Lesley A. Hall | Lightnews

Lesley A Hall

@erinacean.bsky.social

12K followers 450 following 3.5K posts

Archivist, historian, reader, Londoner, feminist
@erinacean
@[email protected]
www.lesleyahall.net
https://lesleyahall.blogspot.com/

Videos

History 49%

Political science 20%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Mary L. Dudziak

Wendy Rouse @wendylrouse.bsky.social · 17h

Historians - Apply now for the Peggy Renner Award for Teaching and Curricular Innovation which recognizes an historian who has developed a college or university course that engages students in exploring the links between contemporary issues and the past. 🗃️

wawh.org/renner-teach...

Western Association of Women Historians

Promoting the interests of women historians since 1969

wawh.org

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

🇨🇦 Katherine D. Watson 🇬🇧 @drkdwatson.bsky.social · 17h

My new blog post examines a brief dispute over money between the Met Police and the Home Office - the police won, in the longer term. legalhistorymiscellany.com/2025/12/26/m...

Murder, Medicine, Money: A Met Police—Home Office Dispute, 1889-90

By Cassie Watson; posted 26 December 2025. In the wake of the Thames Torso Murders (1887–89), the Jack the Ripper killings of autumn 1888, and several subsequent unsolved murders that were thought …

legalhistorymiscellany.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 18h

Well now, would you look at that? A massive, 4-YEAR-LONG study of NEARLY 30 MILLION people in France found that individuals who received a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine had a 74% LOWER risk of death from severe COVID-19 compared to unvaccinated individuals and ZERO increased risk of all-cause mortality.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Rebecca Sear

Jay Joseph @jayjoseph22.bsky.social · 18h

100 years ago, eugenicists and others were sure that pellagra was a genetic disease, and not a disease of poverty, as it actually was.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Mel Bartley, Lesley A. Hall , and 2 more Jonathan Portes, Mel Bartley, Lesley A. Hall, Tom Griffin, Christina Pagel

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 19h

Good interview in the paper, this. I think Sadiq is right: London 'needs' to be less successful than it is for a bunch of political arguments here in the UK to work, hence the fictions being invented about it:

Populists attack London because it is ‘progressive and successful’, says Sadiq Khan

Rightwing attacks on one of the world’s most visited cities at odds with reality, says mayor

www.ft.com

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lesley A. Hall, Rebecca Tushnet

Jason Heppler @jasonheppler.org · 22h

A few days ago, I wrote up some thoughts on generative AI and the work of historians: “At best, we’re talking about software that’s very good at making sentences seem sentence-shaped.”

Generative AI and History

Generative AI lacks the ability to understand context, …

writing.jasonheppler.org

Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 22h

A television reviewer (who from his headshot was No Adonis Himself) complained that the participants (including Yours Truly) in a programme about the history of sexuality were Not Hotties. (I had assumed that we were Being Experts, not Eye-Candy, what did I know.)

3ccentric @thereal3ccentric.bsky.social · 4d

What's an insult you'll never forget?

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 23h

Im pretty sure they neither know nor care how much of the global historical record is not digitized

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Faber Books @faberbooks.bsky.social · 23h

We’re hiring a Commissioning Editor in the Faber Children’s team. You’ll have experience working with authors across all age groups, picture books to Young Adult, and a track record in commercial acquiring. Closing date Sunday 4th January 2026.

www.faber.co.uk/careers/comm...

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Adrian Vickers

Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 23h

Frankly embarrassing for a British newspaper to report this without noting that the University of the Third Age has functioned in the UK for decades. It has 400,000 members.
www.u3a.org.uk/about

‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure

Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Michael Lombardi-Nash @lombardinash.bsky.social · 23h

Preserving the history of the Early #GermanGayMovement is essential. Pride in who we are and how much we owe to our courageous forebears, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs and Magnus Hirschfeld. #MagnusHirschfeld #QueerStudies #lgbtqHistory #TransgenderStudies 🌈🏳️‍⚧️Ο
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSDLLP7K

Annual of Sexual Intermediaries Volume III (1901)

Amazon.com: Annual of Sexual Intermediaries Volume III (1901) eBook : Hirschfeld, Magnus, Lombardi-Nash, Michael: Kindle Store

www.amazon.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 1d

News story warning people not to use AI to help plan their mountain walks. But sure, use it to govern the country.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott , and 2 more Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Andrew Scott, Lesley A. Hall, Jon Dean

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

Harrison Pitt accuses the King of treachery. Pitt is a Senior Policy Fellow for Rupert Lowe's Restore Britain, who also regularly co-hosts podcasts with his ally Tomlinson (who advocates banning all ethnic and faith minorities from public office). Like Lowe, Pitt is keen to dissolve boundaries/norms

Reposted by Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 1d

"Give it a rest" posted podcaster Connor Tomlinson at 3.15pm on Christmas Day about the King's message

Tomlinson advocates bamning all British citizens who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist from parliament & civil service, along with ethnic minorities who lack white British ancestors.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Dr Angela Buckley @drangelabuckley.bsky.social · 1d

An interesting development in genealogical research, and I’d like to get back into researching my family tree next year. www.theguardian.com/education/20...

