Aww, poor thing. He'll probably have a podcast soon to sell CBD tonics and vitamins and to tell stories about this incident

Honestly this is the only news I want to see right now apnews.com/article/drun...

2 Dec 1551: William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton, brought from the Tower to Star Chamber #otd to be examined about his dealings with Lord Protector Somerset. (Doorway removed from the Star Chamber to Abbot Litlington's House in the cloisters, Westminster, BM)

A very valuable service being done here

Medal, designed by Thomas Rawlins, 1643. Olive branch and sword crossed : "prepared for both" - peace and war, that is. Struck in one Charles I's more optimistic moments of the 1640s. (British Museum)

It's that time of year again for #Dickens #AChristmasCarol & the #Victorians Join me for a virtual lecture on Dec 3 for #SmithsonianAssociates & learn about plum puddings, workhouses, the Queen, and if Dickens really "invented" #Christmas Details at smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/pr...

"M a y b e I don't really wanna know / How your garden grows / 'Cause I just wanna fly"

I've written a bunch of articles, chapters, presentations, co-edited a book, served as the chair of our university's senate, yet, my most impactful contribution amongst colleagues and friends is almost a decade old and remains this abomination. Happy Thanksgiving week!

Finally a Tiny Desk consert I actually care about, youtu.be/x_KlY-AegeE?...

Appearance of the Comet, 1618-1619 19 Nov 1618 (Rijksmuseum)

apollo-magazine.com/michaelina-w... and a review of the 2018 book stemming from the earlier exhibit (Katlijne Van der Stighelen), www.the-tls.com/arts/visual-...

www.bbc.com/sport/footba... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

a presenter is wearing a sport coat and sweatpants. This man fears nothing

CFP: Ecosystems of the Mind: Resources for Reconstructing Early Modern Intellectual Life || 21–23 May 2026 || Hamburg, DE Please spread broadly! Feel free to reach out with questions.

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight www.cityam.com/the-british-...

I'm really not anti-AI, but I'm also not totally sold either. I've had very limited success in using for serious research, but I also don't think it is categorically something to dismiss. I have been spending the weekend and this week at the ASIS&T conference where AI has been the organizing idea

Is anyone else having a lot of trouble with MS Word these days? It seems like it is broken -- not loading pages, crashing constantly, weird internal errors. Others having similar issues?

Very interesting paper from the Past Meets Futures workshop #ASIS&T "Mapping the Latent Past: Assessing Large Language Models as Digital Tools through Source Criticism" Hutchinson, esp the section evaluating LLMs as historical sources journalofdigitalhistory.org/en/article/J...

✍ Introducing ✍ Sharpie, a letterform recognition game for beginner #EarlyModern #palaeography gjhilton.github.io/Sharpie/ AKA What I Did Over Reading Week. #skystorians I’d be so grateful if you had time to share or take a look and tell me what sucks and needs fixing. Love g 🗃️

COMEBACK CAPS STRIKE AGAIN #CapsFlyers | #ALLCAPS

"Historical analysis is fundamentally different and more complex than producing a mass of visualizations and statistics that are the lifeblood of many A.I. programmes." Gordon McKelvie @gordonmckelvie.bsky.social on the problematic use of A.I. within historical research.

CFP: journals.fupress.net/call-for-pap...

Absolutely wonderful opening to the season!

Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time

Gerrit van Honthorst Musical Group on a Balcony, 1622 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) The artist was b. #otd 4 Nov 1592, d. 27 Apr 1656

Consider yourself an academic? But where is your hat with tassel, the hair worn in a plait, the spotted suit and checked tights, like this fella from 1773 - called: the Academic Mac - is wearing? #academicchatter

Joachim von Sandrart, The Month of November (Staatsgalerie, Schleissheim), 1643

Ooph

31 Oct 1616: Last missive of Thomas Coryate traveller, #writer, from Agra in Mughal India written #otd (eebo) Great camel!

'Dear dreams of years departed, Kind ghosts of vanished days, Slipped in then to the firelight, Stretched their hands to the blaze, Lost voices whispered nigh me, Loved footsteps lingered by me Ere they went their ways.' From 'All Hallows' by Cicely Fox Smith Four sons, 1490, Ditchingham, Norfolk.

2. Culinary Witches

King Charles III prayed with Pope Leo XIV in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday, marking the first time in modern history that the leaders of the Anglican and Catholic churches prayed together. Read more: nyti.ms/4o5fFwI

Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe.

Reading a book about the period after the English civil war. The Isle Of Man’s official rent receiver, William Christian, was dismissed for mishandling funds, which caused Lord Fairfax to say “Receiver Christian hath proved himself a deceiver Christian”.

Celebrating at The British Academy after In Our Time wins The Presidents Medal for services to the humanities and social sciences. This wonderful photo (c)Captivate Imagery shows many of the teams behind the scenes since 1998 alongside Melvyn.

Pastry person (British Museum: Habit de paticier)

This goes so hard

Trying to read Krasznahorkai’s Herscht 07769, but I am struggling with the no periods thing More than I thought I would. Does the urge to edit go away?

Only available on microfilm

I’m pleased to say you can now pre-order my next book, ‘Fairies: A History’ (out in February 2026) from @politybooks.bsky.social. Thank you to Jeremy Harte, Simon Young, Jo Hickey-Hall and Owen Davies for such generous endorsements! 🌿📚 www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

Temperatures are dropping and we visited the apple orchard. Time to start playing my fall playlist, the title of which I am all too proud of:

I couldn't resist. #pleasingterror