Reposted by Mark WilliamsEmily Wood @ebwood.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Every story about a NASA-run project: the project was supposed to work for 5 years and it’s still going strong 25 years later. Every story about SpaceX: it cost *so much* money, didn’t do close to everything it was supposed to, and then blew up. 12711
Reposted by Mark Williams👻 🎃 🦇 Bela Lughosti's Dad 🏳️⚧️ 🇵🇸 @belalugosisdad.bsky.social · 30/09/2026This is why I've always disagreed with the idea that "art" is purely subjectively defined. Art is a communication. The listener/viewer completes that communication in recieving it, but it is the intentionality of the creator that makes it art. "AI music" is no more music than traffic noise is. 1130476
Reposted by Mark WilliamsSam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Times this morning. Me in December last year. It was pretty damn obvious this would happen to anyone who did the maths. samf.substack.com/p/the-oversh... 22696195
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Really reading the room here. 1302
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026To understand and counter disinformation, language skills, area studies expertise, historical knowledge and a wide range of arts, humanities & social science disciplines are requisite. SHAPE subjects are strategically vital for national interests. Is it strategic to let 'the market' shrink them?thebritishacademy.ac.ukMapping SHAPE provision in UK higher educationThis new project from the British Academy maps changing provision of SHAPE subjects in UK higher education institutions. It uses data to visually depict contractions and expansions in provision by a v... 13023
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMichael E. Carter @deckofcarterhist.bsky.social · 19/09/2026This is your general reminder that the technology behind this bullshit homunculus is what the worst among the elites and most zealous people on the planet want to filter your medical records, tax records, all entertainment, social media, and your children's education through. 425271
Reposted by Mark WilliamsShirley @ztarfizh.bsky.social · 18/09/2026‘If you’re taking money from a company what are they getting out of it? At least print the contract. Tell us what you are being employed for” Ian Hislop, Committee on Standards 2022. Tom Watson is not being paid for his wisdom or insight. He has sold his House of Lords vote to #Palantir 2109
Reposted by Mark WilliamsBex Luther @superbreeze.bsky.social · 16/09/2026BREAKING: Ed Sheeran to represent Piddington at Eurovision 201155278
Reposted by Mark WilliamsPete Fraser @petefrasermusic.bsky.social · 16/09/2026In the movie version of this, after Piddington runs out of food water and money as a result of leaving the UK, the residents apply for asylum and end up housed in a military base, with HILARIOUS consequences. www.bbc.com/news/article...bbc.comPiddington in Oxfordshire votes to leave UK over asylum plansPiddington residents voted over proposals to house up to 1,256 male asylum seekers nearby 1663526840
Reposted by Mark WilliamsSociety for Renaissance Studies @srsrensoc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Join us on 18th September 2026 for our #SRSlyGood Festival! There are two sessions, The first, at 16:00 BST where our postdoctoral fellows will discuss their latest research and the second, at 17.00BST where the 2026 article prize and book prize will be announced! rensoc.org.uk/announcement... 0116
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15/09/2026'Reading for pleasure – from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel – is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, say researchers.' Just make sure it's not reading English (instead of science) at university, say ministers.eurekalert.orgReading for pleasure has benefits at all ages – from improving health and wellbeing to staving off dementia – say scientistsReading for pleasure – from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel – is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, ... 27228
Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 15/09/2026U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is really about an as-yet-unsuccessful archive trip, right? #skystorians 0190
Reposted by Mark WilliamsWilliam Carruthers @williamcarruthers.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Kathleen Stock says the quiet part out loud, apparently 1256
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMatt Bors @mattbors.bsky.social · 14/09/2026It was exactly ten years ago today, on my 33rd birthday, that I posted this comic online. 484297717665
Reposted by Mark WilliamsFarrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 14/09/2026£3 - the annual Labour affiliation fee per affiliated union member. £36,000,000 - how much each of two billionaires donated to Reform UK. One billionaire donated the equivalent of 12 million union members’ annual affiliation fees. The two are not the same. 1131389
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14/09/2026'Enslaved African people were seared with hot metal brands bearing the royal crown, according to research by historians who have documented the monarchy’s centuries-long involvement in Britain’s slave trade.' #Skystorianstheguardian.comThe royal crown branded on enslaved Africans: Britain’s monarchy and the slave tradeFrom Elizabeth I’s backing of early voyages to royal investment in trafficking companies, generations of monarchs were central to Britain’s slave trade 13223
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Book Proposal Juxtapositions. Blossoms. #skystorians #earlymodern 042
Reposted by Mark WilliamsRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 11/09/2026If you saw this happening in another country, what would you call it? 3152435720
Reposted by Mark WilliamsErika Gaffney @erikagaffney.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Job posting - tenure-track assistant professor position The Dept of the History of Art & Architecture at Brown Univ seeks applicants whose scholarship focuses on histories of early modern (ca. 1400s-1700s) European art & architecture in the world. More info: apply.interfolio.com/191701 13345
Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Fascists don't understand art and can't engage with it. That is a simple and straightforward maxim for the age. 080
Reposted by Mark WilliamsErika Hanna @erikahanna.bsky.social · 11/09/2026www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/lectu...thebritishacademy.ac.ukLiving with Rainfall: Fogs, Mists, Vapours in Irish History, 1800 – presentIn the towns and cities of western seaboard of Ireland, it rains more than 250 days a year, a notable wetness of the air which shifts from swirling moisture to pounding rain as weather systems roll in... 1299
Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Book Proposal Juxtapositions. Blossoms. #skystorians #earlymodern 042
