I liked the first series of Severance, but we're onto the second episode of Series 2 and I'm beginning to get strong Lost 'we don't really want you to understand what's happening, that's the point' vibes...

It's #BlackHistoryMonth and, over at the Bad Place, people are FURIOUS about @thebarcouncil.bsky.social's 'racist' scheme to offer paid internships to aspiring Black barristers. Meanwhile, report after report shows that Black people are underrepresented, underpaid and discriminated against in Law.

THIS. It’s like the continued Labour insistence that the reason they’re so unpopular is the legacy left by the Tories. People don’t like what you’re doing NOW. If Starmer did different things, they’d feel differently. Why not try, oh I don’t know, implementing some popular* policies? *not populist

Modern slavery laws have already been weakened to the point where victims are at serious risk. Further undermining them will be absolutely catastrophic for vulnerable victims. It isn't modern slavery laws which need changing. It's Labour anti-asylum policies. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Thalidomide was on the market for five years before the risk in pregnancy was identified. Paracetamol has been sold for almost 150 years. Even by Farage’s standards, this is disgraceful. The assault on science, facts and ‘truth’ by the Right in recent years is just relentless.

www.autism.org.uk. Just point them in this direction!

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

It me!

I took Tylenol as needed throughout my pregnancy. I am a doctor. I order Tylenol for pregnant women regularly. Tylenol is safe in pregnancy. RFK Jr is ignoring a huge recent well-done study because he doesn't like the answer it gives. There is no causality between Tylenol and autism.

You have no idea how much I despite these anti-science dipshits for making pregnant women terrified of taking (safe, mild, proven) pain relief.

Delia is, of course, incomparable. But how the hell did she think this was going to make two layers of cake?!

Stands on rooftops: 📣 🗣️ 🗣️THERE IS NO LINK BTW ACETAMINOPHEN & AUTISM. IT HAS BEEN STUDIED FOR MANY YEARS IN MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. 🗣️THE ONLY REASON THEY ARE TALKING ABT THIS IS THAT THEY DO NOT WANT AUTISTIC PEOPLE TO EXIST. 🗣️IT IS EUGENICS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS MATTER. -EmilyPhD

In better news my book is coming out in paperback next March (pre-orders now available)! www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

DELIGHTED that amongst all the other exhausting ‘starting new school’ nonsense Rowan has decided that she* will be spending her only free evenings this week participating in the ‘Great Geography Bake Off’. *we (obviously)

I’m not sure I should post publicly what I think of Reform. When I texted my husband about it all the descriptive words started with F.

Only 1 person in the whole study went from identifying as trans to not identifying as trans. The 1/5 number came from youth going between the binary and non-binary spectrum. This headline and post are misleading on purpose to fit the economist's editorial bent on the political issue.

This is a wonderful reflection, and not just because I'm biased myself but because she gets at things about Bad Indians Book Club that others are not. Perhaps because of her own bias, because it is about relationships as much as it is about books. redpopnews.com/the-power-of...

A possible alternative for those ditching academiaDOTedu because of its appalling new ToS.

Screw that. My content belongs to me. And so, despite the fact that a lot of material in my field is only available via academiaDOTedu, I have just deleted my account. If you want to know how to do it without accepting the new terms and conditions, the info is here: bsky.app/profile/dani...

This is INCREDIBLE.

Flat out.

@elefountain.bsky.social I don’t know if you’ll see this, but my daughter Rowan was really looking forward to meeting you today at school and then, because of a singing lesson, missed it. I just wanted to let you know how much she loved Storm Child as she didn’t get a chance to tell you herself.

Rhetoric is meaningless without action, and even the action Streeting is promising (CBT) amounts to conversion therapy by the back door. I’ve been delighted to see @iandunt.bsky.social’s recent excellent coverage of the attack on trans rights, but I’m afraid I can only feel cynical about this.

I know the world is on fire, but it’s pretty cool that yesterday Claudia Sheinbaum, the Mexican president, became the first woman ever to lead the Grito, the historic cry of Independence. Small steps forward still matter.

WHY WOULD YOU WRITE A DETAIL-HEAVY BOOK AND NOT INCLUDE FOOTNOTES OR AN INDEX?!

