Reposted by Michael H WhitworthTim White @twmcltd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Back to the breaking story in Kyiv. Traumatic scenes as people cling to ledges inside the Science Uni, trapped by the flames after Russia's drone strike. Moscow's sickening lies of "we don't strike civilians" exposed again. An attack on a university, daytime, during term time. 113045
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthLyndsey Stonebridge @lyndseystonebri.bsky.social · 23/09/2026You're going to be needing specialists in: languages, narrative, history, psychology, information, mythology, conspiracies, etc, etc. then? #humanities #socialscience 1116559
Reposted by Michael H Whitworth@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I think it’s fair to say that the student journalists at Cornell are braver than the news networks who just gave up on their WH pool ban even though CNN is still being denied access. www.cornellsun.com/article/2026...cornellsun.comEDITORIAL | Cornell Won’t, We WillThe Editorial Board demands that Cornell stops protecting the alleged Chi Phi rapists through the University's opaque sexual assault policies. 342459754
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthMelissa Johnson, PhD @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026I am tired of having to pretend that the value of studying my discipline solely rests on the "marketable skills" we teach. Sometimes things are just worth knowing and doing because they make your life bigger and richer. 131213247
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthAndrew Frayn @afrayn.bsky.social · 25/09/2026We're having an online launch event for Beyond Modernism: noncanonicity in early-twentieth-century British literature, at 6pm UK on Monday 12 October. Speakers will include the editors, @nicholasbirns.bsky.social, @rsazzad.bsky.social, Chris Hopkins, +... Sign up: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/Mjsn26ZMek 12115
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthBen Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Final point on this. There’s nothing new to HO wanting lower numbers and HMT wanting higher numbers. Was ever thus (eg May vs Osborne). What is more surprising is that Mahmood never gets asked about this and the relative silence of Govt ministers (other than Rayner) on positive side of immigration. 66321
Reposted by Michael H Whitworth✨🌊 s e a 🦇 w i t c h✨ @infiniteishq.bsky.social · 27/09/2026THIS IS NOT OKAY. 2121
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthJay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 25/09/2026"AfD, CDU ban new Holocaust 'stumbling stones' in Heidenau [ . . . ] The initiators of the Heidenau ban argue that, while remembering Holocaust victims is an essential task, the placement of stones leads to 'passersby walking over or even stepping onto the names of the victims.'" My thoughts below.dw.comAfD, CDU ban new Holocaust 'stumbling stones' in HeidenauActivists, politicians and representatives of Holocaust victims reacted with anger after the center-right CDU party joined forces with the AfD to ban new Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) in the easter... 11513
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthSaul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026One from the archives In 1984 Dunnes shop worker Mary Manning refused to handle South African goods & was backed by her shop steward, Karen Gearon. Both were suspended. 9 colleagues came out in support. The strike lasted 3yrs & forced the Irish govt to ban the import of all SA goods. All heroes 382309660
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthAndy Lewis @andylewis.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Every time someone links to this film, I have to repost it. It's one of the most significant bits of British 20th century art. Everything about it is incredible. Groundbreaking music production by Daphne Oram. Amazing camera work by Wolfgang Suschitzky (who later filmed Get Carter).- 44668250
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthSarah Elizabeth Cox @oispooky.bsky.social · 24/09/20262yrs after I finished my MA History at Goldsmiths, my research rights were bought and I was hired to work as historical consultant on this TV show. It's had BAFTA and International Emmy nominations. I got a book deal, too. Goldsmiths: "No point in MA History, let's fire everyone and delete it." 627290
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthSunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Communities Secretary Angela Rayner stands by her criticisms of the Home Secretary's settlement proposals. The govt was consulting on the proposals. The pre-consultation reforms have little support in government (and the Home Secretary had signalled some kind of retreat on care workers at least) 1427676
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthGwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets. 199181005064
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthWhitney Curry Wimbish @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The youngest person his pager attack killed was 9-year-old Fatima Abdullah, who had just started 4th grade. The pager was on a table when it went off and she picked it up to take to her dad. It exploded in her face and reports said it covered the room in her blood. She wanted to learn English. 42103084362
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthGreg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Stephen Miller’s Office of Remigration was deliberately named to announce to the world that white nationalism is now the basis for US immigration policy. If Dems win power, they should defund it. They should also defund third-country deportations. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2157... 852150699
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthSadiah Qureshi 🦈 @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Absolutely appalling. 0174
Reposted by Michael H Whitworthbuvezcocacola @buvezcocacola.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Seen in Virginia 493169736
