Even when off work I encounter work like things (probably my fault for going to an art gallery): here Averbury related art (part of AHRC funded research) on display at Southampton City Art Gallery. Love the use of point cloud data. www.aveburypapers.org

Academics in my feed: do you train? And if so, what and why? For years I've mostly swum (short Achilles tendons mean running is too risky) and played squash. But I've got into spinning over the last year: knackering.

Very much enjoyed the #TDFF2026. Demi and Kasia is the kind of rivalry that makes bike racing. And this time, Demi was better.

James Baker@jwbaker.bsky.social · 6d ago

KASIA!

DEMI VOLLERING WINS THE 2026 TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES AND BECOMES THE FIRST REPEAT WINNER !!!!! #TDFF2026

Out of office on. Work related notifications off. A few weeks of proper leave begins.

No one ever believes Kasia can do it, until she does it. If Vollering is the rider of her generation; Kasia is the fighter. Remarkable performance, again, from the Pole. She always provides drama and excitement.

KASIA!

James Baker@jwbaker.bsky.social · last wk.

Well, what do I know. Apart from that I should always believe in Kasia. And never underestimate Demi.

‘Not again; they’ve told you twice they don’t want you'. As someone whose partner is also Dutch, solidarity Andy www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Andy Burnham reveals wife’s reaction to third Labour leadership bid

Burnham said his wife, Marie-France van Heel, took some persuading after he ran and lost in contests in 2010 and 2015

theguardian.com

Well, what do I know. Apart from that I should always believe in Kasia. And never underestimate Demi.

James Baker@jwbaker.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Tour de France Femmes starts today and as ever I'll be cheering for Kasia Niewiadoma (though if I had to guess, my pick for 🟨 would be Paula Blasi or Anna van der Breggen, depending on how the Stage 4 TT goes)

Great discussion at the 'crisis in UK history' meeting hosted by @ihr.bsky.social, @royalhistsoc.org, @histassoc.bsky.social and History UK. Horror stories of closures and redundancies, balanced by new resources. Check out for ex. the new Independent Historians Network independenthistorians.org

Independent Historians Network

The place for independent and freelance historians to connect

independenthistorians.org

Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of people at this meeting.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last mo.

Of interest to UK university #Skystorians: Royal Historical Society open online meeting on 'The crisis in UK higher education: The future for History'. 4 August 2-4 pm.

Love this

Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 2w ago

"Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience." New today in the Society's journal 'Transactions': Joe Moran 'On Detail in Historical Writing': bit.ly/44UMi8C Now available OA @joemoransblog.bsky.social @massobsarchive.bsky.social #Skystorians 1/2

The Tour de France Femmes starts today and as ever I'll be cheering for Kasia Niewiadoma (though if I had to guess, my pick for 🟨 would be Paula Blasi or Anna van der Breggen, depending on how the Stage 4 TT goes)

Anonymous GitHub is a remarkable, brilliant thing anonymous.4open.science

Looks like my 'AI Utopias and the Climate Crisis' module (reworked from this sas-dhrh.github.io/dhcc-toolkit... in response to student interests) is full next year. Pleased about that. The kids are alright etc.

New CILIP website is a mess of AI slop images. Check out the images of senior professionals and try and imagine the prompt that generated them. All backed by walls of fake books that look like the ones sold by the yard to furnish pubs www.cilip.org.uk/learn-develo...

Royal Historical Society open meeting (online) for historians working in universities, 4 Aug 2026 - ‘The crisis in UK higher education: the future for history’ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-crisis.... It’s a definite sign of the times that places are almost gone.

The Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History

An open meeting for historians in UK higher education on what is needed to best support and protect the profession and discipline.

eventbrite.co.uk

This is something we also pick up on in this @copim.bsky.social post -- profit-driven inflation of the quantity of published research is bad for research and for researchers: copim.pub/wileys-acqui...

Wiley’s Acquisition of Emerald: Some observations from Copim - Copim

Copim reflects on Wiley’s acquisition of Emerald and the issues of scale and corporate consolidation in academic publishing.

copim.pub

Martin Paul Eve@eve.gd · 3w ago

"Springer Nature [... issued] an ultimatum about a year ago that we needed to increase the number of papers we accept per year immediately, and by a significant amount". Academic freedom and peer-reviewed quality control at its finest.

If today on 6 is anything to go by this new Indie Forever station sounds so dull and safe.

"Within this context, open science becomes a litmus test: will it evolve as a tool of digital constitutionalism, safeguarding pluralism and reflexivity? Or will it be absorbed into a regime of metric-based visibility, instrumental rationality, and platform-driven utility?" By @raffaela.bsky.social

Between democratization and instrumentalization: A constitutional perspective on open science

Abstract. Open science is a hotly debated issue. Initially emerging as a grassroots effort to enhance the global accessibility of scientific knowledge, it

academic.oup.com

"Always have existed and always will exist"

Sigh. A call for papers on the legacy of Aaron Swartz. A most worthwhile topic. But ACM charging APCs for this special issue? Is that in keeping with AS's legacy? In any case, I will not write for it, as I cannot afford the APCs. I will choose a diamond venue instead. dl.acm.org/pb-assets/st...

Again and again I find myself coming back to the most recent Orielles record. Such a special collection of music. And it sounds *so* good. open.spotify.com/album/1pnhhu...

Only You Left - Album by The Orielles | Spotify

The Orielles · album · 2026 · 11 songs

open.spotify.com

And an equally enormous loss: EThOS remains down, with plans to resurrect only a hugely degraded version, without downloads. Access to the PhD theses here was crucial. I would always search it on a topic, because these PhD works can be really good. And they don't need to be a book to be cited.

Simon@simonxix.com · 2mo ago

Meanwhile the UK Web Archive has been unavailable since the British Library cyberattack in October 2023. Our already-spotty digital preservation infrastructures are falling into disrepair along with our universities. www.webarchive.org.uk

Sparks. The best live band out there. Another curious encounter.

Here I am! 🤗 - what is the point of #digitalhumanities in a world which is on fire? and how has DH changed over the past 20 years? My personal take:

Adam Crymble@adamcrymble.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If you missed the @ucldh.bsky.social Susan Hockey Lecture by @melissaterras.bsky.social this year, we've got a recording: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbtK...

An unexpected treat of DH Benelux was a chance to close to the women's and men's pro peletons at De Ridderronde Maastricht!

So here we are in 2026 and for a lot of us working in the sector, advocating for some systemic changes to protect and preserve it for *years on end*, it is more than a little rich to see a HEPI report sail in and discover a problem that has been visible for almost a decade.

I'm still kinda baffled - in a good way, I've got tickets! - that Anna von Hausswolff is coming to Southampton.

Great news, we've reached 50% of our year 1 funding target! But we need the support of more libraries to support community-owned diamond open access journals. Please come and join us! Message us, visit openjournalscollective.org or email thomas.shaw@openjournalscollective.org