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Nick Clarke

@nickclarkegeo.bsky.social
906 followers 418 following 74 posts

Geographer, social scientist, student of politics

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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Good article on PBSAs. Finishes with the usual hand washing we’ve come to expect from this and previous governments www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
‘I didn’t know what to do’: collapse of providers of high-end digs leaves students in shock
Cost of living crisis and drop in international students hits market for purpose-built accommodation
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is an excellent analysis of the construction of ‘left behind’ working-class voters by @jmoss88.bsky.social and @emilyrobinson.bsky.social.
doi.org
Popular perceptions of the politics of class in Brexit Britain: perspectives from Mass Observation
The 2016 EU Referendum and 2019 General Election placed class back on the agenda as many political scientists turned to historical narratives to account for political change. In doing so, they ofte...
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Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
For my new research unit Politics of Democracy at the Berlin Social Science Center @wzb.bsky.social, we have 3 open research positions. 2 postdocs: 4 + 2 years (100%) 1 doc: 2 years (75%) Starting date: 1 March 2027 (negotiable) Application deadline: 1 November
Job adjob ad
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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Event 🎟️ 'Responsible access at scale: The strategy behind AM's most complex collections' 🎟️ 7 October, 5 - 5.45 Sign up here: lnkd.in/ebPnEeVT
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My six monthly reminder for U.K. academic authors to make sure you’re signed up. Especially if your works are used as teaching materials.
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Due out January...
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Daniel Devine @danjdevine.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Happy weekend! This Saturday brings you the rare joy of a 🙌job🙌 in: surveys! democratic attitudes! experiments! three years!! research only (if you want)!!!! with @rikkidean.bsky.social @sotonpolitics.bsky.social !!!!!! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DTB393/r...
jobs.ac.uk
Research Fellow - Political Process Preferences in Europe (PoPPiE) project at University of Southampton
Apply now for the Research Fellow - Political Process Preferences in Europe (PoPPiE) project role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
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John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky
I am writing to let you know that, unfortunately, your application was not successful.

Review process

As part of the initial triage of the 179 proposals submitted to this call, each was assessed using an AI-based review. Every proposal was read independently by several different AI models against the same seven criteria used to shape this call (including cyber security relevance, research quality and novelty, importance of the problem addressed, feasibility of the project plan, likely outputs and impact, value for money, and responsible research practice), with each model asked to give a score and a written justification with supporting quotations from the text. To guard against any one model's idiosyncrasies, we also ran a second, independent process in which different AI models debated the merits and weaknesses of each proposal before reaching a judgement, again against the same criteria. Scores from both processes were combined to produce an overall ranking. 

This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review.  Projects selected for funding were drawn from those that progressed to the full human review stage. We recognise that AI-assisted assessment is a new and evolving part of the review process, and we are continuing to evaluate how well it aligns with the judgements of human reviewers on this call. We will soon produce a document detailing our method, so that others can build upon it and improve it.

Feedback on your application

Your application was not selected to progress beyond the AI triage stage.  To provide transparency on the outcome of this assessment, we are sharing below the scores (out of 5) from each of the two AI review processes described above, together with the mean score across the two processes.
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Sarah O'Connor @sarahoconnorft.ft.com · 24/09/2026
Please excuse me while I scream into a cushion at the thought of ALL the articles I had to write on the "UK productivity puzzle" in the 2010s www.ft.com/content/c819...
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Full Fact @fullfact.org · 23/09/2026
Ahead of the Budget, our new explainer takes a look at how the amount of tax the government collects, and the amount of tax paid by the ‘average worker’, compares historically and internationally.
fullfact.org
What is the UK’s ‘tax burden’ - and how much tax is paid on workers’ earnings? – Full Fact
Ahead of the Budget we’ve taken a look at how the so-called ‘tax burden’ is changing, and how taxes on earnings in the UK compare both historically and internationally.
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Politics at Southampton @sotonpolitics.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Gerry Stoker, @daisyblackburn.bsky.social, @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social, and @drjennings.bsky.social outline how place-based policies can address populist dynamics: doi.org/10.1111/1467...
doi.org
How Place‐Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent
Resentment felt by people in areas that have suffered from social and economic decline is a significant driver of populist backlash—‘the revenge of the places that don't matter’. An effective place-b...
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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
And a reminder that if you'd like to contribute to our archive applications to be one of our regular writers are now open! More info here: massobs.org.uk/the-archive/...
massobs.org.uk
Write for the archive - Mass Observation Archive
Writing for Mass Observation You can apply to write for the archive here. Current Observers If you are one of our current Observers you may find our handbook for new Observers helpful. This has all th...
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
So much of the right these days have a massive patriotism problem. This guy: - is a tax exile (left long before this govt) - hates his own country while complaining he doesn’t get big enough subsidies from it - laments the manufacturing hit from a Brexit he supported www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Rikki Dean @rikkidean.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🚨 Job alert 🚨 Come and join me and @paul-kindermann.net researching European process preferences. 3-year postdoc @sotonpolitics.bsky.social with travel and training budget. Potentially of interest to those attending #EPOP2026. Details at: jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... #polisky
jobs.soton.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at the University of Southampton: Research Fellow - Political Process Preferences in Europe (PoPPiE) project
We are delighted to welcome applications for the position of Research Fellow within a new ERC-funded research group on Political Process Preferences in Europe (PoPPiE): Rethinking Conceptual, Ontologi...
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Felicity Callard @felicitycallard.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The brutal reality of universities' suppression of wages (in KPMG's report for DfE on cost of undergraduate provision in England) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aabfa...
Table 1 – Cost increases since the last study by cost type
Actual % increase
between 2016-17 and
2019 study cost groupings
2023-24 weighted
average unit cost
Staff costs 14%
Non-pay costs 46%
Indirect departmental costs -24%
Centrally allocated indirect costs 29%
Estates costs 40%
Sustainability adjustment -2%

