iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Situation report: not ideal. Huge queues and they had to turn the lights off before people were finished. Lots of people getting v angry at the poor BM staff. Still, nice embroidery.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

My book is celebrating its first birthday.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

www.maptap.gg September 9 98🎯 97🔥 98🎯 99🎯 99🎯 Final score: 985 Very much benefited from having actually been to Puntarenas!

maptap.gg

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Jane Rosenzweig @janerosenzweig.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Also: a lot of decisions have been made about AI in ed by people who had not tried LLMs, did not understand how they work, were not in the classroom, did not really understand how students were likely to use them, and were driven by FOMO rather than by data/knowlege/understanding/learning.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Late summer in Cornwall: crayfish and Riesling

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Excellent thread on the stresses of an academic career. To which I’d add that things can be especially challenging for neurodivergent academics 1/2

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Delighted and honoured to be elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Bragging is in order. Not just the 981 points, more the getting within 150 km of Kiribati. www.maptap.gg July 12 99🎯 100🎯 100🎯 97🔥 97🔥 Final score: 981

maptap.gg

🎯MapTap Daily Geography Game

Play MapTap - the daily geography game! Find 5 world locations on a 3D globe with historical stories. Free browser-based daily game for geography lovers.

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King's Arts & Humanities @kingsartshums.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

⚡ A new undergraduate degree in Global Media and Languages is now available at King’s with @kingscmci.bsky.social and @kingsdllc.bsky.social. Learn more about the programme at King’s Undergraduate Open Days on 27 June and 5 September, taking place on our Strand campus in central London ⬇️

kcl.ac.uk

King's launches BA in Global Media and Languages | King's College London

A new undergraduate degree in Global Media and Languages is now available at King’s with the Department of Culture, Media & Creative Industries and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Culture...

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

In breaking news, the Arsenal F. C. Wikipedia page has already been updated.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Portreath 21:22. North Cornwall in April

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Just went for my first sea swim of the year down here on the north coast of far west Cornwall. Several parts of my body are no longer functioning.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Come for the war, stay for the chickening out (🤞)

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Nice civilization you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Me being interviewed by the excellent Paul O'Doherty on his show Bookbound on Dublin City FM www.mixcloud.com/1032D.../boo... @princetonupress.bsky.social

mixcloud.com

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

The first translation of 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas' is on the horizon. Into Portuguese -- we have a publisher in Brazil!

The cover page of Matthew Bell's 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas', showing a marble bust of Goethe

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Just what many of us will be thinking at this time of year.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

My 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas' is recommended as one of the New Statesman's books of 2025 by the great tenor and interpreter of German song, Ian Bostridge www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...

newstatesman.com

Books of the year 2025

New Statesman writers and guests – including Jonathan Franzen, Jacqueline Rose, Marina Warner and Slavoj Žižek – choose their favourite reading this year

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

"Biographies necessarily look back in time, but the best of them invite us to see the present anew. This is surely one of the chief virtues of Matthew Bell's insightful study," says @thetls.bsky.social of Goethe: A Life in Ideas. We couldn't agree more! Read the full review here:

the-tls.com

A lone inquirer

For most biographers, a paucity of source material poses formidable challenges. For the biographer endeavouring to array Goethe’s life along a coherent narrative line, it is surfeit that is daunting....

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Review of my 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas' by David Wellbery in the TLS: ‘[carves a path through Goethe’s life] skilfully and insightfully … rooted in meticulous historical scholarship … insightful study’ www.the-tls.com/lives/biogra...

the-tls.com

A lone inquirer

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

Think you know everything about Goethe? He was a poet, a scientist, a rebel… and a total genius. Daniel Johnson breaks it all down in The Critic. Read the review of @matthewgbell.bsky.social's book here:

thecritic.co.uk

Goethe, a man of ideas | Daniel Johnson | The Critic Magazine

Goethe seemed to have lived many lives, for no man in history has shown glimpses of genius across such a wide range of human endeavour.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Excellent review of my ‘Goethe: A Life in Ideas’ by Daniel Johnson in The Critic thecritic.co.uk/issues/novem... “Bell’s brilliant biography does full justice to this greatest of German Dichter und Denker”

thecritic.co.uk

Goethe, a man of ideas | Daniel Johnson | The Critic Magazine

Goethe seemed to have lived many lives, for no man in history has shown glimpses of genius across such a wide range of human endeavour.

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Goethe: A Life in Ideas by @matthewgbell.bsky.social gets a sharp, illuminating review from Ritchie Robertson in @litreview.bsky.social! “Deeply learned, crisply written.” Read it here: literaryreview.co.uk/darkness-light-2

literaryreview.co.uk

Ritchie Robertson - Darkness & Light

Ritchie Robertson: Darkness & Light - Goethe: A Life in Ideas by Matthew Bell

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

In this important and ambitious work, @matthewgbell.bsky.social offers a wide-ranging intellectual biography of Goethe, tracing the evolution of his thought and reassessing its value. Out now! Explore a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...

Goethe: A Life in Ideas by Matthew Bell. A new intellectual biography of Goethe, examining the paradox of his thought.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Published today by the good folk at Princeton.

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Matthew Bell @matthewgbell.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Only 8 days to wait until the publication of this baby

Cover image of Matthew Bell's book 'Goethe: A Life in Ideas', showing a marble bust of Goethe

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