Matthew Francis
@mjfrancis.bsky.social
I don't really post about #ThatcherBham on here, but I think it would be news to my students that the mid-1970s were a "safer, happier" time.
"What is certain, and felt instinctively by almost everybody, is that things cannot go on in their present way" – The Times, May 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
“It is difficult to imagine a previous period when such an all-pervasive hopelessness was exhibited at all levels of British life” – Professor Stephen Haseler, 1975
November 14, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I don't really post about #ThatcherBham on here, but I think it would be news to my students that the mid-1970s were a "safer, happier" time.
I am once again asking you all not to be so bloody weird.
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I am once again asking you all not to be so bloody weird.
Quite apart from the fact that this is, as E.P. Thompson might have put it, unhistorical bullshit, does anyone seriously believe that Jenrick has been in an away end in his life?
Jenrick casting 1980s British football hooliganism as something that was easily dealt with by police and not an era defining issue which we're still living with the consequences of today... He's genuinely the most unserious person in British politics rn
October 17, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Quite apart from the fact that this is, as E.P. Thompson might have put it, unhistorical bullshit, does anyone seriously believe that Jenrick has been in an away end in his life?
Reposted by Matthew Francis
We are delighted to announce that MBS2026 will be held at the University of Birmingham, 3-5 June 2026!
Papers may consider the opening day's theme of 'Polycrisis', but we also welcome all submissions related to modern British studies.
For any questions please contact [email protected]
Papers may consider the opening day's theme of 'Polycrisis', but we also welcome all submissions related to modern British studies.
For any questions please contact [email protected]
Modern British Studies Conference 2026 - University of Birmingham
Conference information
www.birmingham.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
We are delighted to announce that MBS2026 will be held at the University of Birmingham, 3-5 June 2026!
Papers may consider the opening day's theme of 'Polycrisis', but we also welcome all submissions related to modern British studies.
For any questions please contact [email protected]
Papers may consider the opening day's theme of 'Polycrisis', but we also welcome all submissions related to modern British studies.
For any questions please contact [email protected]
Worth noting, in the context of some of the stuff in this interview, that Shelvey was once banned for racially abusing an opposition player...
Bizarre long piece giving airtime to guy who despite the headline obviously is playing over there for money, both- sidesing his Reform crime dystopian view of the UK. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Jonjo Shelvey: Former Newcastle United midfielder says he hasn't moved to Dubai for money
About 75 fans watched Jonjo Shelvey's debut in the third tier of the United Arab Emirates - but he says he has not moved for money.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 16, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Worth noting, in the context of some of the stuff in this interview, that Shelvey was once banned for racially abusing an opposition player...
The Nobel committee clearly love a stuffed whale (and rightly so).
#BREAKING Hungary's Laszlo Krasznahorkai wins Nobel literature prize
October 9, 2025 at 11:21 AM
The Nobel committee clearly love a stuffed whale (and rightly so).
There are no way there will be any #ThatcherBham students on Bluesky, but if there were...
Some lovely polling published by the Policy Inst at KCL today on partial quotations www.kcl.ac.uk/policy-insti...
September 23, 2025 at 9:19 PM
There are no way there will be any #ThatcherBham students on Bluesky, but if there were...
The next step, of course, would be that you have to wait for the ad to finish playing before the door unlocks and you can get to your cheese...
Samsung brings ads to US fridges
Samsung brings ads to US fridges
Samsung’s ‘screens everywhere’ initiative is morphing into ads everywhere.
buff.ly
September 18, 2025 at 11:35 AM
The next step, of course, would be that you have to wait for the ad to finish playing before the door unlocks and you can get to your cheese...
While I enjoyed this from @nickmiller79.bsky.social, I am a little disappointed that Wolves being the first (and as far as I know only) Premier League side to go through a full game without committing a foul did not make the cut...
