Our ‘Radicals of Russell Square’ map on sale at Waterstones in Gower Street

‘The times we’re living in are dominated by rapid technological change, and much of this change is focused on how we communicate.’ @philipseargeant.bsky.social discusses how 21st-century developments in technology are changing the ways we communicate www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/...

Listened to this yesterday - absolutely fascinating - as are all of @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social podcasts. V interesting explanations of weird street names and distinctions between roads and streets.

Here's the link to last week's Word of Mouth, in which I discuss the language of street names with @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Street Names Word of Mouth BBC Radio 4 @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social talks to @philipseargeant.bsky.social from the Open University about where our street names come from, like Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate in York, and Michael's old address, Love Lane. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

How are 21st-century developments in technology changing the very nature of language and the ways that we communicate with each other? @philipseargeant.bsky.social, author of The Future of Language, provides a brief history of the future of human communication bit.ly/4merPmK

A short piece I wrote for the Bloomsbury blog www.bloomsbury.com/uk/discover/...

To accompany the @openuniversity.bsky.social's collaboration with Radio 4's Word of Mouth with @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social, here's a short quiz about the bewildering world of idioms connect.open.ac.uk/education-de...

New in paperback this week: Bloomsbury.com/9781350538474 @philipseargeant.bsky.social

Podcast of Episode 4 of our #FreeSpeech and #Literature series - #Translation and #Censorship - is now available to listen. Translators Sawad Hussain and Monica Cure discussed taboos, cultural difference, banned words + more with Daria Chernysheva. mklitfest.org/podcasts @monicacure.bsky.social

Enjoying this morning's #R4moreorless about #freespeech? Join us online tonight as we look at free speech, #translation + #Censorship www.mklitfest.org/translation @oupolitics.bsky.social @monicacure.bsky.social @sawadhussain.bsky.social

Don't miss Translation and Censorship: Pt 4 of our #freespeech + #literature series, Mon 31/3. Book (free/donations): mklitfest.org/translation @oupolitics.bsky.social @monicacure.bsky.social @sawadhussain.bsky.social #translation #censorship #restlessbooks #7storiespress #translation #censorship

The #podcast of Episode 3 of our #Freespeech and #literature series - Historical #CancelCulture - is now available. Charlotte Gordon talks to Jupiter Jones about #marywoolstonecraft, cancelled in the C18th. www.mklitfest.org/podcasts #romanticoutlaws #openuniversity @jupiterjonz.bsky.social

I haven't seen Giant yet (am going in May) but this discussion with playwright Mark Rosenblatt is excellent, talking about (among other things) how and if Roald Dahl's antisemitism colours his own reading of the books. open.spotify.com/episode/3Bub...

“Maybe I’m thinking too much about the emoji. This is just the way people communicate these days, I understand. ... But the emoji are part and parcel of a set of exchanges that reveal a group of people play-acting at importance." - @slate.com slate.com/life/2025/03...

Here's the podcast of the most recent event in our series on literature and free speech, run in collaboration with the @mklitfest.bsky.social Author Charlotte Gordon discusses the 'cancelling' of Mary Wollstonecraft with @jupiterjonz.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/4d4v...

Here's the podcast of the most recent event in our series on literature and free speech, run in collaboration with the @mklitfest.bsky.social Author Charlotte Gordon discusses the 'cancelling' of Mary Wollstonecraft with @jupiterjonz.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/4d4v...

#CancelCulture isn't new: #MaryWollstonecraft was cancelled in the 18th century. Join us online on Mon eve as Charlotte Gordon explains all to @jupiterjonz.bsky.social for our #FreeSpeech + #literature series. Tickets (free): mklitfest.org/historical-c... #charlottegordon #feminism #radicaloutlaws

Listen to our latest podcast as @juliahbell.bsky.social and @philipseargeant.bsky.social discuss #ai and #writing in the age of the #algorithm open.spotify.com/episode/68r4... Part of our on-going Free Speech + Literature series. #freespeech #creativewiring #artificialintelligence

Our #freespeech and #literature series concludes with a panel of @akischilz.bsky.social @henrycporter.bsky.social Sabrina Mahfouz + Donall Mac Cathmhaoill at WaterstonesMK on 11 April. Info and tickets: mklitfest.org/free-speech-... #miltonkeynes

The next of our sessions on literature and free speech is next Monday (24 March) with the author Charlotte Gordon talking about Mary Wollstonecraft and the fall and rise of her reputation Free to attend (though donations for the running of the lit fest welcome) www.mklitfest.org/historical-c...

