Very much looking forward to attending and speaking at this workshop in Madrid! commoditiesofempire.org.uk/events/

Events - Commodities of Empire

For details of our past events, click here. Commodities of Empire Annual International Workshop 2-3 September 2026, Spanish National Research Council, Madrid Locating Knowledge: Science and Technology...

commoditiesofempire.org.uk

How did workers of the Swiss Post, Telegraph and Telephone Company understand the role of their labour? In his recently published article, @riccardoferrigato.bsky.social explores the case of telephone maintenance workers. Go read it in T&C ➡️ muse.jhu.edu/issue/57305 #histtech #histstm

I lived on this estate for a few months in 1977 while working for ICI and wrote about it in the book reviewed here: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Susan Pedersen · Worker, Hipster, Banker: Modern British Cities

Deindustrialisation was not a long, slow process but a very quick one, erasing whole occupations and transforming one...

lrb.co.uk

Delighted that my Rise and Fall of the British Nation has been published in China (as Twilight of Empire)! www.163.com/dy/article/L...

Reupping thoughts on Starmer’s Party and its failures to think about British defence policy. Will Burnham’s Party be any different ? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Labour claims to be defending Britain from new threats, but its warfare state is steeped in old thinking | David Edgerton

For every sensible proposal, there’s a failure to think through the UK’s place in the world – and a promised ‘defence dividend’ that won’t materialise, says academic and author David Edgerton

theguardian.com

Reupping this - Labour claims to be defending Britain from new threats, but its warfare state is steeped in old thinking | David Edgerton

A fascinating obituary of David Potter academic, inventor of the psion organiser, and engaged philanthropist by @anthonybarnett.bsky.social www.opendemocracy.net/obituary-dav...

Remembering David Potter: Industrialist, physicist, philanthropist

How the Psion founder and tech titan combined scientific brilliance with fearless philanthropy to champion public good

opendemocracy.net

Join us for a conversation about the historical background of the 2017 "Asilomar Conference on Beneficial AI". Dr David Cole explores the significance and legacy of the famed 1975 Asilomar conference on recombinant DNA and DNA cloning for contemporary efforts to shape the future of AI. #histstm

Asilomar Revisited: Beneficial AI and the History of Scientific Ethics

Join us for a conversation with Dr David Cole about the legacy of Asilomar 1975 for contemporary efforts to shape the future of AI

eventbrite.co.uk

Framing AI as the next "Manhattan Project" functions more as PR than an analysis of technical change. As our podcast of the week argues, this rhetoric elides the issue of how material processes shape our lives. With @davidedgerton.bsky.social on @generativefutures.bsky.social buff.ly/fw1f8nk

Had a great conversation with Phil Bell on his podcast on how to think historically about AI and 'technology' more generally @kingschostm.bsky.social @kingshistory.bsky.social genfutures.substack.com/p/david-edge...

David Edgerton on Historical Analogies, Technology, and AI

Do we need a material turn?

genfutures.substack.com

A new article in the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social by our colleague @davidedgerton.bsky.social and Karel Williams today: 'The limits of Andy Burnham: Manchesterism is sounding a lot like Londonism' www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

The limits of Andy Burnham

Manchesterism is sounding a lot like Londonism

newstatesman.com

TOMORROW: a roundtable on public engagement, history, and the study of STM in history with @caitjan.bsky.social, @davidedgerton.bsky.social and @chrismanias.bsky.social 🗓️ 27 May, 15.00-16.30 📍 Strand Campus #histsci #histtech #histmed #hisstm @kingshistory.bsky.social

Stop looking for Burnhamism - in six years, I’ve never found. Watching the mayor up close in Manchester, I’ve seen his unusual gifts and glaring weaknesses. Would he make a good prime minister? Our weekend read - by @joshih.bsky.social manchestermill.co.uk/stop-looking...

Stop looking for Burnhamism - in six years, I’ve never found it

Watching the mayor up close in Manchester, I’ve seen his unusual gifts and glaring weaknesses. Would he make a good prime minister?

manchestermill.co.uk

Next in our seminar, a roundtable on public engagement, history, and the study of STM in history with @caitjan.bsky.social @davidedgerton.bsky.social and @chrismanias.bsky.social. 🗓️ 27 May, 15.00-16.30 📍 Strand Campus #histsci #histtech #histmed #hisstm @kingshistory.bsky.social

A must read excoriating analysis of Starmer’s Labour Party by @davidedgerton.bsky.social. He underlines both the decisive rejection of Labour’s mission to represent the organised working class or to meaningfully reform the economy in a social democratic direction.

The Labour Party is dead, and Starmer has killed it

Any progressive new leader will face the task of reviving a corpse

newstatesman.com

Next in our Seminar Series: Roundtable: Global History and the History of STM / Francisca Valenzuela, Jason Ng & David Brydan 🗓️ Thu 14 May, 15.00-16.30 📍Strand building, King's College London #histtech #histsci #histmed #histstm @kingshistory.bsky.social

Very happy to see my analysis of British defence policy from 1998 quoted here: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Guardian view on defence spending: should the UK’s security rest with Donald Trump? | Editorial

Editorial: A former Nato chief demands more cash while fixing Britain’s global role. Before billions are spent, ministers must define the purpose of its military

theguardian.com

Worse than limited opening hours, it's the withdrawal of 2/3 of the archive for curiosity-driven research that is the real scandal for what is supposed to be a public-service organization.

