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David Turner

@profdavidturner.bsky.social
7.6K followers 2.4K following 42 posts

Disability historian, Director of the Research Institute in Culture and Communities, Swansea University. Vice Chair Disability Arts Cymru. Disability: A History of Resistance out now from The Bodley Head / Vintage.

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Reposted by David Turner
Elle | they/them | Published as Lynsay Hodges @lynsayhodges.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A brilliant article on how the current conversations around the undeserving disabled person harkens back hundreds of years — but that disabled people have always campaigned for their rights in the face of such oppression
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Dr Beckie Rutherford (she/her) @beckierutherford.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"Including disabled people in the story of Britain, which is what the book grandly tries to do, is about showing that disabled people are always there and that disability isn’t some kind of modern trend." Extremely timely reflections from @profdavidturner.bsky.social's new book project ...
substack.com
David Turner: “Disabled people have always been part of history"
The historian on his landmark new book ‘Disability: A History of Resistance’
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
'Disability history largely remains a missing part of the UK's story. Understanding it helps explain why contemporary debates often feel so fraught' New article by me in The Conversation theconversation.com/todays-argum...
theconversation.com
Today’s arguments about disability benefits have been raging for 500 years
From Tudor welfare claims to modern PIP assessments, disabled people have long faced suspicion and bureaucracy.
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Chronic Historian ♾️♿️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💜🖤💛🦓🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🍉🐺🐈‍⬛🧑‍🌾🌱🌳 @enbycriphistorian.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
OMG I am so excited - not only is this out, but it’s out in audiobook through Libro.fm right now so I can listen to it with a credit rn and quite possibly ask for a nice hardback copy for Xmas! I do find audiobooks a big accessibility aid as do a lot of other disabled folk so this is WONDERFUL ❤️
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
What happens if we place the UK university crisis in the Humanities (and some Social Sciences) within the context of students with known disabilities? We know that regional cold spots increasingly limit HE choices for many disadvantaged students. What do the stats suggest for disability? A 🧵 1/5
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Daniel Blackie @danielblackie.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Finally got my hands on this #DisHist nugget from @profdavidturner.bsky.social. Congratulations, David - smashing to see it out in the wild!
Photo of the book Disability: A History of Resistance
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AMEND - eArly Modern European NeuroDivergence @amendproject.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
We're so excited about these amazing new books! Coming soon to a library or bookstore near you!🤩📚
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
My 500 year history of disabled people's political activism is out now! Thanks to The Independent for making it their non-fiction book of the month! www.penguin.co.uk/books/455782... #disabilityhistory
penguin.co.uk
Disability
A ground-breaking history of modern Britain that puts the experiences of disabled people to the fore for the first time. Despite there being more than 16 million disabled people in the UK today, disa...
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Sam Read Bookseller @samreadbookseller.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Happy publication week to these excellent books...
A stack of books on a stone wall with green fells beyond...
☀️ Claire Daverley, People in Love (Fig Tree)
☀️ Cassandra Neyenesch, A Little Bit Bad (Fig Tree)
☀️ Maggie O’Farrell, Land (Tinder Press)
☀️ Fiona Mozley, Awake Awake (John Murray)
☀️ Melissa Albert, The Children (Bloomsbury Circus)
☀️ Tony Tan, Hong Kong Cult Recipes (Murdoch)
☀️ Layla McCay, The Queer Bookshelf (Scribe)
☀️ Paul Maunder, For a Yellow Jersey: The Scandalous History of the Women's Tour de France (Quercus)
☀️ Rebecca Tamas, The Book of Mysteries: Wild Time and the Ritual Year (Pushkin ONE)
☀️ Jean-Yves Mollier and George Miller (trans), A History of Booksellers and the Bookshop (Mountain Leopard Press)
☀️ Katie Clapham, Receipts from the Bookshop (Phoenix)
☀️ Natasha Carthew, Rough Edges: Where Land Meets Water, the Untold Stories of Coastline Communities (Sceptre)
☀️ David Turner, Disability: A History of Resistance (The Bodley Head)
☀️ Thomas Crowther, Nature's Echo: Harnessing ancient feedback loops to heal a changing planet (Torva)
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Thanks for this article about my new book in Disability News Service. Disability a History of Resistance releases next Thursday in print, audio and ebook formats #disavilityhistory
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
My (very small) office for the week, recording the audiobook of Disability: a History of Resistance. Radical Newport seems a fitting place to be recording my words on disabled people's role in 19th century working class struggles.
