Pauline Stafford
@pstafford.bsky.social
Historian of early Middle Ages, Grandmother, Leftwing, Labour, Leeds, British, European. Emerita Prof University of Liverpool
Six years ago, Yaxley Lennon harassed Byline writers Mike Stuchbery and Tim Fenton so badly that they eventually left the country. (He also promised to pay me a visit!) Anyone condoning these kinds of tactics doesn't believe in a free press. It's a license for thuggery.
'The attempt to manipulate the outcome of the consultation was disclosed on Tuesday in research published in the journal Tobacco Control by the health policy experts Dr Nason Maani, from the University of Edinburgh, and Prof Anna Gilmore, of the University of Bath.'
AI bots flooded 2023 UK government consultation on disposable vapes ban
Three-quarters of all responses were machine-generated in failed attempt to stop bill from passing into law, research finds
theguardian.com
Possibly a marriage stone, decorative tablet over a doorway in Heptonstall. It is inscribed F " 1 7 H E 3 6 " (Henry and Elizabeth Foster). It features a man and woman wearing contemporary dress. Marriage stones were still popular until Victorian times. Image Tim Green CC BY 2.0
📢 Calling all graduate students working on Anglo-Norman topics. The Marjorie Chibnall prize is a great way to build your CV and make connections in the field. #SkyStorians details here 👇 battleconference.wordpress.com/marjorie-chi...
Marjorie Chibnall Prize 2027
The Marjorie Chibnall Essay Prize: call for submissions The Marjorie Chibnall Essay Prize, offered in memory of the former director of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies and co-founder o…
battleconference.wordpress.com
Can't get your students to the Bayeux Tapestry? Bring the Bayeux Tapestry to your classroom! We're delighted to be joined by historian Emily A. Winkler for a special webinar for teachers and students exploring the stories, secrets and significance of the Bayeux Tapestry. tinyurl.com/y368cdnc
🧵May Sybil Leslie, born in 1887 in Woodlesford, overcame significant barriers as a woman in science. From a working-class background, she won scholarships to study at the University of Leeds, graduating with first-class honours in chemistry. She later worked with Marie Curie in
"The six chapters chart the Sausage Roll’s journey through decades of cultural change and quiet consistency" www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-on/wha...
Greggs 'Ta-Pastry' detailing history of sausage roll unveiled in Newcastle
Gregg's answer to the Bayeux tapestry has arrived at the Great North Museum: Hancock
chroniclelive.co.uk
NEW: Hormuz reminded fuel importers that buying energy cargo by cargo means importing every price shock. In TIME, María Mendiluce and I argue the response will decide who becomes the electrostates of the next decade. @wemeanbusiness.bsky.social time.com/article/2026...
The Rise of Electrostates Could Redraw The Global Economy
Looking at electrification across the world reveals how unevenly this transformation is progressing
time.com
EU gas is above €90/MWh, its highest since Dec 2022. Brent is above $115, its highest since June 2022. The EU has already paid €100bn+ extra for oil and gas since Hormuz closed. Not one extra molecule. Best defence: electrify. janrosenow.substack.com/p/europes-be...
📢 Coming in 2027: Anglo-Saxon England 📢 Rediscover Anglo-Saxon England. Featuring spectacular jewellery, weapons and treasures alongside the latest archaeological discoveries and research, this exhibition will shed new light on England's origins.
in person or online lecture in Oxford next week - the Genealogy of I var the Boneless events.ox.ac.uk/oxford_event... #medievalsky #history
Submissions are invited for the Society's 2027 First Book and Early Career Article Prizes - covering monographs and articles published in 2026 bit.ly/4z45bD8 The closing date for submissions is 14 December 2026. Judging begins in early 2027 with winners announced next July #Skystorians
Royal Historical Society Book and Article Prizes, 2027: submissions now invited - Royal Historical Society
The Royal Historical Society invites applications for its First Book Prize, 2027 and Early Career Article Prize, 2027. The call for submissions opened on Monday 28 September and runs to Monday 14 Dece...
bit.ly
I was having conversations with journalists just a few months ago about whether democracy was doomed. Look at this year: Orban defeated. Vukic defeated. Bolsonaro Jr defeated. Trump heading to likely defeat in midterms. That’s the beauty of democracy. Voters can respond. Don’t count it out yet.