Source: Analysis of Data Returns
Table 1 shows that costs have not increased equally in the time between the two costing studies. Non-pay costs have increased slightly ahead of inflation and estates costs have increased in line with inflation. Universities have managed staff costs significantly below inflation, increasing only by 14% compared to the 41.2% increase in RPIX. By contrast, indirect departmental costs have reduced by 24%, but this may be due to differences in the universities participating in the 2019 and this study. The movement in MSI is reflective of changes in financial performance rather than any inflationary impact.
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Race, Mass Observation, longitudinal approaches I've mentioned this article by Khaleda Brophy-Harmer to numerous people recently. It's now published. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Performing, feeling and racializing ‘ordinariness’ and ‘deviance’ in the Mass Observation Archive: an individual longitudinal case-study, 1990–2009
The Mass Observation Archive (MOA) has long collected writing from UK residents about their everyday experiences, placing the ‘ordinary’ at its centre. This article examines what the concept of ‘de...
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Race, Mass Observation, longitudinal approaches I've mentioned this article by Khaleda Brophy-Harmer to numerous people recently. It's now published. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Performing, feeling and racializing ‘ordinariness’ and ‘deviance’ in the Mass Observation Archive: an individual longitudinal case-study, 1990–2009
The Mass Observation Archive (MOA) has long collected writing from UK residents about their everyday experiences, placing the ‘ordinary’ at its centre. This article examines what the concept of ‘de...
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Tariq Modood @tariqmodood.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I support Wikipedia, where information is still human-created, fact-checked, and 100% free. Join me! donate.wikimedia.org
donate.wikimedia.org
Make your donation now - Wikimedia Foundation
Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that hosts Wikipedia and other crucial free knowledge projects. Each year, the generosity of the 2% of readers who donate allows us to expand the reac...
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Altmetric @altmetric.com · 08/09/2026
Update: The academic flight from Twitter is now complete and appears permanent. April 2023, after the pandemic research surge, we recorded 2,234,307 posts sharing research on Twitter. As of April this year, "X" had 896,741 posts about research. That's a 60% drop in traffic.
Graph showing cumulative research sharing across platforms, including Twitter - April 2023Graph of April 2026 cumulative research sharing including "X". One third of what it was.
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School of Geography and Environmental Science @sotongeogenviron.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Congratulations to @thomas-dekeyser.bsky.social, who has received an @erc.europa.eu ERC Starting Grant to support his research studying the close connections between AI and authoritarian politics. Find out more: www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2026/09...
Dr Thomas DeKeyser
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Thomas Dekeyser @thomas-dekeyser.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Rather excited about this 💫 From January onwards, I will start a five year research project investigating how AI is altering the nature and features of authoritarianism. The project will trace AI tech across four countries & domains. More info about the project, and team hiring plans, coming soon.
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The British Polling Council @britpollingcouncil.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Statement from the British Polling Council www.britishpollingcouncil.org/channel-4-ne...
britishpollingcouncil.org
Channel 4 News Investigation – 3rd September 2026 – re: Reform UK...
Channel 4 News Investigation – 3rd September 2026 – re: Reform UK involving BPC member JL Partners
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Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation. 🔗 Read the exclusive story on Substack:
channel4news.substack.com
Exclusive: Nigel Farage filmed undercover celebrating secret new foreign donations
Undercover footage verified by Channel 4 News reveals a secret plot by senior Reform UK figures to break the law on party donations. A leading legal expert is now calling for a criminal investigation.
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Daniel Devine @danjdevine.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I am still overwhelmed and processing being awarded this grant. It funds a 5-year project from Jan 2027 on how trust can bolster support for major policy action on climate, redistribution, and crime prevention. You can read more here: danjdevine.github.io/contrust/ bsky.app/profile/erc....
danjdevine.github.io
CONTRUST
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Chris Butler @chrisbutlerpol.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Very surprised and delighted that my lead-authored article with @robfordmancs.bsky.social & @martamiori.bsky.social has won the BJPIR John Peterson Best Article Prize for 2025! If only I could find a uni to employ me I would keep trying to produce research at this level 🤣
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
‘The simple fact is that politics is an increasingly dangerous profession. The great risk is that these perils will further reduce the already diminished pool of people who think that “getting into politics” is a sensible pursuit.’ theconversation.com/how-politica...
theconversation.com
How political life in Britain became so dangerous
The security of politicians has increasingly been in the spotlight.
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Eugene McCann @ejmccann.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The journal Urban Geography is recruiting a Frontline Editor (Jan 2027 for 3 years). Applications due by Sept 18 👇 www.urbangeographyjournal.org/news
urbangeographyjournal.org
News → Urban Geography
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
How Place-Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent New article in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social with Gerry Stoker, @daisyblackburn.bsky.social and @drjennings.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
How Place‐Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent
Resentment felt by people in areas that have suffered from social and economic decline is a significant driver of populist backlash—‘the revenge of the places that don't matter’. An effective place-b...
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
How Place-Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent New article in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social with Gerry Stoker, @daisyblackburn.bsky.social and @drjennings.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
How Place‐Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent
Resentment felt by people in areas that have suffered from social and economic decline is a significant driver of populist backlash—‘the revenge of the places that don't matter’. An effective place-b...
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
'How Place-Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent' Our latest essay on place and discontent is out today in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social Free to read ➡️ doi.org/10.1111/1467...
How Place-Based Policy Could Counter Populist Discontent

