Alex West
@ajw87.bsky.social
Interested in the Columbian exchange. Philology. Manuscripts. Plants. #OldSundanese #MedievalIndonesia #TupianLanguages Old site: https://indomedieval.medium.com/ New site: https://medium.com/@WestsWorld he/him
Book: https://brill.com/display/title/68202
Book: https://brill.com/display/title/68202
Pinned
Alex West
@ajw87.bsky.social
· Jul 10
Bujangga Manik: Or, Java in the Fifteenth Century
My book on Bujangga Manik has been published by Brill under the title Bujangga Manik: Or, Java in the Fifteenth Century.
indomedieval.medium.com
Hard copies of my book arrived a few days ago, and I've finally found the time to write a bit about it and why you should read it (or get your library to buy it).
indomedieval.medium.com/bujangga-man...
indomedieval.medium.com/bujangga-man...
Reposted by Alex West
I wrote about all the things I've read in 2025.
What I Have Been Reading (2025)
In 2025 my book on Bujangga Manik was published at long last. In February I finished a writing project I’d been working on for the…
medium.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I wrote about all the things I've read in 2025.
Reposted by Alex West
Also, if you don’t like reading works in your field you probably shouldn’t be a historian? It is very much your job to do that, and if you don’t like it then unfortunately it’s simply not the job for you.
This is one of the reasons I remain horrified by seeing @historians.org suggest "ways to use gAI" that included this:
December 21, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Also, if you don’t like reading works in your field you probably shouldn’t be a historian? It is very much your job to do that, and if you don’t like it then unfortunately it’s simply not the job for you.
Reposted by Alex West
Oh hell YES.
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
December 21, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Oh hell YES.
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
I've long maintained that based on the result of ink recipes, the word "azraq" couldn't mean "blue" in early Arabic texts but seems instead to be yellowish. Now I have textual proof: "Take red arsenic [realgar] or if you wish, azraq"—no such thing as blue arsenic, this means yellow!
I wrote about all the things I've read in 2025.
What I Have Been Reading (2025)
In 2025 my book on Bujangga Manik was published at long last. In February I finished a writing project I’d been working on for the…
medium.com
December 21, 2025 at 2:43 PM
I wrote about all the things I've read in 2025.
Reposted by Alex West
A Cliffs Notes for the Jake Paul situation since I'm seeing people confused.
Jake Paul and his brother were 'prank streamers'. Yes exactly. They got famous for doing that and got rich. Jakes fame got to his head and somewhere along the way he started believing he could fight pro boxers.
Jake Paul and his brother were 'prank streamers'. Yes exactly. They got famous for doing that and got rich. Jakes fame got to his head and somewhere along the way he started believing he could fight pro boxers.
December 20, 2025 at 6:40 PM
A Cliffs Notes for the Jake Paul situation since I'm seeing people confused.
Jake Paul and his brother were 'prank streamers'. Yes exactly. They got famous for doing that and got rich. Jakes fame got to his head and somewhere along the way he started believing he could fight pro boxers.
Jake Paul and his brother were 'prank streamers'. Yes exactly. They got famous for doing that and got rich. Jakes fame got to his head and somewhere along the way he started believing he could fight pro boxers.
Reposted by Alex West
seeing both Andrew Tate and Jake Paul get knocked out this weekend
December 21, 2025 at 1:09 AM
seeing both Andrew Tate and Jake Paul get knocked out this weekend
Reposted by Alex West
The fact of the matter is that even if we removed all dehumanizing immigration restrictions, the vast majority of people would stay where they are because barring overwhelming danger most people don't like uprooting themselves to move to a strange place where they don't know anybody
Despite all the noise about “mass exodus”, 51% of African emigrants move within Africa. Only 3% of the African population lives outside their home country, compared to 8.5% of Europeans living outside theirs.
publications.iom.int/system/files...
publications.iom.int/system/files...
