Andy Burnham is the Prime Minister humanities admissions tutors need.
Dr Emily Jones
@jonesemily.bsky.social
Historian of politics & ideas at the University of Manchester. Author of Edmund Burke and the Invention of Modern Conservatism, 1830-1914: An Intellectual History & The Disraeli Myth: The Making of a Conservative Tradition.
At last, it's UK publication day! The beauties have landed.
🤗🤗🤗
Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 2w agoThe Disraeli Myth by @jonesemily.bsky.social "expertly guides readers through the life and legacy of a man who reached beyond a narrow base to challenge a fragile status quo amid unfolding social change." Read the full @wsj.com review:
Congratulations to the government on saving 2700 jobs by nationalising British Steel. Now, about the 18,000 university jobs lost in the last 18 months, with more coming…
Oh well, don't forget that it's already come home twice in the past five years.
Obviously, there are other big stories around today. But, as far as I can make out, the Indy is the only paper that splashes this morning on the Covid Inquiry's tale of billions wasted. Can only imagine the field-day the right-wing press would have had had it happened under a different government.
In The Disraeli Myth, @jonesemily.bsky.social traces the mythologising that made Benjamin Disraeli a touchstone for Conservative (and conservative) politics. Out now (28 July UK/EU pub). Read a free preview of this compelling study: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... #PoliSci #History
You know you want to!
Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · last mo.In The Disraeli Myth, @jonesemily.bsky.social traces the mythologising that made Benjamin Disraeli a touchstone for Conservative (and conservative) politics. Out now (28 July UK/EU pub). Read a free preview of this compelling study: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco... #PoliSci #History
Hot day, hot book 🔥 It's here, in the flesh! my new book, The Disraeli Myth, in all its glory. Princeton have done such an amazing job on this.
📢📢📢 It's US publication day!! Here is a 30% discount code for the Princeton University Press site (P329) for when copies cross the Atlantic! A bargain at less than £25 and the perfect beach read for summer.
📢📢 Why listen to two blokes banging on about liberalism on a podcast when you can read me doing it in the new issue of History Today!
SO excited to share this at last! WHAT IS HISTORY FOR? is taking place at JRRIL, 6 June, 10-4, as part of Manchester Histories Festival. There will be talks, workshops, and lots more. All ages, and completely free! For more information and to sign up: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-is-hi...
What is History For?
What is the purpose of history today? This all-day event features talks, workshops, and more on the uses and abuses of Manchester's past.
eventbrite.co.uk
As another Primrose Day comes to a close, I thought I'd share the promo code for a lovely 30% off The Disraeli Myth: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Woohoo! My article, 'Conservative Crossings: Constructing Anglo-American Conservatism in the C20th' has been accepted by @jbritishstudies.bsky.social It shows how Conservative ideas and people moved between Britain and the US, contributing to the Cold War invention of 'American conservatism'.
a large ship is floating in the ocean with a british flag
Alt: a large ship is floating in the ocean with a british flag
media.tenor.com
If you’re a student who’d love to see the You’re Dead To Me tour show in either Cardiff, Edinburgh or Manchester — and you don’t *already* have a ticket — DM me on here or on Instagram for a sneaky student discount code
Out of curiosity I popped "special relationship" into Ngram. Of course a Churchill family legend (Jennie C launched the Anglo-Saxon Review in 1899 long before the term was coined by her son) but really a Thatcherite one? Or just a surge of social science publications now using the term reflexively?
#Skystorians great new book klaxon! Out this summer! Highly recommended!
Dr Emily Jones@jonesemily.bsky.social · 8mo agoIn case you were wondering if there was a time when people across the political spectrum used the past to think creatively and constructively about present-day problems, may I present the incontrovertible proof(s)!
I am ill and so comfort-listing to Harry Potter (#6). Despite History of Magic being constantly pilloried I do love Dumbledore's historicism: 'Sir … is it important to know all this about Voldemort's past?” “Very important, I think,” said Dumbledore.
This is terrible, and made worse by fact that SHU has also historically been an institution which employs a lot of teaching only staff. My dad worked there for 25 years and him and his entire department (maths) were teaching only! (That might have changed since, but was case in 2015 when he retired)
Sheffield Hallam restricts TPS access to REF academics only
Teaching staff at post-92 institution to be employed by subsidiary firm and lose right to access expensive pensions scheme
timeshighereducation.com
Not that anyone asks historians anymore, but I think my sense that the last GE was Labour's 1906 (they are the Liberals in this analogy) still might stand. What remains unique (and so without historical analogy) is that the Conservatives are being *successfully* challenged by a party to the right.
What do you do when you have no ideas? Steal some. Politics for the AI age.
Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · 5mo agoThese people are poison. They will unleash racist thugs on the streets of this country and call it security. They will subjugate us to the US and call it patriotism. They must be stopped. There is no more important task in politics.
“Purely cognitive” is it? Surely they’re not stupid enough to believe that word-juggling software actually thinks? The whole point of word-juggling software is to produce the illusion of thinking. And that is all it is.
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5mo ago'Jobs involving “purely cognitive tasks will be first” to go, says Anton Korinek, an economist at [UVA]...“Traditionally, these are the jobs that were most closely associated with scientific research....They will shortly be taken over by AI.”' An economist's prediction. Historians may demur.
“With modern digital communication, and with ChatGPT, people are reading more for information... They’re trying to get the core idea out of something quickly, as opposed to valuing the process of immersing themselves in the text.” bit.ly/49KkcAb
How Humanities professors are adapting to decline in student literacy amidst AI - The Pitt News
Pitt humanities professors are reckoning with a potential decrease in students' ability to read and are adapting their curriculums to the age of AI text summarization.
bit.ly
Labour NEC: She'll have the lamb, rare, with very little mint sauce.
a man in a tuxedo is holding a microphone in his hand
Alt: a man in a tuxedo is holding a microphone in his hand
media.tenor.com
Dr Emily Jones@jonesemily.bsky.social · 6mo agoAndy Burnham 2026
The dodo (an actual ideas-based political argument) lives!
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 7mo agoMark Carney's speech really is terrific: full text is here and very much worth your time.