Chris Smith

Chris Smith

@spyhistorian.bsky.social

Historian. Spies, signals intelligence, Second World War. Social and Cultural history. History of humour. Insults = 🚫

4,637 Followers 1,477 Following 4,942 Posts Joined Oct 2023
1 hour ago

I've not been in there yet, good?

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2 hours ago

Which pub?

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17 hours ago

A reporting issue. We just a lot of naval gazing in academia. None in journalism and your the worst.

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1 day ago

Will the union take SHU to the courts? Probably not. Again, they don't give a shit about post-1992s.

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1 day ago

SHU have probably missed the boat on this. The way it works is they sack all the staff and then invite them to reapply for a job on much worse terms and conditions. Classic fire and rehire. The law changes in August. Unless the Uni can show real financial need, this will soon be illegal.

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1 day ago

This is already happening elsewhere. The UCU, being for the pre-1992s, doesn't give a fuck.

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2 days ago

I'm old enough to remember when the entire global media went mad and said that Joe Biden had dementia because he performed about half this poorly in a debate.

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3 days ago

One of the fascists committed an assault, in front of a police officer. Why was there no arrest?

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3 days ago

Yeah, but at least it wasn't a tan suit, right?

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3 days ago
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Very fun day with great speakers.

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3 days ago
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Gave a talk with Claire Hubbard-Hall today at @bletchleypark.bsky.social. Thanks to the organisers.

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4 days ago

Obviously. But wait for this not to happen. Or if it does, for them to spectacularly get it wrong. Nobody in politics seems to get the catastrophe that is unfolding.

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4 days ago

It is Britain, you should drive on the left but walk on the right against the traffic. Much safer.

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4 days ago

The children are also walking on the wrong side of the road. Safety first, kids.

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5 days ago

He has no intellect.

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5 days ago
Preview
Anglotopia Podcast: Episode 86: Codebreakers, Spies, and Secrets - The Truth About Bletchley Park and Alan Turing - Anglotopia Podcast This episode of the Anglotopia Podcast delves into the hidden history of Bletchley Park, exploring its origins, growth, and the significant role it played during World War II. Dr. Chris Smith joins us...

I appeared on the @anglotopia.bsky.social podcast last month, for the second time, on this occasion to talk about @bletchleypark.bsky.social. The host Jonathan and I had a very fun chat.

podcast.anglotopia.net/podcast/angl...

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5 days ago

I might get another one, but say Turing - mainly because I've spent 18 years studying him in one way or another. Quite the discombobulating thing for people who think Fascism then see Turing. But Turing also implies I buy into mythology.

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5 days ago

I did not know about the alternative uses until after I got it. Not that I care. If people misunderstand it after I've explained, continue to deliberately misunderstand it, that is their problem.

At this point, I won't argue with people about it unless they have read at least 100 books on the war.

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5 days ago

I have the cross of St Lorraine,which means people either think I'm a Catholic Fascist, some kind of pro-Russian Fascist, a Gaullist or whatever. The fact that I might have read a lot about the French resistance and like the look of it seems to strike few as plausible.

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5 days ago

Taken directly from Yalta.

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6 days ago

They learned nothing from Iraq.

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6 days ago

When the dust settles on this regime, there will need to be a reckoning that involves Hegseth and others standing trial for war crimes.

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6 days ago

Got to be fake. Nobody is called Aubrey unless they were born in the 18th century.

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6 days ago

"These people are often shrill and conspiratorial, and it is one of the great frustrations of my own politics that I so often find myself on their side. For I did not believe in military action against Iraq in 2003, or Libya in 2011. I did not think we should bomb Syria in 2013."

Hugo 8/9/15 Times

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1 week ago

The Lords is one of the few functional parts of Westminster, it has destroyed much of that limited credibility over the Assisted Dying Bill.

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1 week ago

Oh, I still do it when responding to peer-review. Take your lumps but hit back to the editor when a reviewer produces some asinine/ignorant criticism.

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1 week ago

Ouch. I have quite a poor filter for that kind of thing as well.

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1 week ago

Best of luck!

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1 week ago

"The only limits we have is (delete as appropriate: Il Duce's / the FΓΌhrer's / Vozhd's / El Caudillo's / Brother Number One's / The Great Helmsman's / El Caballo's) desire to achieve specific effects on behalf of the People."

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1 week ago

Yep. A lesson to PhD students and vivas. Admit when something is pointed out to you, and you hadn't thought about it or got it wrong. But if the examiners have some point you fundamentally disagree with, stand your ground. Offer to better clarify it, but don't concede when you're right.

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