Really interested to read this this morning on govt announcement of new law banning depictions of non-fatal strangulation ('choking' in pornography). As the article suggests, the key will be enforcement www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use

Why does writing a first draft always feel like one of those nightmares where you have an exam you havent prepared for??? Like, I'm back at school and I have to do my GCSE physics exam but I dont have my calculator and I havent revised and also I'm 31 and I'm pretty sure I've done this all before...

If I just read one more thing, then I'll start actually writing my draft, definitely, but I just need to read this one thing which will probably solve everything and be the crucial piece of the jigsaw I've been missing... right? 🗃️

This week on the blog, check out this fun interview with Jennifer Crane (@jennycrane.bsky.social) all about her fascinating new book on the rise, fall, and legacy of gifted children in the UK and the world: shcydigitalchildhoods.org/dir/the-rise...

Thinking of every academic who has had to apply for grants to cover the cost of requesting and licensing images for their books with zero assistance from a publisher

Looking forward to listening to this on my train journey tomorrow!

Your thought for the day is that magnolias existed 95 million years ago, which means that dinosaurs were around to enjoy them. Bees hadn’t evolved yet, so they were pollinated by ancient beetles! Next time you see a magnolia tree, think of your dinosaur cousins. ☺️ #science

Triple book launch for myself, @drsarahlkenny.bsky.social, and @hannahcharnock.bsky.social! Thanks to @lauratisdall.bsky.social for chairing. Please do join if you're interested in social and cultural approaches to young people's lives and leisure spaces. 12 June, 12-1, tinyurl.com/mryazrew

'Making the Case for History: A View from the Royal Historical Society': bit.ly/4cRjK37 The Society's President, Lucy Noakes, writes today on the profession and discipline @historywo.bsky.social #skystorians

📢 An update - now the dust has settled I'm really thrilled to share that I finally submitted my thesis on the cultural history of the female neck in modern Britain earlier this year and passed my viva just over a week ago!! 🗃️🎉🥳

On my moodboard today is Rossetti’s sumptuous ‘Lady Lilith’. Just look at that neck! The abundance of flowers in this painting always makes me think of spring - not to mention the sudden urge to grow my hair! 🌷🪞✨🗃️

Govt AI creators & copyright consultation closes midnight today. I used the ALCS guide to complete, answering in my own words, and it took me about 30 minutes, as opposed to the several hours it would have done otherwise.

So exciting to see this in print!! 🗃️

Something that always surprises me all over again about writing is how much bravery is required. Sending good vibes and solidarity to anyone else trying to write the conclusion to a piece of work that has taken many years to come together. Courage calls to courage everywhere! Your work matters! 🗃️

Is it normal when you get really close to your phd submission deadline to slow down to a crawl?To take hours to do each edit/paragraph? I only hear stories of miraculous feats and speeding up..! 🐢 🫠 🗃️

Most people outside of research are still unaware of how much the cyberattack on @britishlibrary.bsky.social is still affecting the research community one year on. Good piece covering that + need to invest in libraries www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/how-br... @timeshighered.bsky.social

Killing my darlings: closing my emotional support “to read” ebook/pdf tabs 🗃️

Another productive day of reading underway (downloading pdfs, scanning the footnotes, highlighting articles to download as pdfs, organising the pdfs into categorised folders) 🗃️

Historians of gender and the body: now is the time to tell me about your/your colleagues recent publications so I can include them in my literature review! All suggestions vvv welcome, especially interested in work on specific body parts/visual culture or unusual periodisations 🗃️

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With this lovely influx of new followers I guess its a good time to share my first ever article on gender, sexual violence and popular culture in modern Britain! doi.org/10.1080/1478...

Spending some time looking at jewellery today and once again in raptures over this pearl and diamond Van Cleef & Arpels necklace given to Grace Kelly as a wedding gift by her husband in 1956. 🗃️

For #DigitalFriday I’d like to gather a list of royalty/fee-free image catalogues and databases - ideally thing that *can* be used commercially too - to counter the “but I have to use AI” argument. Any suggestions?

Brilliant day editing my chapter (moving paragraphs around before putting them back in the same place they originally were, deleting paragraphs then reinserting them, spending hours crafting 1 footnote) 🗃️

emboldened by the success of my last post, another request for historians - can anyone recommend me some great readings on the neoclassical aesthetic of the british empire? architecture is far out of my wheelhouse but doing some thinking about pillars and columns! 🗃️🏛️

Hi historians! Wondering if anyone has any top tips for writing a thesis introduction for a very tired and daunted PhD student… all advice gratefully received! 🗃️

Donated to the Spellow library fundraiser (following a link thru a Guardian article) to support a Liverpool community spot damaged by hateful bigots! It’s already raised more than £150,000 - books and people are good, actually!

Busy 'writing my chapter' (downloading pdfs and organising them into folders) 🗃️

Historians & history enthusiasts - do you have any readings you love on using advice literature as a source?? Specifically I’m looking at 19th-20thC beauty handbooks and etiquette manuals & would love some recommendations! 🗃️💄🪞

Just another day as a very serious historian, singing the alphabet song repeatedly as I do my bibliography... 🗃️

Doing some thinking about Disney's 'Cinderella' (1950) today. A powerful influence in the post-war period and a formative text for the young Elena in the 1990s! Sending Monday motivation to everyone going into battle with their drafts today. The dream that you wish will come true! 🗃️

Completely obsessed with this insanely glamorous picture of The Hon. Mrs. Baillie-Hamilton by Cecil Beaton. The turban!! That curl!! Her eyebrows!! 🤩 Published in The Tatler 26 Nov 1930 © Illustrated London News Group 🗃️

Does anyone else have an emotional support 'to read' folder of downloaded pdfs? Or 30+ open tabs at any time? A daily reminder that I am, in fact, a deeply optimistic person. Hope springs eternal...! 🗃️

i don't know how many SSO passwords i have left in me 🗃️

Today the terror of a new chapter draft... Starting to realise it might actually not get easier as I go... Solidarity with everyone going into battle today! I'm thinking about women's magazines and enjoying some gorgeous adverts and illustrations. 🗃️

📢 Is anyone here currently working on whiteness and self-fashioning/beauty/cosmetics&skin-lighteners? I'm putting a panel submission together for the SHS 2024 conference and seeking a third paper! Let me know if you are interested & we can chat!! 🗃️

Finally forcing myself to “circle back” to the article draft I was supposed to tackle in the new year! Does anyone else find writing the conclusion the hardest part?? Sending everyone courage for the last push of the week! 🗃️

One day SOLO will give me the actual book reference and not thousands of reviews....but it is not this day 😭 🗃️

Spending some time today thinking about popular cinema in the 1940s so on the moodboard is this gorgeous 1948 photo of Margaret Lockwood, star of Gainsborough's box office smash 'The Wicked Lady' © estate of Kenneth Hughes/NPG, London 🗃️

Excited to read this when I get back to my desk on Monday! 🗃️

On today's moodboard is this gorgeous Winterhalter painting of Princess Alexandra (1864). Oh to be so serenely elegant! Her hair is arranged to hide a small scar on her neck which she usually concealed with large jewelled choker-style necklaces or black ribbons © His Majesty King Charles III 2023 🗃️

Today's inspo for finishing off my chapter edits is this beautiful Cecil Beaton photo from 1948. I just love the drama of the lighting and composition and the sheen of the extravagant icy pastel gowns. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, © Condé Nast 🗃️

Would anyone be willing to share an example of a long abstract (1000-2000 words) for a history phd thesis with me? Having a total mind blank & would be great to have a reference point for how to go about writing one! All tips/pointers v much appreciated! 🗃️

Guys (and dolls) do you have any readings you love on digital history?? Specifically I’m reflecting on my use of collections of digitised images (portrait paintings and photography) & would love some recommendations! 🗃️

Reminder to register & join us this Thursday in Oxford! 🗃️

🗃️ Oxford-based & interested in public history? Join us at ⏰ Radcliffe Observatory 5th Oct 3.30-4.30 ⏰ for a showcase of short videos based on new research! We’ll discuss using video to communicate research & I’ll be sharing my video “Fashion & Murder: the shocking history of the female neck” 🎬🍿

Been thinking today about Keat's 'negative capability'; the need to sit patiently with doubt & uncertainty without 'irritable' reaching towards a resolution. Often if I allow my subconscious to quietly work away at the knot whilst reading other things my argument will suddenly arrive fully formed! 🗃️

Meditating on the calm confidence required for academic writing; the paralysis created by the fear of the writing being either too much or not enough, the gnawing self-consciousness of it all

Just googled “does the footnote go before or after the full stop” if anyone is wondering how my phd write up is going… 🫠🗃️