In my case it’s that I am a bit funny about people using my full name – like yes I’m Dionysios and proud of it but unless you’re my uncle or my auntie or an Orthodox priest giving me Communion, you call me Dion.

Finnur Dellsén got a nice pic of me on my standard Q&A slide, so now I have a stock reply to any time anyone disagrees with me.

Come on man, you can’t blast out the Christmas playlist all day in early November.

Imagine the introversive Springsteen album this could inspire.

New book review: Global London on Screen: Visitors, Cosmopolitans and Migratory Cinematic Visions of a Superdiverse City, edited by Keith B. Wagner and the late Roland-François Lack, as reviewed by Melissa Oliver-Powell.

New book review: Queer Premises: LGBTQ+ Venues in London Since the 1980s by @bencampkin.bsky.social, reviewed by Marisa Müsing.

📣📣📣 From Chania to Helsinki...Via New York and Thessaloniki! The life and works of Aino, a Greek-Finish chef fromnthe far south and the far north of Europe! Listen the new episode here 👇👇👇

Here’s @dudleymarianna.bsky.social introducing her new book to the world, in conversation with CEH co-director Paul Merchant. Everyone go read: ‘Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain’! manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182968/

Cypriot teams have now beaten English and Spanish opponents in European competition this season.

Bonfire Night is a difficult time of years for cats, dogs, and 1980s new wave bands.

Ahmet and Ibbi who ran our local Wimpy are the sons of Cypriot migrants, who beyond that connection also made us and the kids feel so welcome every time we went there. Lovely guys who will be sorely missed by all their customers.

This is disastrous; hospices do such important work, not only to give people a good death, but to provide pain management and other services to people with terminal conditions. The staff in hospices work so, so hard and the fact that these institutions depend on charity to operate is a scandal.

Couple of young guys outside Starbucks wearing “Who is Jesus?” t-shirts. Sad that this generation’s historical amnesia is so severe they don’t even remember his hat trick against Palace in the League Cup less than a year ago.

BBC news in "stop only reporting criminal justice stories when they involve non-UK nationals challenge"

Update: Still being racially profiled by Spotify.

ICYMI: My piece on how Honey Don’t! explores the intersection of religion, class, race, gender, and sexuality in a conservative-leaning city through the viewpoint of a lesbian private detective. All reposts (and subscriptions) much appreciated. x

Thrilled to see this introduction by me and Charlotte Ann Legg to our special issue on "Connected Histories of Empire: France, Britain & the Pacific" is now out and in open access. The rest of our special issue – with a fantastic array of articles – will be out soon! @journalpacifichist.bsky.social

ICYMI: My piece on how Honey Don’t! explores the intersection of religion, class, race, gender, and sexuality in a conservative-leaning city through the viewpoint of a lesbian private detective. All reposts (and subscriptions) much appreciated. x

Richard Attenborough as the cuddly old guy who played Santa.

This guy looks exactly like you’d imagine an Italian admiral looks like, would absolutely believe him if he told me he’d participated in the Risorgimento.

Fwiw, the trend towards disclosing the ethnicity/nationality of suspects in high-profile cases has not solved any problem (disinformation is still thriving) and only fuels polarisation and creates opportunities for grifters.

It’s November, and like Mariah it’s time for my 248th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week to be defrosted. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

Ben does such a fantastic job in letting people know about all the great scholarly but accessible work out there every week, and helping those of us producing it get the word out.

Not sure Jeremy Allen White has actually aged though.

New collections from @lselibrary.bsky.social added! • Greenham Women Everywhere • Political Posters Collection • Gay Liberation Front (including Come Together paper) • Mukti: South Asian Women’s Journal (UK) • Cavendish-Bentinck Pamphlets and Leaflets hatfulofhistory.com/radical-onli...

NEW EPISODE - The German Democratic Republic The Rise and Fall of a #ColdWar State with @historyned.bsky.social & @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social Listen here 🎧🎧 coldwarconversations.com/episode428/ #eastgermany #GDR #DDR #berlinwall

Maresca’s outfit once again bringing the game into disrepute.

