will pooley

THE PROPHECY

Nancy by Ernie Bushmiller. First panel, Nancy talking to a logger sawing a tree and pointing to a carved piece of trunk. Nancy: Can I have that piece? My boy friend carved it. Logger: Sure. Second panel, Nancy is watching the log burn in the fire place. Nancy: I'm mad at him.

Every once in awhile I think about this Nancy comic and it makes me laugh every single time. Absolute perfection.

The Folklore Society mistletoe logo

The Folklore Society’s Katharine Briggs Prize 2026 has opened for entries! Open to books in English having their initial publication in the UK & Ireland in the period from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2026. Deadline for entries 31 May 2026. More info and rules: www.folklore-society.com/awards/the-k...

more like AAAAAARGHCHIVES

“Arrchives”

and who said LLMs had no sense of humour!

courtesy of dr squiddy, i present the protein snack you all need in your lives:

RIPPED FETA

😱

“New antiquarianism sits outside this model of engagement and impact. It operates as a parallel epistemology: a mode of producing, curating, and validating knowledge that runs alongside academic research infrastructures without being governed by them.”

obviously “antiquarian (complimentary)”

An interesting suggestion. I’ve never been clear if there is a measurable uptick in this stuff or writer it just feels like a moment, but I can see how the term “new antiquarianism” might serve

🗃️

this is awful.

someone draw the ripped feta mascot i would do it but i am so bad at drawing

😆

whey indeed???

this is probably already a thing right

i know everything these days is protein this protein that, so hear me out:

RIPPED feta

well exactly

the fact nowhere uses titles the same doesn’t help! lots of places in the uk now appoint at associate professor, even if the person is straight out of a PhD (ok a situation that we recognise is not as common as it once was). my own employer has three rounds of promotion to go from lecturer to AP!

Hiring established scholars to junior Oxbridge roles imperils disciplines As lay-offs continue elsewhere, postdocs’ inability to land permanent roles will block the pipeline of future faculty, Cambridge academics argue

www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/hiri...

(def not defending the positions the authors here take so much as noting it’s hard to have a balanced conversation about this)

🤦‍♂️

really not trying to be confrontational about this one. good to also remember that even before the absolute apocalypse of the last few years, a sizeable proportion of staff on more secure contracts themselves had v long journeys to get there.

anyway throwback to when i was interviewed for a position that was literally entitled “early career” and they interviewed a professor. certainly not a new phenomenon, as others have noted

but those discussions are by nature v unequal when they happen in public.

is it a surprise that ECRs are furious and sad and bitter and everything else about this situation? and OTOH, should they be expected to know how grim things are/in what ways for most of the sector? i think any analysis that pitches this as senior vs junior invites v uncomfortable discussions

i don’t want to start a whole Thing: but the situation for ECRs in humanities is *appalling* in ways that some academics don’t realize/didn’t experience.

i do understand aspects* of that piece that are unhelpful.

but, important context: ECRs eg on here can read senior colleagues but cannot reply

When will the UK government wake up to the wholesale destruction of HE that's happening?
This affects towns and cites across the UK, our businesses, the NHS, schools, young people, our global standing, everything! Higher Education, Universities, contribute over £265 BILLION to the economy.

Meltdown in Gorton puts wind in the sails of Labour’s imm... Feeling vindicated by the Greens’ byelection win, MPs hope to force the home secretary to rethink her plans

Exc: As many as 80 Labour MPs are braced to oppose the home secretary's immigration policies

Dozens of backbenchers and ministers are understood to be hostile to Shabana Mahmood's reforms. After the Gorton by-election they're pushing for a "recalibration"

observer.co.uk/news/politic...

😃

A loaf of sourdough bread on a breadboard. The slashes make it look like a smiley emoji.

A happy loaf almost worthy of @willpooley.bsky.social

👆