iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I woke up yesterday thinking I was going to have a normal day but wound up performing with 35 strangers and Ólafur Arnalds in the Hammersmith Apollo

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Somebody's flaunting their library access

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

After a wonderful week in Leuven for an interdisciplinary summer school on health and healing, I'm afraid I will especially miss my hotel room windowsill where many pages were read and rambly voice notes were sent

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

To return the favor of @wendybm.bsky.social sharing a delightfully hokey tourist guide to Glastonbury, here's one for Salem that just surfaced from my bookshelf!

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Happy 160th anniversary of the first transatlantic telegraph cable landing in Newfoundland to all who celebrate!

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

in case of emergency: steps 1-3: pull red handle step 4: remove airplane door step 5: enjoy the beautiful view and contemplate life

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

excuse me, the geese would like a tarot reading

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Reposted by Nienke Groskamp

Wendybm @wendybm.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

one for @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social as per chat. I thought it was really interesting that this was being reported in a local newspaper in England (13/9/1859)

a very long newspaper description of a spiritualist wedding in 1859

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Some editor felt it necessary to include a "gnaws-eating" (read: nauseating) joke between serious notices. Ha ha. From the Spiritualist newspaper "The Banner of Light", oct 7, 1876

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Another great spirit photograph. On the chair is London physician and mountaineer Stanhope Templeman Speer; standing behind him is William Stainton Moses, founder of London's College for Psychic Studies (still active!). The interesting figure is his 'spirit' control Rector.

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

when your friend texts "shall we buy a masonic hall in Norwich" you don't ask questions, you just do what needs to be done www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/7...

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

1878 diary entry: "The poor man who was working in the shed of Mr. Leet, who has been bringing detonating powders from L to analyze, was blown up today and instantly killed." 😳

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Some flowers pressed in 1878 and still beautifully intact

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

One early quibble with my american partner was that I suggested making chinese noodles and he said ‘we had noodles last night‘ referring to spaghetti. And I was shocked that these would be in the same category for him because to me these were absolutely not similar at all

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

The spiritualist lady whose diary I'm reading apparently sat for a spirit photograph with the famous William H. Mumler, but she is not pleased with its results! Here's a picture of Mary Todd Lincoln, Abe's widow, with her beloved husband behind her in spirit.

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I'm reading the diaries of a young woman from rural Vermont, 1869, and she constantly misspelled "mopped" and thereby ends up moping almost every day :(

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Yesterday I visited Oxford to take part in the @bodyinhistoryox.bsky.social conference. Academically it was great, but I must say that the highlight was to sit on a square drinking Aperol slushies at golden hour. Thanks everyone!!

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Reposted by Nienke Groskamp

will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

“Great cartomancer and palm reader If you want to know your entire future by the cards or the lines of your hand, come to the person who lives at 18 rue du Collège, the only vendor of AMERICAN POMMADE which will radically cure sores, hair loss and encourage growth” (Journal de Roanne, 9.12.1883)

Screenshot of news advert

Grande Cartomancienne et Chiromancienne.
Si vous voulez savoir votre avenir lout entier par les carles et les lignes de la main, adressez-vous à la personne qui habite rue du Collège, 18, laquelle est seule dépositaire de la pommade américaine qui guérit radicalement les dartres, la chute des cheveux el favorise la croissance.
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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Weird moment when the movie matches the mug (mug is from Zabar’s, a deli on the upper west side in new york)

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I had the best time on the heterodox healing panel at #SSHM2026 with the wonderful and sharp @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social and kitt price (adjectives apply to both)!

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Reposted by Nienke Groskamp

Kristof Smeyers @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Hello and goodbye #SSHM2026 from spiritual healing! We were (1) US spiritualists and antenatal thought (@nienkegroskamp.bsky.social), (2) René Allendy's esoteric medicine (kitt price) and (3) Belgian lay exorcists (you guessed it)

in an auditorium, man stands in front of a screen, it reads: 'RITE OR WRONG Lay exorcists between medicine & religion. Kristof Smeyers'

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Did not know Leeds is such a mormon hub

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

The brilliant @caitjan.bsky.social and Helen Stratford in action, talking about (and drawing out) the history productivity and disability #SSHM2026 @sshmedicine.bsky.social

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Ooooo I just learned that one of my first ever publications made it onto a syllabus at Johns Hopkins. A big day for a little author.

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Reposted by Nienke Groskamp

Kristof Smeyers @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

New-to-science spider, halfway through "Science for Dummies"

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

okay okay one more: 1887 girlies coming out to stargaze; the weather was too cold for the boys

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

What every 14-year old girl wants: The History of the Dutch Republic From The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) · Sun, Dec 24, 1893

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

In 1893, Ella Wheeler Wilcox predicted that by 1993, the "dangerous power of large monopolies and vast corporations" would be a thing of the past. Sounds great...

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Playing with some ectoplasm today in the Cambridge UL special collections reading room!

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Another day, another yap about reproductive history! This time at the termly Cambridge Reproduction Forum. I had five minutes to talk about the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and how it linked visions of global evolution, sex radicalism, and metaphysical religious movements.

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Newspapers are so fun. What do you mean the notice of one of my main characters' arrest is immediately followed by instructions on how to cook beets

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I had such a blast talking about spirits in Leuven last week! Many thanks for organising @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social !

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Reposted by Nienke Groskamp

Karl Bell @karlbell.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Really enjoyed the 'Performing Evil: The Mediation and Display of Diabolical Spirits, 1700-2000' conference in Leuven. The panels worked really well and there is some excellent research being done around this theme. Many thanks to @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social for organising and being a great host!

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

These drawings are from a young girl (c. 8-12 years old) in Cambridge, MA, c. 1876-1880. They depict her daily activities and milestones: visiting friends, getting her ears pierced, taking trips to the Hudson River. I'm completely mesmerized by this young artist! www.masshist.org/database/vie...

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

1901 ad. After all the Ozempic ads I'm getting on YouTube and Spotify it is refreshing but also terrifying to see there is nothing new under the sun.

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Can’t share videos on here so I will post a link to my instagram: I made a video montage of my car and train journeys across the US. I didn’t film all of it but I traveled from DC to Boston and from Boston to New York to Pittsburgh by train and I loved it! www.instagram.com/reel/DX5JbW0...

instagram.com

regen.bui on Instagram: "america (from the window)"

america (from the window)View all comments

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Reposted by Nienke Groskamp

Alice Wickenden @awickenden.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

people also ask: who was Henry VIII smelly wife?

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

After three months, six states, four homes, ten archives and probably about three dozen academic coffee dates, my US adventure has come to an end. Archival visits were punctuated by vibrant discussions at Harvard's GenderSci Lab, my academic home for the semester. (1/?)

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

confession: I bought a harvard sweater but couldn’t name 3 songs

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Today in the West Village I overheard a retired poetry professor marvel that she was "ninety-fucking-four years old" while a priest and a monk entered the same coffee shop. I love New York

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Nienke Groskamp @nienkegroskamp.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I love the archives. Here is a diary from 1875 complete with dried flowers, beautifully preserved

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