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Sean Spencer

@cicerocantabridgi.bsky.social
1.4K followers 6.9K following 47 posts

Byzantine worlds, aristocratic hegemony, and the rituals of power. Half my life’s in libraries, the other in coffee queues. Eternally optimistic Everton fan.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sean Spencer
Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Nothing to see here, just a man in love with a carnyx, intending to spend the rest of the afternoon blocking other people from seeing its beauty. The one…the only…Deskford carnyx and stunning reproduction of it in its prime, scaring Romans. #FindsFriday National Museum of Scotland
Me, looking a bit lovelorn, in front of the partially surviving head of a carnyx, a a full sized shiny reproduction
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Fixed that story about Sir Jim Ratcliffe on the BBC.
Picture of man smiling with tea-mug. Headline reads: "Non-Billionaire who actually lives in the UK and pays its taxes says he has lost confidence in the super-rich", with sub-header: 'One of Britain's taxpayers says he has lost confidence in billionaires, describing them as "on the take"".
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Uncle Duke @uncleduke1969.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
they’ll figure it out if they get hungry enough
Supermarket aisle sign with items listed top to bottom: Can Fish, Microwave, Soup.
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Nadine Batchelor-Hunt @nadinebh.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Farage's logic here is essentially: not housing rough sleepers is worth it, because it serves as a deterrent to migrants - regardless of if the policy would benefit British people This is a logic entirely consistent with the politics Farage has been pushing for years, I'm not at all surprised
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Cas Mudde @casmudde.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Nathan Cofnas clearly is a racist with a racist political agenda. This is a crucial aspect of the Arday tragedy and is mostly ignored or minimized in the media accounts. Extraordinary that Cofnas is a postdoc at Ghent University. 🇧🇪
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Sean Spencer @cicerocantabridgi.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
#academicbluesky I have an ideal supervisor, I have no idea if they’re supervising this year. Is it considered impolite to send a speculative email?
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Exceptionally low water levels on the Danube have exposed parts of the foundations of the ancient ​Constantine Bridge, giving archaeologists a rare opportunity ‌to document what they describe as one of the Roman Empire's most impressive engineering achievements. www.reuters.com/business/env...
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Obviously he handled the whole thing terribly but it's only *this* big a deal because the papers want to do op-eds and podcasts on "diversity hiring".
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Forget everything else about this and just marvel at *Michael Gove and the Spectator* discussing how damaging a serially misleading fantasist can be, whether his bosses feel responsible and how they can claw back respectability.
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The Spectator V @spectator
X.com
The tale of the Cambridge professor Jason Arday continues, as Michael and Maddie weigh in on the fantasy.
How much of a role has Cambridge played in enabling such a serially misleading individual, and how can the university claw back some respectability after this saga? - do they even feel a responsibility to do so?
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Christabel Cooper @christabelcoops.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Deciding whether kids are "academic" or "technical" at an early age is going to work out particularly badly for boys, who are generally later developers and where stereotyping is likely to push them towards the non-academic path.
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Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
As Rod Liddle has died, I notice this column I wrote in 2019 about his attacks on people with M.E. is on the most read again. Rebekah Brooks, of News UK, described Liddle today as “provocative”. In reality, he spread lies about very sick people for cash. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Rod Liddle vilifies disabled people. I’m tired of the hate. We all should be | Frances Ryan
Whether it is ME patients or another target, huge swathes of the media have normalised hatred of minorities for years, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan
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And-Boo 👻 Jacobs (he/him) @drewjakeprof.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
two (2) more days to download the latest Element in Religion in Late Antiquity by Virginia Burrus for 💫 free 💫 ! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
cambridge.org
Martyrdom as Witness in Late Ancient Christian Literature
Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Martyrdom as Witness in Late Ancient Christian Literature
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Sort of Damocles @sortofdamocles.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
RFK Jr and wife had a soiree at their Hollywood mansion during COVID and required proof of COVID vaccination with RSVP. Watch what they do, not what they say. –Rachel Maddow
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gabliotecaria @gabliotecaria.northsky.social · 26/07/2026
If you knew how many books I desperately want to buy but don't 🫣
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21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Asking the lowest-paid staff to bear the pain while Vice Chancellors and other senior leaders remain insulated is a failure of values Widespread in Universities Instead of embodying public service & collective endeavour, they are replicating the worst habits of failing corporations
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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
"a continent that struggles to export cars or chemicals now gets its dollars and yuan by enticing foreigners to come over and spend on its shores instead" www.economist.com/europe/2026/... This is very confusing, The Economist, which surely knows that : EUROPE RUNS A TRADE SURPLUS. 1/
economist.com
Dismissing Europe as a museum is glib. Think of it as a theme park
All the continent’s a stage
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Night of the Living Red Durkin @daedsider.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
The success of Emily Wilson's translation had nothing to do with Christopher Nolan. The hardcover edition came out 9 years ago and was a huge success. The paperback has been in steady demand since 2018. My store has sold 75 copies (a lot for 1 book for us) and 66 of those were before January.
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Hannah Murphy @hsmurphy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Please share! A rare PhD studentship @kingshistory.bsky.social *fully* funded by @slaveryinwar.bsky.social to work with myself and Maeve Ryan, supported by a broader community of experts in Caribbean history, transatlantic slavery, and the history of war. www.kcl.ac.uk/study/fundin... 🗃️
kcl.ac.uk
AHRC Studentship: Slavery and the Seven Years’ War within and across the Caribbean Archipelago | King's College London
The Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War (CRSW) is pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded AHRC doctoral studentship, to be jointly supervised across History and War Studies
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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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Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies @spbsuk.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Call for Papers – 57th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies Fake News and Gossip in Byzantine Culture The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK 2nd-4th April 2027 Symposiarchs: Angeliki Lymberopoulou & Stavroula Constantinou #byzantinebluesky www.byzantium.ac.uk/call-for-pap...
byzantium.ac.uk
Call for Papers – 57th Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies – SPBS
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Joel @sentantiq.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
"As a spectacle, the movie is a fantastic success. As a reflection of us, it fails. I worry that it resorts too quickly to a simple comfort: We did some bad things and we are going to suffer for it, but we will know right from wrong in the end." hyperallergic.com/a-homerist-r...
hyperallergic.com
A Homerist Reacts to Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey”
“This is a tale of a man affected by trauma, but without any sense that it changed him at all.”
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Kevin Albrecht 🏺📚 @kevinalbrecht.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
In Kevilex, you can now read the New Testament in the Byzantine (majority-text) tradition — the Robinson-Pierpont Byzantine Textform — as a new collection alongside the existing SBLGNT edition, with every word clickable for lookup.
kevilex.com
Kevilex - Ancient Greek Reader
A reader for Ancient Greek. Lexicon entries and morphology appear inline with the text.
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Sihong Lin @sihonglin.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Glasgow is hiring a lecturer in medieval history (c.800-1500) on an open-ended basis. We are a lovely bunch in the medieval area, would be great to have a new colleague! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSF052/l...
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) at University of Glasgow
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) on jobs.ac.uk!
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Gareth Millward @millieqed.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Borat was problematic, too.
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Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Nigel Farage vs "the establishment" He went to private school, worked as a stockbroker, has been a professional politician for 31 years, has his own TV show, is a brand ambassador for gold, is mates with POTUS, accepted a secret £5m gift, and owns five houses bought outright with cash What a rebel
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
One from the archives: "What about university tuition fees then, will you remain committed to scrapping them?" "They're all pledges Andrew, so the answer to these questions is yes." "So university tuition fees being scrapped will be in a Starmer manifesto?" "Yes. Thats why its a pledge"
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
That @naomialderman.bsky.social is so fucking brilliant. If you've found yourself falling out the reading habit, she has created a kind of Couch-to-5K of reading open.substack.com/pub/naomiald...
open.substack.com
let's do a 'couch to 5k' for reading
we're going to work ourselves back to good 'reading fitness' over the next eight weeks. come and join us.
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Dr Aisling Tierney @irishashyt.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Take Medieval Mr Blobby with you everywhere with this handy sticker pack. 12 themed stickers include: friar, knight, Queen Elizabeth, King Henry VIII, Shakespeare, Braveheart, Sutton Hoo, Bayeux Tapestry. tephraarts.etsy.com/listing/4532... #MrBlobby #BlobbyBlobbyBlobby #bayeuxtapestry #medieval
8 mr blobby characters in various medieval dress, with four mr blobby text stickersPackaging for 12 mr blobby themed medieval stickers from shop tephraarts.etsy.com
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
‘207 sovereign states in the world, 180 have freedom’ www.nbcnews.com/video/will-m...
nbcnews.com
Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) gives a defining speech at Northwestern
Jeff Daniels is nominated as an outstanding lead actor in a drama for his work on HBO's "The Newsroom."
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Second time I've seen the mosaics in Ravenna and both times just amazed these are 1500 years old. They've been cleaned but still they look so new.
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Hannah Barker @historyhannahb.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
There’s a permanent modern British history post going at Manchester 🎉Come and join a great department and please share with anyone who might be interested. (Don’t let the short deadline put you off). #skystorians 🗃️
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Modern British History (post-1800) at The University of Manchester
Apply now for the Lecturer in Modern British History (post-1800) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
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Ashmolean Museum, Oxford @ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This is one of the earliest recorded Anglo-Saxon finds in the Ashmolean’s collection. Dating back to the later 5th century, this gold pendant may have been brought to England by immigrants or contacts from the area of northern Germany.
Anglo-saxon gold bracteate.
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Kevin Hargaden @kevinhargaden.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
An amazing contemporary find, beautifully described down the thread as a "cooties" theory of history. What's striking is that it's a Harvard historian and in a book about the history of the USA
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Details of Hunt's porky here:
But these people never learn: The latest edition of Radio 4 show More or Less debunks a claim from former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt this month that people on the three main out-of-work benefits can earn up to £46,000, while a person working full time on the minimum wage earns £22,000.

Pretend numbers: To reach £46,000, Hunt added a pretend income tax rate to the maximum benefit income of £37,000, on the assumption that a working person would need to be earning the higher figure to take the lower figure home. Yet he was citing the £22,000 minimum wage figure after tax — i.e., spinning one number upwards and the other down.

But he also forgot to mention … that the £37,000 maximum welfare income would be for a person in London (where housing benefit is highest) deemed unable to work due to “severe” disabilities. Just 8 percent of the out-of-work population are in the highest disabilities group — although their number has doubled since the Covid pandemic.

More or Less argued a fairer comparison would be … with welfare claimants who can work and would therefore be subject to welfare caps. The show said a person in a lower disability category could receive £16,000 in welfare alone, but could earn £28,000 if working full time on the minimum wage (which includes £6,000 in PIP support).

Of course … making false or misleading claims about welfare spending could be a Vote Leave-style tactic to fuel a row and keep the issue in the headlines. But wouldn’t it be nicer if we could all stick to the facts?
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Very little. The Holy See is (adjusted for inflation) the single biggest funder of astronomical research in history. As for Galileo, he was found guilty of suspicion of heresy, spent one day in gaol, and the rest of his life living in a palace, and continued to publish heliocentrism around Europe.
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The Cromwell Museum @cromwellmuseum.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
On the weekend of 4 & 5 July join us at Huntingdon's Castle Hills as we bring to life Huntingdonshire's Roman heritage through living history. Roman soldiers, gladiators and much more! A FREE event as part of @Huntshistfest. Details at: bit.ly/3SJRclT
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Nick Harkaway @nickharkaway.com · 24/06/2026
Hey London/E&W folks! I don’t know about you, but the heat yesterday seemed pretty brutal to me. Today is going to be unequivocally hotter. The Met Office has a Red Warning in place: “take action now to keep yourself and others safe... It is very likely that there will be a risk to life”.
