Charles West
LightNews LightNews
banner
pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West
@pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
4.4K followers 440 following 2.1K posts

Professor of History

Videos

Charles West (1816–1898) was a British physician, specialized in pediatrics and obstetrics, especially known as the founder of the first children's hospital in Great Britain, the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street, London. .. more

History 43%
Philosophy 19%
Posts Replies Media Videos

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 7h
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation
Study finds that a week of political content can bring about a shift in views that previously would have taken three years
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Charles West

helengittos.bsky.social
Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social · 8h
This is powerful.
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 10h
I wonder if the UK will eventually follow suit. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
France to introduce voluntary military service amid threat from Russia
Macron says plan to introduce 10 months’ service among 18- and 19-year-olds will help France respond to ‘accelerating threats’
www.theguardian.com

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 11h
Thanks! Yes, I am perennially impressed too!

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 12h
I don't! I arranged for training the first time I did this, but none of the students actually availed themselves of it. I think they're just pretty savvy at this kind of thing.

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 12h
yes i think so! (But the students made the infographic, not me!)

Reposted by Keith Lilley

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 13h
Another year, another end-of-semester infographic presentation from my students. Here's a map showing Alcuin's letter network.
Map showing Alcuin's letter network (based on Allott)

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 14h
Ever get a tricky question you don't know how to answer?
plashingvole.bsky.social Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 14h
One of my colleagues went to a seminar at Berkeley and when someone asked a question Derrida brushed it off saying ‘what you ask may be important but it is not interesting’.
sanho.bsky.social Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 1d
This path leads to chaos.

Reposted by Charles West, Eoin Daly, Hayley Bennett

plashingvole.bsky.social
Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 14h
One of my colleagues went to a seminar at Berkeley and when someone asked a question Derrida brushed it off saying ‘what you ask may be important but it is not interesting’.
sanho.bsky.social Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 1d
This path leads to chaos.
Phil Gentry @pmgentry A professor of mine went to go hear Derrida speak once. The entire talk was about cows; everyone was flummoxed but listened carefully, and took notes about...cows. There was a short break, and when Derrida came back, he was like, "I'm told it is pronounced 'chaos. 11:28 AM • 4/5/21 from Philadelphia, PA • Twitter for iPhone

Reposted by Charles West

sadiahqureshi.bsky.social
Sadiah Qureshi @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · 21h
If you’re interested, here’s a handy tool from the IFS. The results may well surprise you.

ifs.org.uk/tools_and_re...
Your household's income : Where do you fit in? | Institute for Fiscal Studies
When you think about your income, do you feel rich, poor, or just plain average? Find out where you lie in the UK income distribution.
ifs.org.uk

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 21h
Looking forward to discussing academic.oup.com/past/advance... by @rorynaismith.bsky.social at the next @cmrsedinburgh.bsky.social Medieval Reading Group on Tuesday...
Economic Change, Silver, and the Plague of 664–687 in England*
Abstract. Bede and other authors describe a destructive wave of plague sweeping across Britain and Ireland in the period 664–87. In the decades around and
academic.oup.com

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 21h
"Dumb strategy", but also a very unsupportive wider left.
duncanrobinson.bsky.social Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 21h
Starmer and Reeves run probably the most economically left-wing government of past five decades and yet bleeding support to its left thanks to dumb strategy www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Reposted by Will Jennings, Charles West, Jonathan Hopkin , and 3 more

duncanrobinson.bsky.social
Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 21h
Starmer and Reeves run probably the most economically left-wing government of past five decades and yet bleeding support to its left thanks to dumb strategy www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Reposted by Charles West

lastpositivist.bsky.social
lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 22h
Interesting that Labour came in with a mandate for change and a huge majority, along with a bunch of explicit promises (and I would wager a sincere self-conception) to stop being short-termist fire-fighters and actually introduce some stability to UK government... but have largely reverted to form.

Reposted by Pauline Stafford

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 23h
This looks tremendous!

