truth about immigration, because it is easier to embrace populist misconceptions, the further down the road to disaster we go...

📢Out now on #firstview! Daithí Ó Corráin (@dublincityuni.bsky.social) on 'The British Government, Workmen’s Compensation, and the Civilian War Casualties of the Easter 1916 Irish Rebellion' #Compensation #Civilian #Casualties #Injury 20thc 🗃️ 👉Read open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Sometimes wonder if what the UK needs is a thinktank that doesn't do any new research, it just repeats obviously true statements that people try to ignore because they're inconvenient. International students cross-subsidise home students. Your pension is paid for out of general taxation.

Had a brilliant time sharing my work at the @ihrbritainseminar.bsky.social seminar last week at @ihr.bsky.social. Really great discussion as well, facilitated by @colmpm.bsky.social, with lots of interesting questions. Thanks for having me!

The organisers of a recent witness seminar @ihr.bsky.social on Conservatism and Unionism reflect in this new opinion article on the tensions that emerged in the final third of the twentieth century and their implications for the present. historyandpolicy.org/opinion-arti...

My go-to example of this is the University of Lancashire, which has over 25,000 students and 3,000 staff primarily in Preston and Burnley. What happens if institutions like that go under, do we think?

Alongside mooted restrictions on salary sacrifice - which universities make a lot of use of to pay for pensions - this is not shaping up to be a great budget for a sector already mired in cutbacks and redundancies.

'It is notable that in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise the Department of American Studies at Nottingham was ranked third in the Area Studies unit of assessment and was one of the top-performing units across the whole of the University of Nottingham.' 1/2

'the home office is inhabited by an ancient spirit of malice that possesses all who take up the role' is a pretty good thesis tbh

My talk at @ihr.bsky.social / @ihrbritainseminar.bsky.social on British perceptions of the Northern Irish Civil Rights Movement is this Thursday! Come along in person, or join online! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Truly a battle of wits

OVER A MILLION USERS DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT EVERY *WEEK* what the fuck are we DOING here

Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

Exciting news! Filming will soon start on a Bad Bridgets film, inspired by Elaine Farrell & Leanne McCormick's great book. We're delighted to have both Elaine & Leanne on our USIHS Committee (for many reasons, this is just today's extra one) @badbridgetbook.bsky.social deadline.com/2025/10/dais...

Nice to have a write-up of my recent @royalhistsoc.org article featured in this month's Mitchell Institute @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social newsletter. I did not, however, realise how much my shirt needs an iron in this photo...! www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI...

What if friendship were understood not just on an individual, personal level, but as something political – a radical practice capable of upending hierarchies and producing revolutionary social change? Laura C. Forster and Joel White reflect on radical friendship and everyday solidarities.

This is so bleak: www.404media.co/a16z-is-fund...

Really excellent and thorough review by @katyhayward.bsky.social of ‘For and Against a United Ireland’ this morn. Too often IT book reviews actually fail to review the book itself! This was an impressive critique informed by Katy’s own formidable expertise: www.irishtimes.com/culture/book...

"Original and captivating." The #WolfsonHistoryPrize judges on why they have shortlisted Kieran Connell's (@kieranconnell.bsky.social) 'Multicultural Britain: A People’s History' (@hurstpublishers.bsky.social) for the 2025 prize.