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Christian Algar

@ceebarnacles.bsky.social
969 followers 815 following 1.4K posts

By the books or by the sea. Trying, here and there 🖤🌊

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Reposted by Christian Algar
Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 10h
There we go. The former Mayor of Manchester, who was very cosy with the owners of Manchester City who have been found guilty of the biggest cheating scandal in British football, would be "really concerned" if they sold the club www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Andy Burnham 'really concerned' if Man City owners sell up after rule breaches
The prime minister compares the allegations against Man City to the plight of his own club Everton.
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Dr Julia King @julialilinoe.bsky.social · 11h
Coming out of my BlueSky hibernation to share this project I worked on for @bibsoc.bsky.social. We have even more videos on the horizon, so you can watch these and then come back for more more more Caxton!
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 18h
I like Guardiola’s views outside of football, he’s progressive not reactionary, but I struggle with the fact that he (and other Manchester City figures) never seemed to have any awareness of the grotesque inequality of the club’s finance. Tbf tho I suppose he did say Biesla did things he could not.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 18h
This looks amazing! (Especially Laurence Publicover’s ‘Goodwin Sands in the Early Modern English Imagination’ - Laurence is great - and I can walk less than 5 mins from my front door to see Goodwin Sands - when the tide is right) 🌊🖤
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Andy Burnham announces end of triple-lock on the state pension from 2030. It will be replaced by double-lock, slower growth in state pension. Full state pension is already less than 50%of the minimum wage. Poverty awaits future retirees. £500bn of taxes not collected by HMRC since 2010.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“The defendant, wearing a grey t-shirt and holding a copy of the Bible.” The poor little lamb. Immediately thinking about another grifter, Brand, being asked to show his favourite passage during a tv interview with Morgan. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Daniel Thomas refused bail over alleged boat damage in Channel
Daniel Thomas is remanded in custody after appearing at Portsmouth Crown Court.
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Reposted by Christian Algar
Netpol @netpol.org · 29/09/2026
If anyone is struggling to understand how our media and politicians are still talking about an RAF Fairford "bomb plot" when there were no bombs found, then the Forest Gate raid in 2006 is a useful comparison en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_...
Photo taken by Netpol's campaigns coordinator in 2006 of the end of Lansdown Rd in Forest Gate, closed by police after a "bomb plot" terrorism raid led to the sealing off of the area for a week. One man was shot but fortunately survived – there was no bomb factory, yet the Kahar family were smeared by the media for weeks
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Pet Peeve: that MS Word refers to layout margins that are hugely wasteful with too much white space as ‘Normal’. I’m ’Narrow’ all the way!
Screenshot of the different options for Word Document
Margins.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
He’s the pub bore.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Reform will be fining families that don’t eat boiled beef and carrots and roly-poly pudding. Ffs 🙄
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Of course we all expected places (connected to higher education, culture &c) to row back from lofty progressive ‘promises’ and ‘commitments’ to end racism and pursue social justice, but the extent of the vessels being sunk now is some scuppering. And what are the ‘excuses’ / reasons being given?
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Dr Jo Edge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
once more with feeling (from this week's staff newsletter)
Herts expert explains the history and appeal of coffee Professor Jonathan Morris, Director of Research Culture and Environment at Herts, tells listeners to the Nicky Campbell show on BBC Radio 5 Live about the history and appeal of coffee. Prof Morris explains high-quality coffee only really came to the UK in the 1990s and fits our workplace lifestyle. Yet way back in the 1660s, Britain imported coffee from the Middle East and opened the “first real operative coffee house”.
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Dr Jo Edge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This University has just shut down all undergraduate Humanities degrees, including History, where we had some amazing modules on Black and African History for first years. 🤡
Email subject: Development at Herts: Support through change | Career growth | Black History Month
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Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
CfP: Restorative Justice. Heritage Practices, Narratives, & Futures of Conservation (Vienna Oct 2027). 'How can practices of care advance justice in museums and beyond? And how can museums, archives, universities, and other sites of heritage contribute to more just futures?" tinyurl.com/mtexpbwj
heritagestudiesvienna.com
Call for Papers: Restorative Justice. Heritage Practices, Narratives, and Futures of Conservation — Cultural Heritage Studies Vienna
How can practices of care advance justice in museums and beyond? And how can museums, archives, universities, and other sites of heritage contribute to more just futures? The Global Conservation: Hi...
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Universal Short Title Catalogue @universalstc.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Arthur der Weduwen, co-director of the USTC, has published 'The Last Invasion of England' investigating the Dutch Republics motives behind the daring invasion of England that led to revolution. Read about how the Dutch utilized print during the campaign at the link! www.ustc.ac.uk/news/the-pri...
