Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Sarah Bull

@sarahebull.bsky.social

5.1K followers 2.5K following 3.1K posts

English professor, book historian. 19th C, mainly. Interested in histories of medicine, sexuality, and print culture, text reuse, IP, letterpress, DH/computational approaches Book: Selling Sexual Knowledge (CUP, 2025). Working on MANUFACTURING LITERATURE

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · Jun 27

The open access version of Selling Sexual Knowledge is out (hardcopies coming shortly)! Reposting this little thread from December where I take a break from chowing down on holiday treats to talk a little about what it's actually about and why I wrote it.

17 48

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · 7h

My favourite teaching anecdote currently (thanks, Abigail Williams's _Reading It Wrong_) is that contemporary readers also sometimes had no idea WTF some of those allusions meant

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 8h

Most "classics" are boring as fuck to a modern reader in no small part because the context of the story is not understood by them and so many of the allusions and "inside jokes" known to then-contemporary readers have been lost in time and in translation

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 19h

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Society for the Social History of Medicine (SSHM) @sshmedicine.bsky.social · 19h

The 2026 SSHM Conference will be @universityofleeds.bsky.social. The theme will be In/Out and we are inviting papers that consider experiences of being in and/or out of health or health care in any period or geographical location. #HistMed #HistSTM
sshm.org/sshm-2026/

SSHM 2026: In/Out

Location: University of Leeds Dates: 30 June to 3 July 2026 Submission Deadline: 5.00pm (GMT) 11th January 2026 Conference Co-Convenors: Dr Alexia Moncrieff & Dr Katherine Rawling Conference Co…

sshm.org

33 33

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · 19h

👂👂👂👂👂👂

Will Kitchen @willkitchen.bsky.social · 20h

My New Books Network interview with Prof Dave O’Brien is now available: newbooksnetwork.com/culture-capi...

@drdaveobrien.bsky.social
@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

Will Kitchen, "Culture, Capital and Carnival: Modern Media and the Representation of Work" (Bloomsbury, 2025) - New Books Network

newbooksnetwork.com

1 1

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Helen McCarthy @historianhelen.bsky.social · 21h

Delighted to see my article exploring how Britons planned for retirement in the mid-to-late 20th century out in the world! It tries to capture the mixed feelings prompted by ageing & retirement whilst connecting those themes to wider histories of social democracy, selfhood & financialisation.

The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 22h

New article (OA): Helen McCarthy @historianhelen.bsky.social on 'Planning for Retirement in Post-war Britain'

academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...

Planning for Retirement in Post-war Britain*

Abstract. This article explores how Britons envisaged and planned for the end of working life across the second half of the twentieth century. It shows how

academic.oup.com

2 19 44

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Julia Ditter @juliaditter.bsky.social · 11d

Call for Contributions: Victorian Infrastructures & their Environmental Legacies

We're still looking for articles to be included in our @openlibhums.org special issue!

Abstracts are due 31 October, full texts 31 March '26.

@bavs-uk.bsky.social @rs4vp.org @asleuki.bsky.social @easlce.bsky.social

OLHJ_CfP.pdf

shorturl.at

1 14 15

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Jane Winters @jfwinters.bsky.social · 20h

Come and work with us! We have a two-year, half-time postdoctoral research associate position working on the @storymachine-ht.bsky.social project www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai.... If you’re interested in #DigitalHumanities and/or folklore, we’d love to hear from you. Closing date 27 October.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Project StoryMachine:London Senate House - Hybrid

The School of Advanced Study (SAS) comprises eight internationally renowned research institutes as well as centres in Digital Humanities and Public Engagement. It has four nationally and internationally recognised specialist research libraries. An important component of the humanities national infrastructure and part of the University of London, this is a really exciting time to join the School of Advanced Study as we are at the start of a new strategic plan.

www.jobs.london.ac.uk

17 9

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 1d

Roses are red
Fossils are old
www.newsweek.com/jordan-peter...

Jordan Peterson diagnosed with chronic condition after exposure to mold

Peterson's daughter said her father has a "genetic predisposition that causes the immune system to have an inability to identify and detoxify mold."

www.newsweek.com

36 32 240

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Penn Material Texts @pennmaterialtexts.bsky.social · 1d

Previous talks from this semester and earlier can be accessed on our Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/@pennsworksh...

Penn's Workshop in the History of Material Texts

Founded by Peter Stallybrass in 1993, the Workshop in the History of Material Texts has been influential in its broad approach to the topic. We are interested in all aspects of how texts take material...

www.youtube.com

4 8

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Malcolm Noble @malcolmjnoble.bsky.social · 2d

Do note this is hybrid!

J.D. Sargan @jdsargan.bsky.social · 2d

Your challenge for this weekend is to put in an abstract for Queer Bibliography 2026. It's what all the cool kids are doing.

The theme is Space, Place, Community (widely understood, certainly not limited to the South). CFP: shorturl.at/XAVJ0; Submit: forms.gle/XD7FgrrStp3j...

Athens GA and online

Poster reads: March 12–14, 2026; Queer Bibliography in the South: Space, Place, Community; University of Georgia, Athens, GA.

1 6

Reposted by Sarah Bull

abc @thekitchentapes.bsky.social · 2d

In the early 1990s, scientists began developing genetic tests for hereditary diseases. Huntington's was one of the first, but no one wanted to take it. Carriers have a 100% chance of developing the disease. People didn't want to know, bc it's horrific and untreatable.

