Absolutely!💯
Guess which myth for @alexpodyssey.bsky.social am reading for?
"The Nazi regime saw empathy, pity, and mercy towards ‘racial aliens’... as a threat... or burden... and denounced them as immoral" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Today's Daily Mail is lashing out at (checks notes) *empathy* - and suggesting that Britain's "ruling elite" has too much of it 🤔
With advertising from LloydsBank, Lidl, The Range and Lotto
Wrote a thing about these newly found episodes of Doctor Who: www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/a36baf2...
Spot the photo of my giving a talk with my eyes open? Nope. 🤦🏻♀️
Women hidden in print tour tonight @porticolibrary.bsky.social .
#womenhistorymonth
The BBC’s job is to “inform, educate, and entertain”? Let’s talk about the middle word.
What follows is the story of what we found in an FOI request (per the Observer) about the Corporation killing off plans to launch an online catalogue and failing to deliver ‘learning for people of all ages’. 🧵
I meant to post this #internationalwomensday yesterday but found out too many things & went down too many rabbit holes around Mary Severn Newton, like her exhibition of Mrs Liddell at the RA & drawing of her daughter Alice (yes - that Alice) in Llandudno 1864
www.debbiechallis.com/post/married...
🆕 And here it is - the brilliant live discussion and Q&A we had on Pandora. On everything from why misogyny is a perennial weed to what to do if you miss the last swan back to Avalon.
Happy #IWD2026, you wonderful people. A x
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/0bze...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
Creation of Eve from Wells Cathedral drawn by John Flaxman - compare to his drawing of the presentation of Pandora (Image 3).
From the wonderful @porticolibrary.bsky.social, via the glorious @poisonchallis.bsky.social.
HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY! #WBD2026
Oh pants. Blue sky auto correct evidently not literate enough
On #WorldBookDay lady becomes Elizabeth Bennet & I embrace my inner Poe, again.
Mary Severn Newton had two jobs in her married life – artist and mistress of a household – and struggled to do both in the 1860s. She has my sympathy!
What she depicts so well is that struggle, often humorously, in her sketches. New blog: www.debbiechallis.com/post/married...
Went to ENO’s Cosi Fan Tutti at Bridgewater Hall. Seemed rather apt given the new @alexpodyssey.bsky.social episode on Pandora, & discussing all the misogyny that telling that story entails.
The music sublime. And with my bf - we used to go to eno as our treat & now she is an exec director of it.
Thanks so much. It was a really enjoyable conversation and very much recommend the book -especially for understanding some of the shifts in these isles now.
Thanks to the wonderful @poisonchallis.bsky.social and @porticolibrary.bsky.social for last night's fantastic launch event for 'These Isles: A People's History of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales' (HarperNorth).
This was a very nice evening with @groomb.bsky.social - despite having been here a while now first time at the Portico Library too.
🆕 2.2 PANDORA: Worst. Unboxing. Video. Ever. 📦
Wicked troublemaker or the victim of history's longest smear campaign? This episode is one WILD ride. And it includes some of my favourite cinematic references.
🎧 open.spotify.com/episode/4E7j...
🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a...
This coming Thursday evening, publication day. Just a few tickets left.
And on the overshadowing of your work by a husband (or father or brother), still haven't forgiven @0tralala.bsky.social for turning some of my PhD on Newton into a short Dr Who story for some Dalek book. Before I had published a word on him! I just wish I didn't enjoy reading it & it making me laugh
New blog post on life writing and thinking about invisibility of women and men from the past. How do you write a marriage? How do you uncover intimacy?
www.debbiechallis.com/post/married...
🧵 We’re happy to announce that our Creative Producer, Dr Debbie Challis, is an International participant at this year's Literary Programmers Roundtable for Melbourne City of Literature's Melbourne / Naarm Literary Festival...
I loved doing this! It’s really nice to speak to people & hear from them about Greece, art & myth. Looking forward to more conversations.
There is now author access to my co-written article on curating programmes around historic eugenics @royalsociety.org
I did this work 10+ years ago. It is tragic that eugenic ideas moved to the mainstream, in part due to a fellow of my publisher - the RS 🤷🏻♀️
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsnr/article...
I’ve been there. Hope things get better tomorrow. All power.
Looking forward to speaking to @alexpodyssey.bsky.social followers this Thursday on Prometheus.
Here is the first illustrated edition of Frankenstein or A Modern Prometheus from @porticolibrary.bsky.social. Thinking about Prometheus has also made me think about Frankenstein.
The first Podyssey Illustrated Guide will be sent out on Wednesday evening, together with the invitation to the first live Q&A on Thursday 8pm with @poisonchallis.bsky.social.
Make sure you are signed up to www.ko-fi.com/podyssey before then.
Cannot wait to see all your gorgeous faces.
A x
The end of the book is nigh.
And Podyssey is back. Have massively missed doing this & can’t wait to get back to it once book am editing is finished!
This is a lovely exhibition @thejohnrylands.bsky.social online from my colleague Susana. Interesting on social media/ political uses too.
www.digitalexhibitions.manchester.ac.uk/s/x-stands-f...