Premier League one-time wonders: Extreme examples of things happening only once
From a striker who touched the ball only once to the young star stuck on one win, we look at the more niche Premier League statistics
www.nytimes.com
September 11, 2025 at 11:21 AM
While I enjoyed this from @nickmiller79.bsky.social, I am a little disappointed that Wolves being the first (and as far as I know only) Premier League side to go through a full game without committing a foul did not make the cut...
Am always pleased to see @wolvesfc.bsky.social involved in projects like this. There is a lot not right at the club at the moment, but they are getting this stuff right.
Wolves supporting ‘Together Against Suicide’ campaign
Wolves have joined fellow Premier League clubs in supporting to the ‘Together Against Suicide’ campaign, helping fans affected by suicide or suicidal th...
www.wolves.co.uk
September 10, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Am always pleased to see @wolvesfc.bsky.social involved in projects like this. There is a lot not right at the club at the moment, but they are getting this stuff right.
When I looked for the full text of Nye Bevan's comment about sending the Foreign Secretary "naked into the conference chamber" last week, Google AI helpfully told me that there was no record of him attending any international summit in the nude.
On the one hand, I could just use DuckDuckGo, which would have told me if my recollection about whether Major said "the dispossessed and the never-possessed" or "the never-possessed and the dispossessed" much quickly, or I could be chided by Google's terrible AI Mode for a question I wasn't asking.
September 8, 2025 at 11:26 AM
When I looked for the full text of Nye Bevan's comment about sending the Foreign Secretary "naked into the conference chamber" last week, Google AI helpfully told me that there was no record of him attending any international summit in the nude.
If any broadcaster would like to test this theory, I am available for a modest fee.
Football punditry should be done by university lecturers, not ex footballers. Lecturers can critically appraise the match & present rational evidence based arguments & citations for their analysis of the match, player and referee performance. Trust me this is a winning formula.
September 2, 2025 at 11:46 AM
If any broadcaster would like to test this theory, I am available for a modest fee.
As someone who reads in public quite often - on trains, in pubs - I want to confirm here that I am doing it, not for attention, but because I want you to leave me the fuck alone.
August 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
As someone who reads in public quite often - on trains, in pubs - I want to confirm here that I am doing it, not for attention, but because I want you to leave me the fuck alone.
She's one hovercraft away from being a full-blown Jeremy Thorpe tribute act...
"The dog in question is alive"
www.politico.eu/article/czec...
www.politico.eu/article/czec...
August 21, 2025 at 5:39 PM
She's one hovercraft away from being a full-blown Jeremy Thorpe tribute act...
If you know me even a little bit you not be surprised to learn that I loved this, from @pelliclemag.com, on the interconnections of Dublin's craft beer and football scenes.
I went to Richmond Park (and Rascal's) last year and can confirm that "ramshackle charisma" nails it. A great little ground.
I went to Richmond Park (and Rascal's) last year and can confirm that "ramshackle charisma" nails it. A great little ground.
I Have a Love — The Resurrection of Beer, Football and Community Under Dublin Floodlights — Pellicle
On 15 July 2009, Stephen Clinch landed in Salzburg, tired and confused, after jetting from Dublin to Sioux Falls, Minneapolis, back to Dublin, and finally, to Munich. He’d been buying equipment for hi...
www.pelliclemag.com
August 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
If you know me even a little bit you not be surprised to learn that I loved this, from @pelliclemag.com, on the interconnections of Dublin's craft beer and football scenes.
I went to Richmond Park (and Rascal's) last year and can confirm that "ramshackle charisma" nails it. A great little ground.
I went to Richmond Park (and Rascal's) last year and can confirm that "ramshackle charisma" nails it. A great little ground.
Of course, Kane is hardly the first footballer to venture into breakfast foods: ex-Stoke City striker Mamady Sidibé used to run a patisserie.
August 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Of course, Kane is hardly the first footballer to venture into breakfast foods: ex-Stoke City striker Mamady Sidibé used to run a patisserie.
Of course, as much as I love the original Spitting Image - and #ThatcherBham students have no doubt tired of me pointing out - this was true more broadly. A lot of the jokes about Thatcher were, at root, "the Prime Minister is a woman".