‘The hidden engine room’: how amateur historians are powering genealogical research

Wealth of datasets compiled as private passions are now a goldmine for those hunting for their ancestors

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 1d

Scientific translator, science writer, astronomer, Mary Somerville was born 16 December 1780 #histsci #womeninscience

thonyc.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/t...

The Queen of Science – The woman who tamed Laplace.

In a footnote to my recent post on the mythologizing of Ibn al-Haytham I briefly noted the inadequacy of the terms Arabic science and Islamic science, pointing out that there were scholars included…

thonyc.wordpress.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Dr Samuel McLean @canadianerrant.bsky.social · 1d

Okay this is a very stupid and niche ask, but is anybody aware of a resource that has information about military uniforms across Europe ca. 1670-1750 which is searchable by both Nation (eg all Prussian uniforms) and by colour schemes (eg that used colours X and y) or anything like that?

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Federico Finchelstein

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Bec Shaw @brocklesnitch.bsky.social · 1d

The comments on this are all about how sweet it is and I feel insane. Using AI to make fake memories of your grandma with dementia and telling her they happened and then filming her reaction

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Let The Bells Ring Out For Chris @ottocr.at · 1d

It really has come to this: the Pope and the King (the POPE! the KING!) spout what used to be seen as platitudes so banal and mainstream as to be effectively meaningless and now they’re being demonised as socialists and lefty culture warriors… the flipping POPE AND KING FFS

Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d

I was at Guide Camp in the early 1960s with somebody who had to take her special (I guess, in retrospect, gluten-free) bread substitute with her.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

Andrew Israel Ross @aiross.bsky.social · 1d

Merry Christmas! My state of the field essay on the history of sexuality in Modern France was published in open access yesterday by @frenchhistory.bsky.social. Check it out at academic.oup.com/fh/advance-a...

Review article: the history of sexuality in modern France

Sometimes, when I explain that my research expertise lies in the history of sexuality in modern France, the follow-up is some version of a question: ‘so I

academic.oup.com

Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d

And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, therefore does not rest in any unvisited tomb and the jury is out on whether his influence was incalculably diffusive.

Doktor Zoom @doktorzoom.bsky.social · 2d

And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, has no mouth. And he must scream.

Sam Bergman @violanorth.bsky.social · 2d

And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, beat on, boat against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d

That says Percy Grainger but it was apparently a trad children's playing song collected by someone else and set by him: www.ackermanmusic.co.uk/there-was-a-...

Grainger, George Percy Aldridge : There was a pig went out to dig, "Chrisimas Day in the morning" - :: All Digital Sheet Music :: Ackerman Music Ltd

There was a pig went out to dig. An English playing song collected in Lancashire and published in Miss M. H. Mason's "Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs", freely set for

www.ackermanmusic.co.uk

Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 1d

Memory of a nursery rhyme that used to feature on Listen with Mother in my extreme youth around this season: There was a pig went out to dig, on Chrissymas Day:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vyp...

There Was a Pig Went Out to Dig (1910) | Percy Grainger

YouTube video by Dylan May Music

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

K M Flett @keithbeard.bsky.social · 2d

wp.me/p15p2Q-ddg

The King’s Christmas Broadcast: a tradition invented in 1932

As usual the monarch of the day (in this case King Charles) will make a Christmas broadcast on Christmas Day. It will give GB News something more to moan about but the key thing to keep in mind is …

wp.me

Reposted by Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall, Kelly Smith , and 1 more Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall, Kelly Smith, Ann Bartow

Ed Morrish @edmorrish.bsky.social · 2d

i post this story every christmas, and will keep doing so until it stops making me cry

merry christmas xx

A real Good Samaritan

One act of kindness that befell Leeds writer Bernard Hare in 1982 changed him profoundly. Here he tells his story.

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Dolly Jørgensen

The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 2d

This Christmas Day, we're sharing a festive favourite with a scientific past.

This illustration of Poinsettia pulcherrima comes from Fleurs de Java (1742), created during the Linnean age of botanical discovery.

From science to Christmas tradition, season’s greetings from us at the Society!