iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @london.gov.uk · 14/09/2026

The rapid pace of AI development presents meaningful dangers to our society. My statement on the events of the last few days:

Part 1 of statement: AI CEOs are today voicing many of the same concerns I’ve been expressing on behalf of Londoners about the pace of AI development - and it’s clear a broad consensus has now emerged that it’s time to act.

AI is an incredibly powerful technology, and politicians and regulators need to be alert both to the opportunities and risks it presents.

Used responsibly, it has enormous potential to help us address some of the biggest challenges we face – from treating cancer to tackling the climate crisis.

But used recklessly, or in the wrong hands, we should be under no illusions: it can do immense harm, including to our national security, children’s wellbeing and the safety of women and girls.

I’ve previously warned AI could be a weapon of mass destruction for jobs and that’s one of the reasons why we’ve set up the London AI and Jobs Taskforce – to closely monitor its impact on our labour market and to act as an ‘early-warning system’ if there are certain negative trends emerging that we need to quickly respond to.

Part 2 of statement: AI experts and engineers are also deeply concerned about the dangers AI poses to cyber security and the integrity of our internet infrastructure, as well as its potential to be used by rogue states and actors to develop biological weapons.

We’ve seen, in recent years, with social media the dangers of failing to effectively regulate new technologies. Social media has been used to undermine democracies, spread division and disinformation, and in some cases it’s had a seriously detrimental impact on our young people and their mental health.

We can’t make the same mistakes again and take a hands-off approach to AI regulation.

National Governments and the international community need to step up and urgently work together to make sure this technology is being safely developed and deployed.

That means at the very least ensuring there is proper democratic oversight of AI and putting a decisive end to the era of ‘move fast and break things’.

Part 3 of statement: London and Europe can lead in this regard by advocating for stronger international institutions, more agile and effective regulation, and an approach that ensures we are shaping AI, rather than being shaped by it.

Just like the co-ordinated international action we saw in the wake of the global financial crisis, today we need a similar response that crosses borders and is equal to the scale of the challenge we’re facing.

The age of AI presents many remarkable opportunities, but the risks involved are nothing short of existential. It’s why we must work together to manage the transition in a way that is consistent with our democratic values and never compromises on the safety of our cities and societies.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I have huge respect and gratitude for #RNLI and their dedicated volunteers, staff, and supporters. Their commitment to saving all lives at sea should be celebrated.

A rounded tin in the shape of a lifeboat station. On the top there are letters reading RNLI Saving Lives at Sea.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

THE SKY IS LEAKING. WHAT WITCHCRAFT IS THIS?

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Stitching the Religious: recording the names of those pensioned after the dissolution of the monasteries.

open.substack.com

“There can be relocation; there can be pensions.”

Stitching the Religious

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

For #WorldEmbroideryDay: Anne and Grace, daughters of Thomas Cromwell. We only know they lived through Cromwell’s will; he bequeathed them marriage portions, but they died in childhood. Handling that will, seeing their names crossed through - ah - I do not cry in archives, but that day I did.

A stitched piece featuring two little girls kneeling. One is wearing wings made of peacock feathers. Above them, stitched text reads : Do not forget us. As the year turns, we are here.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

After a year’s intensive research featuring 1530s Augmentations Books, endless notes, maps, and index cards, I am embarking on a huge stitched work listing the names of the men and women who were pensioned after the dissolution of the monasteries. The lives of these people were turned upside down.

A large piece of cream calico fabric. A strip of fabric is stitched on, reading The monastery oh Edyngton, Wiltshire. The name of the Rector is shown - Paul Busshe. Other names are inked on fabric and clipped together. An index card with details of the monastery is shown.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

What's this I see before me... a Romancing the Gothic online conference!!!! With discounted tickets for the next two weeks!!!! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/more-terro...

eventbrite.co.uk

'More Terrors Than Her Reason Could Justify': An Online Gothic Conference

This year we celebrate 200 years since Ann Radcliffe's posthumous publications with a conference on marginalised genders in the Gothic

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Dr Alison Baxter @alisonrbaxter.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A successful launch for my novel last week at my local library. All the copies that I took along were sold! But you can still buy from your local bookshop or online. #historicalfiction #publiclibraries

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Illuminations @illuminations.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

The Government ten days ago released a new strategic vision for archives which makes a strong and convincing case for their central importance. Using it as a yardstick shows just how far short of best practice the BBC Written Archives Centre falls. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/new-strategi...

illuminationsmedia.co.uk

New strategic vision for archives highlights how BBC Written Archives Centre falls short - Illuminations

John Wyver writes: Ten days ago, with perhaps rather too little fanfare, the Government released a new strategic vision for archives. Commissioned from The National Archives (TNA) and launched by Baro...

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

👻madeline bOoOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 08/04/2026

all these universities kept axing medieval history departments as if they thought tyrants beefing with the Pope was going to stop being relevant

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Alan Barnes @senrabnala.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

FFS. Outdated within 24 hours of publication. What are the chances, etc

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Unchartered Streets @uncharteredstreets.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

I wasn’t going to post this, on the grounds that it was a little niche. But then I thought: “Actually, it’s quite a big one, and it’s got an effigy of Anne Boleyn in it…” #Carshalton

A white two-storey house. In one corner of the top storey, a triangular niche has been cut. In it is an effigy of a woman of Tudor appearance wearing a black dress with a gold capital letter B on it.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

On The Thread of her Tale, I wrote about three things that make the truth shimmer out of focus: a drowned village, a house with my family name; a purple coat.

open.substack.com

Three Card Trick:

Things may not be what they seem

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Learned a new word today: sloppergänger. If a.i. uses your words and arguments, and talks for you, you have created a virtual #sloppergänger echoing you.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

9 Mar 1540: A commission investigating the Pale of #Calais reports on 13 'heretics' there #otd - 5 were protégées of Thomas Cromwell. This was very bad news for him.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

I am reading the will of Sir Henry Wyatt, who leaves a cup with his arms on to Thomas Cromwell and makes him one of his executors. Henry was imprisoned for opposing Richard III, then supported Henry Tudor's claim & became courtier under him (Henry VII). Here he is in prison with a nice cat:

18th century portrait of Henry Wyatt, dressed in a heavy robe with a chain of office and black cap with ear flaps. He is an older man, jowls. Next to him an angry looking grey tabby cat paws at a pigeon that is stuck in the bars of a window.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Four strong women for #InternationalWomensDay. More than wives and bodies. Political advisors. Religious reformers. Diplomatic negotiators. International players. Women in their own right. (Also remembering Katherine Howard and Catherine Parr; but I can only stitch the queens Cromwell knew.)

Stitched representations of Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, and Anna of Cleves. All are quilted on cream calico fabric abc are presented in outline.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

What a horrendous age when 'human-rights obsessed' is understood by some as a sort of insult rather than the standard by which we should seek to operate ...

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Much of this also applies to creating artwork. The space between the thoughts and the material result.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

The first Wolf Hall Quilt - all 46 ft of it - has its own sofa this week.

A red sofa with a long quilted piece arranged on top of it.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Lucy Arnold @spectres-of.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

If you are in the Worcestershire area and would like to join us you can book a place here: www.worcestershire.gov.uk/events/engin...

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Lucy Arnold @spectres-of.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

The exhibition accompanies @drelvey.bsky.social 's contribution to the University of Worcester's Institute of Arts and Humanities 'Engine Room Lecture Series'. 'Stitching the World Within and Without Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy', which takes place 4th March 4:30-6pm at the Hive!

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Lucy Arnold @spectres-of.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Beyond delighted that @drelvey.bsky.social has bought her beautiful work to the Hive at the University of Worcester in this collaborative exhibition 'In the Weave: From Text to Textile - Stitching Hilary Mantel's Cromwell Trilogy'

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Lucy Arnold @spectres-of.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Happy publication day to 'Hilary Mantel', published by @livunipress.bsky.social Thrilled to have been able to undertake this project with the support of the excellent LUP team. It's currently 20% off on the LUP website too! www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....

liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk

Hilary Mantel | Home

Lucy Arnold is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature (Contemporary) at the University of Worcester. She specialises in contemporary gothic, narratives of haunting, contemporary women’s writing and psychoanalytic criticism.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Today I saw the Cromwell Textile Cloth - a representation of a list of textiles in Thomas Cromwell’s hand - hanging properly for the first time. In 22 years of quilting, I have made precisely two pieces I am completely happy with. This is one of them.

A white woman wearing a brightly patterned dress stands next to a large quilted piece of textile art, which is black handwritten scrawl on cream calico, increased in size.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Thomas Cromwell looks into his future.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Wolf Hall Weekend @wolfhall.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Limited seats still available for June, we’re almost full for event.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 19/02/2026

While we're on historical parallels, I'm thinking today of Tudor lord Walter Hungerford, whose wife's complaints of domestic abuse were ignored until his patron Thomas Cromwell got in trouble. Only then did people start paying attention. He went to the block in 1540 alongside Cromwell.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

oh god. It's going to be a day in which we are forced to tap the 'the world didn't start in 1900' sign every five minutes, isn't it? Anyway, stop firing your premodernists, stop making them feel irrelevant, stop making them do just the introduction sessions of 'the real' history.

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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Tfw you didn't study much medieval history at school

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Oh goodness. I had to read the shooting script for the #ReluctantWidow for a book chapter I wrote a few years ago. The script is even more bizarre than the final film. I seem to recall that it started with a shot of Napoleon. All very odd.

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Reposted by Dr Bea Stitches

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

the loss of the World Service would be a tragedy and huge lost of soft power for Britain

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

For a day of hearts: initials inside a heart. Included in the First Wolf Hall Quilt (2020-2021): inspired by a letter from Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, referenced in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall, and now held in the Vatican Archives. photograph by Michael Wicks

A close up image of a quilted art piece. In the centre is a stitched representation of Henry VIII’s signature, and in the middle of the signature is a heart containing the letters AB.

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Dr Bea Stitches @drelvey.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

“He comes into his hall to find versions of himself in various stages of becoming: a tentative outline, partly inked in. Where to begin with Cromwell?” - Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall When I stitch a portrait I usually leave the face until the very end. For Cromwell, the stitching started with the face.

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King Algamemnon @adamrothman.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.

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