Dan Feather
@danieljfeather.bsky.social
Historian interested in cultural diplomacy, the 'British world', and southern Africa. Attempting to write a book about British-Rhodesian cultural relations during UDI while also examining British policy towards the South African Bantustans
On a very early train to London to do (what I hope) is the final research trip for my next book on British cultural relations with Rhodesia. Using the time to write a review of a book on the Lancaster House talks, which saw the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.
November 11, 2025 at 8:22 AM
On a very early train to London to do (what I hope) is the final research trip for my next book on British cultural relations with Rhodesia. Using the time to write a review of a book on the Lancaster House talks, which saw the transition from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.
Pleased to see my review of the Contemporary British History special issue “Diplomatic Departures: Negotiating Britain’s International Outreach in the Contemporary World'' has been published by @h-diplo.bsky.social (Available at: networks.h-net.org/group/discus...)
H-Diplo|Jervis Forum Article Review 183: Feather on "Diplomatic Departures" | H-Net
The Jervis ForumH-Diplo | Robert Jervis International Security Studies Forum Article Review 183
networks.h-net.org
October 13, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Pleased to see my review of the Contemporary British History special issue “Diplomatic Departures: Negotiating Britain’s International Outreach in the Contemporary World'' has been published by @h-diplo.bsky.social (Available at: networks.h-net.org/group/discus...)
Spending the afternoon going through the excellent abstracts we have received for this event in advance of a planning meeting later
A new Research Network - Historians of Cultural Diplomacy - has emerged from the @britishacademy.bsky.social/ @leverhulme.ac.uk sponsored workshop I organised in February. Thanks to the brilliant work of @lgmar.bsky.social we now have our own website: sites.google.com/ucm.es/hcd
October 6, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Spending the afternoon going through the excellent abstracts we have received for this event in advance of a planning meeting later
Review now out on @hnetreviews.bsky.social www.h-net.org/reviews/show...
October 6, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Review now out on @hnetreviews.bsky.social www.h-net.org/reviews/show...
Whatever your views on Owen Jones, this is pretty disgraceful. I remember he went the Tory Party conference a couple of years ago, and while I think party grandees just ignored him and left to speak to teenage members, he was allowed to be there for the duration
September 30, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Whatever your views on Owen Jones, this is pretty disgraceful. I remember he went the Tory Party conference a couple of years ago, and while I think party grandees just ignored him and left to speak to teenage members, he was allowed to be there for the duration
I think Burnham would make a much better PM than Starmer, but the joke allegedly doing the rounds amongst some Labour MPs sums him up: A Blairite, Brownite, a Starmerite and a Corbynite walk into a pub, the barman says 'what do you want Andy'
September 25, 2025 at 9:03 AM
I think Burnham would make a much better PM than Starmer, but the joke allegedly doing the rounds amongst some Labour MPs sums him up: A Blairite, Brownite, a Starmerite and a Corbynite walk into a pub, the barman says 'what do you want Andy'
Thrilled to see the first review of my book published in the American Historical Review academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
Daniel J. Feather. British Cultural Diplomacy in South Africa, 1960–1994
The election of the National Party in 1948 and the subsequent implementation of its apartheid policy of racial discrimination saw South Africa gradually dr
academic.oup.com
September 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Thrilled to see the first review of my book published in the American Historical Review academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...
Have a vague hope that the 'Mandelson Affair' might bring Starmer down. But the likelihood is he'll just be replaced by Wes Streeting. Theresa May replaced by BoJo vibes
September 12, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Have a vague hope that the 'Mandelson Affair' might bring Starmer down. But the likelihood is he'll just be replaced by Wes Streeting. Theresa May replaced by BoJo vibes
Crisp early morning walk before the first big meeting of the new academic year
September 9, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Crisp early morning walk before the first big meeting of the new academic year
Reposted by Dan Feather
If Farage wins the next election, it will be down to one person. His name is Keir Starmer.
This thread explains why.
1. Destroying faith in democracy. The UK decisively voted out the Tories, only for Starmer to give us a Continuity Tory government, shamefully beholden to economic power.
🧵
This thread explains why.
1. Destroying faith in democracy. The UK decisively voted out the Tories, only for Starmer to give us a Continuity Tory government, shamefully beholden to economic power.
🧵
September 7, 2025 at 4:46 PM
If Farage wins the next election, it will be down to one person. His name is Keir Starmer.
This thread explains why.
1. Destroying faith in democracy. The UK decisively voted out the Tories, only for Starmer to give us a Continuity Tory government, shamefully beholden to economic power.
🧵
This thread explains why.
1. Destroying faith in democracy. The UK decisively voted out the Tories, only for Starmer to give us a Continuity Tory government, shamefully beholden to economic power.
🧵
Reposted by Dan Feather
The UK is a country with a rapidly ageing population that needs vast numbers of jobs filling. For it to crash all migration downwards because the public are enraged about small boats is the definition of national madness. www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/nans-not-b...
Nan’s Not Bankrupting Britain (But Politicians Might Be)
Pensions, productivity, and the myth of the migrant “drain.”
www.bearlypolitics.co.uk
September 7, 2025 at 9:07 AM
The UK is a country with a rapidly ageing population that needs vast numbers of jobs filling. For it to crash all migration downwards because the public are enraged about small boats is the definition of national madness. www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/nans-not-b...
Reading for the long train journey down to Norwich for the British International History Group conference at the University of East Anglia
September 3, 2025 at 6:10 AM
Reading for the long train journey down to Norwich for the British International History Group conference at the University of East Anglia
The Labour government’s capitulation to the far right continues
BREAKING: Yvette Cooper says she is suspending all applications to bring family members to the UK under the asylum system.
