permabanned from the karaoke bar for doing Koyanisqaatsi 3 nights in a row

This is actually very interesting because that’s what people get wrong about the Middle Ages as well. Simply put: you might know how to build aqueducts from self healing concrete but you might lose the need *and* capability to do so. Three separate things. Many misunderstand how societies adapt. 1/

I disagree that it has to be a basic principle. In the EU, Commissioners (the main legislators for EU laws) are unelected by the public, with legislators appointments confirmed by MEPs now. Historically, they were appointed by government heads (similar to Lords appointments by party leaders).

The thing about Mandelson, is that we've all known what he is since about 1998 and every time he resigns or gets sacked in disgrace it is just the same thing again.

If I had to summarize interwar British modernity in one image…

Venn diagram of ‘social science airport book author’ and ‘epstein files’ getting more crowded

"It would be comforting to tell ourselves this is some kind of aberration. Actually, though, there is no shortage of examples from history that rhyme with all of this." My latest @newstatesman1913.bsky.social column, on manifest destiny, the Monroe Doctrine and the Mexican-American War

He had bought a large map representing the sea, Without the least vestige of land: And the crew were much pleased when they found it to be A map they could all understand. snrk.de/snarkhunt/#093

We are excited to offer a new funding opportunity for mid-career to senior researchers! NINO Incoming Senior Fellowships and NINO Outgoing Senior Fellowships. Upcoming deadline for applications: 15 February 2026. More info in this thread🧵

“We must address the demoralising effect of loss of autonomy by getting people to stop being nostalgic for the days when they had more autonomy.”

Never mind jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university. 1. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology 2. Egyptian religion 3. Old Egyptian Texts 4. Advanced Egyptian Texts 5. Late Egyptian Texts

I enjoy experiencing the bombastic, we-speak-for-Britain tone of this front page alongside a light reading of last week’s Press Gazette coverage of the latest circulation figures.

O Osiris the King, take the Eye of Horus, for it will not be sundered from you. (PTF)

Have a skincare routine, as soon as possible

Also, while Reform supporters are much more negative about their local area and change in their local area over the past ten years, much of this difference goes away once the level of deprivation of the local constituency is controlled for. This negativity is a function of material conditions.

I know attention is on the US/Greenland, and it’s hard to get proper news from Iran, but this from @christinalamb.bsky.social estimates at least 16,000 people have been killed and over 300,000 injured. Many (most?) victims are thought to be under the age of 30 www.thetimes.com/article/01ba...

Just to give a sense of how badly the salaries at the BL have degraded - this post paid £39k in 2010, which the Bank of England inflation calculator says is the equivalent of £61k today

Here am I; I have come to you that you may drive out all the evil which is on me just as you did for those seven spirits who are in the suite of the Lord of Sepa. (BDF)

J.G. Ballard, prophet of the near future. He wrote this twenty years ago.

JOB ALERT: Lead Curator, Modern Archives & Manuscripts (1601-1800) at The British Library - closing date: 18th Feb www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH179/l...

As an ex e-learning developer, I can confidently say this will be a terrible learning experience. I cannot wait to rip it to shreds. Here's what the Free AI Training will look like 🧵 1/

I have flown up like the primeval ones, I have become Khepri, I have grown as a plant, I have clad myself as a tortoise, I am the essence of every god, I am the seventh of those seven uraei who came into being in the west. (BDF)

Take my country's fucking name out of your mouth and don't talk about it like it's a lab experiment, you disgusting fucking freak

A commitment to confronting Empire by *checks notes* removing our capability to do so. Right

'Tools of the Scribe, a stimulating and original, if technical, book by computational linguists Brian Roark, Richard Sproat and Su-Youn Yoon....explores how “the implement, the medium, the writing system and the writer” interact to produce text.' 1/3

Congratulations to Dr. James Benn (@jamesabenn.bsky.social) on the recent publication of *Inner Worlds: Individuals and Interiority in Chinese Religious Life* (Brill, 2025), co-edited with Benjamin Brose. @degruyterbrill.bsky.social brill.com/edcollbook/t...

It’s a reminder of how completely unserious our nation is that we have a live illustration of where this leads in Minnesota and yet everyone pretends a Reform government is just an ok idea.

Kids love Philip Glass youtu.be/4JWwOzEDGss?...

Road to Snowdon, 2022, painting by Welsh artist Sarah Evans @sarahevansart.bsky.social.

I hate that solidarity is the only thing I can offer right now. To them and all the other Americans in the street right now: your courage is equal parts inspiring and humbling.

For some reason, these days I find myself thinking a lot about how SimCity players would eventually get bored and start triggering disasters.

So much admiration for those out protesting in freezing conditions. This is what standing up against authoritarianism looks like.

unbelievably, incredibly pleased to share with you that one of my oldest friends managed, with a straight face, to convince her partner that Jon Hamm was married to an Italian woman called Ana Mortadella

my teaching style

Canadian too if you’re trying to get off American tech

POV: It, 987 AD and you're listening to the second worst skald in Reykholt

She is the lady of drunkenness, the queen of the dance. She stabs the enemy, drives back the rebels, kills off the enemies in the place of internment; she is Sekhmet the great, who has power over the masses--the countless crowd trembles upon seeing her. (OGC)

"Why d'you think Windsor Castle's RINGED with Chinese Restaurants..."

Damn, even Sesame Street is scoring off me

In the 2010s, the Icelandic tv station Channel 2 accidentally added subtitles from a gritty crime drama to an episode of Teletubbies. I have translated some of the highlights

was briefly so excited reading this until I realised he meant Davos

Fun fact: Britain and France are now the only two members of the UN Security Council who aren't obsessed with annexing a nearby country!

This is true. It is also true that Canada ALMOST has a functional veto over US military actions against Greenland. It is very difficult for the US to conduct military actions against GL without using CA airspace, NORAD assets, and/or CA allowing EU naval forces to use CA ports. A short thread.

Oh are we doing that whole bit again where we pretend Brianna Ghey died because of social media rather than because of the people who stabbed her 28 times.

I do rather like this variant though. bsky.app/profile/pike...