Another win, back to the top & it’s still not good enough? Will obviously feel amazing if we win something but the building narrative of the last few years is suffocating & the relatively unfair pressure on this group of players (& the fans) is sucking a lot of the joy out of the journey.

Matthew Doyle: aide given peerage by Starmer campaigned for paedophile Lead story on the Times website: archive.ph/Kv6u1

Rick Wakeman unveiling the newest line up of Yes at Stamford Bridge this evening.

John McGinn: PFA Rear of the Year.

Make a Bond movie academic On Her Majesty’s Secret Service renamed On the Secret Service of Her Majesty.

As a tween I told my gran I wanted to be a football commentator when I grew up, and she replied in Greek that football commentators were who the children who ran about in fields when the other children were at school grew up to be, and I’ve still no idea what that meant but I was suitably chastened.

Both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II have Jewish gangsters as antagonists of the Corleones. Casino and in a very different vein Home Alone show Italian and Jewish-American criminals working together. Once Upon a Time in America is about Jewish gangsters.

Two thoughts from watching Zootopia/Zootropolis 2 this week: 1. Why is it called Zootopia in the US and Zootropolis in the UK - seems a really pointless choice to make? 2. The hints at romance between Nick and Judy made me wonder, are there many examples of interspecies coupling in animated films?

Miguel Almiron left Newcastle to avoid paying child support for Lewis Miley.

Really loved listening to Vaughn talking about her research on the Cold War politics of the Christmas film, do check it out.

Make a Bond movie academic The World Is Not Enough, which is actually a critique of the global turn in the humanities.

If you think about it, God was the first content creator.

Boxing Day morning coffee and new books. This edited by Simon Gunn @petermandler.bsky.social @osaumarezsmith.bsky.social is a real treat. Highly recommend.

Not checking trains before travelling on Boxing Day is an amateur move, 100% wouldn’t recommend.

Is it my cousins.

Gladiators is on TV. I suppose East 17 are number one as well? Maybe Father Christmas has brought me a Megazord?

This is my and my Dad’s song. Feel his presence with me whenever I listen to it as this time of year. Really captures that sense of disillusionment and desire for re-enchantment that comes with being an adult at Christmastime. Have a hopeful Christmas, and a brave New Year, all. X

'90s movies taught millennials "your dad's a douchey workaholic who treats you like crap?" Don't worry, he'll have a major hijinks-inspired come to Jesus moment and realize you're important. It's why we all have Daddy issues.

OK, time for the thread of my Top 10 Christmas songs...

This article explains why, for students of colour, the law school has often felt like a space to which they cannot fully belong. "Seeking the university that is ours" The Law Teacher (2025): 1-17. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Pretty sure centre back pairs aren’t supposed to be as good looking as Calafiori and Saliba.

Not sure I’ve seen many shootouts with that calibre of penalty taking.

If you’re looking for a last-minute Christmas present, my book Borderlines is a good bet. It’s a blend of history and travel writing: ‘charming and thought-provoking’ - from Fermanagh to Chernivtsi www.waterstones.com/book/borderl...

For a fun read, I wrote for @degruyterbrill.bsky.social's De Gruyter Conversations blog on the reasons why we should be serious about critically analyzing all types of media, especially innocuous ones like Christmas films.

Looking for some Christmasy podcasts or articles this festive week? Look no more: my gift to you all is a thread of all sorts of reads and listens from or featuring yours truly so you can drop some knowledge at the dinner table this Thursday! First up, Unsung History with @feministkelly.bsky.social

Your mission today: 1. Watch It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and identify any possible subversive elements. 2. Listen to the latest Unsung History with @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social to hear how the FBI(!) did just that, using a framework from Ayn Rand(!).

Adults complain about not getting youngsters’ pop cultural references but the incomprehensibility goes both ways. Not sure when my kids ask what we’re doing later, “The same thing we do every night, Pinky – try to take over the world!” is an especially meaningful response from their point of view.

Time for our final 🧵of 2026 on one of the articles from our 50th anniversary special issue, 'London's Past Today'. This one is on 'From Historical Fiction to Historical Praxis: Researching Long Eighteenth-Century London’s Black Lives' (available OA), by Montaz Marché & @jamie-gemmell.bsky.social.

Busker in Bexleyheath this morning doing a rendition of Zombie for the Christmas shoppers. Perfectly judged.

I would also mention that the paperback edition of our book ‘Histories of Fascism and Anti-Fascism in Australia’ is also available for 20 per cent off! @drjpersian.bsky.social www.routledge.com/Histories-of...

Just to mention that the discourse over protest and free speech at British universities has a long history, which is covered in my book ‘No Platform: A History of Anti-Fascism, Universities and the Limits of Free Speech’ (now available for 20% off). www.routledge.com/No-Platform-...

In 2025 the Society was pleased to add 5 titles to its 'New Historical Perspectives' book series for early career historians bit.ly/4qh8eDt This year saw publication of the 25th NHP title and the 200,000th download from the series. All books are available free Open Access @uolpress.bsky.social.

Ibrahima Konaté: master of the air ukulele.

After his Minute of Clumsiness last night, I for one would just like to welcome Everton’s Jake O’Brien to the dyspraxic community. You’re among friends here, Jake.

Here it is, the final regular #ScholarSunday thread of 2025, my 255th thread of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

Our most recent Current Debates essay is now out. In "The East India Company as Landowner" John Marriott considers the legal origins of British colonial rule in India. #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1080/0308... @jich.bsky.social

Thinking back over this and especially the points Colm made about the relative lack of coherent thinking on race within New Labour’s modernisation project, and wondering about the extent to which this helps to explain the generally worse post-New Labour trajectory on this issue.

Everyone is dunking on this and unfortunately fairly so but it’s just ridiculous for Labour MPs to contort themselves to make points they don’t believe because the party won’t act in line with its voters’ (and most MPs’) socially liberal values and leftish priorities on public services and welfare.

Something that really hits me re early Only Fools and Horses and jokes re Grandad’s memories of WW1, gun running in the Spanish Civil War, shacking up with Trigger’s gran during WW2, taking up a relative’s 1947 offer to stay any time is that’s like someone now referring to events from the 1960s-90s.

These are not the same.

Biscuits said "The FBI said WHAT about Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life (1946)?!" and "Of course in theory I knew the Hollywood Blacklist had a significant impact on our culture, but this text helps outline exactly how propaganda can be read in those films." www.barnesandnoble.com/w/selling-ou...

Very much enjoyed listening to @colmpm.bsky.social speaking recently about his book on the Labour Party and modernisation on this episode of @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social.

My run of outstanding luck this week has continued today with my laptop going kaput. This is some (Note)Book of Job level of misfortune.

The mistake with this claim is to see it as worth probing. It is revealing of hidden shallows on the part of the people who say it, nothing more.

It's out!🍾 I am delighted to announce the publication of our "Germany's History Wars. Contesting Memory and Identity Today" It is Open Access! 👇 You can download it here for free. www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women. I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans. I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women. academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...

I am speaking with Dan Frost about my book at Housmans Bookshop on 21 January 2026. Booking form is now available: housmans.com/event/book-t...

Love this title (from our @qmulsse.bsky.social colleague, @smidbob.bsky.social)

I made an elaborate joke on here today combining contemporary Labour Party politics with early christological debates, and a few minutes later a dick joke, and the respective responses to the multitudes I contain reflects poorly on you all, to be frank.

The @histchild.bsky.social conference is coming to the @sheffielduni.bsky.social in July 2026. Call for papers has been extended until Monday 22nd December. Please share - especially with research students and ECRs! www.histchild.org/pages/sheffi...