I'm supposed to be playing cricket tomorrow for the first time this season. Current % chance of heavy rain tomorrow - 100%. Apologies to people who live in my neck of the woods if I have ruined the bank holiday weekend.

I would absolutely love to see an evaluation of the UK's Sparck AI Scholarships in due course and whether 1-year masters courses can "drive forward AI innovation that grows the UK economy but also gives young people a direct route into highly skilled jobs in the UK’s tech sector".

Fancy doing something different in Newcastle this May? ClassicsFest 2026 runs 14-16 May, exploring food, wine and domestic life in the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. There'll be talks, tastings, performances and more. All welcome! See the full programme: www.cinziahardy.co.uk/classicsfest...

I'm totally lost in the modern economy and economics. If and when AI takes a load of jobs, who is going to have the money to spend on goods and services that are being produced by all the computers?

I've made a brief reappearance here after a short break. It's tough out there in HE land, so try and look after each other as best you can. Probably logging out again soon. I'll be back as someone once said.

Two brilliant opportunities on a fascinating project: The 101st kilometre: Soviet marginalization, migration, memory, and mapping. 1st a Research Associate at Oxford www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRE941/p... 📢 1/2

Interesting that the cricket league I play in was trialing AI match reports, and an AI round up of games. Perhaps unsurprisingly it didn't work, and has been abandoned. Perhaps this stuff isn't inevitable.

Post something orange from your gallery.

Not even close! No self respecting keeper would wear short sleeves!

I've been feeling really down recently. Went for a run in my lunch break which has helped. But, I decided whilst running to take a break from here for a bit. Hopefully be back in a few weeks. You can still find me by email if you need me.

Undergraduates studying history, you might find it instructive and interesting to watch Sir Olly Robbins testimony to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. There are things to be learnt about what gets written down in the archival record and what doesn't.

Raises hand tentatively: "Have we tried just training and hiring more teachers? We could pay them to work in disadvantaged areas? Could that work?" www.gov.uk/government/n...

We prefer ours.

Is the signature dying? I developed a signature to open a bank account and to write cheques. With everything going digital are the younger generations still forming a signature?

Wow, amazing few minutes of football coverage of BBC Radio York. Come on the Minstermen! You are nearly there!

The World Snooker Championship is as close to a civic religion as my family got. My parents watched religiously on TV. One of the few things we were allowed to watch during the day, curtains closed in hushed reverence. My grandparents, on both sides, similarly addicted. 1/2

The Mandelson vetting affair is fascinating. Mandelson's career was publicly available. Also, I'm prepared to make a small wager that Farage wouldn't pass Developed Vetting but he is regularly discussed as a potential future Prime Minister.

Good luck to the Minstermen and their supporters today #YorkCity

Went to cricket fielding practice with the bigger boys in the 1st and 2nd XIs tonight. Crumbs I'm getting old!

I'm so sad about all of this. It doesn't have to be like this. I know what Universities can be. I'm trying to do what I can in tiny ways, but it is a lot. I'm trying to hang on to the positives.

Making a note of this. One of my regular refrains is that evidence can't speak for itself, and it needs interpretation and explanation.

Nice obituary of Pete Duncan, the legendary scholar and teacher of Russian politics. Generations of students and colleagues benefitted from his kindness, his knowledge, and his academic rigour. A unique, and uniquely valuable, scholar. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

The New Scientist has a series of articles about the Chornobyl for the 40th anniversary of the disaster. Behind a paywall but hoping these will appear in an issue, which can be accessed via the Libby App (from your local library or perhaps university) www.newscientist.com/article/2520...

There is a lot in here for anyone involved in education. Very thought provoking. I particularly enjoyed: "Life isn’t a training for the future. It’s a game that’s already started, and time is running out." www.theguardian.com/news/2026/ap...

Just received a copy of my colleague Sinéad Morrissey's book "Among Communists: A Memoir". Sadly I missed the book launch (away on holiday), but I look forward to reading this.

Charity shop find of Konstantin Paustovsky "The Story of a Life", a book which I've consulted in libraries. Now have my own copy for £4!

Nice try! But, you have been spotted.

A lot of this is just a big swizz! www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Today is my wedding anniversary. We have been married for 15 years! Apparently a crystal anniversary.

‘I had poked the bear right in the eye’: my fight to renounce my Russian citizenship www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Don't want to dunk on students. But, I had a scenario earlier this year. Doing the rounds of smaller groups in seminar, I ask a student a ? about the reading. They typed my ? into Chat GPT which they had running on a laptop, and glossed the answer from the screen. uk.news.yahoo.com/college-stud...

CFP: The violent 1950s: Towards a new history of the global “postwar” decade https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-161580 Washington, DC, 25.02.2027-26.02.2027, German Historical Institute Washington, Bewerbungsschluss: 12.06.2026 The violent 1950s: Towards a new history of the global …

Students frequently tell me that we study history to learn lessons, and prevent history repeating itself. I've never really been convinced by this, but it is hard to sustain this view. I'd love to have a go at pulling together my thoughts about history as a discipline at some point.

When I was a visiting fellow at the LoC in 2018, I had to attend a weekly lunch with other fellows. I found myself asking lots of questions along the lines of: "What is to stop Trump doing x, y, and z?" Distinguished people augustly explained various checks and balances to me.

Are you a recent PhD or early-career scholar interested in writing review essays? We are looking to connect with emerging scholars who would be excited to contribute thoughtful review essays in their fields of expertise.

I know it is totally anachronistic, but if Paul Josephson can ask: "Would Trotsky wear a Bluetooth?", the thought occurs "Would Sholokhov have used Chat-GPT?"

Happy start of the County Championship day, for those who celebrate.

I'm looking for two postdocs/research fellows (2.5 years, 100%) to join the #ERC project EMPSOLID. Preference for candidates with expertise on the Caucasus and/or Central Asia🌏, but applications focusing on other regions of the Romanov Empire are also encouraged.

My eight-year-old son made a bow at school last year. He found it on Monday and whittled a stick into an arrow. I told him: "Under no circumstances fire that I'm the house. You will have someone's eye out." An hour later I came into the kitchen." Struck in the face by sharpened arrow.

Involving many of my colleagues www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/wha...

The world's reliance on fertilizer, produced with natural gas, to maintain agricultural yields and feed everyone is being highlighted. Surely a transition to renewables, already necessary to limit climate change, is even more necessary. The natural gas is finite.

Today is #nationalpencilday in the United States so reposting some thoughts about pencils from an old blog: blogs.ncl.ac.uk/robertdale/2...

Reviewer two strikes.

Microsoft SharePoint doing its bit to help improve staff morale!

Some remaindered bargains from my day working in London. Getting started on the train home!

Sat on a table of four on the train. Everyone else has at least two top of the range i-phones. Yet, I'm the metropolitan elite academic.