After her feats for Ireland in the world cup, it's great to see Orla Prendergast now performing excellently for ... Welsh Fire* *they would also be my (a Devonian) closest team if i supported a Hundred 'franchise'

ok, but why wasn't E.P. Thompson's sci-fi novel called The Making of the Alien Working Class manyheadedmonster.com/2017/12/04/e...

E.P. Thompson’s forgotten sci-fi novel: The Sykaos Papers

Mark Hailwood Back in October I was writing a lecture on E.P. Thompson when I learnt, to my surprise, that he had written a sci-fi novel towards the end of his career. Published in 1988, The Sykaos…

manyheadedmonster.com

A 🧵with an update on the wills project: #EarlyModern 🗃️

The Material Culture of Wills Project@materialwills.bsky.social · 10h ago

📢PROJECT UPDATE📢 You may have seen the news that the University of Exeter, home of the wills project, has placed 500 academics at risk of redundancy. The project leader Prof. Jane Whittle & project co-investigator Dr Laura Sangha are both at risk, alongside almost all of the History department. 1/

'our decision to leave our old jobs makes us confront big questions about identity: who we are, who we thought we would be, who we hoped to become (or feared becoming) and what we risk losing in the process'. 1/

How fancy is your nightwear? Not as fancy as this I suspect: 'Item I give devise and bequeath to Mr Jarvas Blackwell a gold ring with a Rubie in it and a straw coloured silke night cappe layd all with silver Lace which was the late Kings'. Will of Miles Woodshaw, gentleman.

mood:

4 Aug 1551: Bishop Vesey of #Exeter ejected from his see #otd Miles Coverdale, #Bible translator, was consecrated for Exeter on 30 Aug. Vesey, however, was re-instated under Mary I in 1553. (Anthony McCallum) #merrygoround

This is simply wonderful news for the Migration Museum and its ongoing project to create the UK's first permanent museum exploring migration to and from the UK. The new Museum will be in the City of London, but is already working with collaborators outside London and outside England. 1/3

The Wolfson Foundation commits £600,000 to the UK’s ‘Missing Museum’

The Migration Museum is delighted to announce that The Wolfson Foundation has become a Founding Partner of the UK’s first permanent museum dedicated to exploring how the movement of people to and from...

migrationmuseum.org

would play

Buckinghamshire Archives@bucksarchives.bsky.social · yesterday

The Archive but it's a videogame from 1998.

How do you get 250,000 insect specimen labels into a searchable database? The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin worked with Transkribus to transcribe and structure handwritten and printed labels into accessible research resources. Learn how:

Creating a model to transcribe 250,000 specimen labels at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin | Transkribus Blog

Transkribus collaborates with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin to digitise and transcribe 250,000 insect specimen labels, enhancing digital access for researchers and educators.

transkribus.org

'A survey of 381 members of the Society of Radiographers revealed a “noticeable” rise in instances of overt racism experienced and witnessed by radiographers across the health service over the past 18 months.' This has been actively enabled by politicians and media. That's a choice being made.

NHS radiographers report rise in overt racist abuse by patients

Survey reveals medics were called ‘monkeys’ and ‘dirty foreigners’, and patients refused to be seen by black or Asian staff

theguardian.com

'almost three-quarters of women (73%) under 50 who develop breast cancer within 10 years have no family history of breast cancer, the key criteria in the Nice guidelines.' I was 41 with no family history when I developed it - it's time to update the guidance. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

GPs’ breast cancer guidelines ‘miss’ 95% of women who will develop disease

Findings prompt calls for review of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence criteria

theguardian.com

thanks goodness for Riverford: the email telling me what's in the box this week never fails to delight 😋

Middlesex Doctor Abner Coo bequeathed typical mourning rings to friends: gold, with an inscription and his initials on the inner surface: 'to each and every of them a Ring of Gold of at least Eight shillings value / I will the said Rings to have all this inscription Prepare you must followe A:C'

Very rare mention of a ring with an onyx stone in gentleman William Newbold's 1664 will: 'I give and bequeath unto my grandchild Elizabeth Newbold my greate guilt spoone And to my grandchild William Newbold the sonne of my said sonne Augustine Newbold my ring with an onex stone sett to itt'

'I doe give unto my sonne William Avery🙋‍♂️ whome I have made and appoynted to be one of my Executors of this my last Will and Testament📜 all my Gunnes 🔫 and other Armes ⚔️whatsoever and all my Bookes📖 and my best scarlett Coate lined with Crimson plush👚' Will of Samuel Avery, Alderman of London, 1664.

Thinking through the unedifying, un-evidence-based rush to an undefined, apparently unmodelled paradigm of 'specialisation, what's being lost/threatened? Herts History was an excellent example of performing to a top standard in REF, but also much more than that. Questions to think with include: 1/4

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 3d ago

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

come on people, surely someone wants to quote post this with: It's because it's happy hour again!

Dr Laura Sangha@lsangha.bsky.social · 3d ago

i'd love to know that the birds are up to. they seem to take it in turns to suddenly get super busy en masse and fly around the village. today's it's the housemartins turn.

i'd love to know that the birds are up to. they seem to take it in turns to suddenly get super busy en masse and fly around the village. today's it's the housemartins turn.

because we don't really know if we can afford wardrobes and shelving now I am living out of a suitcase and all my books are in boxes ... leaving me with the dilemma: should i risk buying this novel or do i already own it???

It's the deadline today to apply for voluntary redundancy and the history chat is breaking my heart in two for my beautiful brilliant colleagues. Solidarity to everyone at risk. ✊

debates about academic meritocracy arent new. but astonishing to see so many dynamics that involve literally penalizing success. when the consultants tell a university to fire everyone above X grade. when good teachers are rewarded with… more teaching. +specialists are ordered NOT to specialize

youve heard of failing upwards. well academic careers in 2026 encapsulate the reverse: succeeding downwards. so many talented, highly qualified people, being punished for their achievements

'A spokesperson for the university said that “evolving and improving our portfolio of programmes and pathways to meet the changing needs and expectations of future applicants and employers is a continuous process”.' Noting that environment, water, maths & corporate finance are so yesterday??? 2/2

If you think your subject is safe because we need graduates wth those skills, think again.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5d ago

Recruitment suspended on UG environment & sustainability, mathematics and physics. At postgraduate level, suspended courses include international corporate finance, water & environmental engineering and environmental strategy. If you think your subject is safe because not Humanities, rethink. 1/2

#Heiresses is coming out in paperback on 3rd September, available to pre-order now. amzn.eu/d/08CwXBH4

🎉 🥳 🏅 🎵 📜 🗃️ Chris Hoban and I are absolutely delighted that our collaboration has received an Honorary Mention as 'Cultural Knowledge Exchange Project of the Year' in the inaugural National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE) Future Icons awards. 1/

Rude boys! 🕴️

Jake@superobscure.com · 6d ago

🕴 "Person in suit, levitating."

Please read this thread from another of my colleagues, whose intellectual distinction was just recognised in her election to the British Academy Fellowship, and who is also at risk of redundancy. 👇

Morwenna Ludlow@morwennaexe.bsky.social · 6d ago

As one of those affected and mentioned in the article, I want very much to acknowledge this is not just about us and not just about Exeter. We’re trying to use our situation to speak more generally. But inevitably our own context is the one we know best and speak about with authority.

just heard the most extraordinary song on the radio. i hadn't realised how much i needed this reminder of the beauty we are also capable of creating shine on Radie Peat www.youtube.com/watch?v=veav...

Radie Peat - Still I Love Him (Official Video)

YouTube video by Radie Peat

youtube.com