Gerry Stoker, Daisy Blackburn, Nick Clarke, Will Jennings

Resentment felt by people in areas that have suffered from social and economic decline is a significant driver of populist backlash—‘the revenge of the places that don't matter’. An effective place-based strategy could provide something of an antidote to populist discontent. In power, populist leaders are arch-centralisers, organising government to dance to their tune. By focusing on place, UK government can respond to people's feelings of being neglected by Westminster and give them the power and tools to tackle issues that matter to their community. Drawing on a survey conducted in England in 2025, we show that, although place-based grievance is widespread, people still express pride in place and see unfulfilled potential, while negative perceptions reflect the material condition of local areas. There is demand for state intervention, but little faith in the ability of central government to deliver. In response, a place-based strategy requires a new style of multilevel governance followed by a slower, more place-sensitive push towards devolved government.
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I feel seen
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 31/07/2026
"Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience." New today in the Society's journal 'Transactions': Joe Moran 'On Detail in Historical Writing': bit.ly/44UMi8C Now available OA @joemoransblog.bsky.social @massobsarchive.bsky.social #Skystorians 1/2
Opening page of the Transactions article 'On Detail in Historical Writing' by Joe Moran. 

Full abstract: "This Comment considers the role of detail in historical writing, inflected through my own experience of writing ‘trade’ books for a general rather than specialist readership. I argue for the value of the detail that is slightly recalcitrant, that is more than just flesh on the bones of an argument or evidence marshalled to make a point. Detail is itself a kind of argument and thus, since beauty and elegance in writing derive from economy, a way of making a point without belabouring it. The gratuitous fact can be seductive, suggesting that the world has a randomness and overabundance that can't easily be rounded up into a dataset. Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience. They correct our tendency to fixate on one story, to focus on the eventful at the expense of the marginal, and to invent a false unity of experience that erases social differences. With their obdurate specificity, they can shatter our presumptions about the past. I explore these ideas with reference to modern literature (Flaubert, Chekhov), the Mass-Observation archive and examples from my own work in contemporary cultural history and family history."
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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
We've just sent our latest directive out! Our three topics this time are 'Wealthy and the Rich', 'Corruption' and 'Books'. You can read the full directive, including info on our comissioners and collaborators, over on our website: massobs.org.uk/pastdirectiv...
massobs.org.uk
List of past directives - Mass Observation Archive
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Where the young and old get news (Times, via Ofcom) Tom Calver www.thetimes.com/article/f469...
Chart: Young and old get their news from very different places