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Kate Watson @loreandordure.com · 26/09/2026
See, this whole time there really were people reading Playboy for the articles!
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Public library visits [in Ireland] increased by two million nationwide in two years 🥹💚 www.rte.ie/news/ireland...
rte.ie
Public library visits increased by two million nationwide
Visits to public libraries around Ireland have increased by two million in the last two years, new figures show as National Public Libraries Open Day takes place nationwide.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Years ago I read this stunningly emotional novel ‘The Angel of History’ by Bruno Arpaia. It tells the story of one of the many refugees / exiles fleeing Nazi Germany. It reminded me of Erich Maria Remarque’s amazing (& underrated) ‘refugee’ novels on this theme. So sad, Benjamin’s harrowing plight.
Front cover of paperback edition of Bruno Arpaia’s novel ‘The Angel of History’. The artwork is based on a 1930s or 40s era photograph that captures a solitary man in raincoat and hat descending a public staircase in the driving rain. It is evocative of isolation, exposure, meditation, and vulnerability. Back cover of the book with synopsis text.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
#bookhistory question: is anyone working on the incidence / history of early 19th-century facsimiles / reprints of early printed works (especially in English)? Does anyone know of any past studies into this category? 🙏
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
All power to ‘the wrong type of white woman’, like Rachel Marsh. The weaponisation of white women as a rallying banner for macho shit, social media educated, white supremacist men is nauseating and an immense danger to our society’s common wellbeing.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“Sir Archy Mac Sarcasm is a pseudonym.” Cataloguers, huh?! 😀
Screenshot of a catalogue record for an 18th-century English printed book.
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Alasdair Mackenzie @alasdairmackenzie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fascinating piece which reminds us that, far from being some sort of aberration or recent departure, the likes of “Danny Tommo” are quintessentially, and horribly, English
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Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
My latest blog post about Cree geographic knowledge in 17th-century cartography is now live with the British Library’s blog, focusing on some research that I completed this summer at the library as a 2026 Eccles Fellow. www.bl.uk/stories/blog...
bl.uk
Charting Indigenous lands and waterways
Cree geographical knowledge at the British Library and the early cartography of the Hudson Bay watershed.
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How many "English" grandparents do you need to be "English"? I bet you one hundred pounds that folk like this would look at a photo of someone with one German, one Dutch, one Irish and one Polish grandparent, and go "Yep, English". But if one of those grandparents was Jamaican...
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Reposted by Christian Algar
Tristan Grayford @tristangrayford.scot · 23/09/2026
Andy Burnham says this as his Government steadfastly refuses to stand up to the far right on our streets as they violently harass refugees and the RNLI. Andy Burnham's UN speech has been one big lie.
Nothing brings the British people together across age, race and class more than their hatred of injustice – the misuse of power against the powerless.

We will always stand for the underdog against the bully.
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Bela Lugosi's Dad 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @belalugosisdad.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Over 3,500 people are currently facing terrorism charges in the UK for holding signs saying "I support Palestine Action".
theguardian.com
Far-right activist Daniel Thomas slashes dinghy in Channel with blade while rescue worker onboard
Thomas called followers to protest against arrival of asylum seekers in Gosport, but Border Force instead transported them to Dover
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Steven Van Impe @svanimpe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Reminder: one more week to apply for the Nottebohm fellowship for #BookHistory research in Antwerp! For an idea of some of the research conducted using this travel fund, check out the recording of last week's Nottebohm Talks on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA2L...
youtube.com
Online Nottebohm Talks September 15 2016
YouTube video by Museum Plantin-Moretus
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Amal Chatterjee (migrant, grumbler) @amalkc.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026
But he's from the North...
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
2/2 But this data on enslaved people themselves, derived from the registers of the ‘amelioration’ period is a yet more significant resource on captives & for their descendants: www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...
theguardian.com
Nearly 4m records of enslaved people in 20 former British colonies now searchable online
Exclusive: Collection’s 300,000 pages record lives of enslaved people in countries including the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, South Africa and Trinidad
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Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
1/2 We have vastly improved data now on British slave-owners (www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/search/) and slave-traders (britishslavetraders.org). Wonderful that this research has persisted despite all the fury of the nationalist right wing backlash.
britishslavetraders.org
The Register of British Slave-Traders
The Register of British Slave-traders compiles and presents information on all known slave-traders in Britain who invested in the trafficking of captive Africans from 1563 to 1807.