One of the things that hasn't aged well is a lot of the puppets of figures who aren't white. Like, yeah, the puppets are all grotesque caricatures, but they still make suspect choices about which facial features to exaggerrate
I'm not posting the clip as there's a background character design that's a bit sketchy, but remembering how I had "Santa Claus is on the dole" running through my head during the 2019 election night (it being in December and all)
August 6, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Of course, as much as I love the original Spitting Image - and #ThatcherBham students have no doubt tired of me pointing out - this was true more broadly. A lot of the jokes about Thatcher were, at root, "the Prime Minister is a woman".
I endorse any and all recommendations to visit Nantes, which, on top of everything in @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com's piece, also has a spectacular craft beer scene.
are YOU thinking of having a city break somewhere nice yet reasonably priced? then why not go to Nantes, my excellent hometown, and follow this guide I've just published? youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/some-propa...
August 1, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I endorse any and all recommendations to visit Nantes, which, on top of everything in @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com's piece, also has a spectacular craft beer scene.
A credible claim. I bought that record when it came out in 2003, and I swear it gets better with every passing year.
Going to make some serious claims here.
* This is the greatest album ever recorded. *
It’s not an alt-country casual-listening kind of thing and it’s not for the faint of heart. Every moment of this record is remarkable.
* This is the greatest album ever recorded. *
It’s not an alt-country casual-listening kind of thing and it’s not for the faint of heart. Every moment of this record is remarkable.
July 29, 2025 at 11:55 AM
A credible claim. I bought that record when it came out in 2003, and I swear it gets better with every passing year.
Very little better than an afternoon of football at Cadbury Athletic followed by a pint at Attic Brew Co.
July 26, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Very little better than an afternoon of football at Cadbury Athletic followed by a pint at Attic Brew Co.
Of course, as @whyoutloud.bsky.social will be all too aware, this has nothing on some of Mrs Thatcher's recipes...
Loved this by @roberthutton.co.uk - the last para, in particular, is perfect.
Recipes for Disaster: Boris Johnson's cheese on toast
An expert in guilty pleasures goes to the kitchen...
www.politicshome.com
July 25, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Of course, as @whyoutloud.bsky.social will be all too aware, this has nothing on some of Mrs Thatcher's recipes...
The striking thing about this shift is that the Thatcher-era adverts that @stephenkb.bsky.social cites in the article were part of a wider (if flawed) attempt to articulate a vision of Britishness that included non-white Britons. Whereas the current party is actively trying to write them out...
Today’s newsletter: on the Tory party’s lurching language:
The new alarming Tory language on Britishness
By redefining ‘native’ to exclude mixed-ethnicity Britons, the Conservatives shift towards a racial purity test once unthinkable
www.ft.com
June 20, 2025 at 10:25 AM
The striking thing about this shift is that the Thatcher-era adverts that @stephenkb.bsky.social cites in the article were part of a wider (if flawed) attempt to articulate a vision of Britishness that included non-white Britons. Whereas the current party is actively trying to write them out...
The most striking thing about this entire piece is that the author - and several of his interlocutors - do not seem to understand what historians actually do...
No, sorry. If you're a historian, don't outsource the reading of the sources to an LLM. Who knows what amazong ideas your would have had, insights you might have gained, which you might bring to bear later in the project, if you'd actually read them?
June 17, 2025 at 2:59 PM
The most striking thing about this entire piece is that the author - and several of his interlocutors - do not seem to understand what historians actually do...
A brilliant piece, this, and quietly fascinating...
100 years ago, IFAB decided that "offside" should be determined by the second-last defender, rather than third-last defender. It transformed football. But the player whose tactics caused the rule change adapted better than anyone else.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/641...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/641...
The offside law, Bill McCracken and, a century on, the decision that changed football forever
Exactly 100 years ago, the International Football Association Board met at 22 Rue de Londres in Paris and changed the offside law
www.nytimes.com
June 13, 2025 at 11:43 AM
A brilliant piece, this, and quietly fascinating...