Charlotte Lydia Riley
@lottelydia.bsky.social
Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain (Penguin 2023)/An Alternative History of the British Empire (HUP 2024). Is Free Speech Under Threat? (2024).
https://linktr.ee/charlottelydiariley
repped by Carrie Plitt @FBA
views are all mine 💫
https://linktr.ee/charlottelydiariley
repped by Carrie Plitt @FBA
views are all mine 💫
Pinned
We’re thrilled to celebrate our colleague @lottelydia.bsky.social, whose book Imperial Island (Harvard University Press, 2024) has just been awarded the Herbert Baxter Adams Prize by the American Historical Association! This prestigious award acknowledges Charlotte’s thought-provoking work.
American Historical Association Announces 2025 Prize Winners – AHA
The American Historical Association is pleased to announce the winners of its 2025 prizes.
www.historians.org
🥳
Apart from anything else, this really embodies the Playmobil approach to workforces that politicians often fall into — it’s all very well and good to laud “frontline” NHS workers but without backroom staff the entire service would actually collapse.
Hey everyone, here's the news, if you aren't a high earner, entrepreneur or a "skilled frontline worker" (whatever the fuck that means) the "Labour" Party says you aren't contributing, you're a taker!
This is so disgusting.
December 7, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Apart from anything else, this really embodies the Playmobil approach to workforces that politicians often fall into — it’s all very well and good to laud “frontline” NHS workers but without backroom staff the entire service would actually collapse.
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
The “Labour” Party finds itself arguing ordinary workers, carers and others are “takers”.
Hey everyone, here's the news, if you aren't a high earner, entrepreneur or a "skilled frontline worker" (whatever the fuck that means) the "Labour" Party says you aren't contributing, you're a taker!
This is so disgusting.
December 7, 2025 at 9:23 AM
The “Labour” Party finds itself arguing ordinary workers, carers and others are “takers”.
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
my great-grandparents arrived in the UK in the 1890s with nothing.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
December 7, 2025 at 8:59 AM
my great-grandparents arrived in the UK in the 1890s with nothing.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
they sold pickles from the front room window, took in laundry, worked as tailors.
their children were nurses, teachers, salesmen.
their grandchildren were professors, designers, opticians, doctors, magistrates, entrepreneurs.
There is a good way to do Ripper history! The After Dark history team did it in a way that is both more ethical and more compelling than a simple “find the Ripper” version.
The After Dark podcast did a far more considered, nuanced look earlier in the year, looking at why the main suspects were considered to have deviated from a reactionary ideal of manliness - through mental health issues, homosexuality or just plain foreignness - to have become suspects.
December 7, 2025 at 11:50 AM
There is a good way to do Ripper history! The After Dark history team did it in a way that is both more ethical and more compelling than a simple “find the Ripper” version.
it’s not surprising that The Rest Is History have approached the murder of five women as a fun whodunnit, but it is still pretty grim
The historians focus on the knackermen, slaughtermen and butchers who worked around Whitechapel as they attempt to identify the serial killer
Who was Jack the Ripper? Rest is History podcast might have cracked it
The historians focus on the knackermen, slaughtermen and butchers who worked around Whitechapel as they attempt to identify the serial killer
www.thetimes.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:08 AM
it’s not surprising that The Rest Is History have approached the murder of five women as a fun whodunnit, but it is still pretty grim
Richard House children’s hospice — the oldest children’s hospice in Newham — is at risk of closure as it’s got a massive gap in its finances. There’s a petition here to put pressure on local and national government to support it, please considering signing:
Sign the Petition
Stop closure of Richard house children's hospice
www.change.org
December 7, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Richard House children’s hospice — the oldest children’s hospice in Newham — is at risk of closure as it’s got a massive gap in its finances. There’s a petition here to put pressure on local and national government to support it, please considering signing:
The girl who gets up from her desk and dumbs
her discourse down has never seen the flight
of wide-eyed starlings from their shabby cage;
the fool whose love is truest is the one
who knows a lover’s work is never done.
I’ll call you when I’ve finished one more page.
her discourse down has never seen the flight
of wide-eyed starlings from their shabby cage;
the fool whose love is truest is the one
who knows a lover’s work is never done.
I’ll call you when I’ve finished one more page.
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 10:01 PM
The girl who gets up from her desk and dumbs
her discourse down has never seen the flight
of wide-eyed starlings from their shabby cage;
the fool whose love is truest is the one
who knows a lover’s work is never done.
I’ll call you when I’ve finished one more page.
her discourse down has never seen the flight
of wide-eyed starlings from their shabby cage;
the fool whose love is truest is the one
who knows a lover’s work is never done.
I’ll call you when I’ve finished one more page.
Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand / come and see my shining castle built upon the sand!
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand / come and see my shining castle built upon the sand!
Surely, surely it’s a French Exit. Has anyone calling it an Irish exit/Irish goodbye ever actually tried to leave anywhere in Ireland
100% correct about the value of the ‘Irish exit’. It always amazes me when people leaving early insist on making it extremely clear that they are leaving early. No one cares! Just go.
It’s work party season — here’s a survival guide on.ft.com/3Kv91S4 #FTEdit
December 6, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Surely, surely it’s a French Exit. Has anyone calling it an Irish exit/Irish goodbye ever actually tried to leave anywhere in Ireland
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
This...should have been two separate emails.
December 5, 2025 at 10:09 PM
This...should have been two separate emails.
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
The essence of Blue Labour thought is that somewhere in Downing Street there is a button marked “reindustrialise” that Tony Blair could have pressed, but instead he opted for the “more Woke Studies” button.
My brother in Christ, reindustrialization is based on international capital flows, not dumbass ideas to move down the value chain by turning colleges into vocational schools. You do realize that modern industry is almost always *high* skilled automation?
