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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3h

I'm definitely going to find an excuse to get to Oxford soon!

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 4h

One of these Autumnal weekends, wasn't it?

Calvin & Hobbes cartoon. The pair is outside walking through the woods, clambering over rocks and creeks, the entire strip is in warm yellows, oranges, and pinks to evoke the warm light of Autumn. Calvin's little body is all scrunched up, shoulders up to his ears, hands in pockets, eyes so narrow only the white can be see. He declares: "I hate everybody. I don't see how anyone could ever fall in love. People are such jerks.' His friend wisely observes: "sometimes they are, but look at all the colours on the trees today." "yeah? So what?" a still grumpy Calvin asks, hands on hips as he frowns at the scenery. "I think it's more fund to see something like this with someone than just by yourself," Hobbes explains. He smiles widely at the landscape as Calvin continues to frown. But then they lock eyes. "I guess so..." Calvin admits and follows his friend over a fallen tree. "But I'd still rather see this with a tiger than a person." "Well, that goes without saying," Hobbes affirms, wisely.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 4h

THIS FRIDAY! Join us in lovely Bloomsbury for an exciting talk by Alexander Marr (@emodcam.bsky.social) on 'Three Renaissance 'Grotesques': Holbein, Dürer, Massys'.

FRI 17 Oct, 17:30 @ihr.bsky.social or on zoom -- register for the link: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/.... #EarlyModern #SkyStorians

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13d

PROGRAMME! Excited to be welcoming Alexander Marr, Dirk van Miert, and @ebenbow.bsky.social this term -- and David Hopkin, Jeroen Puttevils, Feike Dietz, Sam Geens, Valika Smeulders, and Gloria Moorman in Spring.

All welcome @ihr.bsky.social or zoom! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... #SkyStorians

programme of hte Low Countries Seminar, Institute of Historical research, Fridays 17:30
17 October: Alexander Marr: Three Renaissance ‘Grotesques’: Holbein, Dürer, Massys
31 October: Dirk van Miert: The Synod of Dordrecht: binding the Anglo-Dutch orthodox Republic of Letters
17 November: Eliot Benbow: Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods
programme of hte Low Countries Seminar, Institute of Historical research, Fridays 17:30
17 October: Alexander Marr: Three Renaissance ‘Grotesques’: Holbein, Dürer, Massys
31 October: Dirk van Miert: The Synod of Dordrecht: binding the Anglo-Dutch orthodox Republic of Letters
28 November: Eliot Benbow: Low Countries Merchants in and around London c. 1350-1550: Specialising in the Trade of Everyday Goods

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Reposted by Liesbeth Corens

Steven Van Impe @svanimpe.bsky.social · 5d

#EarlyModern meme! #BookHistory

The bottom of a page of printed text, showing three hands (or printers' fists) pointing at each other.

The spiderman meme: three spidermen pointing at each other.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 10h

And you'd have to wonder why politicians choose the twitter vibes as their compass.

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 10h

Fascinated that the @theguardian.com's report on the le Carré exhibition at the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk is written by their "defence and security" writer (former security editor).

Anyway, really want to go and see this; le Carré's complex morality of knowledge & information now needed more than ever...

The story behind the spy stories: show reveals secrets of John le Carré’s craft

How author researched his plots and letters from Alec Guinness feature in Oxford exhibition

www.theguardian.com

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 12h

I'm still a kid as well, right? Because this sounds like an ideal Sunday.

(My mum used to take her kindergarten class to the outside statue museum and get them to act out the statues; it's amazing what they saw in art through doing that, and we should encourage that for kids of all ages as well.)

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 13h

This is such a clever idea on taking kids to museums/galleries
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Nadia from London has an idea that sounds such fun you'll be booking a day out asap.
"I've always loved museums," she says,
"but they can be overwhelming for children. For decades now, I've done something called 'playing postcards'
We do
the museum backwards, visiting the gift shop first. Each child gets to choose three postcards. Then they take it in turns to find that particular artwork in the museum and give us a little information about the piece from the details on the postcard, or from any gallery plaque. At the end of this treasure-hunt-style activity, we vote for our favourite in the cafe."

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Reposted by Liesbeth Corens

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 1d

anyway, I am pleased with this column, I think it is good, I hope you read it rather than just shouting at me for what you think it might say

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

By Jonn Elledge

Illustration by Roy Scott / Ikon Images
“Acomputer terminal,” Douglas Adams once wrote, “is an interface where the mind and body can connect with the universe and move bits of it about.” In the same way, while the platform known in happier times as Twitter is famously not the real world, that’s never meant it can’t affect it.

One of the less upsetting ways those effects can manifest is outlined in a new report from “reputation management consultancy” (euch) Montford Communications. Posting to Policy explores the way wonks, politicos and shitposters alike drive government action through the raw power of their takes. “A niche account posts something punchy. It lands,” the report explains, with more full stops than is acceptable anywhere but LinkedIn. “Traditional media pick it up. Politicians respond. And policy follows. This is the ‘posting to policy’ pipeline and it’s fast becoming the new normal.”