Re-upping this for the Saturday crowd: On American Samoa’s long-awaited first win in men’s international football, and the narrative arcs that both the international media, and the team’s coach and players attached to the result. All reposts (and subscriptions) much appreciated. x

Re-upping this for the Saturday crowd: On American Samoa’s long-awaited first win in men’s international football, and the narrative arcs that both the international media, and the team’s coach and players attached to the result. All reposts (and subscriptions) much appreciated. x

My new piece looks at American Samoa’s 2-1 win over Tonga in 2011 that ended a long losing streak and captured international media attention, and at the narrative they and the press told about this victory. A short 🧵 about this match and its significance. #polisky #skystorians 🗃️

My new piece looks at American Samoa’s 2-1 win over Tonga in 2011 that ended a long losing streak and captured international media attention, and at the narrative they and the press told about this victory. A short 🧵 about this match and its significance. #polisky #skystorians 🗃️

Tbf one of those four touches he had a shot which he’d normally score from. Also the late disallowed goal. But ‘deny Haaland the ball in dangerous areas’ was a pretty effective tactic against City even before they became as reliant on him as they are this season.

This Halloween I will once again be going as the looming spectre of impending middle age.

Delighted to be at the proofs stage with this. Out in April with CUP!

Why some 25 years on can I still remember the lyrics to City High’s ‘What Would You Do?’, a song me and my mates at college routinely ridiculed at the time.

“Philp/Lam team” implies a capacity to win the World Cup and Champions League. I don’t think this version will be doing anything like that or the political equivalent.

The annual return of Wyclef Jean draws ever nearer.

Six games played, six games won; 12 goals scored, 0 conceded. It’s been a good October.

I have been playing around looking at throws into the box for the PL this year. This is the throw that was furthest away that made it into the box. Nordi Mukiele is just showing off here. ht to @michaelcaley.bsky.social for pulling the video

Increasingly I think the point of a wealth tax is not to raise money but to create space for raising income tax. The lethal thing in politics is when the compliant middle class feels like they have been taken for mugs; if you want to get money out of them, someone else needs to pay more too.

Re the talk about NATO, I guess a lot of my own relative scepticism stems from my own roots: the 1974 conflict involved drastic incursions into Cypriot sovereignty by two other NATO members while others did nothing to intervene. Yes NATO routinely has provided cover for adventurism and expansionism.

Something kind of aptly symmetrical about Labour having spent so long triangulating against social liberals and leftists and now polling in a virtual three-way tie with the Lib Dems and Greens.

Yep, same for Cypriots: I have always referred to my mum's and dad's cousins as Uncles and Aunties; and my kids do the same with my and my partner's cousins. None of this 'once removed': they're relatives, not cysts.

Our latest Viewpoint article is out: 'Guilds and Companies in London, 1200–1700: Contexts and Comparisons' by @mpdavies.bsky.social. A 🧵 on the insights provided by this article into the history and historiography of these key metropolitan institutions in the medieval and early modern periods.

Having had the privilege of speaking with her on trans issues, I cannot be happier to see @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social join this committee at this crucial time. Notwithstanding Labour's problems, Nadia is a significant ally and a genuine reason for hope.

My book UP IN THE AIR: A HISTORY OF HIGH-RISE BRITAIN is out today!

This is quite a remarkable stat but I’m kind of even more surprised by the first team to have done it (or rather when they did it).

Here it is, my 247th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the last week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

Remember guys, @pcsunion.bsky.social staff at the BL are on strike for the next two weeks. Please don't cross the picket line to go to reading rooms, attend exhibitions or anything else. They've endured so much on low pay since the cyberattack in 2023 and the least we can do is have their backs now.

Always lovely to see this old video of my late Great Uncle Panikos playing bouzouki on Cypriot TV doing the rounds again on social media. An extremely talented musician, and a lovely man too - very much missed.