I had a blast talking with @leev.bsky.social on his great STS Peoples & Things podcast. Topics discussed: Firesign Theatre, the history of recording, Trevor Pinch, obscure robot statues. @ucpress.bsky.social @firesigntheatre.bsky.social newbooksnetwork.com/firesign

One last tempo session with the lovely #AdidasRunners bunch yesterday and… I am marathon ready! I am so excited to run the @manchestermarathon.bsky.social for #TeamMND @mndassoc.bsky.social. Here is the link to my fundraiser: www.justgiving.com/page/benedet... Please help us reach the goal ❤️

A wonderful conference comes to an end. We laughed, we learned, we ranged across media, languages, periods. It was such a pleasure to listen to our participants and their groundbreaking research. Deep thanks to them, to our audience, to @durhamuniversity.bsky.social and @durhamhistory.bsky.social!

And the last speaker of our conference on “Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism”: Aidan Jones! Aidan is presenting on “The Death Penalty, Humour, and the United States.”

A. Austin Garvey deepens our focus on Ukraine, comparing wartime Punch cartoons and contemporary Ukrainian memes in “Visual Humour in European Home Fronts: Britain and Ukraine.”

Zlata Osipova speaks first, on “We Against Them: Humor as a Unifying Force in Ukraine’s Resistance.” How does humour build solidarity and a collective opposition?

The final panel begins! “Humour in Extremis” will go from Ukraine to the United States, with presentations from A. Austin Garey, Zlata Osipova, and Aidan Jones.

Such an engaging, illuminating panel! (And we’re all still laughing.)

Simbarashe bringing the house down with popular Zimbabwean jokes from Whatsapp and Facebook (social media a release for so much pent-up expression)

Rounding off our panel, and taking us into the world of social media, Simbarashe Marowa and Ushe Kufakurinani present on “Social Media and Playful Engagements on the Political Economy: The Case of Zimbabwe”!

Radio comedy gave listeners a way to address the past and negotiate the transition to the postwar world, Katharina argues in her terrific paper.

Katharina Friege picks up the baton and brings us to radio comedy (and the postwar scene): “Broadcasting Humour: Rubble, Reconstruction, and the Radio in Great Britain and Western Germany, 1945-1960.” Humour on the airwaves brought people into the society after the war

Sophie Dubillot kicks things off with “Visual Humour by Returning French Prisoners of War and Forces Workers in Liberation France.” A complex history of return, disappointment, and critical humour

Lunch over, coffee cups refilled, we begin again with our panel on Postfascism. Our featured speakers are Sophie Dubillot, Katharina Friege Simbarashe Marowa and Ushe Kufakurinani (sadly, Xiaofei Tu withdrew because of illness). From France to Zimbabwe, visual humour to radio!

The panel sums up!

Paolo and Raquel take us from the Civil War to Franco’s regime and onward to the return of democracy, tracing the fate of the Catalan avant-garde through Brossa’s life and work

Finally, direct from Barcelona, Paolo Scotton and Raquel Cercós speak about the Catalan writer Joan Brossa and “When Poetry Turns Into Revolt”!

Our third speaker is Natalie Schwabl, presenting on “Coping with Fascism through Humour: Anticlerical Caricatures in Post-War Croatia (1945-1946).” Another fascinating paper, another era and area illuminated

Oeser’s remarkable presentation explores the varieties of laughter, from mockery that can be turned against other victims to mockery that targets the powerful

Alexandra Oeser speaks next, tackling one of the most difficult subjects: laughter in concentration camps. Through the life and work of Nina Jirsikova, Oeser delves into laughter as a weapon of oppression as well as laughter as resistance

As Jessica says, the conference is now exploring cinema as well cartoons, magazines, graphic novels, and radio!

Introduced by Jessica Wardhaugh, Francesco Saccà begins with comic writing and satire in Marc’Aurelio, an Italian anti-fascist magazine. A fascinating examination of Fellini’s early career in its pages (and other film directors too)

And now the first panel of the day! “Fascism and Dictatorship,” with Francesco Saccà, Alexandra Oeser, Natalie Schwab, and Paolo Scotton and Raquel Cercós. Their talks will range from Fellini’s antifascist writing to caricatures in Croatia, from poetry to laughter in the camps.

We started day 2 of the ‘Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism’ conference with Alya Aglan’s wonderful keynote, translated in English by @benfried.bsky.social. Alya tells us that wartime humor changes the unbearable reality. Without words, humor captures the essential @durhamhistory.bsky.social

Loved this example of "Laughter as Coping Mechanism" in one of today's talks @durhamhistory.bsky.social by Vincent Scotto. Especially enjoyed this US First World War satirical cartoon depicting the fear of German invasion, in which Canada is left to its "barbaric" ways 😂🇨🇦 #VisualSatire #History

"Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism" begins at @durhamuniversity.bsky.social! All thanks to @benecarnaghi.bsky.social, @drhelenroche.bsky.social , and @durhamhistory.bsky.social. Two days of terrific papers: check out the schedule for today and join us!

‘Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism’—a conference that @drhelenroche.bsky.social and I are organizing on March 28-29 for @durhamhistory.bsky.social—now has a website: laughterasapoliticalcopingmechanism.wordpress.com Huge thanks to #ASMI and @germanhistsoc.bsky.social for their sponsorship 🙏

I will be in Durham for this vital, timely (to say the least) conference, ready to learn and laugh. Two days' worth of terrific talks, with the sessions open to all!

