they said it couldn't be done. but they forgot one thing: The Museum of English Rural Life

happy birthday to our podcast xxxxx

MERL rn

Absolute Units returns! For our latest episode, we welcome @avlawson.bsky.social, the author, environmentalist, and activist. We chat about Adrian's career, his time with Extinction Rebellion, and his role in turning an abandoned meadow into a flourishing marsh. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

this has been one of the most glorious projects I've ever worked on

Hello, we have something extraordinary to share with you.

Iran’s people were facing a horrible shortage of water before the war began. If we are destroying desalination plants and setting fire to Teheran we are committing unfathomable crimes.

Women curators, designers, and collectors have played a huge part throughout our history at The Museum of English Rural Life. For #InternationalWomensDay 2026, read about the stories of three women from our earlier years in our new blogpost. merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

'...exposed UK museums and universities as “imperial charnel houses where the bones of Indigenous peoples torn from Britain’s empire in the past, with little or no regard to the spiritual sensibilities of its people, continue to be retained to this day in circumstances that beggar belief”.'

Saving for later … Part 1 was brilliant. All the good good spirited things we can do to tell different stories of the rural (the rural that’s there for all) create magic, move, engage & change things. Bravo @olliedouglas.bsky.social @joevaughan.net @lisaschneidau.bsky.social Ruth Webb & Crockern!

this is not news. we have been a fully sentient posting museum since at least 2016

We've now made six podcasts featuring artists, writers, and makers who feature in our current Radical Rural galleries trail. Hear from @maninthewoods.co.uk, @katrinanavickas.bsky.social, @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, and Ruth Webb on our website! merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rad...

loved working on these episodes. huge thanks to @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, @olliedouglas.bsky.social, Ruth, and Crockern!

“Our models generally [don't encourage real world violence] but unfortunately they’re not perfect.” this isn't "not perfect"; it's "very, very bad" www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Absolute Units returns tomorrow! We're back with Ruth Webb and @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, picking up where we left off last time and continuing the story of Old Crockern and the fight for wild camping on Dartmoor. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

have you been looking for a reason to come to @themerl.bsky.social? here is a very good one

Tickets are now available for our next LATE! Join us after hours on the night of 25 March for drinks, activities, and talks. £5 per person; £3 concessions for @uniofreading.bsky.social staff/students. merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/spr...

A common fictional narrative shows people with nonconforming identities finding self-acceptance in towns and cities. This #LGBTQHistoryMonth, archivist Lottie Wood explores how author E. M. Barraud found the opposite, through rural work and the Women’s Land Army. merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

News: we're thrilled to have received £80,000 of funding from the BFI to help us digitise a remarkable archive of agricultural films and make them available to the public! Read more on the @uniofreading.bsky.social website: www.reading.ac.uk/news/2026/Un...

Latest episode, expertly edited by my awesome co-host @joevaughan.net. Great chats with the fascinating @lisaschneidau.bsky.social and Ruth Webb!

This was a brilliant & galvanising listen: the power of giants & storytelling, the stars ARE ours, & so much more - so many things connected & woven together! A joyful listen @joevaughan.net @olliedouglas.bsky.social Ruth Webb & @lisaschneidau.bsky.social #RadicalRural @themerl.bsky.social

this was a real joy to record and work on. huge thanks to Ruth Webb and @lisaschneidau.bsky.social for bringing Old Crockern to @themerl.bsky.social <3

Performed at 3 comedy shows this week! I am picking up the pace, as they say

He wasn't initially called to religion, but then he saw the light.

We're also marking the launch of Radical Rural, a gallery trail championing many more voices who champion and care for rural England today. From summoning the folk spirits of England's woods and tors, to meticulously mapping the data of who really owns England. merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rad...

here's how one of our trail displays arrived

New exhibition! Tomorrow, we open Voices of the Countryside, a celebration of 100 years of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie... @cprecountryside.bsky.social

please consult the chart

Absolute Units returns! Join @olliedouglas.bsky.social and @joevaughan.net as we continue reflecting on 75 years of The MERL. We discuss: - Colonial agriculture - Scandinavian folk museums - The @pittriversmuseum.bsky.social - Sauron - Cow bells And MUCH more. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

BM using AI photos seems extremely out of touch with popular and sector sentiments around AI. very strange stuff

I did an interview about tone of voice at @themerl.bsky.social! We talked about: - The MERL pre- and post- absolute unit (the @adamkoszary.bsky.social era) - How I got to work in museums - Why you should be nice to your comms staff open.substack.com/pub/stratcommsurgery/p/comms-care-5

new job role just dropped

i have launched a further iteration of the textbox update and also explained more on my instagram www.instagram.com/p/DT7mzO_CJB...

Happy New Episode of the Work Podcast Day to all who celebrate x

Ah we see your Blue Monday and raise you a Moo Blunday

Resharing some threads below. Apologies if it's boring for those who've seen them. When people enjoy the captions and pics I've posted in these and share them, more people read my books and it helps me repair things in the aftermath of a publishing disaster. 1. Sheep. bsky.app/profile/dj-a...

One out of 12 rams is uninterested in females. Deemed “non-procreative" by farmers, they're typically sent to slaughter. German farmer Michael Stücke rescues the gay rams. His company Rainbow Wool, sells fabulous wool products from his flock of gay sheep. rainbow-wool.com

Massively looking forward to my upcoming Ted Talk. This will involve me talking to anyone who will listen about my late granddad, Ted, the council house in Nottingham where lived, the allotment where he grew his vegetables, and his long-running day job in a factory where women's underwear was made.

launched a new and improved version of my website today joevaughan.net. this technically superior iteration is known as the Textbox Update

Dog ate my homework Good dog! There will be more school But never more of you

Last week I swapped my 9-5 museum job at @themerl.bsky.social for a week of intensive clown school (this isn't a bit!) - 6 hours a day in a north London scout camp being an idiot, bombing, trying again. it was one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences of my life to date

We've just announced our new programme for the first half of 2026, celebrating the people and movements that protect England's rural landscapes. @olliedouglas.bsky.social shares what's coming up in our new blogpost. merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

little-flying-robots.ghost.io/rejecting-re... We live in an age where the Internet and LLMs are encouraging ever more people to reject reality entirely. Here's my thoughts on why this is happening, and why the Terminally Online turn amongst the powerful is so dangerous.

Are you a PhD student interested in using museum collections in your research? Our next free doctoral training webinar takes place next Wednesday. Join us for guidance and examples of uncovering marginalised and minoritised stories in collections. collections.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/doc...

Doing some cute calligraphy

Beginning 2026 as I mean to continue: by turning off all notifications on all electronic devices. If you notified me, no you didn't

Not one word of condemnation by our government of Trump's illegal act of war in Venezuela. Not one word.

Tell me we should trust AI to give us the facts. Tell me it's a future we can put our faith in. Come at me. I'm right here, waiting.

Ban this sick filth.