Frank Finlay

DOUBLETHINK DOES DOUBLETIME STEWART LEE

And he’s back!!

Sunday isn’t Sunday without Stewart Lee. We were so thrilled at @thenerve.news that Stewart came with us.

His satirical columns for the Observer were some of our most-read content: funny, surreal, angry true. Essential weekend reading.

www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...

“True reunification of Germany will remain a work in progress. Every year more young Germans are entering adulthood with no personal memory of anything other than life in the “new” Germany.

Paul Scraton on Germany’s (rocky & ongoing) road to reunification

www.slowtravelberlin.com/the-road-to-...

Disadvantaged students ‘more likely to miss out on GCSE foreign languages’ In 2004, language learning ceased to be compulsory at Key Stage 4, aged 14 to 16.

Disadvantaged students ‘more likely to miss out on GCSE foreign languages’

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

Brian Patten obituary One of the Liverpool poets, along with Roger McGough and Adrian Henri, who was a perceptive writer on love

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...

A great pleasure to be at Bradford’s magnificent Cartwright Hall Art Gallery for the preview of the 2025 #TurnerPrize @bradford2025.co.uk

A limited number of tickets are still available for our Evening with the Poet Laureate on Friday 10 October, where Simon will be reading two collections, including the Sunday Times bestseller Dwell and New Cemetery. Book soon to avoid disappointment!

Tickets & more info here: buff.ly/JdJbfXW

Thinking Strategically Seminar Series Bringing together researchers to discuss issues of major concern and to ensure joined-up action for the future development of the study of languages and cultures.

Please do sign up to join in our online conversation event on 21st November, 12 noon, about the recent report on language education in the UK from the @hepi-news.bsky.social by @meganlbowler.bsky.social, sponsored by #Duolingo Thanks to @ilcs.bsky.social
for hosting ilcs.sas.ac.uk/research-pol...

Really pleased to see Yorkshire Contemporary (formerly The Tetley) as one of the delivery partners on this year’s Turner Prize and looking forward to the exhibition! @bradford2025.co.uk

Rethinking language education in the school curriculum in England This Special Collection comprises contributions to the debate on languages across the school curriculum from leading researchers and practitioners in the field. It aims to support the strengthening...

Rethinking language education in the school curriculum in England

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Short-term post-doc for arts/humanities researchers! Do you love rare books, manuscripts, archives, art and/or objects? Would you like to explore one of our amazing Cultural Collections @universityofleeds.bsky.social for c. 6 weeks (longer part-time)? Find out more lahri.leeds.ac.uk/brotherton-f...

British Academy Report Shows Cold Spots In SHAPE Provision With more students than ever studying at local universities, a recent report published by the British Academy shows growing cuts of humanities, social sciences, and arts degree programmes in rural,…

Mapping inequality in SHAPE

British Academy report shows Cold Spots in SHAPE Provision.

An important read, check it out on our website:

university-council-for-languages.org/2025/09/12/b...

Close up of feet on a rubbly surface, there are frames highlighting areas of the picture - text says University of Leeds, Leeds Institute for Societal Futures and Migration, mobility and belonging

Society needs to change, let's change it together

#Leeds #InstituteForSocietalFutures #UniversityOfLeeds #LISF #HealthInequality #Migration #Mobility #Belonging

@universityofleeds.bsky.social

Result! Helpful, useful and user-friendly …

The highlight of a visit to the always wonderful @stedelijkmuseum.bsky.social Amsterdam; Egyptian artist Wael Shawky’s film of his Drama 1882. On until the end of October, and one of the most original things I’ve seen in quite a while.

Returning here after a 4-month break to explore other platforms and will be starting to post regularly-ish.

Libero is consistently excellent and so varied. As for today’s “chin-stroking” surprised we didn’t get any Gramsci “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” But hey, Theseus’ Ship!

I wrote about foreign academics being in danger in the US last week.

christinapagel.substack.com/p/trumps-att...

This week the Canadian Association of University Teachers advised against non-essential US travel.

I meet 2 criteria - never thought I'd be scared to go to the US. horrible.

GERMAN RULE, AFRICAN SUBJECTS: State Aspirations and the Reality of Power in Colonial Namibia by Jürgen Zimmerer (@juergenzimmerer.bsky.social) is now available in paperback!

Find out more here: buff.ly/i3zESCb

#ColonialHistory #History

I just attended a conference in the US. We had one speaker detained and two others turned away at the border.

Erinnerungskultur in Deutschland: Was war, darf nie wieder sein. Die Erinnerung an die Nazi-Verbrechen muss widerständig sein wie lange nicht mehr. Ohne sie versiegt eine Quelle der deutschen Demokratie.

www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/histor...

My mother also!

If you like Klimt then the Seccesion is a must-see, as is the building itself. And then chill in nearby Café Museum. Btw: most good Viennese cafes serve good savoury hot food as well as the sweet stuff.

Amerlingbeisl 1070 Wien Amerlingbeisl am Spittelberg, 1070 Wien - Seit 1980 ein Wiener Beisl und Wohnzimmer. Mit einem von Weinlaub beschatteten Gastgarten im Innenhof eines Spittelberger Hauses aus dem Jahre 1700.

The Museum of Modern Art, in the Museum Quarter, is well worth it. Good food nearby in
www.amerlingbeisl.at

This is a seriously good recommendation and a Viennese institution. Wash down the open sandwiches with a ‘Pfiff’ of beer in it special little glass and pop over to Café Hawelka opposite for a coffee

Eighteenth-Century Knowledge Work in the Harleian Collection

Fully funded (4 year) PhD studentship supervised across Keele Univ. and the British Library: "Eighteenth-Century Knowledge Work in the Harleian Collection". You'll generate your own project focused on how this unique collection was created and used: www.keele.ac.uk/study/postgr...

The MHRA has transitioned from Twitter/X and will now use Bluesky to communicate our work. We are excited to contribute to establishing Bluesky as a dynamic, inclusive, and engaging platform for academic exchange and collaboration.

To celebrate this new chapter, we are hosting a book giveaway! 👇

Practice-led Postgraduate Researcher Michelle Duxbury is one of 5 artists showcasing work at this 2nd iteration of Nature: Sensory in our #ProjectSpace

#Exhibition open 11am-4pm to 13 April

Artists: #AmeliaBaron #JessieDavies #MichelleDuxbury #SamMetz #HelenThomas

ahc.leeds.ac.uk/events/event...

UK academia’s lack of language skills ‘imperils research integrity’

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-c...

【英譯】 Chapter 17 The best leaders are those whose existence is hardly felt. Next best are those who are both loved and praised. Then worse are those who instill fear, and the worst of all are those who incur contempt. When leaders are not trust-worthy, it is impossible for the common masses to trust them. The best leaders are always quiet and composed, rarely issuing decrees and orders. When they accomplish all their tasks, and achieve their goals, people would say, "This is what we are".

When a book falls open at the right page. From Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching.