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Hester Duffy

@wordlessreader.bsky.social
632 followers 935 following 1.2K posts

She/Her Associate Professor at Warwick. Interested in developmental psycholinguistics, neuroscience, research methods, bee-keeping, Gaeilge, vintage clothing, dressmaking. Pinko lefty woke type but not that fond of tofu.

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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Today I shall mostly be making soup and granola. Might even do a bit of knitting. It's a good thing I've never aspired to be cool, isn't it?
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dolly Parton and Tim Curry were both icons, and they both absolutely hurled themselves into creating and sharing joy, with humour and generosity. They were both utterly themselves, out loud and deliberately, regardless of who was watching. We should all be more Dolly and Tim.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Ooh, just spotted a nice garden path type sentence which would be great for psycholinguistics studies, except it's on Irish and I don't think anyone is investigating garden path processing as Gaeilge...
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I've had a wonderful two weeks of Irish classes and stunning views in Glencolmcille, west Donegal. Was already planning to come back next year but the rainbow on my last night is a nice touch. #oideasgael
A lovely view of Slieve League in West Donegal, under a blue skyA view of the beach at Silver Strand in West Donegal, from the clouds above. Golden sand slopes gently down to the sea.A rainbow over Glencolmcille, even though it isn't raining.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I didn't really manage to capture the eclipse but I wrote like these pictures anyway. Solar eclipse seen from Glencolmcille in Donegal. Contrast and darkness edited.
An edited photo of the solar eclipse in slightly cloudy skies. The clouds create a sunset coloured halo around the sunAn edited photo of the solar eclipse. In the foreground, hedgerows are silhouetted against a somewhat cloudy sky, and the partially eclipsed sun creates colours in the clouds.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I have thought for a while that I'd like to learn the bodhrán, but I'm not really into trad music. This is really inspiring!
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Reposted by Hester Duffy
Dr Michele V @micheleveldsman.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
📢📢📢 Neuroscientists and psychologists with kids Did your research interests change as a result of (or after) having kids? Would you mind telling me how/why if it has? Appreciate a repost for reach…
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
What's your sign?
A red wooden sign post stands on a grassy sward; it reads "No exit from burial site".
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
And once again I am forced to notice how quickly literally every pro gen-AI poster becomes really really weird. Like, are _any_ of them just, like, normal people who can have a reasonable conversation about it without getting super creepy or angry and aggressive and just, like, _weird_?
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Interesting thread here. Having done a couple of academic integrity meetings due to suspected AI use, I just don't know how we move forward with this.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.
Edward Teach (Blackbeard) and Steve, from the TV show Our Flag Means Death
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
"Verify your age" Through infant school I drank a third of a pint of room temperature milk through a thin blue plastic straw every day.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
I had high hopes for Starter when he first became labour leader. He has disappointed me at every turn, and this thread clearly expresses why.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The world is such a stressful and frightening place, I'm not sure how we even live in it any more. But I spent the morning keeping the bees, observing their quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) industry, harvesting beautiful white honeycombs, re-housing them to give them room to keep working...
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
On Sunday, I found myself living the dream; the one where you have to take an exam you haven't revised for. But today I found out I passed with Credit, so I am now officially a qualified beekeeper!
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
I have practiced lighting smokers, I have deadheaded roses, I have strimmed, I have weeded, and now I shall ache.
Two beekeeper's smokers, with wisps of smoke coming out of the nozzles, on the ground in a sunny garden.A "blue for you" rose bush with multiple blooms, in dappled sunlight
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
This sounds like a late 90s dystopian sci fi movie, and yet somehow we're living in it. Do Not Like.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I know teens get hungry, and the cost of living is sky-rocketing but still, this seems a bit much.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
There are a lot of very compelling reasons to be very resistant to genAI, but amongst them is the fact that pro-AI guys are just so _weird_ about it. Like, they talk about genAI like it's enacting humiliating revenge on everyone who ever bullied them and they're getting off on watching it. So weird.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Tentacles (R, pronounced like a Greek philosopher) was a little lonely, so I have just received a companion (L) which I have named Richard, because it has a crack in its bottom (don't we all?) and is therefore a little leaky. Thank you @roseschmits.bsky.social, it is stunning!
Two eerily beautiful ceramic pots sit on their incredibly fluid tentacles.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Introduce yourself with 10 bands/artists you've seen live. The Dubliners The Cure Terrorvision My Chemical Romance Hozier Alice in Chains The Prodigy Conan Gray Emilie Autumn Devotchka
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I don't want to eat the rich. I say compost the rich, and that way we can grow sustainable food for the future.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
For speakers of languages other than English, how many regular plural forms are there in those other languages? Like, English has three, technically, but we think of them as just one, plus lots of irregulars. Irish has lots (-aí, -anna, -acha, slenderisation) plus irregulars. I need other examples!
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
A modern-day St Gobnait. While obviously I condemn violence and also irresponsible beekeeping, I cannot help feeling a sneaking respect for this queen.
A newspaper headline and subtitle; "Woman gets jail after unleashing swarm of bees during an eviction. The woman, who is a beekeeper, was sentenced to six months after being convcted of using the bees as a weapon against deputies during a 2022 eviction"
