Tragic to think how few whales will have had the opportunity to read Moby Dick due to basic accessibility issues. 1) English-to-whale translation not yet that advanced; 2) flipper-to-page ratio; 3) omg, that book is getting soggy.

Massimo (mirror)@rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 2d ago

One of the most fascinating facts about the ocean, is that there are whales alive today who were born before Moby Dick was written. Some of the bowhead whales in the icy waters off of Alaska today are over 200 years old. Original post

Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.

Some historical background to the fires in southwestern France, drawing on reading I did for my 2019 book about the moorlands, and lamenting the deeply depressing reality that we have known many of the causes of this ecological disaster for 150years 🗃️ williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/07/30/u...

Unintentional Arson

The fires in southwestern France are an appalling demonstration of the reality of climate change in 2026. But this is not the first ecological devastation in the region, and the role of human actio…

williamgpooley.wordpress.com

Puck: give me your hands ❤️ #MoonMad www.english.cam.ac.uk/research/slo... My 8th #SlowShakespeare blog since 2018, DONE. A last magical image of Puck (Rosie Sheehy) @the-rsc.bsky.social Dream 2024. Of all the versions I've included, the 2 that have resonated most have been Brook 1970 & Noble 1994.

Extremely obsessed with this intervention in the Nolan Odyssey chat

John Springford@johnspringford.bsky.social · 2w ago

Glad they changed the bit with the sheep, as I always found that implausible. Sheep aren't very strong.

It's funny how no-one ever asks where the money is coming from when you announce a cut in immigration.

Ink making workshop with @meghankern.bsky.social!

Seems like the one sacking no one is commenting on this morning is the very first one Andy Burnham made: that Podium Guy.

Now I'm back from parental leave, a shout out to my book - Violent Waters: Environmental Politics in Early Modern England - which came out four months after our baby. 🐣 👉 www.cambridge.org/core/books/v...

Conference reflections Finally, some brief thoughts on The Cultures of Early Television conference a fortnight back. If you attended, do please consider adding your own reactions and suggestions for improvements. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/conference-r...

Conference reflections - Illuminations

John Wyver writes: Just over a fortnight since The Cultures of Early Television wrapped, with much – although far from all – of the admin done, and with the distractions of a weekend in Paris and the ...

illuminationsmedia.co.uk

This, in particular. Increasingly of the view that government policy towards universities is the test case of whether it really has a wider economic policy.

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 3w ago

"A closed country will be poorer. A country that underinvests will not grow. A state that refuses to reform tax will ration ambition. And a Labour government afraid to say these things will discover once again that caution, too, has costs." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

these debates about what the north is, where it starts, etc etc, always remind me of how geographically dinky England is, if you tried to argue with a French person about whether some north/south line is here or 40 miles down they'd look at you like you were an alien I think

Can you imagine the shock in the UK as it discovers today, 250 years too late, that those states across the ocean have declared themselves independent

Ian Kikuchi@curatorian.bsky.social · last mo.

This is a brilliant story. Hooray for archives, and for their staff and volunteers. 📝📄🗄️🗃️ www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

The full, 24-page programme for this week's The Cultures of Early Television conference, with a schedule, abstracts and speaker bios, and further reading, can be downloaded here. Also, a link to sign up - but hurry, there are just a few places left. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-cultures...

The Cultures of Early Television programme - Illuminations

John Wyver writes: After months of preparation The Cultures of Early Television conference takes place at Portland Hall in London on Thursday and Friday this week. A University of Westminster conferen...

illuminationsmedia.co.uk

Pebblehenge

Antiquity Journal@antiquity.ac.uk · 2mo ago

Possible 'prototype' of Stonehenge discovered three miles from the famous site. 🏺 #ArchaeologyNews via BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Excellent comment this. Needs to land.

