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.

Love love love everything about this. Adrian and the Marshians are doing absolutely extraordinary work, and would highly recommend anyone going along for some wonderful stomping and community (does it get better than that?)

New Absolute Units episode is here! We’re back with Professor Paddy Bullard (University of Reading) and Isabel Hughes (The MERL), with a bonus episode marking 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth. Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts: merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Our last podcast of 2025! Enjoy <3 <3

remember when AI slop was good

An episode of our @themerl.bsky.social pod in which I confess to not having read much Austen. Then, for some utterly harebrained reason, I recite my own poetry after discussing one of the world’s most celebrated writers! Thankfully @joevaughan.net edits me to sound less stupid than I clearly am!

new pod, with lots of sound design

The only AI podcast we would launch would be about Artificial Insemination

in your 20s you are going to work in a museum and everyone's going to say 'should we join TikTok' and 5 years later you will say 'yes'

Santa Claus is coming to town but first he's coming to The Museum of English Rural Life to learn about the history of rural England, research repairs for his sleigh, and have an out-of-body experience buying a tote bag

evergreen reminder: please do not drive in the galleries. our interpretation was not designed for vehicles and we can't guarantee them a quality vehicular experience

working title is: 'How to Spot a Wrong'un with Jane Austen'

I'm writing some reflections on Museums Computer Group conf (don't know when I'll share this, but it's nice writing long-form)

Life after X: @joevaughan.net from @themerl.bsky.social on absolute units and leaving Elon Musk's Twitter for a new home in Bluesky #MuseTech25

I'm speaking at this today - about your friend and mine, @themerl.bsky.social Bluesky

5. We're looking to expand our board. So if you think you're a good fit for one of our non-executive director roles, do please apply here: www.earthroverprogram.org/job-opportun...

🎵 On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me / A mouse with a lobster taxi 🎵 Shop the world's most sophisticated merch this Christmas: merl-shop.co.uk/shop/curiosi...

POV: you're a museum that just threw a party. Huge thanks to everyone who joined us at last month's LATE! Hope you had as much fun as we did ❤️