Wonderful colleague & great project…

Abbi Flint@draflint.bsky.social · last wk.

Today is my last day at @ox.ac.uk on the Poetry Heritage & Community project. It’s been a joy to work with fab colleagues at Oxford & English Heritage. Not sure what’s next for me yet but today I’m just proud to have been part of this collaborative research project www.torch.ox.ac.uk/inspiring-vo...

Zumbi dos Palmares Salvador, Bahia One of the leaders of the independent kingdom

Isaac Samuel@rhaplord.bsky.social · last wk.

In the 1600s, some 21,000 runaway slaves in Brazil founded an independent kingdom in the interior that lasted nearly a century (1612-1694) It had a capital of 5,000, its own king, provincial chiefs, judges, priests, and an army that raided Dutch and Portuguese plantations

Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp and I stepped out from behind the mic and in front of the camera to make a wee film about milk for BBC Ideas, with @socsci.ox.ac.uk and the BBC. Coming this autumn. Meanwhile, you can find our podcast here: www.milkingit.org/podcast

The first day of this was excellent… looking forward to more!

Rebekah Higgitt@rhiggitt.bsky.social · 3w ago

We have made the news! #eshs-hss (overlooking the blandly sweeping statements made about Edinburgh and #histSTM) www.heraldscotland.com/news/2627512...

@socialhistsoc.bsky.social cracking panel discussion at SHS Conference on Social History: Its Pasts and Futures; a call to action for all Social Historians #SHS2026

Reduced pesticide use, less ploughing, more trees. Humans adapt, albeit too slowly.

UK farmers embrace regenerative methods after heatwave shock

High temperatures are leading farmers to cut out chemicals and intensive ploughing to improve soil quality so it retains water

ft.com

I don’t think the world realised how much we needed 🇨🇻 Cabo Verde. ⚽️

The Society now invites applications, from PhD students, for the 2026-27 Martin Lynn Scholarship in African History bit.ly/4xD5ZyN The Scholarship provides funding to support doctoral research in Africa and is named for the late Professor Martin Lynn (QUB). Closing date 4 September #Skystorians 1/2

Martin Lynn Scholarship in African history: applications now invited from PhD students - RHS

Applications are now invited for the Society's annual Martin Lynn Scholarship in African history. The Scholarship supports graduate students undertake doctoral research in Africa during the academic y...

bit.ly

hello we are so back with another episode of our podcast Absolute Units! this time, we wrap up two of our major recent projects, reflect on what we've learned, try hard not to break the recording, and talk a lil bit about the World Cup as well merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Absolute Units podcast - The Museum of English Rural Life

Come for the big sheep. Stay for the history of rural England and its people.

merl.reading.ac.uk

“Immense hope for the future of literature” - the winners of the 2026 SoA Awards are revealed this evening at a ceremony at Southwark Cathedral. With a combined prize fund of more than £130,000, the awards recognise authors at all stages of their careers. buff.ly/QhfvORo #SoAwards

Opportunities …

Tim Waterman@tim-waterman.co.uk · 2mo ago

The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna has a section on their website listing funding opportunities for PhD students. Very useful! calls.akbild.ac.at/calls/index....

Opportunity…

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If you are a policy interested researcher we have opened a fantastic call for our Innovation Fellowships. Spend a year working with a policy partner on themes of resilient communities or digital society. We offer up to £120k. More detail below in this 🧵 www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

My book 'Between Feast and Famine: Food, Health and the History of Ghana's Long Twentieth Century' is out today with UCL Press! This also means its fully open access and fully free to read and share and discuss with your friends and family. uclpress.co.uk/book/between...

Between Feast and Famine

Ghana’s twentieth century was one of dramatic political, economic, and environmental change. Sparked initially by the impositions of colonial rule, these transformations had significant, if rarely uni...

uclpress.co.uk

Good news - I’d often wondered how this was getting on…

IPS Inter Press Service@ipsnews.net · 3mo ago

Africa’s Great Green Wall is slowly growing 🌱 The initiative spans 11 countries and has received over $1B from the Global Environment Facility, helping restore degraded land across the Sahel. Progress is real, but funding gaps and insecurity remain major challenges. www.ipsnews.net/2026/05/ambi...

Good news - I’d often wondered how this was getting on…

IPS Inter Press Service@ipsnews.net · 3mo ago

Africa’s Great Green Wall is slowly growing 🌱 The initiative spans 11 countries and has received over $1B from the Global Environment Facility, helping restore degraded land across the Sahel. Progress is real, but funding gaps and insecurity remain major challenges. www.ipsnews.net/2026/05/ambi...

