And so it came to pass that after yet another of "those" meetings, I reached this evergreen stage of my intellectual journey.

Ready with coffee, time for the evening block at Globe4Globe, including my paper in a session on The Little Ice Age.

Out now! My chapter on "Authorship and Cognitive Studies" appears in The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Early Modern Authorship, with my thanks to editors Rory Loughnane and Will Sharpe for shepherding this through to completion. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

A somber note while on a drive with the family around where I grew up - stopping to remember those who lost their lives at the Box Flat Mine disaster, Swanbank. The blast was so powerful it threw me from my bed several miles away.

Feeling uplifted by the message from campus services today. They told me that my request to have my window fixed was "outstanding." Well, thank you for the affirmation, team.

On #PublicationDay for A History of England in 25 Poems, @senatehouselib.bsky.social have published this blog post I wrote about how treasures in the collection inspired and informed the #book. A series of short films coming up, too! #library #rarebooks #archive www.london.ac.uk/senate-house...

He's going to declare every amendment except the second to be null and void, isn't he? Right before he says something about "my cold, dead hands," I'll bet.

LOOK! 🤩 It’s @cathamclarke.bsky.social’s new book A HISTORY OF ENGLAND IN 25 POEMS! I cannot recommend this highly enough! 🐦‍⬛🪺 Out 4/9/25 www.penguin.co.uk/books/461263...

Found footage of @lostplayhouse.bsky.social and I trying to connect to our own uni's eduroam.

Seen southwest of Toowoomba, low in the sky, while driving to work just before 6 am = very bright light for a few moments, then it broke into two smaller ones that moved quickly further west. Did I see a meteor breaking up?!

Hey, history and medievalist friends. If you're doing any teaching on maps this semester, I have a couple of digital resources you might find useful. #skystorians 🗃️ 1. Matthew Paris's Map A fully annotated & interactive copy of Paris's c.1250 map of England. 1/3 historiacartarum.org/annotated-cl...

Ready for the show at The Mersey Beatles!

Seeing reports come in, confirming a 5.2 to 5.6 magnitude (reports differ) quake near Kingaroy. Hope everybody within the vicinity is safe!

Anybody else on the eastern coast of Australia feel a little shake in the ground just now?

As my students know, I have a tendency to overuse "seriously" when teaching, which often leads to Siri piping up. One day, I kicked off an answer to a student with "Seriously, I think ..." and Siri snapped back, "Sure. Here's what I've got on 'slything'," and Jabberwocky was top of the list, LOL.

To the scammer and/or bot that tried to tell me that the Dept of Health Services had winnings for me to collect like hundreds of other winners all over the world, try harder bitch. Blocked.

Misquoting Ophelia:

Recorded this one while I was in my hotel room in Boston for the SAA/RSA conferences, and glad to see it being real out on your airwaves. www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com/leicesters-m...

Thanks to Cassidy Cash for welcoming us to #ThatShakespeareLife to discuss broken hearts in Shakespeare! Always a joy to chat with my brilliant co-conspirator Brid Phillips. Listen here: www.cassidycash.com/wilt-break-m...

Come hang out with me and @leoba.bsky.social as we work our way through this life-size and brilliantly-detailed facsimile of the #Voynich manuscript! www.library.upenn.edu/events/coffe...

Waking up to find no emails arrived in the inbox since 10:40 last night means living with the dread fear of getting to work to find the server is stuffed. Stay tuned.

Got my room booked, one year in advance, for staying in Verona, and my panel is listed on the conference program. It's official, I'm going to be heading to the World Shakespeare Congress, 2026! www.wsc2026.org

Kind of amazed that Edward and Ncuti haven't chimed in yet on the Jumbotron memes =

We are delighted to announce the publication this month of the ninth digital edition in the REED series, the collection of the Newington Butts Playhouse records, edited by Sally-Beth MacLean. Check it out here: ereed.org/collections/...

Newington Butts just landed @lostplayhouse.bsky.social! 🎉

Caerphilly Castle reopens after two-year renovation - BBC News share.google/n8DPa1veHY3w...

A couple of productive days of writing, and just like that, I have 6,100 words for a keynote paper to deliver at the ETAQ State Conference 2025 next weekend. Now to prepare some slides and maybe, if it works, some sound FX.

Seven weeks ago, first night in Southampton, I decided to try an album I’ve had for ages but not properly played. Since then, I’ve had Elbow’s 2003 album Cast of Thousands on high rotation. I’m transfixed by this remarkable recording, and wonder why I never got into it earlier!

LHR > SIN > BNE after my 6 weeks in the UK finally draw to a close. It’s been a very busy trip, with heaps of research to now write up, but first, when I arrive in Brisbane there is ANZSA conference to go. Then I can head home next weekend.

🔊It has finally landed, a chat with @lostplayhouse.bsky.social about Leicester's Men - it was recorded nearly a year ago, and has been trapped in editing hell, but finally it's out there! It's a detailed dive into the company, the plays and the theatre scene. #theatre audioboom.com/posts/874112...

Besotted with this view from our apartment in York this morning.

My latest squib, in the esteemed @thelondonjournal.bsky.social - and it's open access! Pageant Stations: Civic Entertainments in The London Journal www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Spotted this morning in York - I think he’s unsure if he’s at the right pub.

Edinburgh. Tried haggis with breakfast. 10 out of 10 would have it again.

I have spotted a plot hole in Ghostbusters (1984). The song clearly states they aren't afraid of no ghosts and at several points in the film, the ghostbusters are clearly afraid of the ghosts. I'm not sure how this slipped through.

For anybody who wants to see my lecture at the Society of Antiquaries this week, the video is here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=fx13...

At Burlington House ready to speak with some very dignified onlookers

After four busy weeks in Southampton I’m in London (joined by Angie Johnson, yay!) and today is the day of my lunchtime lecture at Society of Antiquaries (1pm local, 10pm in eastern Aus) so log in and watch to see me in action - www.sal.org.uk/event/flippe...

BNE > SIN > LHR - about 34 hrs until I get to Southampton to kick off the visiting part of my Visiting Fellowship at Uni Southampton - I’ll next be back in Aus in July

Absolutely encourage any early modernists in London to see 1536 at the Almeida if you’re able — with some understandable and easily forgivable hiccups, it is a thoughtful and passionate engagement with how misogyny operated in the early mod. period and how we have inherited that poisonous legacy

📢 Job fairy! Junior Research Fellowship in Architectural History @ox.ac.uk ! Don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any queries! Find out more: jobs.ac.uk/job/DNA489/t... #architecturalhistory #renaissance

My latest interview with Cassidy Cash for That Shakespeare Life podcast, episode 368, on the Little Ice Age and playing companies is now live: www.cassidycash.com/the-little-i...

Heading to the UK for the Visiting Fellowship in a little over three weeks, and thanks to Tudor House and Southampton City Council for hosting my first advertised speaking commitment (with Sarah Siddons Fan Club!) while there: southamptonmuseumsandgallery.co.uk/events/barga...

Okay, advertising geniuses, hear me out. We really, really don't need to see things from the food's point of view to be persuaded to eat the food. Stop sticking cameras into people's mouths in food ads!

Job klaxon for my early career early modernist friends! =Lecturer in Early Modern English Literature at University of Glasgow www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMO644/l...

I'll be there for #BSA2025 in York in June. Who's going to join me?

This looks super cool

That's it, I'm watching Top Secret again tonight, because RIP Val Kilmer.

that point in a will when it's time to get the popcorn out: