iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 5h

We started recording a new series of You’re Dead To Me today — all of the previous series is now visualised on YouTube/BBC iPlayer, and you can hear our entire podcast back catalogue (going back to 2019) wherever you get your podcasts

Greg wears a purple jumper and sits at the microphone. He looks chronically tired, his wrinkled face more contoured than an ordnance survey map of the Andes, but he seems happy enough I guess

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Yesterday I had a lovely day on the island of Jersey, learning about its fascinating history — it has great castles, the people are super friendly, and I even got to contribute a clumsy stitch to their own Bayeux tapestry reproduction that 180 volunteers are stitching!

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Wow!! Tickets are selling VERY FAST for our live Beethoven concert episode of You’re Dead To Me on Nov 13th — if you wanna come, get your ticket 🔜 It’ll be a 2 hour special with the BBC Concert Orchestra and two fantastic guests 🎼🎻 www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/bbc...

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Our 1066 episode of You’re Dead To Me is now out worldwide as audio podcast, and visualised on @youtube (outside the UK) It’s a VERY funny guide to the chaos of the Norman Conquest and Battle of Hastings! With our guests Alison Spittle & Prof Erin Goeres

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This piece by @djbduncan.bsky.social is such delightful writing, like a gift wrapped in many layers of pretty paper (please forgive the tea stains, he didn’t provide those)

A friend and decided to start
a band. We needed a drummer so we tried out a few, but the one we really liked told us that she was also auditioning for a different band. They were pirate-themed.
She played with us a few more times before announcing that she had resolved to commit to the pirates. We put on a compelled valour, but it was to no avail. She never came back.
I was reminded of my antipathy to pirates this month when I saw a new black flag on the horizon: another author called Dennis Duncan. A few years ago I wrote a history book about book indexes. One of the things that happens when you bring out a book is that you are subjected to email spam from the service industry that exists just outside the publishing mainstream and feeds on the struggling and the selt-published. For example, the reader engagement' company, a kind of search engine optimisation for books, which pledges to bring your work the 'sustainable, meaningful visibility' it deserves. I was about to delete one of these messages when I noticed the title of the book they were offering to promote: Gasparilla and the Winds of Fortune. Odd, I thought. Not one of mine. Not even close. But a quick Google search revealed how the mistake must have occurred: Gasparilla is a real book, and its author is called Dennis Duncan. Another click took me to the cover illustration - a young man in tricorn hat and ruffled shirt - and that old sense of wounded outrage started up again. Gasparilla his best work. is a pirate novel.

Putting aside my previous
run-in with usurping pirates, I'm inclined to feel delighted about the whole thing. How funny to have a literary double, especially one whose work is so different - wilder, sexier, odder - from my own. A Mr Hyde to my Dr Jekyll. Perhaps I should lean into it. My editor at the Washington Post - before they scrapped their Books section - was called Nora Krug, a name she shared with a German graphic novelist who lived in New York. After the latter's Heimat won a Natio…

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Grapes were known as variations of ‘wine-berry’ in old Medieval English And raspberries in Old English were Hindberige (I guess linked to the deer)

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I have seen 72 of these Top 100 TV shows of the 21st century This a very strong list, but there are many extraordinarily brilliant shows missing: Ghosts, Derry Girls, For All Mankind, Foundation, What We Do In The Shadows, Detectorists, Rick & Morty, W1A, Young Sheldon, DTF St Louis, Fallout…

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

My next children’s book is out in February, hence the placeholder cover, but it’s the fourth in my Totally Chaotic History series that I cowrite with experts — this one is all about the Ancient Greeks. My fab coauthor is Prof Michael Scott and the illustrations are once again by Rikin Parekh

The cover art is orange with yellow and blue text in a fun, messy font — the book is called Ancient Greece Gets Epic!

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Our new episode of You’re Dead To Me about LGBTQ icon Henry Paget (known as the Dancing Marquess) is now available on YouTube & podcast apps worldwide With our guests Prof Viv Gardner and comedian Morgan Rees

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Saw this joke recently and it made me laugh, then made me pause…

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

21 years into my career, this book remains the hardest thing I’ve ever done professionally — the especially nice thing is it’s slowly become my most successful book, and I don’t even have my usual burning urge to rewrite every sentence!

Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity, From Bronze Age To Silver Screen

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

What was it is like to fornicate with the Devil 😈?(according to 17th century Scottish belief) Our new clip from You’re Dead To Me on the BBC - with historian Dr Martha McGill and comedian @marjoleinrobertson.bsky.social

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

“Alexa, play Coldplay: In My Place”

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Ouch! That’s going be a tricky episode on Welcome To Wrexham 🙀

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Here’s a weirdly violent clip from our history of tea chat

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Hi! Our episode of You’re Dead To Me about the history of Tea 🫖 is out worldwide, as both audio podcast and YouTube video (it’s on BBC iPlayer in the UK) I’m joined by historian Professor Yangwen Zhung and British comedy legend Hugh Dennis for a funny, fact filled chat youtu.be/OELoxBu7CBM?...

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Ever heard about traditional Scottish faeries called ‘Brownie’? Well, now you have! A clip from our new episode of You’re Dead To Me, with historian Dr Martha McGill and comedian @marjoleinrobertson Listen now on bbcsounds or watch in HD on bbciplayer. Out globally in 28 days time

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

WARNING ⚠️ There’s a new AI-generated scam impersonating me and offering slots on my podcast — if you receive an email from Gregjenner.host@gmail.com then please report it as spam. Thank you 🙏

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Apologies, the Alt text didn’t work. Here it is again

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Today I’ve been contacted by three separate authors who have been targeted by AI scammers using my name/podcast as the lure. I’ve also received many of these emails too. It’s exhausting wading through all this crap So, here is some advice from Terence Blacker in The Society of Authors magazine

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Hi! Live near Sussex? Got teenagers? Do they like history, books, or middle-aged historians who are mildly funny, sometimes? You’re in luck! I’m doing a FREE event for teenagers at Crawley Library on September 22nd. I’ll be joined in conversation by funny history influencer Katie Kennedy

AUTHOR EVENT
Greg Jenner & Katie Kennedy
22 September 2026 6.30pm
Crawley Library

Get more out of what you're into!
West Sussex
Library Service

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Bad lineup, good bench— most crucially, why does only Porro get to have his full name in the teamsheet? 🤣 #COYS

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Our episode of #YoureDeadToMe about Emperor Constantine the Great is now on YouTube & podcast apps worldwide Featuring comedian Ivo Graham and Professor @lucygrig.bsky.social — it’s a very funny, wildly chaotic romp through one of the messiest and most consequential biographies in ancient history

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Howdy! This week’s new episode of You’re Dead To Me is a 1066 special, all about the chaotic year of the four kings and the Norman Conquest of England Our guests are the hilarious Alison Spittle and expert medievalist Dr Erin Goeres. Listen on BBC SOUNDS or watch us on BBC iPlayer

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I loved Coyote Vs ACME, such a fun movie! 🎥— so glad it was rescued from the cynical corporate moneymen who tried to write it off as a tax wheeze, not least when it’s a film about untouchable corporate giants exploiting the vulnerable for profit

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Today is Norman Day on Radio 4, with a series of different programmes about the Norman Conquest and Bayeux Tapestry At 4pm there’s a special episode of You’re Dead To Me about 1066

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

I had an absolute blast chatting to Matt & Dave at Do Go On podcast about Homer, The Iliad, and The Odyssey This is nearly 3 hours of comedy history waffle chat, I hope you enjoy it podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Catching up on Ann Droid on the BBC — such a wonderfully funny, yet quietly poignant, sitcom. Wonderful performances and top notch scripts. Go find it wherever you can!

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Hi, if you live near Sussex, I’m doing a free event for TEENAGERS (not smaller kids) at Crawley Library on September 22nd I’ll be chatting with the much funnier & cooler Katie Kennedy (The History Gossip). It’ll also be filmed and streamed online libraries.westsussex.gov.uk/go-all-in-gr...

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

On Thursday this week, Radio 4 is doing Norman Day — a run of programmes themed around the Bayeux Tapestry and Norman Conquest A special You’re Dead To Me about 1066 will be on at 4pm, and will be available as podcast soon after. It’s a very funny one!