Reposted by Charles West

rmblf.bsky.social
Agenda des médiévistes @rmblf.bsky.social · 1d
Publication – « Les lois barbares. Dire le droit et le pouvoir en Occident après la disparition de l’Empire romain », éd. Sylvie Joye

rmblf.be/2025/11/27/p...
Publication – « Les lois barbares. Dire le droit et le pouvoir en Occident après la disparition de l’Empire romain », éd. Sylvie Joye
Enfants de Rome, les royaumes dits barbares ou post-romains le sont assurément, tout comme leurs lois. Cependant, en ce qui concerne le droit comme le reste, on sut élaborer des structures et des i…
rmblf.be

Reposted by Charles West

rmblf.bsky.social
Agenda des médiévistes @rmblf.bsky.social · 1d
Publication – Alice Hicklin, Steffen Patzold, Bastiaan Waagmeester, Charles West, « Local Priests in the Latin West, 900–1050 »

rmblf.be/2025/11/27/p...
Publication – Alice Hicklin, Steffen Patzold, Bastiaan Waagmeester, Charles West, « Local Priests in the Latin West, 900–1050 »
The local priest was the most ubiquitous embodiment of the Church for many people in medieval Christian Europe. By centring this key figure in post-Carolingian Europe, this book provides a fresh pe…
rmblf.be

Reposted by Charles West, Tom Griffin

georgeeaton.bsky.social
George Eaton @georgeeaton.bsky.social · 1d
A good day for Ed Miliband: mansion tax introduced, green levies moved off bills to taxation, ban on new North Sea oil and gas licences confirmed.

Reposted by Charles West, Pauline Stafford, Aidan O’Sullivan

helengittos.bsky.social
Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social · 1d
Just out!

As @sarahsemple.bsky.social says, '544 pages and 190 images of pure sculptural joy!'

A fantastic cast list and a tremendous achievement @ascorpus.bsky.social.

boydellandbrewer.com/book/early-m...

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 1d
"At this point, AI tools like Gemini should be able to make most digitized handwritten documents searchable and readable in transcription". Cool, but also sad, in a way.
dancohen.org Dan Cohen @dancohen.org · 2d
New issue of my newsletter: "The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition" — One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved, and it's a good use of AI newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...
The Writing Is on the Wall for Handwriting Recognition
One of the hardest problems in digital humanities has finally been solved
newsletter.dancohen.org

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Robert W. Wallace, Ian Campbell , and 9 more

colindickey.com
Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 1d
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
vulture.com Vulture @vulture.com · 1d
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Gordon Hodson, Ian Campbell , and 18 more

vulture.com
Vulture @vulture.com · 1d
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Ben H. Ansell, Steve Peers , and 3 more

johnmorgan3.bsky.social
John Morgan @johnmorgan3.bsky.social · 1d
International student fee levy details confirmed in Budget document: flat fee charged on institutions "of £925 per student per year of study, starting in August 2028 academic year 2028-29".

No charge for first 220 students per year.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6926eb...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

Reposted by Charles West

stephenkb.bsky.social
Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 1d
As bad as your day might be, it could be worse, you could be the person who accidentally published the OBR's budget document a couple of hours early: obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...
obr.uk

Reposted by Klaus Oschema

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 1d
Wow, that is a lot of coins

Reposted by Charles West

scoupland.bsky.social
Simon Coupland @scoupland.bsky.social · 1d
More details here - www.francebleu.fr/infos/sante-...
PHOTOS - Des dizaines de milliers de pièces de monnaie de l'époque antique découvertes à Senon, dans la Meuse - ICI
A l'occasion de fouilles préventives avant des travaux sur une parcelle privée, des archéologues ont découvert trois réserves de pièces de monnaie dans des amphores, dans le village de Senon (Meuse). ...
www.francebleu.fr

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Charles West, Kathleen Kennedy

cinemashoebox.bsky.social
Ben @cinemashoebox.bsky.social · 1d
new favourite New York Times term for a British thing just dropped

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 1d
If only new books also came with the gift of some time to read them :)

Reposted by Charles West

helengittos.bsky.social
Helen Gittos @helengittos.bsky.social · 1d
This morning's @thetimes.com...
'Some academics suggest that even prior to the Norman Conquest, Anglo-Saxon Britons had a rudimentary system of jury decision making.' (!) Discuss.

pseudo-isidore.bsky.social
Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 1d
You see what I am writing against! Thanks for listening, so glad you liked it.