Recording studio vocal booth. A microphone is positioned above an iPad.A book Disability a History of Resistance by David Turner. The cover shows a man without arms or legs in 18th century costume.A white banner with the slogan AS ONE WE ARE STRONG, attributed to Zephaniah Williams
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
A great event towards the end of Jan - m'learned colleague Daniel Gordon, who recently took voluntary redundancy from academia, is going to reflect on how that feels and what it's like. Since many academics are going to be in that position, important. 👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-univers...
eventbrite.co.uk
UK Universities in Crisis: Reflections on Leaving Salaried Academia
Join fellow Gramscian Daniel Gordon, navigating personal reflections on the fractures of UK Academia.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
It was great to be invited by aMai Musié to be part of this article on disability access and representation in the arts and cultural sector alongside Kyle Lewis Jordan and Touretteshero's Jess Thom. www.artsprofessional.co.uk/feature/noth...
artsprofessional.co.uk
Nothing Without Us: Disability in the arts and cultural sector - Arts Professional
Dr Mai Musié, senior manager at the National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE), speaks to three leaders working at the intersection of research and the cultural sector about disability...
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 08/11/2025
30 years ago today the Disability Discrimination Act became law in the UK. We're at Insole Court, Cardiff today for #BeingHumanFestival25 reflecting on it's legacy
Silver balloons spelling out Happy Birthday next to photos showing disability activism campaigns from the 1990s
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Great to be at the Being Human Festival launch at the BFI, showcasing our event on disability activism and the Disability Discrimination Act #disabiliyhistory #publichumanities
Sign saying Creative Protest and Celebration: 30 Years of the Disability Discrimination Act Young man wearing black using a badge making machine watched by several people Display of various colourful posters and photos showing aspects of disability activism from the early 1990s
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Out now! William Dodd Fights the Factories - me discussing the Industrial Revolution, factory reform and the history of Victorian disability activism www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
History's Heroes - William Dodd Fights the Factories - BBC Sounds
A worker takes on the factory system and demands an end to brutal conditions.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Out now! William Dodd Fights the Factories - me discussing the Industrial Revolution, factory reform and the history of Victorian disability activism www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
bbc.co.uk
History's Heroes - William Dodd Fights the Factories - BBC Sounds
A worker takes on the factory system and demands an end to brutal conditions.
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Helen Ellis @hjellis.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Request for help from the autistic community! 💜♾️ I'm writing a book about autistic people's relationships with food & drink, and I want to include more personal examples/stories than just my own If anyone is interested in contributing, this survey link has more info: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PGCYTJP
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
My talk on 18th century histories of disability and resistance at the Institute of Historical Research is now available as a podcast www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
history.ac.uk
Histories of Resistance: Disability, Agency and Embodiment in the Long Eighteenth Century
British History in the Long 18th Century Semianr
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Lysistrata’s Stone Phallus @lubottom.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
7 years later and I still whisper, “We’re disabled, Daniel, not werewolves” to myself like a sacred mantra whenever I see a non-disabled person discover ableism like it’s the latest hipster indie band.
Daniel Lawson @DanielLaw1998: Disabled parking should only be valid during business hours 9 to 5, Monday to Friday. 

I cannot see any reason why people with genuine disabilities would be out beyond these times.

Jennifer Lee Rosman @JenLRossman:
We’re disabled, Daniel, we’re not werewolves
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 17/07/2025
How do history undergraduates routinely use generative AI in the classroom? In a new post on the RHS blog, David Clayton, Henrice Altink & Esther Wilson review their recent project: 'Piloting the responsible and effective use of generative AI in undergraduate History Teaching' bit.ly/40loJUG 1/2
Screen with text for RHS blog post: ‘Piloting the responsible and effective use of generative AI in undergraduate History Teaching’.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
This week! Creative consultation event on Welsh Government's Disabled People's Action Plan organised by Autistic UK and Disability Arts Cymru www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/my-life-my...
eventbrite.co.uk
My Life My Voice Creative Consultation
Eventbrite - Autistic UK presents My Life My Voice Creative Consultation - Thursday, July 17, 2025 | Friday, July 18, 2025 - Find event and ticket information.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
This week! Creative consultation event on Welsh Government's Disabled People's Action Plan organised by Autistic UK and Disability Arts Cymru www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/my-life-my...
eventbrite.co.uk
My Life My Voice Creative Consultation
Eventbrite - Autistic UK presents My Life My Voice Creative Consultation - Thursday, July 17, 2025 | Friday, July 18, 2025 - Find event and ticket information.
