Huw TD
@huwtd.bsky.social
At Southampton there is a house I have admired, because from the side it looks so flat.
Lecturer in Egyptology, University of Manchester
Egyptian literature, literacy, textual transmission, and religion.
🏳️🌈
Lecturer in Egyptology, University of Manchester
Egyptian literature, literacy, textual transmission, and religion.
🏳️🌈
If you don't already know the fundamentals, it makes learning another language (particularly more synthetic, non-European languages) that much more difficult.
November 28, 2025 at 9:06 PM
If you don't already know the fundamentals, it makes learning another language (particularly more synthetic, non-European languages) that much more difficult.
Tbf being paid millions to periodically reprint the same two articles is about as good a sinecure as most of us could hope for.
November 28, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Tbf being paid millions to periodically reprint the same two articles is about as good a sinecure as most of us could hope for.
Pareidolia also occurs in the social realm.
November 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Pareidolia also occurs in the social realm.
November 28, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by Huw TD
I also sense there is a generational issue in politics and the media of many more in positions of power and influence who don’t realise that *they* are the adults in the room now, responsible for the whole thing, the whole state of the country. Far less a grave sense of stewardship.
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November 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I also sense there is a generational issue in politics and the media of many more in positions of power and influence who don’t realise that *they* are the adults in the room now, responsible for the whole thing, the whole state of the country. Far less a grave sense of stewardship.
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Fair point. I think it also varies by section of the media - it was really striking how much harder a time Liz Truss had with local radio than with national media, for instance.
November 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Fair point. I think it also varies by section of the media - it was really striking how much harder a time Liz Truss had with local radio than with national media, for instance.
I mean, that's partly because our culture is in many ways stuck in 2004, and partly because of snobbery, but yeah.
I think the chumminess of podcasts also encourages a tendency to fill the space with gaseous drivel, but that may just be because I hate podcasts.
I think the chumminess of podcasts also encourages a tendency to fill the space with gaseous drivel, but that may just be because I hate podcasts.
November 28, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I mean, that's partly because our culture is in many ways stuck in 2004, and partly because of snobbery, but yeah.
I think the chumminess of podcasts also encourages a tendency to fill the space with gaseous drivel, but that may just be because I hate podcasts.
I think the chumminess of podcasts also encourages a tendency to fill the space with gaseous drivel, but that may just be because I hate podcasts.
I think it's more a feedback loop.
It's true the inquisitorial approach has a lot to answer for, but politicians should also be challenged when they say things that aren't true, or give shifty answers.
It's true the inquisitorial approach has a lot to answer for, but politicians should also be challenged when they say things that aren't true, or give shifty answers.
November 28, 2025 at 2:42 PM
I think it's more a feedback loop.
It's true the inquisitorial approach has a lot to answer for, but politicians should also be challenged when they say things that aren't true, or give shifty answers.
It's true the inquisitorial approach has a lot to answer for, but politicians should also be challenged when they say things that aren't true, or give shifty answers.
I think, annoyingly, it's happened because of both politicians and journalists, and I don't really see how we can pull back from it. That debating muscle has atrophied (partly because long-form argument is harder to do on sites like this), and building it back up would require conscious effort.
November 28, 2025 at 2:27 PM
I think, annoyingly, it's happened because of both politicians and journalists, and I don't really see how we can pull back from it. That debating muscle has atrophied (partly because long-form argument is harder to do on sites like this), and building it back up would require conscious effort.
Yes - although there are still plenty of duff performances from yesteryear. I reposted a debate between Jenkins and Benn on EEC membership earlier, which was very good. The Oxford Union debate on the same topic (from the same period) though is by-and-large dreadful, however.
November 28, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Yes - although there are still plenty of duff performances from yesteryear. I reposted a debate between Jenkins and Benn on EEC membership earlier, which was very good. The Oxford Union debate on the same topic (from the same period) though is by-and-large dreadful, however.
In fairness, interviews also expected and left space for lengthier answers. A lot of Thames TV stuff from the 70s/80s is on YouTube now, and the length of - uninterrupted! - time for which politicians are allowed to speak is really quite striking.
November 28, 2025 at 2:08 PM
In fairness, interviews also expected and left space for lengthier answers. A lot of Thames TV stuff from the 70s/80s is on YouTube now, and the length of - uninterrupted! - time for which politicians are allowed to speak is really quite striking.
There kind of is a point that speaking of 'states' in antiquity can be anachronistic (eg: discussions of Egypt's 'command economy'), but (a) (imperial) Rome is one of the ancient polities this applies to least, and (b) it doesn't have much to do with social policy!
November 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
There kind of is a point that speaking of 'states' in antiquity can be anachronistic (eg: discussions of Egypt's 'command economy'), but (a) (imperial) Rome is one of the ancient polities this applies to least, and (b) it doesn't have much to do with social policy!
"Here I stand: I got 20% off"
November 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM
"Here I stand: I got 20% off"
I remember reading a former Minister complaining somewhere that Thatcher had made them defend every stat, footnote, and fact in their Cabinet papers, and thinking "Good! Why isn't that normal?"
November 28, 2025 at 1:22 AM
I remember reading a former Minister complaining somewhere that Thatcher had made them defend every stat, footnote, and fact in their Cabinet papers, and thinking "Good! Why isn't that normal?"
Yes, that's fair I think. Something has clearly gone wrong in policymaking/implementation in government, and my instinct is that the discussion just isn't challenging things sufficiently.
November 28, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Yes, that's fair I think. Something has clearly gone wrong in policymaking/implementation in government, and my instinct is that the discussion just isn't challenging things sufficiently.
Sorry, yes - I think I derailed things rather.
November 28, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Sorry, yes - I think I derailed things rather.
For the Conservatives, sure (and I'm sure this was their plan for an election from about five minutes after the Coalition agreement ink was dry). I just mean the electorate didn't look at the Coalition and think "this is actually a good idea, we should do more of it".
November 28, 2025 at 1:09 AM
For the Conservatives, sure (and I'm sure this was their plan for an election from about five minutes after the Coalition agreement ink was dry). I just mean the electorate didn't look at the Coalition and think "this is actually a good idea, we should do more of it".
Yes, though plenty of it wasn't coming from the parties themselves (the 'rainbow coalition' thing was always a non-starter).
November 28, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Yes, though plenty of it wasn't coming from the parties themselves (the 'rainbow coalition' thing was always a non-starter).
Except they didn't. They elected a (narrow) Conservative majority, and massacred the Lib Dems.
November 28, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Except they didn't. They elected a (narrow) Conservative majority, and massacred the Lib Dems.
I'm sorry, I don't follow.
November 28, 2025 at 12:56 AM
I'm sorry, I don't follow.
Also, everything about the policy outcomes made inevitable by coalition was met with howls of outrage at the time. Endless rounds of "this government nobody voted for" on QT, etc.
November 28, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Also, everything about the policy outcomes made inevitable by coalition was met with howls of outrage at the time. Endless rounds of "this government nobody voted for" on QT, etc.