Here's the podcast of my talk for @mklitfest.bsky.social with @juliahbell.bsky.social the other night on freedom of expression in the age of the algorithm open.spotify.com/episode/68r4...

The next of our sessions on literature and free speech is next Monday (24 March) with the author Charlotte Gordon talking about Mary Wollstonecraft and the fall and rise of her reputation Free to attend (though donations for the running of the lit fest welcome) www.mklitfest.org/historical-c...

Finally yours to own in paperback! Pre-order at bloomsbury.com/9781350538474

For our event on Monday 17/3 with The Open University, @juliahbell.bsky.social discusses #freespeech and #algorithms with @philipseargeant.bsky.social Tickets (free): mklitfest.org/the-age-of-t... #ai #ArtificialInteligence #writers #fiction #creativewriting #Birkbeck @oupolitics.bsky.social

Depressingly inevitable www.npr.org/2025/03/15/n...

Out in paperback in a couple of weeks @bloomsburyling.bsky.social

The very clearly ideologically biased anti-ideological bias movement www.wired.com/story/ai-saf...

Out in paperback in a couple of weeks @bloomsburyling.bsky.social

Blog post by Santosh Mahapatra reporting on the findings from India from our project on the future of English www.open.ac.uk/blogs/Modish...

Here’s the recording of the first in our series on Literature and Free Speech. Playwright Mark Rosenblatt talks about his play Giant, which is transferring to the West End next month open.spotify.com/episode/3Bub...

The podcast of the first episode of our Free Speech and Literature series with the Open University is now available to listen again: open.spotify.com/episode/3Bub... #literature #markrosenblatt #drama @oupolitics.bsky.social #freespeech #literature Series details: www.mklitfest.org/free-speech-...

At the Romanian Cultural Institute for a discussion about literary translation

Here's an interview with David Crystal from last week's Future of English event which the @openuniversity.bsky.social were a part of www.youtube.com/watch?v=64HR...

I'll be interviewing the author Julia Bell about being a writer in the era of the algorithm next Monday, as part of the OU's Language, Literature and Politics research group and the MKLit Fest. Free to attend (though donations welcome) www.mklitfest.org/the-age-of-t...

I'll be interviewing the author Julia Bell about being a writer in the era of the algorithm next Monday, as part of the OU's Language, Literature and Politics research group and the MKLit Fest. Free to attend (though donations welcome) www.mklitfest.org/the-age-of-t...

Here's an interview with David Crystal from last week's Future of English event which the @openuniversity.bsky.social were a part of www.youtube.com/watch?v=64HR...

From the Guerrilla Girls exhibition on until June in Sofia. Merci Bulgarian Fund for Women!

Pop will eat itself

Big Brother is watching you

Mike kicking off Day 2 of the British Council’s Future of English symposium

We’re running a series of online talks about Free Speech and Literature in association with the MKLit Festival. The first is next Monday. Full details below

David Crystal opening the British Council’s Future of English colloquium

If only Zelenskyy had been a University of Bedfordshire alum

Surely it was Vance & Trump doing all the `Ukraine-splaining’ in that exchange? Unless xxx-splaining now just means talking about something you are an actual expert on

10/3 at 7.30pm. Mark Rosenblatt talks about #theatre as an arena to explore #freespeech, and his play Giant, a fictionalised account of an interview where Roald Dahl expressed antisemitic opinions. Tickets: www.mklitfest.org/literature-and-offence #literature #markrosenblatt #drama

‘A White House summary of the order said the goal was to “promote unity, establish efficiency in the government and provide a pathway to civic engagement”’ In the same way Bezos is promoting freedom of expression and Musk transparent government presumably www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

V nice to see the map that Emily Kaye and I made about the Radicals of Russell Square featured as the @openuniversity.bsky.social's research image of the month research.open.ac.uk/news/image-m...

V nice to see the map that Emily Kaye and I made about the Radicals of Russell Square featured as the @openuniversity.bsky.social's research image of the month research.open.ac.uk/news/image-m...

I was going to say that the irony of this being, in the popular imagination, the paper that broke Watergate, is almost too much. But then I suppose that that’s precisely how the game plan works