William Carruthers
@williamcarruthers.bsky.social
Lecturer in Heritage at a university near Colchester. ‘Flooded Pasts: UNESCO, Nubia, and the Recolonization of Archaeology’ out now with Cornell UP. Fellow, RHistS. https://williamcarruthers.co.uk
He literally just launched an illegal and unprovoked war in the Middle East that will take a really long time to lose
Gerry Doyle@mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 12h agoI'm sorry what
Listening to a podcast about Gen Z and politics saying their generation is waiting for a period of economic growth and higher wages, and as a millennial I have some bad news
25 years since a pre-smartphone train journey out of London where the news was only just filtering through to people
Breaking: The British Public respond 99% 'Don't Know' when asked to review whether the Tokugawa Shogunate's policy of sakoku promoted internal stability during the Edo period.
I have received an email from an AI asking to write about borders for my newsletter, and it is giving me a genuine insight into how AI psychosis happens. it is so difficult not to understand this as "an actual sentient being addressing me" even though it has been entirely honest about being an AI
My most boring opinion is that there is, at times, a real incommensurability about what heritage studies wants to do and the history of heritage, which is inevitably more complex than it wants to let on.
Applications now invited for the Society's next round of research funding: for Postgraduates, studying for a PhD, and Early Career Historians, within 5 years of completing a doctorate: bit.ly/4ywZi0S Grants of £500-£1000 to pursue research. Closing date 4 December 2026 #Skystorians 1/2
Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: December 2026 deadlines - RHS
The Society invites applications for the following three schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates from 4 December 2026. Postgraduate Research Support Grants, 2026-...
bit.ly
I think the essential point here is right: people who have lost communities don’t know why they’re doing the job anymore
Jim Dickinson@jimdickinson.bsky.social · 21h agoNEW on Wonkhe: Nick Hulbert-Williams argues that what looks like low morale and change fatigue in HE may really be a crisis of belonging buff.ly/7PuwCwl
My employer has decided the solution to bad staff survey results is to implement a system of four performance reviews a year. So assuming everyone has them, that's 52,000 meetings a year. Or maybe 51,996, because the VC doesn't have a line manager
It’s striking how little attention is being paid to the Iran war and its regional effects when the possibilities for escalation are many and would be keenly felt by U.S. consumers.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · yesterdayIran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mocha as they advance south towards the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway for international maritime trade. ft.trib.al/QzgsNyH
Wtf do the government want from us here!? They plainly, *plainly*, do not actually want international students. Their whole line of policy for years has been making it more difficult for such people to come here or stay after they graduate! Why are they also out here encouraging us to attract more!?
Chris Parr@chrisjparr.bsky.social · 2d agoSome groans in room at UUK 2026 when Jacqui Smith said the UK continues to be welcoming to international students. She responds by saying that universities need to “get out there and argue the case” for the UK as a destination, particularly compared to some other countries.
'When a female protester was hustled out...having interrupted Farage’s speech, the Reform leader offered this rehearsed line, to great applause: “That’s what a university education does for you. What was it, love, sociology?” These are not people with whom vice-chancellors can do business.'
Our Science Minister, folks. His remit includes the Arts and Humanities Research Council. God help us all.
Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d agoWhen asked in the Q&A about arts and humanities he says he personally values them (seems very genuine) but that he is the Science Minister, and it’s for the DCMS Minister to make the case for those. He’s perhaps not yet clocked he is responsible for all R&D. Would Wissenschaft Minister work better?
Older U.K. readers will remember what happened to Ratners, and perhaps in that one way the eighties were a better time.
Rory Cellan-Jones @rorycj.bsky.social · 2d agoRegarding the Anthropic "we're all doomed" story: if a safety advisor at a car company said there's a 1-in-10 chance our product will kill everyone within 10 years, how long would they stay an employee? And what would happen to the share price?
I wonder if the BM has thought of putting in a soft play
Why is the answer to employers wanting more work ready graduates always that universities should provide more workplace training, rather than employers providing more training in the workplace?
There are premises that consider more than two schoolkids entering at a time a public order threat, and yet these guys can show up looking like they’re holding a housebreakers’ summer convention.
Jane@localnotail.bsky.social · 2d agoDaniel Thomas / Danny Tommo has today marched his private army of blackshorts to Daily Mail HQ to demand a new house for his mum within 48 hrs, after they doorstepped her for a feature on him. Apparently he plans to blockade them + cry at them until they do Bet those lads are glad of the balaclavas
If The Soho Society want to "preserve the character of Soho" from the decade of their founding surely they should be advocating for the reopening of the sex cinemas, peep shows, grot shops, dodgy clip joints and brothels, all of which have pretty much vanished as Soho has gentrified in recent times
James Ball@jamesrball.com · 3d ago"The Soho Society, a group established in 1972 aimed at “preserving the character of Soho”, voted in its AGM earlier this summer for a new licensing mandate, meaning it will challenge all new applications for bars and restaurants in the area, including reviews of existing licences."
I mean we're all somewhat interacting with Netherlandish Art in the broadest sense, am I right?
You think you've seen the most extreme level of Nimbyism possible? Think again.
Tom Wilson@feedthedrummer.bsky.social · 3d agoFacebook continues to be a menace.