This Thursday we are in Sheffield to co-host this year's 'History and Archives in Practice' (#HAP26) day, with The National Archives, @ihr.bsky.social and @unisheffieldlib.bsky.social. The 2026 theme is: ‘Shaping Societies, Improving Lives'. Full programme now available: bit.ly/4s5UMCS #Skystorians

‘History and Archives in Practice, 2026’: full programme now available - RHS

On Thursday 16 April 2026, the Royal Historical Society joins with The National Archives, Institute ofHistorical Research and University of Sheffield Library to co-host the this year’s History and Arc...

bit.ly

Opportunities…

Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 4mo ago

Also available from this week, the Society’s grants for 2026-27 supporting collaborative public history and the formation of conference panels, with funding for researchers without access to alternative funding. Closing dates: 5 June. Our great thanks here to the Scouloudi Foundation #Skystorians

In case you’re also a fan of pansies and violas here are a few more. Dopamine from pansies= pansamine ✔️🌿

@ollie-randall.bsky.social thank you so much for capturing the joy at the launch of ‘The New Eden: Wildlife in the City and Discovering Our Shared Home’ …now out in the world. A book about how much more nature there is in cities than we realise & recognising it can make cities so much more liveable

Submit… looking forward to reading your work!

Nicola Chester@nicolawriting.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Submissions are open! Delighted to be a judge for Natasha Carthew & Octopus Books’ Common Ground Nature Writing Prize, for writers self-identifying as working class. 1,000 words or less, in any form & great prizes! Further details & link to submit, here: www.octopusbooks.co.uk/landing-page...

'Psychologists at Cardiff University and King’s College London found that children given dolls gained a richer appreciation of other people’s beliefs and feelings, in contrast to those given a tablet loaded with video games.' 1/3

Playing with dolls can help children develop imagination and social skills – UK study

Psychologists at Cardiff University and King’s College London compared children given dolls with those given video games

theguardian.com

We've put together a select listing of c.100 national #history societies active in the UK & Ireland bit.ly/4rANJ52. These subject specialist societies facilitate research and promote the value of historical knowledge. Many are membership organisations and invite historians to join them #Skystorians

This is an extraordinarily beautiful and moving song of a humpback whale recorded in Bermuda in 1949, making it the oldest-known recording of whale communication to exist. Just as importantly, it captures a quieter sea that these whales & songs journeyed through. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Oldest-known whale song recording provides new insight into ocean sounds

Recording of humpback whale from 1949 could also provide new understanding of how the huge animals communicate

theguardian.com

It’s today! Publication day… out in the world Thank you @hachetteuk.bsky.social

Reuben College, University of Oxford@reubencollege.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Congrats to @jcniala.bsky.social  (Governing Body Fellow, PERCH) on the upcoming release of her new book this Thursday. The New Eden combines memoir, social history, and cultural commentary, inviting us to think of cities as shared spaces with nature, where it is always present and adapting.

Can’t wait for this to come out!!!congrats @drmaimusie.bsky.social

Dr Mai Musié (ሙሴ)@drmaimusie.bsky.social · 5mo ago

✨ One step closer to the dream ✨ Elated to be represented by the illustrious @robertcaskie ! Just in time for the London Book Fair! I’m writing a book for our times- tracing the perilous journeys of #refugees & #asylumseekers from #myth & #ancienthistory to the modern world.

Sometimes I too feel ‘misbound but perfect’, Francis Jenkinson. Written in a copy of Gaspar Ens’s book on Dutch discoveries in the New World (Cologne, 1612). @theulspeccoll.bsky.social N*.5.51(G).

Thank you @little tollerbooks.bsky.social for including me wee piece in this.

Heartfelt thanks to @steverutt.bsky.social & @britishwildlife.bsky.social for an incredible review. ‘Nobody else writes with this degree of sensitivity, the big picture interspersed with telling detail, the perfect descriptive phrase that is her knack & the unhurried, farm-pace of her narrative.’1/2

Ghosts of the Farm - British Wildlife

Ghosts of the Farm Nicola Chester Close your eyes and imagine rural southern England. You probably picture somewhere like the setting of Ghosts of the Farm – all rolling chalk hills and sticky mud, br...

britishwildlife.com

Starting to feel a bit more real… out next month … linktr.ee/TheNewEden_J... ‘a nuanced invitation to see the city as a place of wild co-existence and possibility’ Olivia Laing ‘Original, profound and wise, this book is rich with knowledge and vitality’ Jay Griffiths

People know about the blackboard on display @hsmoxford.bsky.social but take a listen if you want to find out what happened to the second one…

Oxford Sparks@oxfordsparks.bsky.social · 5mo ago

🎙️ If you've visited @hsmoxford.bsky.social, you may have seen Einstein's blackboard. But what was #Einstein doing in #Oxford in the 1930s? We chat to @jcniala.bsky.social to find out... 🎧 www.oxfordsparks.ox.ac.uk/podcasts/wha... @ox.ac.uk