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Here’s a fun clip from the episode, all about the invention of the sports bra

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

How amazing was Dolly Parton? Even Trump gets it

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
+
Very sad to report that Dolly Parton, one of the greatest Country singers, and far beyond, EVER, has just passed away. This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will. In her honor, I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States for a one week period beginning tonight at 6:00PM. Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you. President DONALD J. TRUMP

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

And here’s a clip from our podcast discussion. My guests are Professor Viv Gardner and the fabulously funny comedian Morgan Rees Listen to the 60 minute podcast on BBC SOUNDS or watch the full video on BBC iPlayer

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Men, what’s preventing you from dressing like this? Our new episode of You’re Dead To Me is about Henry Cyril Paget, the ‘Dancing Marquess’ of Anglesea who has become an LGBTQ icon Listen on BBC SOUNDS or watch it on BBC iPlayer

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

A little clip from our Henry Cyril Paget episode, now available to enjoy on the BBC

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Hello, today the internet finally delivered exactly what I needed — Kermit the Frog as heavy metal vocalist. Enjoy!

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

You’re Dead To Me is the BBC comedy podcast that takes history seriously New episodes are released every Friday, first on the BBC (visualised on iPlayer, or as audio on Sounds), and then globally 28 days later on YouTube and podcast apps We’ve done 180+ episodes about global history so far 😁

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Heard about the ancient Egyptian pharaoh who trashed the gods and built a brand-new religion, in a brand-new city? You’re Dead To Me: Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti is now free to enjoy on @youtube and all global podcast apps With expert Egyptologist Dr Campbell Price and comedian Sikisa

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

C’mon, gents, what’s stopping you dress like this? 😉 Scroll down to learn more 👇

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

By the way, this is how wealthy aristocrat Henry Cyril Paget enjoyed dressing

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

🚨 NEW EPISODE! 🚨 This week on You’re Dead To Me, I’m joined by comedian Morgan Rees and historian Prof Viv Gardner to explore the life of queer icon Henry Cyril Paget (the ‘Dancing Marquess’ of Anglesey) who spent his entire fortune on clothes, parties, theatre, and fun Listen/watch on BBC

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Here’s the study — and the introductory abstract papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Abstract
Using 30 months of panel data on 26,811 Chinese students in grades 7-12, we study how generative Al affects homework productivity and learning. The data combine monthly closed-book exams, high-school and college entrance exams, and homework scores and completion time across nine subjects. We exploit staggered Al adoption in a difference-in-differences design. Al adoption raises homework scores by 18% and reduces completion time by 30%, but lowers monthly exam scores by 20% within six months. High-stakes entrance-exam scores fall by 18 and 24%, with the full penalty emerging only after about two years. The losses are largest in social science subjects, fullowed by STEM and languages, and are especially large for junior students, high-achieving students, and boys. The learning losses are concentrated among roughly 80% of Al users whose behavior is consistent with homework outsourcing, as indicated by exceptionally short homework completion time coupled with high homework scores. Al users who maintain similar homework completion time as non-Al users experience small learning losses.

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

If you have Apple TV, here are my recent fave comedies

COMEDY:
• The Studio
• Widow's Bay
• Ted Lasso
• Mythic Quest
• Shrinking
• Bad Monkey
• Platonic
• The Afterparty
• Murderbot
• Schmigadoon!
• Palm Royale
• Loot

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I’m obsessed with Football Manager, and I always play as Spurs — I feel like the latest FM26 release is much too easy. Why? Well, here’s my squad in season 3… And no, I’ve not cheated or edited anything, I’m just a ruthless transfer window monster who has made 35 signings and 110 sales/loans!

Team:
Mbappé, Barcola,Trincao, Rodrygo, Wharton, Bouaddi, Alexander-Arnold, Ait-Nouri, Romero, VdV, Seimen

Subs:
Methalie, Branthwaite, Tati, Vuskovic, Porro, Hogsberg, Palestra, Cirkin, Garner, Bergvall, Gray, Eichhorn, Simons, Moore, Paz, Kulusevski, Odobert, Franchlino, Walton, Austin

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

And here’s a ridiculous number of themed Barbie Dolls, for some reason…

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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

And here’s Celine Dion’s Olympics closing ceremony dress from 2024 (it took a team of people 1,000 hours to make!) Scroll for more…

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