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthRichard Morris @ahistoryinart.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Do you have a painting or drawing by Lawrence Bragg? The Nobel Prize-winning scientist appears in the 1927 Solvay photo alongside Einstein and Marie Curie; he was also a keen painter. I’m planning an exhibition about his life and times in 2027, the centenary of this picture. 26221
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthLouise, Prof/Dr @louiselocock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Sounds remarkably like Oxford and the vehement reaction of certain car drivers to traffic/pollution reduction measures 261
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthNat Guest @unfortunatalie.bsky.social · 19/09/2026"My house and his house are two different houses, territories overlaid and overlapping. Our topographies don’t yet mesh; we are both creeping around each other’s edges, living together but apart." My first few weeks with a cat. nothingbutawordbag.substack.com/p/where-a-ca... 1619163
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthLaura McKee @lauramckee.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Poet voice is alive and well. It usually imitates one particular poet and does go through phases of that being different poets. It might have even sounded fine with the original poet. Why do poets do this? Is it a lack of confidence in using one’s own voice? Makes me die a little inside. 572
Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Excellent introductory essay on J. H. Prynne by David Grundy, which pinpoints better than anything else I’ve read the centrality of contradiction to his poetry. www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/182...poetryfoundation.orgTo Darker Fields We GoPoems, readings, poetry news and the entire 110-year archive of POETRY magazine. 043
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthJessica Elgot @jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Started watching Sky’s War Game last night where Michael Gove is the PM during the Russian attack and I’m afraid it is just very difficult to watch it without thinking of this, one of the great cartoons ever published 541631391
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthMatt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Spent a few hours with this old friend last night, thinking especially with Jameson’s analysis of how *models* come & go, always becoming recognizable as metaphors once saturated by history, & the allure of the language model is it might escape such contingency & prove foundational. But it doesn’t. 0305
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthOxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Bike repair is returning to Oxford city centre. A mechanic from Broken Spoke Co-op will be fixing bikes every Wednesday morning at the Handle Bar on St Michael's Street, formerly the location of Bike Zone until it closed in 2024. Repairs start tomorrow from 8.30am to 1pm. 02214
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthPaul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Thousands of university jobs lost too, and barely a peep either. 381081332
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthDaniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Thinking at work back then: waiting for inspiration while staring into the room, holding your specs, wearing your thinking hat, and ignoring the sticky note you made yesterday. The year is 1653, and this etching is showing a thinking philosopher. #academicchatter 26212
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthChris Boyd @paperghost.bsky.social · 21/09/2026there is no sensible reason why a 5 year spouse visa cost us a little over fourteen grand. none whatsoever. and that's before you break it down to the addition of renewals every 30 months, the health surcharge, the endless price hikes, the final kick in the teeth for ILR (three grand! to settle!) 318091
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthRyan Boyd @ryanboyd.bsky.social · 21/09/2026NEW BRAIN DROPPEDmed.stanford.eduHuman brain is two separate organs, Stanford Medicine-led research findsStanford Health Care delivers the highest levels of care and compassion. SHC treats cancer, heart disease, brain disorders, primary care issues, and many more. 232604779
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthDanny Yee @dannyyee.bsky.social · 20/09/2026The route under the Botley railway bridge has fully opened, so I went down to see how the walking and cycling provision works. Summary: the route under the railway bridge is pretty good, the transitions on either side are terrible for cycling (and not that good for walking). 1369
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthJennifer Ashby @jenniferashby.bsky.social · 21/09/2026This #ModWrite I am working on Mina Loy's concept of 'the blind back' or 'the shutter on the fourth dimension.' [Pictured: Ithell Colquhoun sketch, c. 1941] 072
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthMichael Shallcross @michaelshallcross.bsky.social · 21/09/2026A perfect concrete example of the way managerial choices about how to approach cost-saving are devaluing university courses, in the fullest sense of the word. Ultimately, divesting programmes of the meaningful values instilled by passionate scholars will be commercially fatal for these institutions. 1112
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthMartin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 21/09/2026The Research Professional 8am Playbook, my favourite read on higher education news, notes that the Lib Dem conference doesn't have a single session on higher education or research. At least, not in the official agenda. 052
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthProf. Liz Oakley-Brown @earlymodlancs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Solidarity with all UKHEI colleagues trying to protect the future of tertiary education ✊️ 092