September 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The Labour government’s capitulation to the far right continues
Reposted by Dan Feather
UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences are invited to our informative ERC Synergy Grants 2025 webinar on 8 September.
Draft B1 proposals may be submitted by 1 September at 12:00 for feedback during the session.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4lTTx6x
Draft B1 proposals may be submitted by 1 September at 12:00 for feedback during the session.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4lTTx6x
ERC Grants Webinars
bit.ly
August 29, 2025 at 5:30 PM
UK-based researchers in the humanities and social sciences are invited to our informative ERC Synergy Grants 2025 webinar on 8 September.
Draft B1 proposals may be submitted by 1 September at 12:00 for feedback during the session.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4lTTx6x
Draft B1 proposals may be submitted by 1 September at 12:00 for feedback during the session.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/4lTTx6x
I knew this Labour government would be bad, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. Reform tribute act now seems to be the approach.
August 28, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I knew this Labour government would be bad, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. Reform tribute act now seems to be the approach.
Took a brief interlude from annual leave to deliver an invited talk to lawyers and civil servants in the UK Cabinet Office's Union & Devolution Directorate as part of their 'Constitution School' series
August 27, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Took a brief interlude from annual leave to deliver an invited talk to lawyers and civil servants in the UK Cabinet Office's Union & Devolution Directorate as part of their 'Constitution School' series
Reposted by Dan Feather
‘… social historian David Kynaston, told The Observer he suspects “a serious scandal is unfolding”
John Wyver, Ian Greaves, Erica Wagner and others on the growing battle to prevent damaging changes to the BBC’s priceless behind-the-scenes archives:
John Wyver, Ian Greaves, Erica Wagner and others on the growing battle to prevent damaging changes to the BBC’s priceless behind-the-scenes archives:
Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...
Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research
observer.co.uk
August 24, 2025 at 6:23 AM
‘… social historian David Kynaston, told The Observer he suspects “a serious scandal is unfolding”
John Wyver, Ian Greaves, Erica Wagner and others on the growing battle to prevent damaging changes to the BBC’s priceless behind-the-scenes archives:
John Wyver, Ian Greaves, Erica Wagner and others on the growing battle to prevent damaging changes to the BBC’s priceless behind-the-scenes archives:
A new Research Network - Historians of Cultural Diplomacy - has emerged from the @britishacademy.bsky.social/ @leverhulme.ac.uk sponsored workshop I organised in February. Thanks to the brilliant work of @lgmar.bsky.social we now have our own website: sites.google.com/ucm.es/hcd
August 22, 2025 at 8:59 AM
A new Research Network - Historians of Cultural Diplomacy - has emerged from the @britishacademy.bsky.social/ @leverhulme.ac.uk sponsored workshop I organised in February. Thanks to the brilliant work of @lgmar.bsky.social we now have our own website: sites.google.com/ucm.es/hcd
Reposted by Dan Feather
Reposted by Dan Feather
In the night we reached 300 signatures. A rapid rise but also a clear statement from the community that this is a retrograde decision causing widespread worry about the future of research - not just of the BBC, but almost anything within its century-plus global and cultural reach. Please join us.
Calling historians and researchers. The BBC Written Archives Centre has changed its access rules without consultation. This means an end to proper independent research into the BBC's rich history. 178 have already signed the open letter. Please join the campaign here:
tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign
tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign
Open letter BBC Written Archives - August 2025
Join the campaign to protect the future of independent research at the BBC Written Archives Centre The following text is an open letter expressing the concern of historians and researchers about chan...
tinyurl.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:59 AM
In the night we reached 300 signatures. A rapid rise but also a clear statement from the community that this is a retrograde decision causing widespread worry about the future of research - not just of the BBC, but almost anything within its century-plus global and cultural reach. Please join us.
Reposted by Dan Feather
Yeah, I always thought the "graduate regret" is a narrative pushed by certain people and newspaper columnists... it's a different question entirely whether we should charge students 10k per year... But at a fundamental level universities are almost always good for young people.
'Fewer graduates regret going to university than is widely assumed and the public have a more favourable view of universities than people imagine, according to new research.' 1/3
Public vastly overestimate level of ‘graduate regret’, poll finds
New research highlights misconceptions about higher education, with people more positive about universities than is commonly realised
www.timeshighereducation.com
August 20, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Yeah, I always thought the "graduate regret" is a narrative pushed by certain people and newspaper columnists... it's a different question entirely whether we should charge students 10k per year... But at a fundamental level universities are almost always good for young people.
Reposted by Dan Feather
refugees are being housed in hotel rooms that do not meet their basic needs: families are being housed in rooms with no cooking facilities, nowhere for children to play, frequent reports of mould, damp, vermin. if an MP can’t explain that to constituents what are we doing here.
August 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
refugees are being housed in hotel rooms that do not meet their basic needs: families are being housed in rooms with no cooking facilities, nowhere for children to play, frequent reports of mould, damp, vermin. if an MP can’t explain that to constituents what are we doing here.
Starmer and Cooper will probably be right there with him in a few weeks the way this lot are going
The truth is it's going to be a choice between people like this and a Labour or Labour led coalition at the next election. If you think Labour is the same as this sack of shit don't complain when you wake up to a Reform/Tory government in 4 years time and consequences that will follow.
Robert Jenrick, the Tory Shadow Justice Secretary and former Home Office Minister, joining protesters outside an asylum hotel is one of the most disgusting acts by a frontline British politician in living memory.
August 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Starmer and Cooper will probably be right there with him in a few weeks the way this lot are going