This morning I have written one whole paragraph and ordered a book in a language I don’t really read, just like a proper historian.

If you're reading this and thinking "nuh-uh, I'm totally a real trans ally", that's great! What was the last bit of active allyship you did? If it's been a while, I made this little doc of options for easy allyship to help you get started: docs.google.com/document/u/0...

JOHN WAYNE FANS ONLY.

LinkedIn has determined (without consulting me) that the middle of our voluntary-severance round is the best time to announce that I’ve ‘completed’ 15 years at Sheffield (as if it’s a sentence). So now people I don’t know are congratulating me. *makes mental note to delete LinkedIn* *again*

There are only two weeks left until term starts and I am trying to properly write* for the first time in, I can’t remember how long, definitely years…? *Edit, anyway. Well, reread. Or at least try and remember what I was on about and google relevant articles. That counts, right?

Thank you so, SO much to everyone who has recommended, read, and posted reviews of my book! And folks who have come to events! Sold out of 1st printing which is amazing (tho let's not get too excited this is an academic print run 😁), has now been reprinted and in process of restocking. Phew. 📚

"free speech"

I am dancing to the worst DJ in history. He’s like an art-house installation designed to challenge the conventions of the form. It’s really a genuine skill to be able to repeatedly clear a dance floor full of 40 and 50 somethings who are OUT OF THE HOUSE WITHOUT THE KIDS FOR ONCE.

Very glad to see some MPs (at last) taking a principled stand in support of the rights of trans and NB people.

Does anyone know of a good recent article about digital history (ideally with some consideration of AI) focused on the ‘doing’ of it which I could set alongside of a (still excellent but obviously now a bit dated) piece from 2008 for MA students? (‘The Promise of Digital History’, FYI.) 🗃️ Thanks!

Hobbyists of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your jobs!

So it’s looking possible it’s a right-leaning cis straight white dude. The statistics would certainly favour that conclusion anyway… rockinst.org/gun-violence...

The problem with buying a new (used) car is that then you have to drive it. And when you’ve been driving the same car for fifteen years, it feels like putting on someone else’s shoes.

Before someone jumps on me for not talking about this: I have nothing to say about the death of Charlie Kirk. I feel for his family. I fear the consequences. I mourn ALL the victims of the 47 school shootings which have taken place in the US already this year. Gun violence in schools is horrifying.

No, I do not wish to buy an Advent calendar or a Christmas cake. Or, for that matter, a Halloween pumpkin! It is SEPTEMBER.

AJPT: I don’t need to provide citations because I have a note from my mum.

Two Loki Chaos Tour signings coming up to celebrate book 5! First, Muswell hill this saturday, 13th Sept, 11am! @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social I'll also be painting the window there. Feel free to come and suggest doodles for me to add.

If you want to see my PhD subject at its finest, the property's vast array of cabinets - Dutch Atlantic world ivory and ebony, Japanese nanban lacquer, hybrids of Chinese kuan cai and European japanning - will be opened for a rare yearly glimpse into their interiors in October 👇

Absolutely incredible that the concept of consulting stakeholders on healthcare policy is being made out to be sinister like this. Nothing about us without us.

📢 Today the Academy launches a major new report urging action to tackle a growing crisis in our universities. Cuts to courses mean more regions than ever are ‘cold spots’ for access to many SHAPE subjects - with even more at risk. 🧵 📍Read the full report: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...

Genuinely thrilled to learn that On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe has been translated into braille. That's so cool! 🗃️https://www.loc.gov/nls/new-materials/braille-book-review/braille-book-review-september-october-2025/

Yet more evidence that West Streeting is the worst person in the world.

Last line: "Applications to a family court for an Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order only apply to biological women and girls at risk of Female Genital Mutilation.” So this is all hot air. Anyway, let's say this is vanishingly rare. So what? The guidance should protect EVERYONE from FGM.

I’m obsessed with this headline, and by the idea that THIS is Labour’s best strategic advice. By definition, you can’t stop making mistakes, because they’re not intentional. Hence: mistakes.

Reform in a nutshell.