Martin Polley

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.

Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.

They are not the same.

Farage: epic grifter

Britain and the Memory of the Two World Wars A public lecture as part of the Royal Historical Society's visit to historians at the University of Suffolk, with Professor Tim Grady

This week we look forward to meeting with historians at the University of Suffolk along with archivists from Suffolk Archives for the next RHS Visit.

The day closes at The Hold, Ipswich (5.30pm, Weds 22 October) with a guest lecture by Prof Tim Grady to which all are welcome: bit.ly/43oqsKb

Exciting News! The project's very own @d-oneill.bsky.social will be talking about tobacco sponsorship in F1 and its associated public health challenges at the Silverstone Museum next weekend. Do consider attending if interested. Info is in the linked post.

The inside of an art gallery built around a swimming pool. The pool, filled with water, runs through the centre of the gallery. On the poolside are statues of human, and visitors walking around. At the end of the pool is a yellow and orange stained glass window depicting the sun.

New blog post on my website: La Piscine: A Swimming Pool Re-Imagined #gallery #roubaix #france #lapiscine #heritage
martinpolley.co.uk/2025/10/09/l...

The Symphony Concert in Nazi Germany: Orchestras and their Audiences

For Oxford colleagues - 21 October:

talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/326...

Blue Plaque for Silver Screen Icon Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn, the Oscar-winning star of Roman Holiday and one of the most enduring icons of film and fashion, has been honoured with an English Heritage blue plaque. The plaque marks 65 South Audley...

New English Heritage Blue Plaque at 65 Audley Street, Mayfair, for actor and UNICEF humanitarian ambassador Audrey Hepburn (1929-93) #audreyhepburn #blueplaque #englishheritage www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/search...

📙 Bluesky is the only platform where I haven’t circulated my book, as I’d recently joined and was waiting for the physical copy. So here it is (last book post, I promise) 📙

☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...

REMINDER: Just a week left now to submit abstracts to the CfP below.

International Football History Conference 2026 The call for papers/presentations has been released for the 2026 International Football History Conference (#Footycon26). If you are interested in attending or presenting the details are here: Inte…

International Football History Conference 2026 - CALL FOR PAPERS! Further information at the below link and via @garyjames.bsky.social - gjfootballarchive.com/2025/10/02/i... #sportshistory

CfP: Excited to announce our first workshop, exploring histories of Commercial Determinants of Health. Workshop to be held at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on 15 April 2026. Please circulate widely/consider submitting an abstract by 13 October 2025.

Fourteen footballs mounted in a glass wall.

A black and white football with gold writing mounted in a glass wall. The writing on the ball reads Telstar, Official World Cup Mexico 1970, Adidas.

Here they are from our trip to FIFA in September, starting with 1970, the first men's World Cup that I remember.

3/3 The @kthabitproject.bsky.social team is made up of @profannagreenwood.bsky.social @shwardle.bsky.social @alexmold.bsky.social @d-oneill.bsky.social @fabiolacreed.bsky.social & @milkwknives.bsky.social, and it was great for us on the Advisory Panel to hear about the progress and discuss ideas.

2/3 @kthabitproject.bsky.social brings together staff and post-docs from @uniofnottingham.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social & @lshtm.bsky.social for collaborative publications, conference papers, workshops, public engagement, web presence, & policy initiatives.

1/3 Great day at @uniofnottingham.bsky.social yesterday for the 1st Advisory Board meeting for @kthabitproject.bsky.social . This is a @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded project on the history of addictive sport sponsorship in UK 1965-2025, with strands on alcohol, tobacco, and gambling

It was a pleasure to meet you all and find out about this inspirational project.

REMINDER: There’s just under a month left until the CfP for 'Historicising CDoH' closes. Please do share & circulate widely/consider submitting an abstract by 13 October 2025 if you’re interested.

If you write professionally in the UK, make sure to sign up to ALCS for your fair share of royalties

America’s top companies keep talking about AI — but can’t explain the upsides FT analysis of hundreds of filings suggest the S&P 500 businesses are clearer about the risks than benefits

'"When it comes to AI adoption, many companies aren't guided by strategy, but by 'fomo'". For 'companies', read 'universities'.

Academia.edu is changing its Terms and Conditions, and they're so outrageous (AI training; signing over ownership to them etc) I closed my account today.

A thread with some practical tips if you want to delete your account (5 steps):

Exhibition marks 200 years of trade union history Two hundred years of trade union history is celebrated and commemorated in an exhibition now running at the LSE Library. LSE Library Exhibition Gallery. Organised jointly by the London School of Ec…

A new exhibition at @lselibrary.bsky.social looks at 200 years of trade union history. Some great stuff on display.
sslh.org.uk/2025/09/17/e...

A white woman dressed in black and green is speaking to an audience into a microphone at a lectern. She is standing on a small stage in a large room with cream walls and gilt decoration and a chandelier.

A group of 16 people standing on a large staircase. Two of the women at the front are holding copies of a book.

Three white people - one man and two women - are sitting on chairs on a small dais. The women in the middle is holding a copy of a book. Behind them is a vase of flowers on mantelpiece, and gilt decorations on an off-white wall.

Great evening at the Irish Embassy in London for the launch of Histories of Women’s Football in Britain and Ireland, edited by Helena Byrne, @garyjames.bsky.social and @fionaskillen.bsky.social. Excellent turnout from historians, former players & admins #skystorians www.peterlang.com/document/131...

I've relaunched my personal website for news, events, media and podcast links, and, from September 2025m, a monthly blog martinpolley.co.uk

Police are not using live facial recognition in its policing of the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ demonstration which is beginning on London’s south bank, reports the PA news agency. It said: We’re using a mobile CCTV van to help monitor the build up of crowds. Officers have been asked if it’s using ‘live facial recognition’ – we can confirm it is not. The live facial recognition technology – which captures people’s faces in real-time CCTV cameras – was used in the policing operation at the Notting Hill carnival.

No doubt, (far-)right leaders will complain about this clear example of two-tier policing

'"You can’t have hobbyist research that’s unfunded going on in institutions. We can’t afford it.”'

Such a badly formulated phrasing of the issues, so open to so many misinterpretations. If this is the level of thinking about research among sector leaders and policy-makers, be very afraid.

Two-time Muhammad Ali challenger, Joe Bugner, has died at the age of 75. Bugner twice held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles and was a three-time European heavyweight champion. #sportshistory #boxing #boxinghistory

My new blog post: A Plaque for a Pioneering Pilgrim #blueplaques #sportshistory #jackleslie #plymouth #blackhistory #historicengland martinpolley.co.uk/2025/09/01/a...

The Olympic Studies Centre Official home of the IOC. Find the latest news and featured stories, information about IOC members plus Olympic principles, values and legacy.

New Olympic Studies Centre grant opportunities for PhD students, ECRs, and established researchers working on Olympic-related projects #Olympics #researchfunding #grants www.olympics.com/ioc/olympic-...

I've written a short post www.beatrizpichel.com/news/why-med... to mark the official start of my @leverhulme.ac.uk Research Fellowship! Over the next year I'll be writing my second monograph, Medical Photography in Nineteenth-Century France. To say I'm excited is an understatement! #photohist

Maybe Rex Tillerson Was Right. Maybe Trump Really Is Just A Moron. His lying and temper tantrums aside, evidence abounds that the president's most important, and dangerous, feature is his ignorance.

This is a painful read. I mean seriously painful. But it’s also a must-read, and must-share, for everyone.