iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Kristof Smeyers @kristofsmeyers.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

6-year fully funded research and teaching assistant job at University of Ghent in the fields of English literature/cultural theory, history/translation history, linguistics, language acquisition, communication. Own projects are welcome! Details: jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-As...

jobs.ugent.be

Assistant English

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404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026

SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:

404media.co

We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility

We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Very pleased to say I've had another article published based on my PhD research. 'Magical thinking, folklore, and pluralities of belief: Death omens in nineteenth-century rural England' is out now in the Journal of Victorian Culture @jofvictculture.bsky.social Reply if you'd like link to read it

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Interesting to see this gravestone from 1892 outside the walls of the municipal cemetery in Ronchamp, France, seemingly to Madame Veuve, a "sage femme" or wise woman. 👀

Gravestone outside cemetery walls from 1892 for "Madame Veuve, sage femme" or wise woman

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Just doing revisions on an article about death omens and see that my new word count is 7313 👀👀👀

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 12/07/2026

Amnesty International put out a major report documenting the influence of UK based anti trans gender critical organizations and their funding. Within hours, GC groups threatened defamation lawsuits and Amnesty was forced to pull it down. Proving the point they're anti rights. Anyways, here it is.

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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I've signed and sent a letter - from authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, scholars and performers - to express our deep concern at @exeter.ac.uk’s troubling plans to make mass redundancies within the Humanities Dept @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social. I would love it if you read and shared widely.

Dear Vice Chancellor, Provost, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Executive Dean for the Faculty of Humanities,
Arts and Social Sciences and Chair of Council (cc Director of Human Resources and Chief Financial
Officer)
We write, as authors, broadcasters, journalists, artists, publishers, academics and performers in the public
sphere, to express our deep concern at the University of Exeter’s plans to make redundancies within the
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). The cuts come at a point when Exeter is not in
deficit, and they are not distributed equally across the university. With 114 of the proposed 153 FTE
academic redundancies falling within HASS, the University is dismantling areas of established excellence
and international renown in a Russell Group University whose reputation is known to be outstanding in the
Humanities. Several of the disciplines subject to the proposed cuts, including Classics and Ancient History,
English and Creative Writing, History, and Theology and Religion are among the UK’s strongest according
to league tables, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF),
and other recognised indicators, including QS World Rankings.
The extent of the proposed cuts is both shocking and misguided. Exeter is seeking to make up to 20
academics redundant in English and Creative Writing, out of a headcount of 62. In Languages and Visual
Culture upwards of 17 colleagues will be made redundant, decimating subjects including Art History and
Visual Culture, French, German, Italian, Hispanic Studies, Russian and Chinese. 5 posts will go or have
gone in Classics and Ancient History (2 academics have already left), out of a staff body of 20. In Theology
and Religion up to 5 academics will be made redundant out of a group of 13. In History over 17 colleagues
will be made redundant, out of a staff body of 53. In the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies staff are
facing a headcount reduction of almost a third (6FTE out …

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

The 7.5m tall menhir of Kerangallou in Trégunc (Finistère) was clearly once in a popular meeting place but is now on private land I believe. This card by Le Tendre is from c.1905 but the negative was probably taken pre-1904. #StandingStoneSunday.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Two lily flowers blooming in the pond!!! 😍

Small pond with lily pads and two white lily flowers

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Paul Kirkley @paulkirkley.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Having failed to interest any papers in this story, I resorted to writing a letter to The Times, like in olden times. So when all that's left to watch is NASCAR racing sponsored by Cheetos, I can at least say I tried. #ITV #Sky #Comcast

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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

If you're an independent historian (freelance or otherwise unattached to an academic institute), do check out @indyhistnetwork.bsky.social headed by @lucyjanesantos.bsky.social and @emmabastin.bsky.social! They will be hosting semi-regular networking events. Great fun!

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

These fennel plants at the edge of this field smell amazing! Lovely aniseed zing.

Blue skies with large green and yellow fennel plants edging a field

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Cornish Skipper #FBPE #RejoinEU 🇪🇺🔶🌹💚💙 @cornishskipper.wsocial.eu · 07/07/2026

“England is heading for a 5bn-litre daily water shortfall by 2055 – so why is the government fast-tracking one of the most water-hungry industries there is, and letting it keep its consumption private, asks campaigner Adele Walton” www.thenerve.news/p/adele-walt...

thenerve.news

We’re being asked to save two buckets of water a day. Meanwhile data centres drink a town’s worth

England is heading for a 5bn-litre daily water shortfall by 2055 – so why is the government fast-tracking one of the most water-hungry industries there is, and letting it keep its consumption private,...

