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Chris Callow

@chriscallow.bsky.social
701 followers 659 following 196 posts

Medievalist at the University of Birmingham, fan of Iceland, Vikings, running and other things

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Reposted by Chris Callow
Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Having a nice time - saw lots of bears.
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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
In 2021, income tax personal allowance was frozen at £12,570. If aligned with inflation, it would now be £16,070. A minimum wage earner in England will pay extra £980 in income tax & NIC in 2026-27. Govt can easily increase personal allowance by £3,000, worth £600 to basic rate taxpayer.
leftfootforward.org
This is how the Chancellor can increase the personal allowance and lift millions out of hardship
Sustained economic growth can’t be achieved without a major boost to the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
theconversation.com/how-the-emoj...
theconversation.com
How the emojis and fashion choices of Germany’s far-right supporters get around the ban on Nazi symbolism
The extreme right has learned to navigate Germany’s strict laws on extremist symbols
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Professor Peter Matthews @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
If I were a government with a medium-sized economy wanting to accelerate economic growth, I'd read this and then invest in social sciences and arts and humanities for the effective use of new technologies, rather than trying to out-compete the trillions of dollars of private investment in the US
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Campaign for Better Transport @bettertransport.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
This summer's floods and heatwaves have shown the urgency of the climate crisis. We've gathered together 50+ organisations to call for stronger action on transport. Read our joint statement 👇
Joint statement urging urgent government action on climate change, emphasising transport's role in emissions and promoting sustainable travel modes.List of organisations supporting the joint statement including environmental, health, and transport groups across the UK.
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Ugly Reykjavik @uglyreykjavik.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
It's time to play: spot the former mini hydro power station. These were sometimes used to generate electricity on farms in the first half of the 20th century. #Iceland #photography #streetphotography #nature #landscape #naturephotography #landscapephotography #abandoned #decay #river #history
If you look closely you can see a what is left of a small hydro power station. There's also a river, a bridge and some greenery.
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RÚV English (Unofficial) @ruvenglish-mirror.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The #historic settlement of #Grenjaðarstaður in #Aðaldalur is one of #Iceland’s largest #turf houses, around 30 km south of #Husavik. The #house is available for booked group visits, but today you can tour it with Darren and guide Styrmir Franz Snorrason.
ruv.is
RÚV English Radio - GRENJAÐARSTAÐUR TURF HOUSE - RÚV.is
Today, RÚV English Radio is at the Grenjaðarstaður turf house.
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Dr Caroline Bourne @carolinebourne.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Working on #MedievalWales or the March but don't how your research fits with the #IMC2027 communities theme? Worry not! We would like to hear from you regardless of the topic so that we can highlight the latest exiting research. #MedievalSky #Medieval #Medievalist #MedievalHistory #MedievalStudies
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Steven Teasdale @steventeasdale.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
"...massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate."
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404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
404media.co
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
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UHI Archaeology Institute @uhiarchaeology.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the  North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
archaeologyorkney.com
Two Orkney-led PhDs available as part of North Sea Heritage project
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the  North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 08/08/2026
‘One​ morning in October 1552, Felix Platter left his hometown of Basel for Montpellier, where he was to study medicine. He was fifteen years old. Things started to happen to him, and he wrote them down in his daybook.’ @erinmaglaque.bsky.social on a Renaissance diary: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Erin Maglaque · Green into Gold: A Renaissance Diary
For all the force of his curiosity I’m not sure Felix Platter’s life was any less elusive to him. His diary is...
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Adam Cook @adamcook.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Working on Britain and/or Ireland in the 12th-14th Centuries? I'm putting together an @imc-leeds.bsky.social panel proposal for #IMC2027 on Borderland Communities of Rebellion. Details attached, but by no means exhaustive! If you'd like to chat, or have any questions, please get in touch.
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dgplacenames (now in Orkney) @dgplacenames.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"This study examines AI’s ability to write essays analysing Old English poetry; human markers assessed and attempted to distinguish them from authentic analyses of poetry by first-year undergraduate students in English at the University of Oxford." link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
ChatGPT versus human essayists: an exploration of the impact of artificial intelligence for authorship and academic integrity in the humanities - International Journal for Educational Integrity
Generative AI has prompted educators to reevaluate traditional teaching and assessment methods. This study examines AI’s ability to write essays analysing Old English poetry; human markers assessed an...
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Down with this sort of thing.
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I’m yearning for the days when a casual sweater felt necessary.
