iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I am starting to feel very old. I now find much of what is BBC Radio 4 impossible to listen to. Thank heavens for Radio 3.

Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Despite everything today has been a pretty good day. I suppose it is worth noting and celebrating the good days.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The cost of rent has a major distorting effect on High Education. Rents at the rates are probably one of the things that means students are working lots of hour in paid employment, and unable very often to focus on the degree. 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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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

The Conservative Party's "Birmingham Tapestry" really does seem to be real. Public historians will be reading student dissertations on this for years to come. Is it AI generated? I can't imagine they have paid artists to do this.

An image from the "Birmingham Tapestry" featuring "Healey's Comet"

"Here Kemi Doth Become Leader" a still from the "Birmingham Tapestry"

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

My wife and oldest son are glued to the telly watch the #Boro legends match for the club's 150th anniversary.

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Reposted by Rob Dale

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 03/10/2026

‘The troubles of Olga Freidenberg’s life could be laid at the feet of “Stalin’s blood-soaked regime”. Stalin had “strangled” her scholarship and debased her honour. Even the death of her lover, “crushed by a drunken machine” in a traffic accident, was Stalin’s fault.’ www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

Sheila Fitzpatrick · Double Barbarism: Stalin under the Blanket

‘Siege’ became a key metaphor in Olga Freidenberg’s analysis of her own life and that of Soviet society; and she...

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Reposted by Rob Dale

European Review of History @euroreviewhistory.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

📢 We’re hiring a Junior Associate Editor! We’re looking for a current or recent PhD researcher in European history to help manage our Special Issues. Gain academic publishing experience, work with an international editorial team, + receive a £1,500 annual stipend! See below for more info:

euroreviewhistory.com

We're Hiring! | Euroreviewhistory

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

One thing I have never understood is why the imported Polish kefir (which I think is delicious) costs £1.20 a bottle, and stuff made in Britain is twice the price. I would have thought refrigerated transport costs from Poland would make it more expensive.

A bottle of kefir on the table in my garden

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It is 20 years since I started my PhD. Crumbs, the time really races past.

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Reposted by Rob Dale

Katja Bruisch @kbruisch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

CfP for the workshop "Science in the Field: People, Practices and Environments in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union" organized by Christine Bichsel, Katja Doose, Nargiza Kenzhaeva & Oybek Makhmudov (Fribourg, June 2027) #envhist 👇 networks.h-net.org/group/announ...

Screenshot of a call for papers for the workshop "Science in the Field: People, Practices and Environments in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union" (Fribourg, 14-15 June 2027)

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

So many good and interesting books and there just isn't the time to read them all. Indeed, there is less and less time for reading.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Given the amount we asked to cram into our working days and lives, and the challenges of doing everything, I have found it useful to listen to Oliver Burkeman's series "Oliver Burkeman Is Busy": www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Oliver Burkeman Is Busy - Available now

Available episodes of Oliver Burkeman Is Busy

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I am very fond of a moan, but a couple of good things, (1) timeline for when proofs for my book are likely to land becoming clearer, which is very exciting. (2) the new cycle paths in front of York railway station have opened and it was much easier and safer to get into the station. So good news.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I was just finishing replacing the shed roof, and I got a fly past from a hot air balloon.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

My excellent colleague Claudia Soares is advertising a funded PhD studentship with us in History at Newcastle. Closing date 16 October. ,📢 Please spread the word. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSX723/n...

jobs.ac.uk

NUAcT PhD Studentship – Histories of Child Protection at Newcastle University

jobs.ac.uk now advertising a NUAcT PhD Studentship – Histories of Child Protection Visit jobs.ac.uk to apply and to browse more PhD opportunities.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I once gave my PhD supervisor a draft with a section that purported to discuss "Stalinist pubic culture" Thankfully a typo.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I am once again very grateful for the free flu jab my employer makes available. One of the few remaining perks of the job.

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Reposted by Rob Dale

Bloomsbury History @bloomsburyhist.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Even at the height of the Cold War, how did rivals still find ways to cooperate? 🤝🔓 Discover how scientists, activists, and policymakers quietly bypassed ideological divides in 'Rethinking Cooperation in Cold War Europe'—now available Open Access! 📖: bit.ly/3UfN5Pn

Rethinking Cooperation in Cold War Europe

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Can I once again reiterate my thanks to everyone in the #NHS who provided care and treatment for my son today. Not only was that excellent, but professionals in two cities over 120 miles away managed to coordinate records, and appointments to make things work. Heroes!

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I've been struggling to understand all the shifts in UK higher education. It is bewildering. But, I've started to think of it as the introduction of forms of khozrashet and edinonachalie. This may or may not be accurate, but it at least gives me a framework that I understand.

I've always wanted to spend some time in the New York public library. One day, when my lottery numbers come in....

I find the 05.10 am alarm hard work now, especially as I will wake up every half hour from 03.00 fearing I will oversleep. Get some rest.

I hope you are ok Jo. Because of several big institutional changes I share the difficulty of being positive, or at least about some things. I was 15 minutes late for something today, as I was scrabbling through a pile of small admin tasks, losing track of time.

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I am reassured Jo that is not just me feeling I am not getting much beyond welcome activities.

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Incidentally, I went to school with Willard. He was in my A-level history classes.

Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I would be interested in seeing it, but happy to explore the digital versions.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

What a fantastic day of induction activities with our new PhD students! Finished off with a can of pop at a reception. An excellent day.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Is it FOMO? I keep thinking are people watching the excellent documentary on I-player about the Bayeaux museum and conservation? Are people visiting the replica in Reading museums? And it has been possible to see in Bayeaux museum, which isn't necessarily easy for lots of people.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Good luck to students starting University welcome and induction weeks tomorrow. Hope you are settling in, making friends, and that you get a solid night's sleep. It seems like yesterday when my parents dropped me off, and then drove 100 miles north before they realised they were going the wrong way.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I had shingles in the first week of my MA, it totally wiped me out.

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Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Just completed the marketing questionnaire for my book, and it was much more involved and detailed than with my first book. I hope this is a good sign.

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Reposted by Rob Dale

Moscow has banned the political party ‘Yabloko’ (or ‘apple’) ‘In midsummer, Russian-language Instagram and TikTok erupted with videos of young people, including top bloggers, dancing in front of apples or mouthing the words to a pop song that mentions the fruit.’ www.ft.com/content/b1bf...

ft.com

In Russian elections, the apple becomes a symbol of dissent

Fallout from the Ukraine war shapes first State Duma election since the start of the conflict

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I see the spam messages from predatory fake journals are leaning more on AI. Now when I these messages they not only say they liked a previous publication, but offer half a dozen sentences summarising the contents and "important" contribution.

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Remarkable moment today. Son back at school after cricket injury. Sent with note excusing him from PE. Made to referee a football game, with ball flying around. He is supposed to not exercising and projecting his face! Extraordinary level of regulation in the school's policies.

My 13-year-old son who sponsored his mum £10.00 has received the same letter, again £1.77 postage. But, there is no money in Universities!? If there is wastage it isn't being reduced in the right places.

Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Many aspects of the intellectual life of Universities being stripped to the bones, meanwhile I've received a physical letter from philanthropic arm of a UK university (my wife did its sponsored walk) to tell me the fund's name is changing slightly.Cost of postage £1.77. There is of course no money.

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Thanks for sharing. This was a perfect antidote for a long meeting I was in yesterday.

Rob Dale @robdale.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

This was a lot of fun. Brilliant to be in a room with so many interested students. Inspiring in lots of ways. Thanks to everyone who made the day such a success.