AI can be discriminatory. Evidence shows facial recognition technology displaying racial bias and recruitment tools treating women unfairly. Safeguards are needed to protect people's rights and make sure AI works fairly for everyone. #AI #HumanRights
You don't fight fire with fire - you fight it with water. So it's great to see the Environment Secretary announce new grants for peat re-wetting today - closing a looming gap in funding - as the PM holds a Wildfire Summit. My Guardian quote below: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
Likely the most important thing I've ever written — if you're an academic and the AI mania unsettles you, here's my best shot at presenting some intellectual tools that might help you articulate why. arxiv.org/abs/2610.27251
The US government is literally for sale to the highest bidder.
This guy needs to go to jail. He needs to be questioned, under oath, then indicted, then tried, then jailed.
Kushner Phone Hack Reveals How Middle East Dictators Bought Him Off
Middle East dictators created a massive slush fund for Jared Kushner.
newrepublic.com
Early 20th century political engagement. A world away from TikTok.
Brian Groom@groomb.bsky.social · 6d agoHuge crowd at Boggart Hole Clough, Blackley, Manchester, early 20th century. Scene of many political meetings with speakers such as Keir Hardie and Emmeline Pankhurst.
The immigration doom loop, summed up here by @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁, 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Stefan Esders, Gerda Heydemann (eds) with Lukas Bothe More Info: bit.ly/4kfUOaS #History #Christianity #Theology #ReligiousHistory #Antiquitysky #Medievalsky #Historysky #Theologysky
Very much this. Alongside her excellent scholarship, Lucy, the RHS central team, and RHS Council do so much important work to support the discipline. Much of that work is visible but there’s so much more quietly done work going on behind the scenes that is no less vital. Congratulations Lucy!
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last wk.Congratulations to Lucy Noakes for being awarded the All Party Parliamentary Group for Archives & History's 'Lifetime Achievement for Services to Archives and History’. The Group also awarded this distinction to Gary Tuson, county archivist at Norfolk Record Office. Great work on our behalves.
Looking forward to this.
Dr Matt Firth@mattfirth.bsky.social · 7d agoShe lives! Proofs of my new book, 𝘎𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳, 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘐𝘯 𝘚𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺, scheduled for open access publication in Feb 2027. So just in time for Gunnhild to make her small-screen debut in Prime Video's new 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘹𝘦 series. #medieval #medievalsky
And if you fancy lurking historically in London into the evening, you can sign up for the (also free) Historical Research Lecture 2026: "Why Family Matters Mattered to the British in India, c. 1757-1857".
Historical Research Lecture 2026
Historical Research Lecture 2026
history.ac.uk
What's gone wrong with welfare? An excellent explainer by Paul Gregg for @resolutionfoundation.org www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...
What’s gone wrong with welfare? • Resolution Foundation
Introduction Over the last decade, Britain’s welfare system has malfunctioned. In May 2026, there were 8.4 million people in families receiving Universal Credit (UC); 5.2 million of these were out of ...
resolutionfoundation.org
The list sent by Harold Wilson to his cabinet of “little things that mean a lot”, including the protection of local breweries, concessionary fares for the elderly, empty office blocks and “the future of the pint”. Echoes of this in Burnham’s small but popular policies today.
In addition to 'The Social History Archive' partnership, the Society also invites applications for a further five funding programmes: to support research by historians across a range of career stages bit.ly/4eOMsn9 #Skystorians
Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: October 2026 to March 2027 - Royal Historical Society
The Society currently invites applications for the following six schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates from 30 October 2026 onwards. RHS / Social History Archive Partnership*, providing free access to the online resource, The Social History Archive, published by DC…
bit.ly
Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · last wk.There's one week left to apply for 6-months' free online access to 'The Social History Archive', published by DC Thomson bit.ly/4iFNuF0 This is a new partnership to support historical research, using selected online content, for those without institutional access to these resources #Skystorians
This is a lovely warm portrait of Chris WIckham by Alice Rio.
Chris Wickham (1950-2026): A Portrait
Chris Wickham’s work spanned an epic breadth of space and time. His major works are dazzling analyses of the medieval Mediterranean as well as of the Europe beyond it, from the fifth to the twelfth ce...
history.ox.ac.uk