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Nigel Farage £5 million 'gift' from a cryptocurrency billionaire was reported to the National Crime Agency by bankers who were concerned it was money laundering. The whistleblowers alerted the NCA as they were "not satisfied they could trace the ultimate origin of the funds."

theguardian.com

Revealed: Farage’s £5m gift reported to UK crime agency over money laundering concerns

Exclusive: Latest Guardian revelation about gift from cryptocurrency tycoon comes as Reform UK leader forces byelection

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

good to see this. Musk is clearly getting visibly angry at the rising awareness of how many hundreds of thousands of people his DOGE wilding spree has already killed, millions more if this stays in place into the future. Everyone can participate in spreading the word about all the blood on his hands

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Esther Liberman Cuenca @estherlcuenca.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I co-edit a book series for Boydell & Brewer on "The Urban World in the Middle Ages." Open to *BOOK* proposals c. 800–1600, covering urban life, societies, or cultures in Europe, Mediterranean, or Islamic world. For more info, email me, CuencaE@tamuv.edu. Happy to hear from 1st-time book authors.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Just reading about the rather hardcore punishments for murdering someone at a fair in 12th century Spain: getting 'buried alive beneath the dead person’! Yikes. And if you stole someone's fancy clothes while they were at the bath house you got chucked in a gorge.

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Charlie Rozier @rozierhistorian.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Please share: with @imc-leeds.bsky.social nearly on us, if anyone needs a lift from the east of England roughly on this route (for a very small fee) then do get in touch. I’ll be doing one pickup in Cambridge but could possibly do more on the way

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Sarah Coomer @sarahcoomer.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Nighthouse… something I’ve been faffing with for a while now. A fictionalised view from Coille Ghillie in Applecross (there’s no castle or lighthouse, never mind one like this). It’s a bit clunky and I’m not sure where to go with it from here (maybe a picture book).

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Bexhill Museum @bexhillmuseum.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

I love this page boy’s hat from our collection. (Not currently on display.) Black felt with two narrow white bands. Displaying the number 23 and a leather chin strap.

The hat is displayed on a stand in a glass display case. The ‘23’ are metal numbers in a gold colour.

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Daniel Grey @djrgrey.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Extended CFP deadline to 15 June 2026: Please do share widely!! "Belonging to the Victorians? Community, Collections, and Care" - 1 day conference 4 September 2026, keynote @janehamlett.bsky.social to be held at Wilton's Music Hall [1/9]

Sir Frederic Leighton's 1895 painting "Flaming June" with the words "Belonging to the Victorians? Community, Collections, and Care" - *Extended CFP Deadline to 15 June 2026* - A One-Day Conference, 4 September 2026 - Registration and lunch free for delegates, courtesy University of Hertfordshire.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Very witchy walk this morning! I was lucky enough to encounter a young hare and a beautiful barn owl swooping over the fields 🧙‍♀️

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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 01/06/2026

Here are the top 5 dogs of May!

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Onions went to seed so we harvested a few this morning. Not bad for a first attempt!

Red and white onions fresh from the ground

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Michael Brown @medhistoryman.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I am so excited to introduce our first film for the Victorian Hand from our project filmaker Lily Ford. It's such a cool, contemporary, and captivating blending of the Victorian and the digital, reflecting on the role of hands in thinking and learning. Check it out below!

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Sardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 28/05/2026

sign in car
no baby on board feel free to crash into me

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Saw The Christophers at the cinema the other night, really enjoyed it. The acting was superb and it was a very interesting take on who owns art. I really loved the clothes too, excellent styling!

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Dr Andrew McInnes @drbeard79.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Bluesky academics! As the sector continues to implode, what are your plan Bs? Asking for a me! I guess mine is to go back to secondary school teaching thru cover work at first? But I’d like to hear other plans because I know this plan B would make me unhappy - it’s really a Plan C or D (or F or U)

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Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

VOTE NOW for Britain's Favourite Butterfly! 🦋 Flashy, adventurous or fantastically freaky. The UK is home to 60 species of butterfly, each with their own unique story. But who will be crowned the nation's favourite? 👑 Vote for your favourite 👉 britainsfavouritebutterfly.co.uk?utm_source=S...