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OldRailwayAccidents @rwldproject.bsky.social · 05/07/2025
OUT FOR ONE MONTH! The updated Railway Work, Life & Death project database of accidents to British & Irish railway staff, 1855-1939. Exactly a month ago we added 69,000 records - & 2000 of you have downloaded, with 14.6k views: thank you! See:
railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk
69,000 railway company records released! - Railway Work, Life & Death
An introduction to our new data release - railway staff accident records produced by English & Welsh railway companies, 1855-1929.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
Today! 👇
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
Next week I'll be speaking on the long history of disabled people's agency and resistance at the Institute of Historical Research. Everyone welcome! www.history.ac.uk/events/histo...
history.ac.uk
Histories of Resistance: Disability, Agency and Embodiment in the Long Eighteenth Century
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Welsh Government's Disabled People's Rights plan is now open for consultation. Follow the link to read the recommendations and have your say: www.gov.wales/draft-disabl...
gov.wales
Draft Disabled People’s Rights Plan | GOV.WALES
We want your views on the draft Disabled People’s Rights Plan.
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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Here we go folks: hitchcockian.medium.com/this-is-the-...
hitchcockian.medium.com
This is the paper I gave to historians about “AI” last week.
I was at Queen Mary University in London last week at a charming conference that turned out to be mainly about modern British history. I…
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OldRailwayAccidents @rwldproject.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Monday is International Workers Memorial Day - #IWMD #IWMD25 This is a really important day for the Railway Work, Life & Death project, given our focus. On Monday, every hour for 24 hours, we'll post details of past UK railway staff hurt by their work: follow #IWMDHourByHour
Line drawn image showing around 250 railwaymen, with a caption 'One hundred times as many railway men as are here shown were injured - 471 of them fatally - through accidents on the railways in the United Kingdom last year' for 1915.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
We're hiring! Postdoctoral researcher post on the AMEND project exploring early modern neurodivergence, working with Dr Laura Seymour www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMI655/p...
jobs.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Associate at Swansea University
Searching for an academic job? Explore this Postdoctoral Research Associate opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
ICYMI: the many-headed monster has just launched a new mini-series on Visual Culture in #EarlyModern England. Over the next month we celebrating the relaunch of British Printed Image to 1700 by publishing guest posts on the theme. 1st post tomorrow (Thurs)!🗃️ manyheadedmonster.com/2025/02/24/a...
manyheadedmonster.com
A new life for ‘British Printed Images to 1700’
Laura Sangha This post introduces our new mini-series Visual Culture in early modern England. Guest posts in the mini-series will be published over the course of the next month – we will add links …
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Claire L Jones @claireljones.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Check out this blog post by Jess Gregory, my PhD student, on indecent advertisements in public toilets in the late c19th/early 20th: blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/the-history-...
blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk
The history of ‘indecent advertisements’ in public toilets - The National Archives blog
PhD student Jessica Gregory examines illicit advertising in the early 20th century.
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Am @ambobdim.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Artist y Mis Disability Arts Cymru Artist of the Month: Rightkeysonly 🎶 An EDM artist, known for bringing experimental beats and heavy baselines to the music sector of Wales. Dysgwch fwy am ei sengl newydd 'dRip' nawr: amam.cymru/disability-a...
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
What a pleasure #BSECS2025 was! Thanks to the organisers for inviting me and for everyone who came to hear my keynote, the biggest gig of my career!
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
Excited to be giving the keynote at #BSECS2025. Looking forward to meeting everyone and catching up with some old friends.
View of Pembroke College Oxford showing the Chapel and green grass of a quadrangle.
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Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre @heritagewshc.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
A fascinating resource comprising union & labour movement journals from @mrcwarwick.bsky.social
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Chris Addison @mrchrisaddison.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Hello, Radio 3. Do you have a picture of Béla Bartók right at the moment the lead detective asks him to open his fridge?