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Perry Bacon @perrybaconjr.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Excellent @polphilpod.bsky.social piece. www.liberalcurrents.com/starmer-out/
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arr @arr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
english isn't for cowards. if you're not saying 'torpify,' that's a skill issue. there's no Académie Française telling you what to do. if you try to type 'pallific' and freak out when you see a little red underline, maybe you're not ready to roll with the big dogs.
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St Andrews Classics @staclassics.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
"Land and Power in the Later Roman World " #Conference 📆 29 June to 1 July 2026 📍 Tübingen 🔗 View details: bit.ly/4tsST40 Please send enquiries to Dr Giordana Franceschini, giordana.franceschini@histsem.uni-tuebingen.de #AllWelcome
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John Fea @johnfea1.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
AI cannot do what history professors do. My piece on historical thinking, artificial intelligence, and the intellectual formation of college students is now up at Perspective on History, the magazine of the American Historical Association. Here is a taste: AI promises efficiency, personalization,…
thewayofimprovement.blog
AI cannot do what history professors do.
My piece on historical thinking, artificial intelligence, and the intellectual formation of college students is now up at Perspective on History, the magazine of the American Historical Association. Here is a taste: AI promises efficiency, personalization, and speed. This combination is appealing to college students who are dealing with academic pressures and a fast-paced world. History teachers are now faced with the tension between student demand for quick results (which AI provides) and the slow, thoughtful process of learning to think historically. This tension is not merely about plagiarizing papers; it cuts to the heart of what it means to nurture intellectual and moral maturity at a time when universities are moving away from the humanities and neglecting the very practices that once defined liberal arts education.
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Rev Peter W Nimmo @peternimmo.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
This explains why GB News has got a free pass to ignore the law in the last few years. Maleficence in public office?
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Wes Davis @blunderchief.blather.ing · 31/05/2026
Cogito,
Label reading ergotron
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Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
We're stuck in "a situation in which, to put it in very broad terms, we have a country which ‘knows’ it has made a mistake and regrets it, and yet has a politics which can barely acknowledge that and certainly can’t address it." Spot-on by @chrisgrey.bsky.social
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Brian Phillips @brianphillips.lol · 26/05/2026
I'm working on a column about the tech annoyances that drive us crazy, and I want it to be as universal as possible, so tell me yours! E.g. scanning a QR code to read a menu, never receiving the one-time passcode they supposedly texted you, "verify you're human" by IDing tiny motorcycles, etc.
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favorite slime girl @antinoe.prettyfem.me · 21/05/2026
if you're cis and you are asked by your management to police bathrooms, "can you confirm in writing that you are ordering me to approach customers to discuss their sex?" is an email no manager wants to reply to
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Ruth Dassonneville @rdassonneville.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
🚨 I'm recruiting a PhD student for a new project on Parties' social group ownership, based in the @vd-researchgroup.bsky.social research group at KU Leuven! Deadline for applying is 26 June, estimated starting date is 1 Oct 2026. All info is here 👉 www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo... Share widely!
kuleuven.be
1 doctoraatspositie in kiesgedrag
1 PhD position to research how parties build connections with social groups
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I hope this isn’t true. There are times when it’s more important to put country before party. This is one of them. Burnham’s longstanding commitment to a fairer voting system could transform our democracy & counter the dire threat of a Reform UK government elected on a minority of the vote
theguardian.com
Greens suggest they will properly contest byelection in blow to Burnham
Statement follows speculation party would not field candidate in Makerfield or barely fight seat
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Sean Spencer @cicerocantabridgi.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
I’m meeting with a potential supervisor tomorrow, any tips #academicsky
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