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History of Parliament @histparl.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
David Olusoga's new series Finding Britain's Slave Traders airs tonight at 9pm. In anticipation, we are resharing an article from Dr Michael Taylor on the West India Interest, the pro-slavery lobby in Parliament, where many members had a vested interest in the continuation of slavery.
historyofparliament.com
The West India Interest and the Parliamentary Defence of Slavery, 1823-33
This blog, which explores the parliamentary context of the abolition of slavery, is based on Michael’s full-length seminar paper, ‘The West India Interest and Colonial Slavery in Parliament,…
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
People do have "legitimate concerns" about things like housing, rising cost of living, NHS waiting lists etc. That's absolutely fair. Despite political and media rhetoric, absolutely none of those concerns are solved by attacking asylum seekers and other migrants. 1/
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Priyamvada Gopal @priyamvadagopal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
If there are Cambridge academics/researchers here who would be interested in a letter demanding more substantial investigation than the two 'reviews' proposed by university & also transparent input methods, please let me know.
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Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Piddington's independence ref is being presented as a quaint 'crumpets and muffins' comedy of plucky country folk. It's much darker and nastier than that and shows how deeply entrenched the bigoted 'fighting aged men on boats' narrative runs. Me for @noosphere.app www.noosphere.app/passport-to-...
noosphere.app
Passport to Piddington
Last week an Oxfordshire village declared independence from the United Kingdom - ostensibly in protest at a local refugee centre. But is something darker going on?
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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Tell me how this isn't the 1930s back again. I'll wait.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Oh fuck off! The Commons Culture Select Committee ‘examining’ Eurovision choice of UK entrants?! How about they spend the time looking at how funding to national cultural institutions is chronically inadequate and how that impacts the nation’s wellbeing and output? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK's 'dismal' Eurovision song choices to be examined by MPs
It comes after the UK's entry Look Mum No Computer came last in May's final, scoring just one point.
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David Cake @davecakes.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I wonder where they get all their wacky ideas from.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Higher Education risks irreversible damage, says British Academy president Prof Susan Smith, with humanities and social sciences disciplines disappearing in many cold spots. BA is tracking subject provision & calling for a comprehensive review www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...
thebritishacademy.ac.uk
British Academy President: UK higher education crisis risks irreversible damage
As course closures, shrinking provision and widening regional inequalities threaten the future of UK higher education and research, President of the British Academy, Susan J Smith calls for an immedia...
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The Germans underwent a ‘de-nazification’ process after WWII; the British people have never had similar. The national story is still all mythological, supremacist, racist litany. The British are one of the most unaware peoples in the world. Exceptionalism and ‘distantised’ delusional immunity.
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richard mortimer @richardmortimer.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Can you imagine the press reaction if Palestine Action were forcing Ambulance Stations to close? Or the Socialist Workers Party were shutting Fire Stations? No, of course not, cos it wouldn't fucking happen. These people are terrorists and should be treated as such. Ban, arrest, imprison.
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
September 17th: no longer barefoot-at-home weather.
Feet in blue espadrilles in a living room. Brr!
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This new film ‘Late Fame’, about a man who wrote poetry when younger is ‘rediscovered’ 50 years later. It looks amazing. And, Willem Dafoe. youtu.be/ycilEzCB3u4?...
youtu.be
LATE FAME - Official Trailer
YouTube video by Transmission Films
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Christian Algar @ceebarnacles.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🖤🔥
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Dan Sohege @danielsohege.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I am so tired of nasty, insular, smug gits playing PR stunts to prevent people finding safety. I say grant them independence and then see how they react to facing immigration restrictions when they want to do a big shop or work. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Piddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plans
Piddington residents vote over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby.
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horizontalist @horizontalist.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
guarantee there‘s at least three British ”journalists” going through her bins and scouring her social media for something to bludgeon her with
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Jane @localnotail.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Solidarity with this Piddington resident ♥️✊ #Newsnight
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Andrew Blair @andrewblair.co.uk · 16/09/2026
The arts industry in the UK: we contribute so much money to the economy but we are dying, please help Lisa Nandy: Village Parish Council: we held a pretend referendum Lisa Nandy: I'm listening
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Molly Scott Cato @greenpartymolly.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The hare is such an indescribably beautiful and sacred animal The fact that people might kill them for money or pleasure is one more indication that many are living in a death cult www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cruel hare coursers leave 22 dead animals at Kent farm
Farmers say more action and harsher punishments are needed to tackle the illegal sport.
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Lisa Smith @historybeagle.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Looking for some light lunch reading? Rachel Rich and I wrote a bit about how 18th c British food was complex, multicultural and flavourful. theconversation.com/british-food... #HistFood @uclpress.bsky.social +
theconversation.com
British food was complex, multicultural and flavourful in the 18th century – despite what you might think
The King’s table was full of flavours from the British empire and beyond.
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