National productivity and wellbeing is the output of our creative capacity

Creative degrees may not attract the largest graduate salaries, but you can't achieve critical national priorities without creative skills. Randall Whittaker and Stephen Farrier make the case for inve...

wonkhe.com

Yes to all of this on the ubiquitous doom and gloom about the appalling state of British higher education: “we ought to be building solidarity and acknowledging efforts to hold back the tide”

Matilda Fitzmaurice@matildaf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Hi #UCU. l wrote a response to Lorna Finlayson's latest NLR piece, 'Irreversible'. It's from the heart as a precarious academic, a trade unionist and, frankly, someone who thinks the climate change metaphor used in the original piece is unhelpful and damaging. ucucommons.org/we-shouldnt-...

It! Is! Here! Open Access (and already hoovered up by the scrapers no doubt such is our world) UK/EU paper copies will be available eventually but until then, EVERYONE now has free access! press.library.concordia.ca/projects/ill...

Kathleen E. Kennedy@themedievaldrk.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Hey hey, it’s now official on Concordia UP’s website, 20% discount code KENNEDY2026 at CUP (CAN) or Chicago (USD, link in next post) for Illuminating Media: Transmitting the Renaissance in England, 1400-1550! concordia.ca/press/illumi...

10 days until DAM and Collections Management for Cultural Heritage 2026! Excited and nervous to be opening the London conference with 'From Archive to Primetime: How One Photograph Transformed Hidden History into Global Impact'. Plus other great speakers! henrystewartconferences.com/events/dam-c...

It seems to me that we have discovered here is that clocks have an anti-human bias, yet another reason not to trust them

Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · 2mo ago

As a regular walker, I can confirm this is true. Weird but true.

Finally being released in paperback at a great price! global.oup.com/academic/pro...

claire m. l. bourne@roaringgirle.bsky.social · 2mo ago

paperbacks! 📚🖤

reading about the May government for a thing and mad, mad, mad that a Conservative Prime Minister said this nine years ago, I hate how much we've lost since then! I hate it so much! www.theguardian.com/society/2017...

Delighted to unveil the schedule for The Cultures of Early Television, a conference on 2 + 3 July in London. The gathering focuses on television before the Second World War in Britain, continental Europe, the United States and the Soviet Union. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/the-cultures...

The Cultures of Early Television - Illuminations

John Wyver writes: I’m delighted to unveil the schedule for the The Cultures of Early Television, a University of Westminster conference that I am convening on 2 and 3 July at Portland Hall in London....

illuminationsmedia.co.uk

I’m old enough to remember some rightwingers calling out Obama for having an opinion on Brexit, presumably they’ll be shocked by this

Hey, look! Over there! IT'S LOTS OF UPCOMING EVENTS!

Something beautiful: Saturday 13th June I'll be performing with ILĀ and London Contemporary Voices, creating an immersive, unwinding soundbath. If you're in London that evening then come and escape the ugliness and be held through music. dice.fm/event/nvdwo5...

UN/VEIL Choral Sound Bath Tickets | £10 | 13 Jun @ 160DL studios, London | DICE

Step inside the opening chapter of UN/VEIL. ILĀ invites you to immerse yourself in a sound bath performed by twenty voices from London Contemporary Voices. ...

dice.fm

Excellent piece by @stephenkb.bsky.social about the Henry Nowak case and what it does/doesn't show about policing www.ft.com/content/aa94...

After a very ott week of summer-in-spring, we've now moved straight into winter. I've got several layers on, the house lights turned up bright, and what I presume must be a lion and a witch in the wardrobe

Lovely peeps, exciting news! The inestimable @clairejowitt.bsky.social is giving a talk at Founders' Hall on 21st July: this is a great opportunity to visit my livery company hall and experience our warm hospitality. Cost is £70 for which you'll get a superb 3 course dinner and *all* the wine!

My Beatles train is pulling into London on Jun 11.With the ace @danielrachel.bsky.social on board. Tickets (to ride) please!🎸🎥🎬🎶📚 www.tickettailor.com/events/insti...

Select tickets – The Long Play Sessions : Samira Ahmed with 'A Hard Day's Night' – ICMP London (Queen's Park Campus)

The Long Play Sessions : Samira Ahmed with 'A Hard Day's Night' – ICMP London (Queen's Park Campus), Thu 11 Jun 2026 - Join us at ICMP’s Queen’s Park campus for a special in‑conversation event with aw...

tickettailor.com