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 13/12/2024
As part of Disability History Month I did an interview for the BBC's Access All podcast, discussing histories of disability and work and busting some myths. Listen (or access the transcript) here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Sounds - Access All: Disability News and Mental Health, New kids’ toys launched to help people with hidden disabilities
Toy figures wearing lanyards could help children understand hidden disabilities
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Rachel Anderson @rach-anderson.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
My very first article has been published in the American Historical Review! ✨ In it I've transcribed a handful of petitions that help us to understand how people began to piece their lives back together following an outbreak of plague 👇 academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
academic.oup.com
The Lancashire Plague Petitions: Life after the Plague in Early Modern England
Abstract. Historians typically explore the resilience of past societies in terms of large-scale outcomes like population levels. In contrast, this paper ex
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Lawrence Carter-Long @lcarterlong.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Lowercase #hashtags are inaccessible to blind folks—and they confuse everyone. In 2012, #susanalbumparty earned singer Susan Boyle the wrong kind of attention. Capitalizing #EachNewWord (aka #CamelCase) would’ve prevented the #SocialMediaFail. #LetThisGuideYou #AccessHelpsEveryone #Disability
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
It's Disability History Month and there are lots of resources on this year's theme of employment and livelihood (including a long interview with me) on the #UKDHM website ukdhm.org/category/res...
ukdhm.org
2024: Disability Livelihood and Employment – UK Disability History Month
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Horus the Elder 𓅃𓅨𓂋 ♿ @horusofnekhen.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Come visit my current temporary exhibition: MAPPING AN UNEVEN PATH: STORIES OF HEALTH AND DISABILITY AT VERULAMIUM 15th November 2024 - 23rd February 2025 Explore what archaeology can tell us about Roman ideas about health and disability. www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/map...
Portrait poster for the exhibition Mapping an Uneven Path: Stories of Health and Disability at Verulamium. In the foreground an illustration of a Roman man with a bandaged leg and walking staff walks along a jagged path. In the background, several other illustrated characters - such as a doctor, a mother and child - stand behind a green mist. Some butterflies float around the image.A tabletop case containing a number of museum artefacts and labels. They include a small metal votive foot, some coins depicting the Roman goddess Salus, and a 20th century prayer card from a psychiatric hospital.Two portrait panels on a wall with colourful illustrations. One depicts her mother handing her child to a wet-nurse. The other depicts two Roman veterans; one with a prosthetic arm, the other with scars along his back.Label in a display case showing some Roman bath tiles. The label is written by a disabled person, and talks about physical access to the baths and body image in the Roman world.
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Emily Cock @emilyncock.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
UK #DisabilityHistoryMonth starts today! I'll be trying to share interesting material & historians throughout. But, as good an introduction as any: last year I spoke on 'Disability & Mobility Aids in Britain 1600–1800' & the video & transcript are here. dremilycock.wordpress.com/2024/03/18/d...
dremilycock.wordpress.com
Disability and Mobility Aids in Britain 1600–1800
In November 2023 I spoke online as part of Cardiff University’s acknowledgement of UK Disability History Month. The recording is now available here: Disability and Mobility Aids in Britain 16…
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History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 15/11/2024
Long before the modern disabled people’s movement, people with impairments were claiming disability as a social and political identity. @profdavidturner.bsky.social investigates the development of disabled people’s activism in Victorian Britain.
historyworkshop.org.uk
Disabled People’s Activism in Victorian Britain
Long before the modern disabled people's movement, people with impairments were claiming disability as a social and political identity.
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Evan Sullivan @evanpsullivan.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Disability Historians starter pack. The more the merrier: go.bsky.app/4MB7iob
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Disability History Month begins this week and I'll be presenting a short overview of the history of disability and work at the online launch on Thursday. Details of the event and how to join can be found here: ukdhm.org/events/
ukdhm.org
Events – UK Disability History Month
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Mary O’Toole @drawmycare.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
#History hat on here, link to a brilliant online #Disability #coproduced #archive (needs print version for deposit libraries) But my interest area is the stuff happening outside these state policy/institutions 1960s on #GapsInTheArchives www.lancslearningdisabilityinstitutions.org.uk
lancslearningdisabilityinstitutions.org.uk
Lancashire Learning Disability Institutions | A people’s history of institutional life
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 07/10/2024
We tend to position disabled people in 'cared for' roles in histories of the family, but in 19th century working class households they were also carers and contributors. My new article for JEMH journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
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David Turner @profdavidturner.bsky.social · 03/10/2024
Out today! My piece for History Workshop on the long history of disabled people's political activism and the Victorian precursors of the social model of disability
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