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It gladdens my heart to see that men have been leaning on other men’s shoulders since at least the 1930s. I’d love to see earlier examples. FAO @tricksterprince.bsky.social @apartridgeqotd.bsky.social
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A rare and fragile survival from Viking-age York! A delicate silk cap made of hand-spun, undyed silk, c. AD 875-950 Silk was an exotic material imported via a vast network of Viking trade routes. Found during excavations at Coppergate in 1980. Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology
My photo shows a hood-shaped silk cap from Viking Age York displayed on a thin metal stand against a dark display case background at the Yorkshire Museum. It is made from a rectangle of hand-spun, undyed silk, and shaped at the back by a centre seam. The pale silk is yellowy-gold in colour with a shiny lustre. The edges have been neatened with fine hems. According to the museum, it was probably worn with ties to fasten it to the head, as it includes the remains of two groups of stitches with which to attach ties. 

The museum says that the silk cap was likely worn by a female Anglo-Scandinavian resident of York. Also that “Silk was incredibly rare in the Viking North because it was not made locally. Silk-weaving is a Chinese technology, but by the 10th-century, the practice had reached the Arabian Peninsula, the Byzantine Empire, and parts of North Africa and Spain. Silk used to make the cap was imported from one of these places. The fine, pale-toned material would have been recognised in the town as a highly expensive and exotic fashion item”.
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Count Binface @countbinface.bsky.social · 19/07/2023
Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Google translate has got a bit confused here. Though it is good to see a mention of the rare place-name Sakka. nafnid.arnastofnun.is/leit/ornefni...
nafnid.arnastofnun.is
Nafnið.is
Nafnið.is veitir aðgang að skjölum úr örnefnasafni Stofnunar Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum sem geyma heimildir um örnefni vítt og breitt um landið.
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Good news.
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Flekka lasted only 18 months as an outlaw in the wilds of Hornstrandir. And while she suffered a humiliating capture she gets to live on, unlike so many Icelandic outlaws. #grettir
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Dr Laura Varnam @drlauravarnam.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
🚨General registration is now open for the Gender & Medieval Studies conference on Gender & Creativity in Oxford in Sept! We have an amazing line up of speakers, so please register asap to avoid disappointment! (Numbers are limited!). Link via GMS website medievalgender.co.uk/2026-oxford/
Gender and Medieval Studies conf programme Gender & Medieval Studies conference programme Gender & Medieval Studies conference programme
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
So. Boring.
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Katherine CM Cross @kcross.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
A very exciting museum job - working with the BM’s amazing early medieval collections. You’ll be working with an excellent and supportive curator too (which we know matters!!) Fixed term till Dec 28. bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com/applicants/v...
bmrecruit.ciphr-irecruit.com
Project Curator: Early Medieval European Collection (Documentation)
About the Documentation & Digitisation Programme
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Jane Goodall Institute of Canada @janegoodallcan.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
"Chimpanzees are important and deserve our concern." When she recorded this video years ago, that was the message Dr. Jane hoped you would share. And all these years later, for World Chimpanzee Day today, we want you to share that same message with your followers.
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Wurfi @wurfi.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Today is World Chimpanzee Day! 🐒
This photo by Anders Mejlvang shows a Chimpanzee sitting upright on the top of a tall, narrow tree trunk, holding a small cluster of green leaves in one hand. The chimpanzee's face is turned slightly to the side, with a calm expression. The background shows blurred green foliage and a cloudy sky.
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Jack Kirby @jdk653.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
We are seeking to appoint two independent members to our Collections Committee, for up to 4 years: One with significant experience in the management of historic collections in museums or heritage sites One with significant experience in the digital humanities. Closes 24 August: lnkd.in/e38mtWDf
Rows of historic cars and buses in a bright and clean warehouse environment
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Pre-Panini.
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Great to hear my Birmingham colleague Dr Simon Yarrow talking about saints with @gregjenner.bsky.social : www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - You're Dead to Me, Medieval saints: miracles, relics and pilgrimage
Join Greg and his guests to learn about the medieval cult of saints and their relics.
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
grapevine.is/icelandic-cu...
grapevine.is
Before the Sagas: Iceland’s Oldest Surviving Text
When people imagine the oldest surviving Icelandic texts, they tend to picture sagas filled with blood feuds, longships, and grim-faced chieftains.
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Venus Bivar @vbivar.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
FUCK AI.
theguardian.com
‘Slough is like an experiment’: Europe’s largest datacentre hub leaves town sweltering
Emerging research suggests datacentres create a heat island effect, pushing up temperatures in the immediate vicinity by as much as 9C
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Quite significant. A kind of textile factory?
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Matthew Blake @matthew-blake.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Just back from the printers, very excited! Being sent out to Staffordshire Record Society members soon.
