If you find yourself in Stockholm today: museumforintelsen.se/pa-gang/kale...

Check this out, when we do not write open letters, @bengidley.bsky.social and I talk about why the global left ought to pay very good attention to Eastern Europe, that is, unless they want to continue their tradition of epistemic violence.

On Eastern Europe and what the global left can’t see: a #LeftRenewal webinar with historian @ankahajkova.bsky.social Really interesting, touching on anti-Eastern European racism, decoloniality re the post-Stalinist world, & gender politics within Holocaust studies. leftrenewal.org/videos-en/ha...

Examples of antisemitism: "Holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s conduct or treating Jews, simply because they are Jewish, as agents of Israel."

Just a reminder that listening to BBC World Service in the mornings is far superior to listening to the Today programme. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

This all is scary news for everyone, but especially for small countries, not least for all of Eastern Europe. I don't want to live in a dog eat dog world, aggravated by a particularly severe butterfly effects (since the world is getting out of bounds). What are your thoughts?

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani: “Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”

David Miller says Jews have been conducting a “centuries-long programme of entryism and subversion.” But this is just anti-Zionism right?

If they are into coups and kidnappings of elected leaders, can’t they go to Moscow?

Going hiking and wearing my ancient longjohns that my parents gifted me when I lived in Toronto. It’s that cold!

It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵

I'm trying to get a sense of how many (other) people were invited and then disinvited from US campuses last year. If you have a story to share, please dm. I will keep it confidential – just trying to figure out the scale of this.

This will be a terrific and courageous talk: Tova Benjamin on Jews in the Russian imperial south who attacked a Roma migrating caravan bisa.bbk.ac.uk/event/when-i...

Also, we are making this (halved) for NYE. Because brouček loves chestnuts and construction, and I like whipped cream. cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027...

I have donated, if you can, send @standing-together.bsky.social something. They do terrific work.

What a year, ey? It will get worse. We will get by, bit by bit, only by being decent, kind, and brave. And by showing solidarity, always.

Book love from people I admire

Beim Lektorat Des Letzten Ghettos: Denke an die Medizinstudent*innen in Deutschland, die extra Seminare belegen müssen, wenn sie erlernen wollen, wie man eine chirurgische Abtreibung vornimmt. @dnah.bsky.social

#Caturday is every day 🐈😻😼

Give me your best recent British & Irish LGBTQI+ history recommendations! I'm updating the reading list for my queer & trans history module. Looking for things published in the last 2-3 years. 🌈🎓 ‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ #queerhistory

Do I have any followers who cover the Comic-Con world for the UK media? (Fantasy, sci-fi, graphic novels.) My friend Zdenek Strnad is organizing the 2026 Prague Comic-Con in March and would be keen to bring in a UK based journalist.

And if you read Czech, this is a perfect take on Heated Rivalry, which is, in case you somehow missed it, a great Canadian contribution to humanity that make me truly proud of my Toronto doctorate buzerant.com/buzeni/tepla...

I also rather liked this long and thorough take on what it means to be on the Left after the Russian full scale invasion of Ukraine and October 7 leftrenewal.org/lraw-en/

Merry Christmas! Roland Clark's incisive interview of my new book juts dropped. Perfect listening fodder for your digestive run, neat 32 min: newbooksnetwork.com/people-witho...

Ich hatte wirklich lange ein Konto bei der GLS, eben weil sie als eine ethische Bank galten. Hilfreich waren sie nicht wirklich, aber ich blieb dabei, bis sie mich vor ca 3 Jahren als berufliches Konto umschalteten, weil ich jährlich ca €600 Einkommen an Vortragshonoraren habe.

In Theresienstadt at Christmas 1943, Honza Weinstein, 18 years old, set out with his friend Erich Mautner in search of a tree. They took the catacombs, which Weinstein, who worked in managing the water pumps, knew well. All of the town has tunnels underneath. Weinstein & Mautner, carrying a ladder,

On Christmas, we’re reminded of the choice we can all make – to choose love for our neighbor, care, and solidarity with one another. May the spirit of Christmas move all of us to action, and toward a future of dignity and freedom for all.