So this is a big big deal.

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time | BBC News

YouTube video by BBC News

www.youtube.com

1 10

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah, I feel like my asking this is kind of like an engineer asking how warp drive is supposed to work or something, but I've been curious if it comes up or deliberately doesn't come up... will have to keep reading and chat more when I'm done!

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · 2d

locating and accessing and processing so *many* electronic sources? Nerdy minds want to know! (Not with AI, apparently)

1 6

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · 2d

Curious about what people are thinking of Ian McEwan's What We Can Know in terms of how it imagines historians might try to reconstruct the events of the 2010s in the future. I'm only on Chapter 8, so maybe this is explained later on (and is, well, beside the point of the novel), but how are they +

1 8

Reposted by Sarah Bull

EHUNineteen @ehunineteen.bsky.social · 3d

Re-upping for the weekend crowd - join us on Wednesday 29th from 6 pm for out first seminar of the year with @drreznicek.bsky.social 🖤

EHUNineteen @ehunineteen.bsky.social · 3d

We are delighted to announce the first seminar in our 25/26 series: the wonderful @drreznicek.bsky.social will be presenting on ‘Too Bodily: Disability, Care, & Belonging in Romantic Novels’ on Wednesday 29th October at 6pm.

Free! Online! All welcome!

Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

This is a sneak preview of our poster image as we finalise details - it’s a coloured etching by Thomas Rowlandson after G M Woodward from 1801 called ‘The Quack Doctor’s Prayer’ with a kneeling doctor praying over a box with a duck drawn on it. In the background there’s a candelabra and pink hangings.

6 6

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · 3d

I really love this short essay from Kate Fisher on sexual knowledge and sexual ignorance: www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...

Modern Ignorance (Chapter 32) - Reproduction

Reproduction - December 2018

www.cambridge.org

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 3d

Experimenting with a new concept using @queermedieval.bsky.social’s Portland Frog woodcut. Embracing goofiness as protest.

A poster in green ink on off white paper. In the center is a woodcut style illustration of a protester wearing an inflatable frog costume standing up against two ICE agents. The text above and below reads:

VIVE LA
RIBBITSTANCE

41 340 1.3K

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Quinn Dombrowski @quinnanya.me · 3d

It's looking like I've got several projects that need language detection as part of the workflow. It's been a few years since I've used that and I assume there's been some (possibly vast?) improvements. Anyone have a favorite library / model / etc they'd recommend? #MultilingualDH

1 8 6

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · 3d

Job! Postdoc in Digital Cultural Heritage: Data Ethics & Software Ecosystems, on new EU funded grant. 3.5 years, @designinf.bsky.social, Edinburgh. Design ethical processes, & evaluate open source tools for Digital Cultural Heritage Objects, with me! elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Postdoctoral Research Associate (Digital Cultural Heritage Data Ethics & Software Ecosystems)

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Digital Cultural Heritage Data Ethics & Software Ecosystems to join the Institute for Design Informatics, Edinburgh College of Art.

elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com

37 33

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · 3d

Short BBC podcast about the history of Tippex, invented by Bette Graham 😍 - will be of interest to history of the book, and history of tech folks... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Witness History - The secretary who made millions from her typos - BBC Sounds

In the 1950s, secretary Bette Graham invented correction fluid to cover up her errors

www.bbc.co.uk

2 10 25

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Ada Lovelace Day @adalovelaceday.bsky.social · 4d

Hao Yichun was a pioneer in the fields of stratigraphy, micropaleontology and paleoceanography. She co-authored Paleontology, China’s first textbook on the subject, and deepened understanding of foraminifera, single-celled organisms found in seawater.
adalovelaceday.subst...

Prof Hao Yichun, Palaeontologist

Hao Yichun was a Chinese geologist who was a pioneer in the fields of stratigraphy, micropaleontology and paleoceanography, and a co-author of China’s first palaeontology textbooks.

adalovelaceday.substack.com

8 9

Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · 4d

Had so much fun discussing this article on medical perspectives on the dangers of reading in class today.

Project MUSE - Two Kinds of “Literary Poison”: Diseases of the Learned and Overstimulating Novels in Georgian Britain

muse.jhu.edu

1 20

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Ignacio Sanchez Prado @isanchezprado.bsky.social · 4d

I just learned that my book Taco is now available as an audiobook across all major platforms! Here is a sampling of options!

6 18

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Suzanne Paul @suzpaul.bsky.social · 4d

Congratulations @georginaemw.bsky.social!

Georgina Wilson @georginaemw.bsky.social · 13d

Today is publication day for PAPER AND THE MAKING OF EARLY MODERN LITERATURE! Available in paper or digital form www.pennpress.org/978151282744... @pennpress.bsky.social

2 8

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Shannon K. Supple @mazarine.bsky.social · 4d

Artist and teacher Keiji Shinohara demonstrating Japanese woodblock printing

Man at a table with tools, paper, inks. Behind him is a screen showing a close up of the items on the table, including a woodblock with a deep orange-red ink

1 1 17

Reposted by Sarah Bull

Richard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 5d

A literary Iguanodon at the Earth Sciences Library. Do any other libraries have dinosaurs or other antediluvian creatures carved into the furniture?

38 340 2K