I wish I had read C. Wright Mills's essay "On Intellectual Craftsmanship" at the beginning of my academic journey. I wouldn't have struggled with so beautifully stated advice of what academic work is. Favourite quote: "Thinking is a struggle for order and at the same time for comprehensiveness"

Cleared head in Scotland over the weekend for the (hopefully) final PhD push.

👉👉👉

👉👉👉

The side effect of ongoing censorship that Americans will experience now will be a massive change in their sense of humour. We, Poles, who had to hide our criticism of the existing regimes for nearly 200 years, were forced to use irony and metaphor for the message to exist in the public space. Fun!

Sometimes you are convinced you're about to leave academia. And then a student comes up to you, thanking for an off-handed comment encouraging the group to diagnose their neurodivergence if needed, and saying that it made them make it through the past year. 🥹

Insane, yet predictable.

Apply to this conference! Literally the best people out there, as well as the topic.

I think that sums up well this past week

"Low-quality research", defined by whom? By which parameters? Yet another strategy to cut the funding for the humanities & arts--something that should have been supported MORE right now, as maybe we wouldn't have been suffering from the mess of *gestures vaguely at everything* as much.

Uh oh.

Great part-time job offer for those based in the UK!

Last night's presence of drones over Poland is not surprising, since due to the Russian military manoeuvres in Belarus starting on the 12th of September, the border between PL and BY is temporarily closed. Russia is probing NATO's defences. What is quite astounding to see is the quickness of trolls

It was just a matter of time.

My former student who once wrote "Knowing your fondness for emails finding you well on Monday, I hope this email finds you well" wished me now "plenty of stamina for the semester," so I expand those wishes to all of you #skystorians who might need it (I, for once, need it very much)

exciting!

Meanwhile, one of the biggest stories in the French media is a su*cide of a lesbian teacher, Caroline Grandjean, after two years of harassment she suffered from anon perpetrators. She was targeted, among others, by graffiti at the school she was director of, comparing homosexuality with paedoph*lia.

Things I love about Paris: that here it is not an unfamiliar situation, to find yourself queuing to enter a library.

Feels like that was a good starting point for reflections 10 years ago. Also, tax the rich 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sounds promising!

Pre-order the hardback edition for your institutional library now: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/

Dear #skystorians, what are the books you are looking forward to coming out this fall? Or do you want to jump at the opportunity and tell us about yours? I'm mostly interested in the 20th century, new publications. Share and comment!

Me, returning home after a semester worth of teaching in four days, after being sat on the train next to someone I know:

Not only the strike on the 10th of September: now the French unions call for a general strike on the 18th. Seems like it’s going to be an intense autumn.

Main takeout after 2 days of teaching in 27 degrees: these 18 year olds really wear socks to their birkenstocks

Happy international dog day!

Four journalists were killed by an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital today, including Mariam Dagga, a freelancer with the @apnews.com. She has a 12-year-old son, who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war. She was a true hero, like all of our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza. tinyurl.com/3cn5c9vb

a bit on the nose if you ask me

For your MA students thinking about next steps

Happy independence day, Ukraine. You've got this.

Or worse still, the leaders themselves submitted to domestic quarrels (I suspect that was the case of Poland).

🚨Journalism job alert🚨 We're hiring an investigative reporter to join my team at @wired.com. We're looking for someone who has both traditional and non-traditional reporting skills (coding/data work/OSINT, etc). Fit the bill? Come work with me! condenast.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/CondeCareers...

Today’s Daily Cartoon. Author: Christopher Weyant.

Supporting this wholeheartedly

This might be groundbreaking for understanding Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis: there are eight distinct genetic markers in people with the condition. Three of the most likely genes produce proteins that respond to an infection, another one relates to chronic pain.

👀

Sign and share!

Tbh though it’s pretty shocking to me that, for whatever reason, Donald Tusk is not in the group of European leaders heading to the US. If there’s one country that should support Ukraine and themselves in that situation, it’s Poland. What a diplomatic mistake.

Tbh though it’s pretty shocking to me that, for whatever reason, Donald Tusk is not in the group of European leaders heading to the US. If there’s one country that should support Ukraine and themselves in that situation, it’s Poland. What a diplomatic mistake.

This.

Lord, this is grim. 2025, 3 years into the Russian war on Ukraine, and we watch the US president waiting on the red carpet for Putin.

I admit, I am 10 days away from a welcome week where I am supposed to teach new students some ABC of learning methodology and prepping them for the university life, but I am at loss of what to tell them.

Bloody hell.

Societies need historians vol 363739

Dear all, if I remember well, a couple--maybe three, maybe four--weeks ago, somewhere in quite mainstream media, an essay was published on whether it is allowed/fitting to feel joy during an ongoing genocide. It was pretty widely shared. Does anyone remember what it was? Thank you!

Dear all, if I remember well, a couple--maybe three, maybe four--weeks ago, somewhere in quite mainstream media, an essay was published on whether it is allowed/fitting to feel joy during an ongoing genocide. It was pretty widely shared. Does anyone remember what it was? Thank you!

Fellow historians and/or friends, are you in London next week? Let’s grab some coffee/pint!

Fellow historians and/or friends, are you in London next week? Let’s grab some coffee/pint!

Seventh of August and I have already heard “Last Christmas“ in a cafe for the first time. Berlin, what the actual hell.

Passing through Berlin in this strangely cold summer.