4 social media sites (Instagram 40%) are top for 18-24, with BBC sources at 16-21%

BBC One is 65% for 75+
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Daniel Devine @danjdevine.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Unbelievably, there are *two* academic jobs at Cardiff University. One in British politics (seemingly broadly defined) cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/53... One in political behaviour/opinion 🙌 cardiffuniweb.eploy.net/vacancies/52...
cardiffuniweb.eploy.net
Lecturer in Politics - Teaching and Research in Law Building | Internal & External Website
View details and apply for this Lecturer in Politics - Teaching and Research vacancy in Law Building. Lecturer in Politics - Teaching & Research School of Law and Politics The School of Law a...
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Felicity Callard @felicitycallard.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
If you haven't yet signed the petition against the attacks on University of Exeter staff, here it is
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Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
One of the findings in our book The Good Politician was that politicians are increasingly expected to fulfil contradictory stereotypes - to be both ordinary and extraordinary...
cambridge.org
The Good Politician
Cambridge Core - European Studies - The Good Politician
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Underrated post
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Ben Phillips @benphillips1989.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.
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Nick Clarke @nickclarkegeo.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Read this earlier today. So much to read at the moment, but I’d put this top of your pile!
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Dylan Difford @dylandifford.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
So how did we get here, with Starmer on the way out after two years? To some extent, it does go back to the beginning. It was not an enthusiastic victory for Labour. Getting rid of the Tories was the top reason people voted for them in 2024, though with their message of 'Change' also resonating.
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Christabel Cooper @christabelcoops.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
It is extremely important that Labour understands that the movement of voters between Lab and Ref was not the crucial factor, it was consolidation of the anti-Ref vote and Lab voters turning out in droves. Otherwise Burnham will make the same mistakes as Starmer in targeting only one set of voters.
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George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Reform have now lost six by-elections in a row in England, Scotland and Wales. Their national poll rating is 26% – below Labour in 1983 – and Farage’s approval rating is -37. They’re very far from the voice of the people and need to stop being treated as such.
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Ruth Curtice @ruthcurtice.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
As debates rage about where to get the money for higher defence spending, it’s important we have a clear picture of how we spent the peace dividend while it was around. Thread 🧵⤵️
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Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Don't think people realise quite how deeply split by age current voting intention is. This is the latest YouGov for under-50s: Green: 26% Lab: 18% Reform: 14% Tories: 12% LD: 11% And over 50s: Reform: 36% Tory: 22% Lab: 16% LD: 12% Greens: 9%
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Torsten Bell @torstenbell.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Blair putting on full display what is in many ways his special ability - to lay out a political argument grounded in his own view of global trends (globalisation in the 2000s, tech in the 2020s). But… institute.global/insights/pol...
institute.global
The Labour Party Is Playing With Fire Over Its Future and the Future of the Country
In this essay, Tony Blair sets out the need for a new agenda for Britain.
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Helen McCarthy @historianhelen.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
My Pimlott lecture is available to read open access! It argues two things: that everyday understandings of old age are profoundly shaped by family relationships; and that how we narrate those intimate ties has changed in important ways over the past fifty years. academic.oup.com/tcbh/article...
academic.oup.com
Family stories: retirement, old age, and generational thinking in Britain since the 1970s
Abstract. When we look for everyday understandings of retirement and old age in the recent past, what we frequently find are family stories: of a grandfath
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Rhythm Colour no. 1076 (1939) by Sonia Delaunay, painter and designer #WomensArt
Abstract painting with circles and intersecting lines in vivid colours
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Mass Observation Archive @massobsarchive.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
It was a busy 12th May for this particular diarist! Don't forget that tomorrow is our national diary day! We welcome contributions from all ages, especially when they are recounting days as busy as this one! Find out more about how to submit your diary at massobs.org.uk/12th-may/
massobs.org.uk
12th May - Mass Observation Archive
Our 12th May diary day is your chance to be part of recording everyday life. Sending us your dairy helps us record everyday life in the UK.
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Janet Few @janetfew.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Don't forget that it is @massobsarchive.bsky.social diary day. Anyone can contribute to this wonderful social history archive - anyone in the UK can submit massobs.org.uk/12th-may/
massobs.org.uk
12th May - Mass Observation Archive
Our 12th May diary day is your chance to be part of recording everyday life. Sending us your dairy helps us record everyday life in the UK.
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