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
This is just horrifying. We need to be able to trust academic publishing. I don't know how we come back from this. GenAI is so toxic.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 18/04/2026
Bees are amazing. One of our colonies decided to swarm today, while we were doing a bit of tidying up in the apiary, so we got to watch the whole process, and then get them settled into a new home.
A beekeeper in a pink bee suit stands on an apiary examining a bee sitting on her gloved hand. Several other bees are resting on her suit, including a cluster on top of her hood.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Been doing a bit of sewing, and I am very pleased with how this turned out. Just need some nice warm weather so I can wear it!
A middle aged woman (me!) standing in front of a teal wall, wearing a bright red linen jumpsuit, hands in pockets.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
I'm pre-emptively blocking anyone I see responding to the Swalwell case with anything resembling "Innocent until proven guilty" as a reason why he should not be off the ticket immediately.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I will not be engaging in any way with the new Harry Potter thing because I do not want to fund transphobia. I will judge, harshly, anyone who chooses to engage with it. Some people may find that outrageously unfair, but this is a good thread about that feeling.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
A bit of weekend baking; a carrot and courgette loaf topped with brown sugar and pecans. Nice texture, not too sweet, a nice fairly healthy treat for breakfast.
A loaf style cake with a slice removed showing the inside, which is flecked with green and orange. It has a crunchy rustic looking topping.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
My girls are bringing in pure gold!
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Ah, the most important day of the year for Irish people around the world when we reflect on who we are as a people and a culture. Yes, it's Hozier's birthday!
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Instant earworm which also absolutely identifies my age.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
A propos of nothing in particular, just because the horrors persist but so must we, this is my new (not new, 1970s danish) light fitting, picked up at auction, and newly installed.
A mid century looking light fitting made of copper and translucent perspex, seen in a hallway with white ceiling and teal walls.
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Reposted by Hester Duffy
Warwick Psychology @warwickpsych.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
📢 We’re hiring! The University of Warwick is recruiting for a full-time, permanent academic position in Psychology, available at either: 🔹 Assistant Professor 🔹 Associate Professor 📅 Application deadline: 5th April 2026
jobs.ac.uk
Assistant or Associate Professor (111338-0226) at University of Warwick
An academic position as a Assistant or Associate Professor (111338-0226) is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportunities.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
This sets a precedent which could ruin universities across the country. Devastating, particularly given how hard universities, and university staff, worked to do our best for our students in the most difficult of circumstances.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Come work at my place!
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
A lovely article from my brilliant colleague, about staying positive despite the awful weather. theconversation.com/how-to-stay-...
theconversation.com
How to stay positive when it never stops raining – a psychologist offers tips
We can’t change the weather, but we can try to change how it makes us feel.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
As an Irish learner and a beekeeper, this is very relevant to my interests! I named one of my hives after Gobnait and they took it rather too seriously and were quite feisty, whereas the hive I named after Valentine (also patron of beekeepers) were much calmer.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
This really does sound simple but also like it would work.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
This thread did not go where I thought it would, and is well worth a read.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
I have just received, and very carefully unwrapped, my very own tentacle pot, made by the incredibly talented @roseschmits.bsky.social . I love it so much!
A very securely wrapped bundle of bubble wrap and fragile tapeAn eerily beautiful clay pot, made to resemble an octopus, with a spikily textured body and delicate, fluidly curling tentacles.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Just received this gorgeous print from the very talented @ciaraioch.bsky.social , along with an assortment of little extras. I love it, and it will take pride of place on my office wall!
A print featuring images of numerous influential Irish women, from Ciaraíoch Art.The reverse of the print includes information about each of the women.Beautifully illustrated bookmarks, postcards and stickers which came with the print
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
I was talking to my students just the other day about what it means to offer a balanced account. It doesn't mean treating every opinion or statement as equally valuable, it means evaluating them and determining their value.
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Ooh, look, you can get rid of AI summaries in Google!
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
I like mine!
A screenshot from the Merriam-Webster word gif, showing the word "inspiring".
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
I was once on a bus in Oxford, wearing a military blouson jacket. The chap behind me asked what it was, as he didn't recognise the insignia, so I told him it was, as far as I knew, French Foreign Legion. "Ah yes", he said, "they had the right idea, the French..."
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Which lines of poetry live rent free in your head? More scouts than strangers, Ghosts who'd walked abroad Unfazed by light, to make a new beginning And make a go of it, alive and sinning Ourselves again, free willed again, Not bad
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
I visited "An Siopa Leabhar" in Dublin yesterday, and happened to bump into a guy who was in one of my online Irish classes. I don't think he's a regular there, and I've never been before; what are the chances?
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Hester Duffy @wordlessreader.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Bhuel, táim beagánín bródúil asam.
A Duolingo share screen placing me in the top 0.1% of Irish learners.
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