December 20, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The fact of the matter is that even if we removed all dehumanizing immigration restrictions, the vast majority of people would stay where they are because barring overwhelming danger most people don't like uprooting themselves to move to a strange place where they don't know anybody
Reposted by Alex West
The academic job crisis is terrible. But I also find it a little bit liberating.
I'm never going to have a career, and that's a shame, but that also means that the pressure's off. I can read/write about whatever I like without worrying about applying for jobs or fitting a profile.
I'm never going to have a career, and that's a shame, but that also means that the pressure's off. I can read/write about whatever I like without worrying about applying for jobs or fitting a profile.
December 20, 2025 at 10:52 AM
The academic job crisis is terrible. But I also find it a little bit liberating.
I'm never going to have a career, and that's a shame, but that also means that the pressure's off. I can read/write about whatever I like without worrying about applying for jobs or fitting a profile.
I'm never going to have a career, and that's a shame, but that also means that the pressure's off. I can read/write about whatever I like without worrying about applying for jobs or fitting a profile.
Reposted by Alex West
Christ this is like a forum debate c. 2008. Does Weiss have any ideas beyond the most basic slop?
December 20, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Christ this is like a forum debate c. 2008. Does Weiss have any ideas beyond the most basic slop?
Hot take: there are far too many questions about video games on University Challenge these days.
December 20, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Hot take: there are far too many questions about video games on University Challenge these days.
aahahahahahahahaahah
December 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM
aahahahahahahahaahah
I received a notification that I'd been blocked by this account (which I'm sure I've never engaged with) so I went to ClearSky to check out what they were all about and
December 19, 2025 at 8:02 AM
I received a notification that I'd been blocked by this account (which I'm sure I've never engaged with) so I went to ClearSky to check out what they were all about and
Yeah, I'm not sure the actual content of the article here justifies the myriad angry comments
December 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Yeah, I'm not sure the actual content of the article here justifies the myriad angry comments
Reposted by Alex West
we don't have open borders. we do have what is probably the toughest and most expensive spouse visa on the planet. i hate every single one of these MPs, they're a shower of endless cowardly liars
December 18, 2025 at 5:18 PM
we don't have open borders. we do have what is probably the toughest and most expensive spouse visa on the planet. i hate every single one of these MPs, they're a shower of endless cowardly liars
Portugal is definitely in the "Cute but let's switch to English" category, *unless* you speak Portuguese very well, in which case their reaction entirely depends on which part of the country you happen to be in.
I’m convinced that this map is reflecting reality perfectly.
December 18, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Portugal is definitely in the "Cute but let's switch to English" category, *unless* you speak Portuguese very well, in which case their reaction entirely depends on which part of the country you happen to be in.
This is a very interesting piece, actually engaging with the book's (attempted) themes and ideas.
December 18, 2025 at 1:00 PM
This is a very interesting piece, actually engaging with the book's (attempted) themes and ideas.
Xenophobic graffiti update: the stuff on the school's walls is gone, but the GO HOME opposite the entrance is still there.
More charming Lisbon graffiti, this time from the walls of the international school in my neighbourhood
December 17, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Xenophobic graffiti update: the stuff on the school's walls is gone, but the GO HOME opposite the entrance is still there.
I don't understand the love A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is getting in some quarters.
December 16, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I don't understand the love A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is getting in some quarters.
Reposted by Alex West
Which is the bigger threat, the far right, or something the far right have made up as propaganda and which we will now spread?
December 15, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Which is the bigger threat, the far right, or something the far right have made up as propaganda and which we will now spread?
Reposted by Alex West
Parthian word of the day
/dibīrīft/
"script, scribal knowledge & practice"
as in Sundermann, MKG 1316-1320
/kadām dibīrīft ast čē hasēnagistar ud abardar až harwīn dibīrīft čē pad wisp šahr/
"Which script is the oldest, the supreme script among all the scripts in the whole world?"