Grey today

“reflexive qualitative research is a distinctly human practice, undertaken by humans, with or about humans (e.g., through interviews, focus groups or textual data), and for the benefit of humans.”

What Ben says: if you are in Holocaust or Jewish studies, and want to sign, we would be happy to see your signature. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... If you are not, the UK Friends of Standing Together signature is the place to sign. Thank you!

Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Shemet, the Mi-24 pilot who led the final Azovstal supply mission in April 2022, has been killed. On December 17, while intercepting Shahed drones over Cherkasy, his helicopter went down. The entire crew died.

I just learned that an acquaintance has been in ICE custody since last Thurs. She will not even see a judge until 2026. I don’t post this to yield Likes. But as this continues, ever more of us will know people being detained. Who will be able to look away or say this doesn’t affect their circle?

Hi all: reupping my perennial call for indexing and editing clients for Spring / Summer 2026. It might be my last year doing this work, so get it while it's hot! Email at [email protected] for rate and availability. Feel free to share!

Haaretz is now reporting on how the HMDT terminated Melanie Goldberg, and our open letter (to which we received no reaction so far, by the way) www.haaretz.com/jewish/2025-...

One review down, two more to go

Tolkienesque landscape today

Finally got around to reading this profile of a brave, inspirational man, who carries on, in these dark times: www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

Didn’t get my submission in this year unfortunately but a great list again from the HW team. If I had have, my top read was Polly Barton’s translation of Saou Ichikawa’s award winning “Hunchback”, a short book with a mighty punch as it tackles ableism, sex and agency, all in 100ish pages.

Two Palestinian men have told the BBC they personally experienced the kind of beatings and sexual abuse highlighted in recent reports into the treatment of prisoners in Israeli detention. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

So ist es leider, zuviele deutsche Kolleg*innen verstehen nicht, weswegen Solidaritätzeigen für uns alle wichtig ist. Ein Teil des Problems ist strukturell, #ichbinhanna. Leute: die akademische Freiheit des Grzegorz ist die akademische Freiheit von uns allen.

Thank you to colleagues @fritzbauerinstitut.bsky.social for the opportunity to publish on interpreting at post Holocaust trials alongside the excellent Sara Berger, Axel Doßmann and Katharina Stengel

If you, like me, love the NYT cooking videos, you should really read Sohla el-Waylly on the conditions there. Major fail, @nytimes.com sohla.substack.com/p/sorry-abou...

…Additional signatories today for our letter to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust re its termination of a staff member for engaging with @standing-together.bsky.social, some eminent Holocaust and Jewish Studies scholars. Cc @ankahajkova.bsky.social @ukfost.bsky.social @fostfranceeurope.bsky.social

Are you a professor planning to incorporate THE INTERMEDIARIES (medical #history, Weimar, #Jewish history, #transgender history, #LGBTQ fighting Nazis) into your course? I have pdf to share, additional teaching materials, images, and resources for use. Please ping me. wwnorton.com/books/978132...

Letter now republished by #LeftRenewal leftrenewal.org/statements-e... and @ukfost.bsky.social ukfost.co.uk/holocaust-st... Cc @edgyjewishthinking.bsky.social @duhaut.bsky.social @evafrojmovic0.bsky.social @guesnet.bsky.social @clairelefoll.bsky.social @brendanmcgeever.bsky.social

Ben @bengidley.bsky.social and I have put together this open letter urging Holocaust Memorial Day Trust to rehire Melanie Goldberg. We are proud to have a number of eminent scholars of Holocaust and Jewish studies in the UK as the primary signatories. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Der Ausschuss für Kultur & Medien hat sich am Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2025, in einer öffentlichen Anhörung mit der Konzeption des Bundes für die Gedenkstätten zur Aufarbeitung der NS-Terrorherrschaft & der SED-Diktatur - Hier zum Nachschauen: www.bundestag.de/mediathek/vi...

I am considering printing the following on a tshirt and wearing it everywhere