Went out today prepping for a big damn ice storm, which is what the forecast says is coming to NC. Saw an old dude with two cases of wine. A lot of mushrooms. A quart of heavy cream. And a lot of pasta. Everyone else was running around grabbing bread and cookies, but that man had a plan.

Completely agree with Colm here. I happened to re-read Oedipus and the Devil for the first time in 17 years, and was startling (and useful!) to realise just how much of my thinking about identity comes from Lyndal Roper.

Assistant Library sought! www.queens.ox.ac.uk/vacancies/as...

this is very sad. But interesting to learn about the mustard pots. www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/01/22/t...

www.joxleywrites.jmoxley.co.uk/p/airport-bo... Great piece on “airport book brain” - the tendency of politicians to swallow simplistic solutions. Latest example the Jonathan Haidt book shaping policy on teens and social media

Coffee cup from the Vezzi factory (c1720-27), recently sold by E&H Manners, London #c18th #c18 #18thc

If I've learned anything from books and movies, the tiny people are always there and this is what allows us to see them.

doing my bit to add some whimsy to the FT giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

If you missed Ann Blair’s @ransomcenter.bsky.social Pforzheimer Lecture last night, you can check it out on YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/u16QHaI... I think you’ll agree that it’s both sharp and a lot of fun.

Eeeesh

Some breaking art historical news for you - a lost portrait of Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn was unveiled today at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. It’s been missing for more than 200 years. 1/3

The best way of describing someone who’s all talk and no action that I’ve ever heard in the UK, by far, is “they’re all wardrobe and no Narnia.” * read on for fun ways of saying “all talk and no action” in other languages (a thread)

'Volvo Centum is a bespoke typeface "designed to make reading faster, attention sharper, and the driving experience calmer."' buff.ly/PGcFfiz

Massive scale copyright theft is so damn cheap

www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/governm....

An exhibition ahead of its time

Re-upping this great post - a wonderful guide for how to write a successful academic book proposal from a scholar who has written a bunch of good books. Can't over-state how important the book proposal is for actually publishing a book. High rec'd for anyone looking to publish a first academic book.

Engaged in community heritage work and looking to develop your skills? These £1,000 training grants from the National Archives are well worth a look...

#medievalsky #earlymodern

The windmills are starting to turn all over Europe. We will not see them still again in our lifetimes.

Don Quixote is, in popular culture, a much more likable and far less powerful character than Donald Trump. But as this thread ingeniously shows, their shared hostility to windmills is revelatory.

'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a library in possession of a good Jane Austen biography, must be in want of some googly eyes.'

Updates from Kyiv after the night attack. On the left bank of the city, where I live: no water, no electricity, minimal heating (just enough to keep the radiators from freezing). Many buildings have no heating at all. -12 °C outside.

Often been baffled by how blind so many American analysts are to how much US global freedom of action depends on good relations with Brazil as the only other power in the Western Hemisphere that if riled could cause serious trouble

It turns out that readers in the UK still love libraries. Authors love libraries and readers because they get a small payment - Public Lending Right - every time a book is borrowed. Thank you, libraries and readers, you've made my day! #libraries #PLR #TinyJoys

Somewhere, Sir Edward Thornton raises an eyebrow

Happy PLR statement day to those who celebrate. If you’re an author and you haven’t registered your books for Public Lending Right payments, you could be missing out.

My books cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com

Interesting correspondence in The Times.

MTC 3:1 is out. And is.quite a. Collection. mtc-journal.org/index.php/mt... (yes, there’s a great piece on punctuation)

Sometimes when I’m feeling a little doomer I think about the folks who sat on top of Canterbury cathedral during the blitz and literally picked up incendiary devices and threw them to the ground to be extinguished www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/firewatchers

Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon are paying up for ‘enterprise’ access to Wikipedia buff.ly/ap2Kj4A “It is in every AI company’s best interest to support the long-term sustainability of Wikipedia, because Wikipedia and all the other projects that we support are so core to their business,”

"Do these people have jobs?" -- Fox News's "hard news" show sneers at peaceful protesters

Stunning photos from Minneapolis, including this one by John Locher for the Associated Press. www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

Del Boy?

Really - how did we end up with a system that's failing students, graduates, universities AND the Treasury? Mathematically, how is that possible?

Holy hell. The description of death row in apartheid South Africa was one of the most harrowing things I've ever read. Also. This guy wasn't fucking around.

That looks quite a tough départs

Saint Paul schools will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for optional online learning. I’ve seen schools close for snow, for pandemic, for natural disaster. I’ve never seen schools close because of threat from our own government.

Reform should buy the whole album in one go because its cheaper than buying individual tracks.

Me on LLMs, Grok especially, as epistemic weapons:

"We have to deny this, for form’s sake, for domestic audiences and to reduce the chance of reprisals," the logic goes. "But we nonetheless want you to understand we did it, and that we would do it again." The purpose of a deterrent is to deter. Why they can't even bother to come up with good lies.

Cambridge University Librarian Francis Jenkinson (right) in his garden on Chaucer Road in June 1915. In the pot is an ‘Olearia insignis’ (a shrub native to New Zealand now known more commonly as ‘Pachystegia insignis’ or the Marlborough Rock Daisy). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social MS Add. 7671/III/F65.

We are so excited for this lead-off event to the festival with @eve.gd and @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social! It's a bit early to grab your popcorn, but definitely put it in your calendar 📆

Jesus FUCKING CHRIST

! www.peterharrington.co.uk/autograph-le...

A friend has written a wonderful children's book on Walter Tull. Available for pre-order now. As Robert says, it's got ' the lyrical energy of Benjamin Zephaniah, the storytelling clarity of Julia Donaldson, and the playful rhythm of Dr. Seuss.' amzn.eu/d/a1gQk5E

You should hear RFK on the hypotenuse, though

On the Road scroll up for grabs press.christies.com/the-jim-irsa...