Centre text reads 'Britain's Favourite Butterfly' with a green button underneath that reads 'VOTING OPEN' with a green heart emoji. The text and button is surrounded by cut-out illustrations of individual butterfly species.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Trying to take a photo of the vetch green manure on the fields near me and Lupin decided to do a classic spaniel photobomb 😂

Brown spaniel running full tilt, ears flapping and tongue lolling through a field of vetch

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Anna Mazzola @annamazz.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I’m a day late for Daphne Du Maurier‘s birthday (sorry, Daphne) but here’s the notebook she used to jot down ideas for Rebecca. She wrote initial ideas in pencil in small blue exercise books before expanding on them at one of her many typewriters.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Our house is about to plunge into exam season with eldest two doing GCSEs and A Levels, so I am stress baking to keep busy and keep the revising teens well fed 😬

Cooling rack with chocolate chip cookies and sausage rolls

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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The elections in the UK yesterday are so far showing Two Englands with a gulf between them - and maybe by the end Four Britains. A Disunited Kingdom. In areas that voted heavily for Brexit, Reform got 41%. Everywhere else they got an average of 10%.

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Celine Camps @celinecamps.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

#SkyStorians I am looking for scholarship on the history of fragments (esp. of objects and/or in museum studies), i.e. studies of fragmented/damaged objects. I vaguely recall seeing a book or article about this once, but cannot find it (except a chapter by Schaffer). Any thoughts? #HistSTM 🗃️ 🏛️

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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

1/ COVER REVEAL 🧵 I'm thrilled to share the US and UK covers for SLEUTH-HOUND: THE CASE OF THE REAL SHERLOCK HOLMES, the untold story of Dr. Joseph Bell—the Victorian surgeon who inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to create the world's greatest detective. Pre-order here: shorturl.at/fdGnV

1) The US and UK covers side by side. The US cover (left) features a striking image of Bell, and has a silhouette of Holmes. The font is very ornate, and it looks very “Sherlockian.” The UK cover (right) is striking in its reds, blacks, and whites. It features a silhouette of a poison bottle, and has fingerprints all over the cover.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Yesterday was my graduation! I got to wear this splendid gown and silly hat and be presented with my PhD. Birkbeck is the most fabulous university and it was a joyful moment to see so many others get their hard earned postgraduate degrees ❤️ The end of a wonderful journey 🥳

Me, looking very pleased, standing on a staircase in Senate House wearing a dark red and blue academic gown and one of those silly PhD bonnets

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Journal of Art in Society @artinsociety.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

We see many paintings that look like photos, but here are some photos that look like paintings. Céline Laguarde’s pioneer work as a pictorial photographer in early 1900s has only recently been rediscovered. Here are some of her intriguingly atmospheric images awarewomenartists.com/en/artiste/c...

boys sitting on wall beside a river with smokestacks in distance

Person wearing hat looks over balustrade at the countryside

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English Folk Dance and Song Society @efdss.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

📣Calling all Folk Musicians Apply now for a Creative Bursary of up to £2,000 Deadline for applications: Sunday 31 May 2026. Find out more and apply now: bit.ly/4cYCT4z

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Bert’s Books @bertsbooks.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The website is really quiet at the moment. The upside of that is if you were to order right now, we’d probably dispatch it VERY quickly.

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Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Trade Card of Nathaniel Longbottom, “Supplier of Skeletons in St. Thomas's Street, Southwark,” late 18th century. Longbottom would likely have had interactions with bodysnatchers (or “resurrectionists”) to help him procure skeletons for his shop. Image: Wellcome Collection #medicalhistory

A trade card with two skeletons on either side and a small animal skeleton in the middle.

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Hurrah! Spotted my first swallow of the season this morning up by the river! Interesting to note this is the first year I saw the first swallow before hearing the first cuckoo...

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Claire Cock-Starkey @nonfictioness.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Getting really tired of the same dog walkers who insist that their dog who is barking aggressively in my dog's face 'just want to play'.

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Richard Carr @richardcarr.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

There are currently 6 permanent full time history jobs in the whole UK. 500+ PhDs being produced a year - not all of whom will want to pursue an academic year but likely most, and of course years will stack up onto each other. What a sector.

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Sam Thielmonster @samthielman.com · 20/04/2026

From “The Simpsons” house genius John Swartzwelder, interviewed in The New Yorker by Mike Sacks

It's the only way I know how to write, darn it. But I do have a trick that makes things easier for me. Since writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun, I always write my scripts all the way through as fast as I can, the first day, if possible, putting in crap jokes and pattern dialogue-
"Homer, I don't want you to do that."
"Then I won't do it."Then the next day, when I get up, the script's been written.
It's lousy, but it's a script. The hard part is done. It's like a crappy little elf has snuck into my office and badly done all my work for me, and then left with a tip of his crappy hat. All I have to do from that point on is fix it. So I've taken a very hard job, writing, and turned it into an easy one, rewriting, overnight. I advise all writers to do their scripts and other writing this way. And be sure to send me a small royalty every time you do it.

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