Back at the Proms for an exciting programme: Varese's Intégrales, a world permiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Before we fall (Cello Concerto), Bolero, as fresh as the first time I heard it (it makes such a difference to see the instruments), and Rite of Spring.

Bayes has followed me around through my career but I don't think I'll find a Bevis Marks connection. Very interesting story if you don't know about the Somers Town estate. www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/2531696...

This is cheering stuff, I think despite everything a lot of things do still work well. Our fantastic museums crop up regularly but of course to keep working they need ongoing investment.

Every time I hear “women are too emotional to be President/CEO/Commander-in-Chief/etc.” I’ll think of these guys and laugh to tears

Breaking news: The sell-off erased $153bn from Tesla’s value, the biggest one-day drop in the electric-car company’s market capitalisation on record, and comes as Donald Trump threatens he will terminate US government contracts with Musk’s companies. www.ft.com/content/a14f...

Good piece from @sundersays.bsky.social

1 June walk, felt like summer.

Susan Brownmiller, Who Reshaped Views About Rape, Dies at 90 www.nytimes.com/2025/05/24/b... has no British paper published an obituary?!

I wrote about the shooting at the Jewish museum in DC, the stories people tell to justify anti-Semitism, and the choice that America faces in this moment. Gift link:

I'm hiring to join our fantastic new team at Bevis Marks Synagogue Heritage Foundation!

I caught the Tirzah Garwood show at Dulwich Picture Gallery which closes next weekend - as well as paintings, prints, embroidery & a patchwork quilt, there is a fabulous group of marbled papers that she made in the 30s & sold commercially for book binders, and interior design uses like lampshades.

I had never heard of Brady Clubs until I saw the fascinating film One Pair of Eyes in which Georgia Brown goes back to Whitechapel where she grew up. An exhibition of photographs, rescued from a skip, is now at Tower Hamlets archive www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00t3mkz

#OnThisDay in 1785 Joseph Bramah invented the beer pump handle, cheers! 🍻 In Experience Barnsley you can see a couple of objects by Barnsley's most prolific inventor; a fire pump and one of his unpickable locks.

Via @thegentleauthor.bsky.social, @dinahw.bsky.social: Firefighter Artists Of The Blitz spitalfieldslife.com/2025/05/10/f...

The local authority that is responsible for caring for the highest number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children across England is now led by Reform.

Lovely delivery this morning, essays in honour of Bernard Capp, my D.Phil external examiner. Looking forward to reading it @angelamcshane.bsky.social

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem Anonymous, German, 15th century #PalmSunday (Met Museum)

Russia looted at least 1.7 million Ukrainian cultural heritage items from occupied territories Ukraine managed to recover some stolen artifacts due to international cooperation — friendly governments returned items intercepted abroad while being trafficked euromaidanpress.com/2025/04/13/r...

More in No, Other People: New poll: “America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.” • 80% of Americans agree • 20% disagree “I would be better off if I worked in a factory.” • 25% of Americans agree • 73% disagree • 2% currently work in a factory

It's all fun and games until … "Professor Gina Neff of Queen Mary University London told the BBC #ChatGPT is "burning through energy", and the data centres used to power it consume more electricity in a year than 117 countries." www.bbc.com/news/article...

First review! And it’s a lovely one. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Its got to the point where we can't go to places we used to enjoy because of the dogs. Particularly bad behaviour in nature reserves, areas where birds are nesting etc is so infuriating. Even bluebell season is ruined by people taking cute pictures of their dogs trampling the flowers.

On this day, April 10 1848, the last great Chartist rally took place - on Kennington Common in London. Here, almost unbelievably, is a photograph of the event.

OOOO! The Secrets of the Thames exhibition is opening this week @londonmuseum.bsky.social Docklands!!! A bunch of History @handle.invalid Special Subject students helped with this work on mudlarking! #SkyStorians www.londonmuseum.org.uk/about/press/....

www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/london-cen... Have a scroll here to see the livestreams you can watch from the conference "Contemporary Antisemitism London 2025" on Sunday, Monday and Tuesay.

‘Okay which one of you accidentally added Robert Cecil to the chat?’

Daughter's offer holders day at Reading on Saturday gave me the opportunity to visit the @themerl.bsky.social. I expected lots of great agricultural macinery, but not a lovely display of country & studio pottery.

The extraordinary synagogue at the back of 19 Princelet St, Spitalfields. The house is 1718/19, the synagogue built on the garden for Polish & Russian Jews in around 1862, so before the pogroms of the 1880s. Then abandoned by the community just over 100 years later.

What a resource!

The world's richest man stole food from the world's poorest children. Now they are beginning to die www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Fascinated by the different stock pictures of dogs that various outlets have gone for to illustrate this story.

Another big insult to countries, like the UK, who did exactly this and fought and died alongside the US after 9/11

What a story.

I've been going to Collect since it began & one of the joys is discovering new makers. This year's completely-new-to-me is textile artist Manya Goldman, originally from South Africa, who has returned to making after a long break, with these exquisite embroideries

Just some of my favourite pots at Collect Art Fair at Somerset House, which closes today. Steve Dixon, Emilie Taylor, Evelyn Albrow and Philip Eglin.

He's got SUCH lovely snapshots of reading and thinking and teaching life! Including: www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collectio...

Join the Program in Jewish Studies March 3 for our 2025 Annual Bender Visiting Scholar Public Lecture by Dr. Laura Arnold Leibman. This event is free and supported by the Henry Luce Foundation. Details and zoom registration at: tinyurl.com/2axxsdbd @samirakmehta.bsky.social @hfalbk.bsky.social

Museum job! 📜 🗃️ #histSTM National Museums Scotland, Assistant Curator, Technology - part of the truly fabulous NMS Science & Technology Department Full time, permanent - details here: careers.nms.ac.uk/job/671171 Deadline soon: 2 March

Marvellous image and 👀 fully credited in the alt text too!

The Whitechapel is a funny mixture of old and new.

If you are developing the content for an exhibition and want to ensure it is accessible for people with visual impairment this is an invaluable resource, allowing you to check your design colour etc for its impact on visually impaired people. https://www.tpgi.com/color-contrast-checker/

I haven't bought anything from Amazon since about 2008. Try it.

Ukraine is the birthplace of the Hasidic Jewish movement and has deep roots in Jewish history stretching back more than a thousand years. Yet until recently, crucial sacred texts — including the Torah — have never been translated into Ukrainian.

Just a quick reminder that that Fara Dabhoiwala is presenting his work on Francis Williams at the Society Culture and Belief seminar at the IHR tomorrow at 1730 - you can book through the link below. www.history.ac.uk/events/searc...

We've all been her. Attributed to Nicolaes Maes c. 1634-1693 Woman Asleep in a Chair (The Morgan)

Enjoy!

Frosty walk this morning, very clear apart from mist hovering around the Medway.