/dibīrīft/
"script, scribal knowledge & practice"
as in Sundermann, MKG 1316-1320
/kadām dibīrīft ast čē hasēnagistar ud abardar až harwīn dibīrīft čē pad wisp šahr/
"Which script is the oldest, the supreme script among all the scripts in the whole world?"
December 15, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Parthian word of the day
/dibīrīft/
"script, scribal knowledge & practice"
as in Sundermann, MKG 1316-1320
/kadām dibīrīft ast čē hasēnagistar ud abardar až harwīn dibīrīft čē pad wisp šahr/
"Which script is the oldest, the supreme script among all the scripts in the whole world?"
/dibīrīft/
"script, scribal knowledge & practice"
as in Sundermann, MKG 1316-1320
/kadām dibīrīft ast čē hasēnagistar ud abardar až harwīn dibīrīft čē pad wisp šahr/
"Which script is the oldest, the supreme script among all the scripts in the whole world?"
Reposted by Alex West
There’s a dissertation that gets cited all the time in my field that would have been a *book* that gets cited all the time, if there had been any opportunity for the author to stay in the trade. At this point we can all think of work that might have been career-making, so many firsts that were final
I wrote this a few years ago now, but it's still very relevant sadly. Constant redundancy has been the norm for many of us since we began our careers. Sorry for everyone who is now facing it unexpectedly. Logging off for a bit. #UKHE #UCU
hagenilda.wordpress.com/2022/01/31/a...
hagenilda.wordpress.com/2022/01/31/a...
Academic precarity harms us all
I’ve been working on this for a while. It sums up my experience of and thoughts about academic precarity. Tl;dr it harms us all: staff, institutions and, most importantly, students. I am writ…
hagenilda.wordpress.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:01 PM
There’s a dissertation that gets cited all the time in my field that would have been a *book* that gets cited all the time, if there had been any opportunity for the author to stay in the trade. At this point we can all think of work that might have been career-making, so many firsts that were final
Reposted by Alex West
bari weiss currently getting her ass kicked by Nice Bri'ish Boys Make A Cheeky Pie, Right, Sorted, 'at Hits The Spot It Does
December 14, 2025 at 10:13 PM
bari weiss currently getting her ass kicked by Nice Bri'ish Boys Make A Cheeky Pie, Right, Sorted, 'at Hits The Spot It Does
My wife's away this week and this has put me in a bad mood, so I'm listening to a bit of the old Ludwig Van and then hitting the hay. I can't stand xenophobia, and xenophobic graffiti directed at kids? Fuck off
More charming Lisbon graffiti, this time from the walls of the international school in my neighbourhood
December 14, 2025 at 11:10 PM
My wife's away this week and this has put me in a bad mood, so I'm listening to a bit of the old Ludwig Van and then hitting the hay. I can't stand xenophobia, and xenophobic graffiti directed at kids? Fuck off
1. It would be nice if people around the world cycled more. But:
2. Most countries aren't perfectly flat 2D plains at sea-level. They have hills and rocks and other things that make cycling difficult.
2. Most countries aren't perfectly flat 2D plains at sea-level. They have hills and rocks and other things that make cycling difficult.
“Dutch people cycle an average of 2.6km each per day. If this pattern was replicated worldwide, annual carbon emissions would drop by 686 million tonnes.
This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com
This mammoth figure exceeds the entire carbon footprint of most countries, including the UK, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Australia.” @euronews.com
Cycling like the Dutch would slash the world’s carbon footprint
If everybody cycled like the Dutch, we could offset the UK or Australia’s entire carbon footprint.
www.euronews.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
1. It would be nice if people around the world cycled more. But:
2. Most countries aren't perfectly flat 2D plains at sea-level. They have hills and rocks and other things that make cycling difficult.
2. Most countries aren't perfectly flat 2D plains at sea-level. They have hills and rocks and other things that make cycling difficult.