Matthew McCormack

Why AI Shouldn't Replace Historians Anytime Soon A recent study found that AI has put a target on historians' backs. We put several chatbots to the test.

I tested AI chatbots with history facts. They spewed a lot of bullshit.

At Sixfields to watch Northampton v Southampton. I last saw this fixture with @frandod.bsky.social 21 years ago, on the day I moved here to work at UON. I now support both teams, and am going with my son, who does too

Ditto 2nd trombone

Please help me share the CFP for this Literature Compass Special Issue dedicated to the work of Simon J James and covering key Victorian and Edwardian writers like H. G. Wells, George Gissing, Dickens, Wilde, George Du Maurier, and Conan-Doyle on behalf of Hadas Elber-Aviram.

Likely a long shot, but might any #earlymodern musicologists be able to identify these bars? There are numerous settings by Campion, Morley, Gautier in this Scottish ms, so I wondered if it was recognisable as any of theirs, or indeed someone else’s. As a lit historian, it’s beyond me, sadly.

This LLM has been reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

More teens to get their choice of uni even if they miss their grades, says Ucas A record number of 18-year-olds will get into their first choice, even if they miss their grades.

Or: prestigious institutions are taking on loads of extra students out of financial desperation, meaning other institutions will be starved of funds. And academics are being sacked everywhere
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Call for interested parties in a panel for @bsecs.bsky.social January 2026! Theme this year is Big/Small. My paper will focus on small comforts + large discomforts in 18th c. letter writing. Let me know if you are interested #18c @cecs-york.bsky.social @long18thsem.bsky.social

Terminator 7: The Rise of Grammarly

UK

Applications for History Lab's 2025-26 Committee

📢 CALL FOR NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS! 📢

History Lab warmly invites applications for its 2025-2026 Committee. History Lab is the national body, hosted at the @ihr.bsky.social, which represents over 1,500 graduate students of history across the UK.

Keep on reading for the available roles and deadline!

I've got Disney+ for a few months. Any recommendations?

English warship sunk in 1703 storm gives up its secrets three centuries on Archaeologists in race to study HMS Northumberland as shifting sands expose part of well-preserved wreck

Wonder if the conditions were conducive to preserving leather, and whether they'll find any shoes

www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Visited the Roman fort at Vindolanda today, and saw their impressive collection of footwear!

Queued for an hour to get into Beamish living history museum today. Hundreds of families were paying upwards of 60 quid to go. Don't tell me that history isn't popular, relevant or economically important

Congrats!

British ‘Spy Fever’ in the First World War An exploration of how British society experienced 'spy fever' during the First World War. Following the declaration of war in 1914, German spies were sighted ac…

Pleased to announce that my first book, British 'Spy Fever' in the First World War, will be published in September with @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social. Pre-order a copy here:

www.bloomsbury.com/uk/british-s...

New History Book Series Call for Proposals: Routledge Studies in Eighteenth- Century Cultures and Societies - BSECS Series Editors: Elaine Chalus, University of Liverpool, UK and Deborah Simonton, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Routledge Editor: Max Novick The long eighteenth century sits as a pivotal poin...

***CALL FOR PROPOSALS***
Routledge Studies in #18thC Cultures & Societies (eds. @profelainechalus.bsky.social & Deborah Simonton) seeks proposals for book-length studies on aspects of British, European, or transnational culture and society c.1680-1850. Full details: www.bsecs.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Edinburgh University had ‘outsized’ role in creating racist scientific theories, inquiry finds Investigation finds one of Britain’s oldest and most prestigious universities benefited from transatlantic slavery and was haven for white supremacist theories

Every strand of this Edinburgh University report could be its own front page.

Yes, some of it will be familiar to historians, but this kind of frank public recognition is all too rare.

Incredible work by many different scholars.

Two rectangular shoe buckles, surrounded by so many large paste diamonds that they take on an oval silhouette.

Footwear Friday: A pair of paste-studded buckles from the late #18thc. Removeable buckles like these could be moved from one pair of shoes to another as needed, or simply replaced when a new fashion came in. A very versatile accessory! www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... 🗃️🪡

Vacancies - BSECS Vacancies on the Council This page gives details of any current vacancies on the BSECS Council. Vacancies are normally advertised in the autumn of the year and appointments are made or elections held ...

***Engagement Officer Vacancy***
We're looking for an engagement officer to act as primary point of contact for #18thC centres across the UK, and to oversee our outreach and engagement. It's a voluntary role, but associated travel & accommodation expenses are paid...
www.bsecs.org.uk/the-society/...

I review Peter K Andersson's excellent The Dandy: A People's History of Sartorial Splendour in the latest issue of BBC History Magazine @historyextra.bsky.social

Thousands of leather shoes, bags and sword scabbards discovered during dig in medieval harbor in Norway Thousands of pieces of leather discovered in an Oslo harbor are giving archaeologists insight into everyday life in medieval Norway.

Excavations in Oslo’s old harbor have brought up thousands of preserved bits of leather from the 14th century. 🏺🧪

I should be at Cambridge, but I’m trapped in Gaza Home Office red tape strands dozens of Palestinian scholarship winners in war zone

Shaimaa has a scholarship to do a PhD on Palestinian literature with me at @uoe-llc.bsky.social, but she's stuck in Gaza because the foreign office won't help. Please share. www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...

I've got 4 weeks of work left. If anyone sees an education/3rd sector/HE professional services job (or any that might suit someone who's worked a lot with young people, or is genuinely open to someone without 5 years' experience) or knows of any open academic short-term grants, pls DM 🫶#skystorians

The Vasa museum!

At RIAT 2025. Among the modern heavy metal and the arms dealer stuff, here is a beautiful old Lockheed Electra

Dad who bought guitar amp on Facebook floored by previous rock star owner James Taylor was shocked after discovering the famous previous owner of a guitar amp he bought on Facebook for less than £3,000

Amazing story. I've bought lots of music gear off marketplace, and it sometimes comes with a story about its previous owner. But never a Beatle!
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Northampton Branch Programme Northampton Branch Programme 2015-16

Here is the 2025-26 programme for the Northampton branch of the HA, run jointly with Leicester. @histassoc.bsky.social

#skystorians
www.history.org.uk/branches/cat...

I used to have a few weeks between the end of the busy period and my summer leave, and this is when I did the bulk of my research for the year.

This year I have 3 days...