We accepted 24 papers out of almost 100 submissions from a truly global array of scholars. Prof. Alya Aglan from the Université Paris 1 will serve as the external keynote speaker: she is a world-renowned specialist of WWII and the Resistance. So much to look forward to!

Here's the schedule for 'Laughter as a Political Coping Mechanism', a conference that @drhelenroche.bsky.social and I are organizing on March 28-29 for @durhamhistory.bsky.social. We'll spark fresh conversations about resistance to power—and have a few laughs too! Please join us!

Day 2 at #MLA25: a stellar last minute keynote from @benfried.bsky.social on commonwealth literature and Jewish publishers; excellent panel on gender in the Sephardi world with Rachel Kaufman, Karen Skinazi & more; celebratory lunch at the Cajun Kosher deli and lots of swag at the exhibit hall 🎁

Thrilled to be talking twice at this year's MLA conference. Tonight first, on Kazuo Ishiguro, Granta magazine, and the making of An Artist of the Floating World. And then tomorrow morning, on young Mordecai Richler and the arrival of Jewish refugee publishers in London. Come along! #MLA25

Yesterday's @ies-sas.bsky.social "Migrant Institutions" event was marvellous. Full of fascinating papers, keen discussions, fizzing ideas. Huge thanks to the Institute and @britishacademy.bsky.social for their support, @benecarnaghi.bsky.social for running the tech, and our terrific presenters.

The ‘Migrant Institutions’ symposium came to a close with the last panel, featuring Benjamin Bland on black pioneer Dele Fadele, Karen Cyrus on Jackie Mittoo in the UK, and Asa Willoughby on how Indian classical dance is establishing a new South Asian homeland @ies-sas.bsky.social

Moving on to the fourth panel with Angelique Golding on ‘Wasafiri’ in context, Mariia Lupak on the academic collaboration between Ukrainian and British scholars during the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, and James Procter on Stuart Hall, the BBC, and the CCCS @ies-sas.bsky.social

Now off to the third panel with Khedidja Chergui on publishing for black British children, Marcus Leaver on the unlikely story of migrant brothers in post-WW2 British publishing, and Omer Merzić on the Bosnian diaspora and their publishing activities in Denholme @ies-sas.bsky.social

Second panel of the day, featuring @rgf26.bsky.social on black and global majority community walking stories in coastal and rural Britain, Louise Kane on Caribbean Voices, and D-M Withers on Deben Bhattacharya Ltd @ies-sas.bsky.social

We are continuing with Jacob Feltham Forbes on the New Beacon Review and Claudia Tomlinson on the Huntley Collection at the London Metropolitan Archives @ies-sas.bsky.social

The symposium on ‘Migrant Institutions’ just started with @benfried.bsky.social’s introductory words! We are now listening to the first panel and to Samanta Bellotta’s presentation about Andrew Salkey. Please come join us! @ies-sas.bsky.social

Here is the fantastic range of papers, cutting across disciplines and arts, at @ies-sas.bsky.social symposium on 'Migrant Institutions' (Monday, Dec. 9th). Please register and come! It is totally free and open to all @englishassociation.bsky.social @ilcs.bsky.social

Three more days to register for this very exciting symposium at @ies-sas.bsky.social! It is taking place in Senate House on Monday, 9 December. Free and open to attend 😀

Firesign Theatre: The Greatest Satirist of 20th Century Media Culture and its Techno-romanticism were… Not Insane! An Interview with Jeremy Bradock magazine.mindplex.ai/firesign-the... Absolutely SHARE with any Firesign nuts (Stans, Fans... whatever

A last reminder about this free @ies-sas.bsky.social symposium on a topic that could not be more timely. The schedule is jam-packed with terrific, ranging papers. Register and join us at Senate House on Monday (Dec. 9)! ies.sas.ac.uk/events/migra...

📢 Read how a lost manuscript from author Georg Hermann, killed in the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, was found by ILCS' Godela Weiss-Sussex. 'Those Who Stayed At Home' offers a poignant portrayal of a Jewish family in Berlin during the rise of the Nazi regime. www.london.ac.uk/news-opinion...

One more week to register for this free symposium! Critical topic, compelling papers, engrossing discussion. Join us at Senate House on Monday, December 9th ies.sas.ac.uk/events/migra...

A reminder about this upcoming, open, free, and fascinating symposium at the Institute of English Studies in London (December 9th). Register here! t.co/px36Q9rt8x

Free, open, erudite, essential! Great to see Wasafiri shining here, alongside Bogle L'Ouverture and other crucial enterprises.

Please register here: ies.sas.ac.uk/events/migra...

A terrific symposium coming up in London! At a time when immigrants are being targeted and vilified, I urge you to take part in this event on their tremendous creative contribution to Britain #migration #InstituteofEnglishStudies @englishassociation.bsky.social

Announcement: a free, open symposium on "Migrant Institutions" will be held at Senate House on Dec. 9! I'm so thrilled to be organizing this event. The line-up is tremendous, ranging across arts and decades. The topic could not be more timely. If you're in London, please come and take part