Dr Ian McCormick@wokestudies.bsky.social · 4mo ago

"The reading room of the corporation's Written Archives Centre (WAC) is now only open to those with a prior appointment and on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The BBC WAC campaign, backed by 600 writers, historians and researchers, said the changes have hurt independent study www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

📌 Coming up in our seminar series next week! Jieluan Huang, 'Medical Diasporas: Chinese Medicine in London and a Family Case Study' 🗓️ Wednesday 25 March 🕰️ 15.30-17.00 📍8th floor, Strand building www.kingschostm.com/seminar-series #histmed #histsci #histtech #histstm @kingshistory.bsky.social

This assumes, as does most commentary, that the Starmer Party leadership does roughly share the values of the Greens rather than Reform. Why assume this, and not the reverse? Why not take them at their word, even if it leads them to electoral oblivion?

Rob Ford@robfordmancs.bsky.social · 5mo ago

A Labour leadership with both says "you must listen to these voters who don't share your values and take them seriously" and "you must NOT listen to *these* votes who *do* share your values - their preferred party should be dismissed as extremist" is headed for electoral disaster, and deservedly so.

Congratulations to @fayboundalberti.bsky.social for the publication of “The Face: A cultural history” today! You can now get it from your preferred bookshop in the UK! tinyurl.com/the-face-fba @kingshistory.bsky.social @kingsartshums.bsky.social @ctb-kcl.bsky.social #histmed #histtech #body

The Face

What’s in a face? The face is the only part of the body where all the senses come together and, over the course of human history, has come to represent who we are as individuals. We unlock our phones...

penguin.co.uk

Published today! The new book by our colleague @fayboundalberti.bsky.social 'The Face: A cultural History' www.penguin.co.uk/books/459227...

The Face

What’s in a face? The face is the only part of the body where all the senses come together and, over the course of human history, has come to represent who we are as individuals. We unlock our phones...

penguin.co.uk

Stewart Brand's How Buildings Learn was one of the inspirations for my Shock of the Old. His new book on Maintenance (prefigured in How Buildings Learn) tells some fascinating stories. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Tech legend Stewart Brand on Musk, Bezos and his extraordinary life: ‘We don’t need to passively accept our fate’

He was at the heart of 1960s counterculture, then paved the way for the libertarian mindset of Silicon Valley. At 87, Brand is still keen to ensure the world is maintained properly – not just today, b...

theguardian.com

🔔 Coming up in our seminar: New Book Party! Smart: A history of intelligence by David Brydan (with comments by Professor @fayboundalberti.bsky.social and Professor Federico Turkheimer) 🗓️ Tues 3 March, 18.00-19.30 📍 8th floor, Strand building Register in Eventbrite ➡️ tinyurl.com/smart-brydan

💡 Call for applications to our Hans Rausing scholarship is open until 17 April. Contact a prospective supervisor before applying to one of @kingshistory.bsky.social programmes. 🛎️ First round of applications to the MAs closes 9 March! www.kingschostm.com/funding-oppo... #histsci #histtech #histstm

Hans Rausing Scholarship 2026/2027 | KingsCHoSTM

Funding Opportunities within King's CHoSTM

kingschostm.com

📊Metode SSJ, Vol. 15 No. 8 (2025): «Science without a conscience. Technology at war’s service» «The British sciences and the Great War: Myths and histories» By @davidedgerton.bsky.social (@kingschostm.bsky.social) DOI: doi.org/10.7203/meto...

Late to this warm and engaging portrait of the remarkable Anthony Barnett, a great interpreter of our times. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

Anthony Barnett: “The Sixties were a catastrophic failure”

The writer and campaigner on nationalism, the rise of the new right and how a fractured left can organise in response

newstatesman.com

[STUDY] Our Hans Rausing Scholarship fully funds Home and International students to study the history of science and technology at MA and PhD level. Contact a prospective supervisor ➡️ tinyurl.com/4ftpvrcj tinyurl.com/m4u52ech @kingshistory.bsky.social #histsci #histtech #histstm

Hans Rausing Doctoral Scholarship: PhD in the History of Science and Technology (Home/EU/Overseas) at King's College London

Explore a Hans Rausing Doctoral Scholarship: PhD in the History of Science and Technology (Home/EU/Overseas) on jobs.ac.uk. Discover more PhD opportunities and apply today!

jobs.ac.uk

Remarkable admission from Keir Starmer that he was not in charge of his party: 'It’s been an honour working with Morgan McSweeney for many years. He turned our party around ...'

CALL FOR PAPERS - Modern British History and the 'Environmental Turn'. A two-day workshop organised by @maxlong.bsky.social and myself at Lincoln College, Oxford, 16-17 September. Deadline for abstracts is 15 May. Details in poster below, please share.