Max Long
@maxlong.bsky.social
Historian of the environment, science, and popular culture in modern Britain. Darby Fellow at Lincoln College, Oxford. Views etc, my own.
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)
Orchids revived, the corpse ambulant and a poetic ruined abbey. These are the news stories I want to read.
Full of despair today. Massive lay offs in social sciences and humanities across the country, Burnham puts out a video saying 'AI can write an essay', and my university is busy integrating co-pilot into all staff and student computers. We are being told we're defunct and there's no resistance.
This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b
How about we make education about the fundamentals of being able to navigate the world and democratic citizenship, and leave workplace training until the actual workplace. Local business needs aren't one thing, and they change quickly (and even more quickly). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Burnham to tell schools in England to adapt teaching to local business needs
PM wants curriculums for students aged 14 and above to be more responsive to local jobs market
theguardian.com
‘It would, Burnham said, mean the country could “value the hard hat every bit as much as the graduation cap”.’ www.theguardian.com/politics/202... this felt pretty sad to read. Another nail in the coffin for the idea that education is not merely about access to employment…
Burnham to tell schools in England to adapt teaching to local business needs
PM wants curriculums for students aged 14 and above to be more responsive to local jobs market
theguardian.com
It's noticeable, too, that there wasn't a single question on the climate, at a time when Europe is experiencing catastrophic wild-fires & record-breaking heat. It's astonishing how low down the political agenda this remains in Britain, when all the environmental indicators are signalling disaster.
God that ‘value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap’ line has really annoyed me. It seems to be laced with so many pejorative assumptions, so completely a piece of soundbite nonsense. It‘s also not new but represents a rhetoric that has been around for at least a decade in Con and Lab circles
2/2 The once respected magazine has destroyed its reputation in recent years, especially since far right propagandist Paul Marshall took ownership & appointed Michael Gove editor: alanlester.co.uk/blog/teachin...
Teaching the British Empire: Experts Versus The Spectator
Alan Lester The Spectator’s owner Paul Marshall and its editor Michael Gove are afraid of William Dalrymple. His sequence of books on colonial India that have sold millions, his Empire podcast with…
alanlester.co.uk
Hivemind! Can anyone help me out? If you like the content on this stream and you agree with me about Higher Ed, is anyone going to be at the UK National Archives now or soon who could photograph a single file for me? I will be eternally grateful/ can pay back in coffee, beer etc.! ☕🍺
'The Historian's Craft & Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research' bit.ly/45l8I2M Selected recent articles from the Society's journal, 'Transactions', on the practice of pedagogy and research. All content available Open Access. New article submissions invited #Skystorians
The Historian's Craft and Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research - RHS
The Society's academic journal, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, publishes a wide range of content from historians of all disciplinary backgrounds and career stages, worldwide. This inclu...
bit.ly
Just a reminder to everyone: join a trade union. And if you're already a member, please be active. Vote, volunteer, become a rep or an officer. You are the union. The larger the union membership the more strength and agency we have.
I have a 'History Department in UKHE' joke but it's been reduced from 250 characters to 50 and is now merged with jokes from across ten other largely-unrelated disciplines while still being expected to be Just As Funny.
Other things that cost £16.50! 1. a keyring that looks like a crisp: choosingkeeping.com/products/fau...
Faux Crisp Keyring
Eminently desirable, continuing down the path of all things food related, please enjoy this amazingly realistic keyring. Despite its plastic looks, this object is handmade and not something off a conv...
choosingkeeping.com
🔔 UNTIL SUNDAY! 🔔 You can pre-order my first book for £16.50! Less than the price of a train from London to Reading
Max Long@maxlong.bsky.social · 3w ago⏰ LIMITED OFFER: If you're based outside of North America, you can purchase it with a 50% discount using the code 27SUMMER at checkout - just £16.50! Only available until 19th July: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
2/2 Btw, you can use a conference code to buy my book @yalebooks.bsky.social with a corking 30% discount (and free postage in the UK) until the end of August: yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300... #books #booksky #histsci #queerhistory 🌈📚🗃️
Darwin and the Queer Origins of Life - Yale University Press London
A revelatory history of sex, gender, and science from Linnaeus to DarwinWhat did Darwin and Linnaeus really think about sex? In print, their descriptions of ...
yalebooks.co.uk
Sign the petition! c.org/cVMG6VvqPS
Sign the Petition
Stop the Closure of the National Archives at Chicago!
c.org
Chicago Collections@chicollections.bsky.social · last mo.Our access to historical records is directly affected by this closure. Thanks @chicagoarchivists.bsky.social for their attention to this. blockclubchicago.org/2026/07/06/c...
One of the pleasures of working at History Workshop is getting to work on times and places far outside your original field. I'd never considered the history of the arrest before, so it was fascinating to help edit this piece!
History Workshop@historyworkshop.org.uk · 3w agoWho held the power during an arrest in early modern England? @lucyjsclarke.bsky.social explores how bystanders could uphold or undermine the power of the state.
⏰ LIMITED OFFER: If you're based outside of North America, you can purchase it with a 50% discount using the code 27SUMMER at checkout - just £16.50! Only available until 19th July: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
A Science for Everyday Life | Home
Mass Media, Natural History, and the Environment in Britain, 1900-1945
liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
🚨📘 Book Alert! 📘🚨 My first monograph, 'A Science for Everyday Life' is now available for pre-order! Published by @upittpress.bsky.social & released mid-December 2026. US/North America: upittpress.org/books/978082... UK/Europe: www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
Another historical inaccuracy from Nolan—IMAX had not yet been invented in the Mycenaean period, so this is not the aspect ratio that people saw in! Smh
'Early career opportunities have rapidly declined in the fields of arts and humanities amid UK job cuts, with teaching-only roles increasingly the only positions available for those just starting out, an analysis by the British Academy has found.' 1/3
Humanities hardest hit as early career opportunities disappear
Analysis of staff data finds skew to teaching-only roles in entry-level positions, with scale of cuts not reflected at more senior levels
timeshighereducation.com
For my Film and Science course. Last time I taught this, I organized according to discipline, but I think I'd do it differently next time. boxd.it/VH1K0
Film and Science Syllabus
Many of these are not on Letterboxd, but here's a screening list for my Film and Science course. I will update as a repeat the class.
boxd.it
Benjamín Schultz-Figueroa@benjaminschultzfig.bsky.social · 3w agoFor my Dance on Film course: boxd.it/VFJJc
I've signed and sent a letter - from authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, scholars and performers - to express our deep concern at @exeter.ac.uk’s troubling plans to make mass redundancies within the Humanities Dept @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social. I would love it if you read and shared widely.
Does that include universities?
Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 4w agoNew - Andy Burnham will undertake a summer tour as prime minister to Labour “danger zones” across the country where the party has been losing support, particularly areas hit by controversial government policies. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
@BylineTimes doing incredibly important proper investigative journalism to reveal how Cambridge University is being expolited by the immensely rich, trans-national, far white, racist, Christian-nationalist network. bylinetimes.com/2026/07/09/p...
Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel and Reform UK's Cambridge University Recruitment Pipeline Project Revealed
The world-renowned academic institution has nothing to say in response to a six-month investigation by Byline Times raising serious concerns about the safeguarding of students and foreign influence at Cambridge University. Why?
bylinetimes.com
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.
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 point needs to be made over and again: The main purpose of wealth taxes should not be to raise revenue. That's a small and secondary benefit. The main purpose should be to *reduce the fortunes of the ultrarich*. Why? Because those fortunes present a massive threat to democracy and public life.