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthJim Hawkins @jimallthetime.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Young people aren't snowflakes - mental distress is rising, says head of official review www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...bbc.co.ukYoung people are not snowflakes, head of mental health review saysSpeaking exclusively to the BBC, Prof Fonagy says being young is much harder now than it was. 0124
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthPrinceton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 21/09/2026We're thrilled to be co-sponsoring the 2026 E.H. Gombrich Lecture Series tomorrow, 22-24 September at 6:00 pm BST, with @warburginstitute.bsky.social! Dr. Anthony Grafton of @princeton.edu will deliver this three-part lecture series on the life & controversies of Joseph Scaliger. Details below: 221
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthSunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 20/09/2026There are subjects on which Mr Ratcliffe has some knowledge or expertise. Immigration in society is clearly not such a topic: the BBC had to clarify that his comments 6 months ago were based on a massive mistake + misunderstanding of his key claim. His new comments were entirely contentless. 49438
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthThe Daily Britain @thedailybritain.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Membership leads in 628 seats. In the other four, “don’t know” comes first.thedailybritain.co.ukRejoining EU is top choice in 628 British constituencies, YouGov poll findsA YouGov poll finds EU membership is the top UK–EU policy choice in 628 of 632 British constituencies, putting pressure on Labour’s red lines. 03214
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthMarijke Valk @marijkevalk.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I'm excited to share the CFP for this year's BSLS Winter Symposium, which I'm absolutely thrilled to be organising with @thebsls.bsky.social! Occult Science: Disenchantment, Re-Enchantment, and the Persistence of Wonder Abstract deadline: 31 October 2026 Full CFP: www.bsls.ac.uk/2026/09/bsls...bsls.ac.ukBSLS 2026/27 Winter Symposium Call for Papers – The British Society for Literature and Science 076
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthKate Phillips @andanotherkate.bsky.social · 20/09/2026What an absolute mess the new developments around Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms are. So much money spent on a dog’s dinner with no clarity, no sight lines, no character and no atmosphere. There aren’t even any memorable buildings. 021
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthBen Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026It does say a lot about the current and previous government that they have been less willing to clearly state this than Sunak. Quite why is a mystery for the ages. 612727
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 20/09/2026'Student advocates have raised concerns over UK universities’ commitment to introduce work experience into degrees, arguing that students cannot be expected to undertake unpaid placements amid a cost-of-living crisis.' Own goal, UUK.timeshighereducation.comWork placements for all plan ‘risks widening student divisions’If the logistics of mass placements require students to organise their own, those without their own networks will suffer, advocates warn 25323
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthSimon Henry Farr-Scott @simonhscotty.bsky.social · 19/09/2026The Govt need to come off X. It needs regulating and / or banning. It is largely bots spewing out anti UK hate with algorithms purposefully skewed towards a right wing fascistic agenda. It can’t be used as a serious metric for public opinion so just leave. 215822
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthAlan Rusbridger @arusbridger.bsky.social · 19/09/2026If you add in £130m losses on “Reform TV” (aka GB News) the effective subsidy of Farage’s party from just four men tops £200m. You just have to join the dots app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/75017/...app.prospectmagazine.co.ukFarage and the £130m even his detractors have missedGB news has provided relentless positive PR for Nigel Farage while racking up tens of millions in financial losses. And now there is a new channel in the offing 351311649
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthRichard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Are there any classic thrillers, gialli, or detective novels in which enthusiasts of avant-garde/Modernist art aren't either laughable charlatans or murderers (and probably also perverts)? In which perhaps they're even depicted as quite mundane? 141
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthJames Ball @jamesrball.com · 18/09/2026It is incredibly important that political violence does not succeed. The far-right mob that shut down Portsmouth wanted this outcome. If the state wishes to avoid more of these actions, it needs to make sure this RNLI branch reopens *immediately*, or as close to that as humanly possible. 411207368
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthLondon Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 18/09/2026As universities are cutting English degree programmes, Colin Burrow isn't the only one asking ‘what’s the point of literary criticism?’ But he has several answers, and in this episode he joins @moonjets.bsky.social to discuss them. Listen here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...podcasts.apple.comWhat’s the point of literary criticism?Podcast Episode · The LRB Podcast · 18 September · 37min 0116
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthVictor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I didn't hold back. These centers are a blight on higher education and we should say so. dailyiowan.com/2026/09/15/u... 9615133
Reposted by Michael H WhitworthNew-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Useful thread on the cuts at Edinburgh. The tl;dr seems to be that they are (a) less apocalyptic than some commentary suggests; (b) still very bad; (c) even stupider than they look at first sight, since they napalm staff morale and public reputation without actually saving money. 2296