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Brexit Bin 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 @brexitbin.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
10 Years of Brexit 🇬🇧🇪🇺 On the night of the Brexit ref in 2016, as the result came in, this young woman was asked how she felt. Her mixture of anger, grief, shame, shock and despair spoke for millions of us that night — and everything she feared might happen came true. #RejoinEU 🇬🇧🇪🇺
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Archives & Collections, Library of Birmingham @theironroom.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
#MapOnATuesday is the c. 1911 map of Greater Birmingham coloured to show ward boundaries as proposed. Some of the boundaries differ from those finally adopted. Ref – MAP/456336 #LibraryofBham
A map. Title in the top left corner is Map of Greater Birmingham. A map with a highly accentuated outline of the Birmingham boundary. Inside the boundary line are smaller sections with their own boundaries. Each of these is named and colour shaded. Areas outside of the boundary are not coloured or named.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
One of my favourite funding schemes! We are offering up to £300k for international interdisciplinary research on the theme of mobilities - the movement of people, things and ideas. Apply by 7 October. Please help spread the word! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
International
Interdisciplinary Research Projects
2027
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Birna Anna Björnsdóttir @birnaanna.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Midnight in Iceland, June 20th.
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Guy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Is binning expert correspondents in eastern Europe a good idea at a time like this? Disinformation on the rise, Russia interfering in many countries, threatening several and actually at war with one? Well, BBC News management seems to think so. It's disposing of me and 4 of my colleagues.
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Jenn @jennburrill.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
One of the largest data centers in the country is rising from the desert of southern New Mexico. At 1,400 acres, it could swallow New York's Central Park While there might be enough land, there isn't enough water. Locals concerned Project Jupiter will destroy the chile & pecan farming ✏️ @npr.org
npr.org
Worries over water as a giant data center moves into the New Mexico desert
Developers say there's plenty of water for a giant data center in southern New Mexico. Some locals are skeptical.
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Alex Harvey @alexharvv.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Almost identical to the ‘weapon dancer’ who features on the Torslunda die matrices! This horned, spear-wielding, foot-stepping figure is ubiquitous across North Sea ‘warrior’ groups, and is possibly Odinic in nature
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
A really good article IMO. Brings together diverse evidence to show how one place had a long-term significance.
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Jake Stattel @jakestattel.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Mini-article out now Open Access in Notes & Queries – take a look for my theory of what Wulfstan II means by ‘injustice in the north’ (spoiler: Vikings and weird legal stuff in the Danelaw) doi.org/10.1093/note... #Medievalsky #Medievalists
doi.org
Wulfstan II’s Complaints of ‘Unlagu in the North’
One of the most prolific late Old English writers, Archbishop Wulfstan II of York ‘Lupus’ (d. 1023), is particularly known for drafting law-codes for King
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
'(Ironically, the history degree has proven hugely valuable in a business that is all about first-hand reporting, detecting narrative bias and the second source.)' Weird use of 'ironically'. Surely this value is also part of why so many lawyers have studied history at university.
ft.com
Why bother with university?
As costs soar and graduate prospects dim, the value of higher education can no longer be taken for granted
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Simon Coupland @scoupland.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
In a new exhibition in the Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen, "Vølvens Varsel", this silver mount is believed to depict Loki wrapped in his son's intestines. Peter Pentz believes it's a rare early depiction of the god. It's c. 2.5cm, and was found near Skanderborg 4 years ago. www.dr.dk/nyheder/sene...
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 04/06/2026
The poll shows that trust in historians has risen since 2017, up from 71% to 77% - ranking the profession third after nurses and doctors for the trustworthiness of their expertise: bit.ly/49I9NV7 2/4 #Skystorians
Chart from YouGov polls showing that trust in historians has increased between 2017 and 2026, from 71 to 77%
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Mario Damen @mariodamen.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Job alert! Postdoc position in late medieval history and literature @uvahumanities.bsky.social in #Amsterdam. Come and work with us on chivalric literature and tournament culture in the project ‘Vivre le mythe'. #medievalsky #skystorians www.academictransfer.com/nl/jobs/3614...
werkenbij.uva.nl
Vacancy — Postdoctoral researcher in late medieval history and literature
<p>The Department of History, European Studies and Religious Studies (GER) has a vacancy for a postdoctoral research position for three years, 1.0 FTE. This position is part of the research project ‘V...
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Mo Moulton @momoulton.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Join me and @echomikeromeo.bsky.social on 4 June for an evening of trans history at the Birmingham LGBT Centre. Expect fun stories, unexpected connections, serious takeaways, and a little bit of hope. Free but register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/british-tr...
British Trans History: Stories for Our Times. 4 June 18:00, Birmingham LGBT Centre, Birmingham. Flyer with image from TGirlsonFim zine, purple and white drawing of a woman with personal narrative typed.
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Mike Pitts @pittsmike.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Great little film from @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social media students at the mindbendingly fabulous Sutton Hoo ship project www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jh...
youtube.com
The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company: A Ship beneath the Soil
YouTube video by The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company
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Chris Callow @chriscallow.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Enjoyed another great medieval research paper in Birmingham this evening. This time from Prof John Baker of @namestudies.bsky.social at University of Nottingham. They’re a real model of sustained collaborative research involving the public and university researchers.
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