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
Read your Michael Pettis, you utter clown.
No reindustrialising? Our academic institutions are a part of the problem, overproducing elites and funnelling them into bullshit unproductive jobs. Half the universities need to close or become vocational colleges. You didn't even mention productivity.
Brexit is in the past. That ship has sailed.
Brexit is in the past. That ship has sailed.
December 5, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The essence of Blue Labour thought is that somewhere in Downing Street there is a button marked “reindustrialise” that Tony Blair could have pressed, but instead he opted for the “more Woke Studies” button.
look when he’s right he’s right
5 minutes after FIFA gives him a fake medal Trump wants to rename American football.
December 5, 2025 at 8:42 PM
look when he’s right he’s right
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Frank Gehry, 1929–2025 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/a...
December 5, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Frank Gehry, 1929–2025 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/a...
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Note: Fox ran a segment on the Chicago ICE Nativity, which is at the church of a pastor who recently went viral for being arrested while protesting ICE.
That pastor told me the church has since seen an influx of volatile messages.
“There’s been some suggestions that I should kill myself,” he said.
That pastor told me the church has since seen an influx of volatile messages.
“There’s been some suggestions that I should kill myself,” he said.
In Chicago, a Nativity scene features a zip-tied baby Jesus and Roman centurions in "ICE" vests.
Near Boston, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are absent from a Nativity scene, replaced with a sign reading "ICE was here."
It's all part of growing religious blowback to ICE. religionnews.com/2025/12/05/i...
Near Boston, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are absent from a Nativity scene, replaced with a sign reading "ICE was here."
It's all part of growing religious blowback to ICE. religionnews.com/2025/12/05/i...
ICE Nativity scenes: Churches reimagine Christmas story amid deportations
(RNS) — 'We know that Jesus was born into a Roman imperial occupation, and pretty much immediately becomes a refugee in Egypt, has to flee and faces political violence,' the Rev. Michael Woolf said.
religionnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Note: Fox ran a segment on the Chicago ICE Nativity, which is at the church of a pastor who recently went viral for being arrested while protesting ICE.
That pastor told me the church has since seen an influx of volatile messages.
“There’s been some suggestions that I should kill myself,” he said.
That pastor told me the church has since seen an influx of volatile messages.
“There’s been some suggestions that I should kill myself,” he said.
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Christmas card created by Joan Wisdom c.1970s, in the art therapy studio at Netherne hospital, Surrey, where she was compelled to live.
It is one of several she created for art therapist Edward Adamson
It is one of several she created for art therapist Edward Adamson
December 8, 2024 at 1:16 PM
Christmas card created by Joan Wisdom c.1970s, in the art therapy studio at Netherne hospital, Surrey, where she was compelled to live.
It is one of several she created for art therapist Edward Adamson
It is one of several she created for art therapist Edward Adamson
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Actually I could watch THIS all night
December 5, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Actually I could watch THIS all night
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
This wildly tacky World Cup draw is a grimly fascinating preview of what happens if the aesthetics of fascism finally get their way.
December 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
This wildly tacky World Cup draw is a grimly fascinating preview of what happens if the aesthetics of fascism finally get their way.
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
"You've been monitoring... me?" "All of you. Everything on your planet. TV. Radio. Telecommunications. Computers. Video circuitry. Warehouses." "What?" "Car parks. Everything. We monitor everything." Tricia stared at them. "That must be very boring, isn't it?" she blurted out. "Yes."
December 5, 2025 at 6:47 PM
"You've been monitoring... me?" "All of you. Everything on your planet. TV. Radio. Telecommunications. Computers. Video circuitry. Warehouses." "What?" "Car parks. Everything. We monitor everything." Tricia stared at them. "That must be very boring, isn't it?" she blurted out. "Yes."
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Starting to suspect FIFA might not be an entirely reputable organisation.
December 5, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Starting to suspect FIFA might not be an entirely reputable organisation.
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
"can u explain these gaps in your CV" yes those are spaces they help you know what's a word and what's another word, it's the long bar on the keyboard here gimme your phone I can help u it's easy
December 5, 2025 at 5:04 PM
"can u explain these gaps in your CV" yes those are spaces they help you know what's a word and what's another word, it's the long bar on the keyboard here gimme your phone I can help u it's easy
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
interesting to see her leaning on the argument that pro-palestinian voices are unfamiliar with the relevant history, as if any amount of historical context could justify what's happening in palestine
Hillary Clinton blames TikTok and “totally made up” videos for young people’s views on Israel and Palestine.
She says social media influenced “not just the usual suspects” but also “young Jewish Americans who don’t know the history and don’t understand.”
She says social media influenced “not just the usual suspects” but also “young Jewish Americans who don’t know the history and don’t understand.”
December 3, 2025 at 12:27 AM
interesting to see her leaning on the argument that pro-palestinian voices are unfamiliar with the relevant history, as if any amount of historical context could justify what's happening in palestine
Just spent over an hour doing bedtime because my toddler was furious to the point of tears that “going to sleep is SO BORING”
December 3, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Just spent over an hour doing bedtime because my toddler was furious to the point of tears that “going to sleep is SO BORING”
Reposted by Charlotte Lydia Riley
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
November 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Here is a list of reasons why some of my hearings and trials this year have been delayed and kicked off into the long grass, stuck in our record court backlog. Serious allegations which will now be tried *years* after the event. 🧵👇
This is nothing to do with Marxism and everything to do with trying to break the (mad!) WHO guidelines about not “promoting” formula milk.
The right wing British politics twitter reaction/the policy.
I wish I was making this up.
I wish I was making this up.
December 3, 2025 at 8:32 PM
This is nothing to do with Marxism and everything to do with trying to break the (mad!) WHO guidelines about not “promoting” formula milk.