Reposted by Mark WilliamsStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Labour: don’t worry. We have a plan to make sure the train these guys want to put you on is severely delayed. 627837
Reposted by Mark WilliamsRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Leading a gang of masked men in black to intimidate the media is wrong, whether it's the Daily Mail or the parish magazine. And posting "There will be no threats. There will be no intimidation" is just nonsense when you're bringing a masked gang with you. 912625
Reposted by Mark WilliamsNick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I just think the point at which somebody turns up with a private army of masked paramilitary goons to intimidate the press - yes, even if it *is* The Mail - is the point at which you can safely call it terrorism and start, I dunno, making a few arrests? 513126
Reposted by Mark WilliamsGiles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 09/09/2026It's always the way, isn't it giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... 763082810
Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026When your institution links to 'Guidance on Using AI' but adds to a series of waffling non-positions 'student' statements hyping what GENAI can do for you. Just a total abdication of critical responsibility. Universities have to do better. 361
Reposted by Mark WilliamsAdam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 09/09/2026⏱️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukPolice launch criminal investigation into Reform UK donationsThe investigation, which follows a broadcast by Channel 4 News, is being folded into the inquiry that has been underway into other donations. 741160222
Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 08/09/2026Get on it #skystorians - really good department with lovely people. 1712
Reposted by Mark WilliamsRobert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 07/09/2026A suggested statement for Andy Burnham. 271051351
Reposted by Mark WilliamsNadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026When blackshirts are marching through the streets of Dover and Portsmouth, the focus shouldn’t be on the disruption they cause, but on their fascist ideology and deliberate intimidation of migrants and people of colour. [1/2] 801511345
Reposted by Mark WilliamsNaomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 05/09/2026In our new essay for the @financialtimes.com (you read that right), @astra.bsky.social and I link the extreme weather events we have all been living through to the rise of a new iteration of futureless fascism, wherein the rich and powerful plan for their bunkered survival behind fortressed borders. 391765683
Reposted by Mark WilliamsThe Onion @theonion.com · 04/09/2026Historians Politely Remind Nation To Check What's Happened In Past Before Making Any Big Decisions theonion.com/historians-politely-re… 212164448
Reposted by Mark WilliamsTed McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 04/09/2026maybe it’s part of the problem that the only two acceptable ways to explain complicated things in modern public discourse are war and sports metaphors, which are simplistic and interchangeable 3313
Reposted by Mark WilliamsLeigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 04/09/2026OK, when is James Orr going to leave his role with Cambridge University? Are we still doing that? 235291
Reposted by Mark WilliamsWaitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS @waitmanwbeorn.com · 03/09/2026Condolences to all the lazy people who will now have burned out their brains on the chatbot and will now have to navigate basic human tasks all on their own. 4639
Reposted by Mark Williamswill pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 03/09/2026“there is no honour for the humanities in regaining their standing through the attention of AI companies, if they engage only on the technology industry’s terms. In that case, they will have become important in exactly the wrong way.” www.ft.com/content/bdb3...ft.comWhy this philosopher turned down AnthropicThe AI industry is courting the humanities — but it is asking the wrong questions 111431
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 31/08/2026'It is understood that senior museum leaders were warned about the possible public perception of special treatment for someone with connections to Jeffrey Epstein, and whose public software company, Palantir, plays a controversial role in the British state.' 'the possible public perception'theguardian.comBritish Museum hosted Palantir founder Peter Thiel in private viewing of Bayeux tapestryConcern among staff that fragile artwork’s scarce ‘light hours’ given to someone with no known interest in museum 29336125
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 31/08/2026An own goal that degrades staffing and the quality/availability of tuition for UK students while reducing the available funding to cross-subsidise university-based research.ft.comMainland Europe seizes edge in global student raceContinental universities gain ground as immigration restrictions and high fees deter students from the UK and the US 13319
Reposted by Mark WilliamsTed McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 30/08/2026we have a lot of books that talk about what fascism is, but I don't know whether any of them explains that it can still be fascism even if you can walk your dog and go to the gym 710530
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 30/08/2026'Do we have too many universities, or have we failed to decide clearly what universities are for.' 'Universities are among humanity’s oldest institutions. They have existed longer than the nation state'. Good reading. 1/2 27020
Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Today in 'This Is Not What Universities Are For' ... 0224
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026It's real, and due out in March! 'Imaginative Pasts', which has been a joy to edit with Tracey Loughran, aims to reckon - and play - with the role of the imagination in historical research and writing. #skystorians #earlymodern manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526187154/ 1110634
Reposted by Mark WilliamsSociety for Renaissance Studies @srsrensoc.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Congratulations to our #SRSlyGood Book Prize 2026 shortlist: @jwscolley.bsky.social, Colby Gordon, Chloe Ireton, Jack Hartnell, & Tiffany Jo Werth! 🎊🎊🎊💫💫💫👏👏👏💫💫💫 🥳🥳🥳💫💫💫👏👏👏💫💫💫🎊🎊🎊 #Skystorians #EarlyModern rensoc.org.uk/srs-book-pri... 46628
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMatt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 21/08/2026They’re doing the meme 141490247
Reposted by Mark WilliamsMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Meanwhile...theguardian.comWhy is Anthropic destroying books? | Kathryn JamesThe AI company apparently found destructively scanning ‘all the books in the world’ easier than dealing with copyright in its quest for training data 1163