Not all the examples the consultancy gives of this pipeline in action are entirely convincing. The “Nick, 30 ans” meme may have generated discourse, but it has not, as far as I’ve noticed, led to attempts to actually rethink intergenerational fairness; and while Robert Jenrick’s fare-dodging video made some waves, the shadow justice secretary is not, appearances notwithstanding, a shitposter. The most persuasive example offered is the transformation of Motability from a worthy but obscure scheme allowing those in receipt of mobility allowance to lease cars, to a “something must be done”-level spending scandal through noise on X alone.

Montford’s argument isn’t wrong: it’s abundantly clear by now that things that happen on the internet rarely stay there, and while hacks and wonks hang out on the same platforms as those with actual power it’s unsurprising that ideas sometimes migrate from the former to the latter. That, though, does not mean these conclusions are either new or significant. I can think of things I put on the internet ten years ago that g…

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 12h

I opened twitter again and the first thing I saw was a bunch of pictures of Justin Trudeau making out with Katy Perry.

Two things: my Sunday didn't need that; if government keeps shaping its policy in reference to a deeply problematic platform, then that's not our fault but theirs.

good read:

Jonn Elledge @jonnelledge.bsky.social · 1d

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?

Was the left wrong to leave X for BlueSky?

The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it's still shaping policy

www.newstatesman.com

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 12h

Oh yeah, this isn't just Bringing Out The Bling. This is "We Don't Let This Bling Out Unless Is Goddamn Serious. And Yet Here It Is. Over To You.".

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 1d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 20h

when we talk about political theatre sometimes being Good, Actually™️, this is what we mean. the trads are the reason Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament came back in fashion in the youth ministry world (where I learned about it). they take it REALLY seriously. this priest weaponized that so adroitly

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 20h

found exactly the one use of “evil recoils in the presence of Christ” I am willing to sign off on, HOOOOOOOOLY SHIT

Father Larry did not come here to fuck around

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 1d

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13h

exciting! Have a fabulous time!

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 5d

Why not listen to this podcast of a previous conversation about #YayArchives @rshc.bsky.social in preparation for the 28 October event? #SkyStorians

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 12d

How has paperwork served as a tool of empowerment for people who often find power elusive?

In our latest podcast, a group of historians, archivists, and activists met at the Raphael Samuel History Centre (@rshc.bsky.social) to discuss the hidden history of paperwork 🗃️🎙️

Changing The Record

How has paperwork served over time as a radical tool for empowerment and change?

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

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Reposted by Liesbeth Corens

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 5d

OOOOO! This sounds utterly fascinating! More #YayArchives research @rshc.bsky.social!

#SkyStorians #HistArchives

Raphael Samuel History Centre @rshc.bsky.social · 5d

Leaflet about Archival Ambivalence event, 28 October, London WC1B. Shows archivist looking in archive.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13h

Amazing! Make sure you get to hear All The Good Stories from the eldest nun you find.

(is it the Mary Ward institute? If so, say hi to Hannah, the archivist!)

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13h

Funny, funny that. The way I was taught the history of the world wars at school was such a wild decontextualised narrative, my initial response whenever I saw some pictures of 1930s Flemish fascists was to assume it was faked. Easy to box off fascism in one decade in one country, isn't it...

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13h

If he can bring his soundboard, I'm not mad about that.

Calvin and Hobbes cartoon. The pair is looking a bit dumbfounded, both staring in the middle distance, Hobbes scratching his luscious hair and asking 'if good things lasted forever, would we appreciate how precious they are?'

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 13h

oh, those consultants are just offering their powerpoints for six-figure fees and then bounce. Up to the managers to try to translate those things, even though they're not actually adapted to the specific situation.

The Office for Students uses the KPMG language:

Hannah Elias @hannahelias.bsky.social · Aug 24

The language of a ‘golden age of universities’ coming into decline is directly from a KPMG brochure advertising services for an increasingly marketised HE sector, a document shaped more by neoliberal ideology than principled research, sound policy advice or pedagogical values.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3d

(I have been very frustrated not just over the dominance of WWII history, but especially on how it has been taught. It's so evasive of responsibility.)

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3d

seconded.

Reposted by Liesbeth Corens

Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3d

I'm honoured to have been elected one of three incoming @royalhistsoc.org council members for a three year term. The Society does an immense amount of good for historians in the UK and beyond and I am flattered I get a chance to play a part in that work.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3d

OH HURRAH!!!! Excellent news for the discipline that @davehitchcock.bsky.social is going to be working on the @royalhistsoc.org Council for us! An already great bunch of people joined by another powerhouse. I'm hopeful about what excellent advocacy work is to come.

Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3d

I'm honoured to have been elected one of three incoming @royalhistsoc.org council members for a three year term. The Society does an immense amount of good for historians in the UK and beyond and I am flattered I get a chance to play a part in that work.

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3d

Because the anglophone world could claim victory and claim they were the Good Guys.

If only there were this many books about the 1920s-1930s that showed how European societies were toxified, and who was trying to resist this rise of fascism and how.

Kate Carpenter @katecarp.bsky.social · 5d

How are there so many WWII books?

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 3d

oh hoe heerlijk van dit op film te hebben!

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