Will Mawhood
@viljamsmauhuds.bsky.social
Person who says 'no, you're thinking of the Balkans' a lot. Also Deep Baltic editor, and occasional writer of stuff. Ik pa laikam arī tulkotājs.
Pinned
Learning Latvian as a native English-speaker - Will Mawhood
YouTube video by Valodu māja - House of Languages
www.youtube.com
My talk about learning Latvian as a native speaker of English - discussed: why streets have no beginnings in English, the mysteries of the letter "ķ", is Latvian very literal or is English just weird, and much else...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
Reposted by Will Mawhood
The default response of Europeans to any crisis of tumbling into a neurotic miasma of self-doubt is not going to help much when the America Crisis that Trump has unleashed plunges the United States into chaos
December 12, 2025 at 9:49 AM
The default response of Europeans to any crisis of tumbling into a neurotic miasma of self-doubt is not going to help much when the America Crisis that Trump has unleashed plunges the United States into chaos
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Jaunākā aptauja apstiprina iepriekšējo.
NA ar Stambulas konvenciju pamatīgi iešāva sev kājā.
No 9.7% vasarā uz 5.6% novembrī.
Cieti.
www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas...
NA ar Stambulas konvenciju pamatīgi iešāva sev kājā.
No 9.7% vasarā uz 5.6% novembrī.
Cieti.
www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas...
December 11, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Jaunākā aptauja apstiprina iepriekšējo.
NA ar Stambulas konvenciju pamatīgi iešāva sev kājā.
No 9.7% vasarā uz 5.6% novembrī.
Cieti.
www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas...
NA ar Stambulas konvenciju pamatīgi iešāva sev kājā.
No 9.7% vasarā uz 5.6% novembrī.
Cieti.
www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas...
Reposted by Will Mawhood
One Russian paper today: ““We will not agree to a truce because we need the capitulation of Ukraine.” Meanwhile: “Nearly 60% of Russian regions have a hole in their budgets of over 600 billion roubles, almost 11 times more than in 2022.” #ReadingRussia
"Nearly 60% of Russian regions have hole in their budgets over 600 billion roubles": Russian paper.
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
December 11, 2025 at 8:07 AM
One Russian paper today: ““We will not agree to a truce because we need the capitulation of Ukraine.” Meanwhile: “Nearly 60% of Russian regions have a hole in their budgets of over 600 billion roubles, almost 11 times more than in 2022.” #ReadingRussia
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Courland's relentless empire-building is infamous.
December 3, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Courland's relentless empire-building is infamous.
Reposted by Will Mawhood
We've updated our timeline of Latvian history from the Ice Age with the most significant of 2024 and this year. Border and energy security feature front and center.
Brew your morning coffee or tea and click on "Expand all +".
latvians.com?en/CultureHi...
Brew your morning coffee or tea and click on "Expand all +".
latvians.com?en/CultureHi...
December 11, 2025 at 5:56 AM
We've updated our timeline of Latvian history from the Ice Age with the most significant of 2024 and this year. Border and energy security feature front and center.
Brew your morning coffee or tea and click on "Expand all +".
latvians.com?en/CultureHi...
Brew your morning coffee or tea and click on "Expand all +".
latvians.com?en/CultureHi...
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Does anyone have recommendations for books discussing Czech/Slovak and Belarussian history?
A goal of mine for next year is to become more familiar with those states.
🇨🇿 🇸🇰 ⬜️🟥⬜️
A goal of mine for next year is to become more familiar with those states.
🇨🇿 🇸🇰 ⬜️🟥⬜️
December 10, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Does anyone have recommendations for books discussing Czech/Slovak and Belarussian history?
A goal of mine for next year is to become more familiar with those states.
🇨🇿 🇸🇰 ⬜️🟥⬜️
A goal of mine for next year is to become more familiar with those states.
🇨🇿 🇸🇰 ⬜️🟥⬜️
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Exactly.
If Ukraine actually gave up Donbas (which is simply not feasible and almost certainly won't happen), this would go down on history as one of the biggest mistakes ever made. It would not lead to peace, Russia would keep attacking, just from a much better starting position.
December 9, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Exactly.
Reposted by Will Mawhood
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Will Mawhood
“U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Wednesday slammed European NATO allies for prioritizing their own defense industry over American arms suppliers, according to 3 NATO diplomats”
Didn’t they want Europe not to rely on the US as much anymore? How do they think it works?
Didn’t they want Europe not to rely on the US as much anymore? How do they think it works?
December 4, 2025 at 3:03 AM
“U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Wednesday slammed European NATO allies for prioritizing their own defense industry over American arms suppliers, according to 3 NATO diplomats”
Didn’t they want Europe not to rely on the US as much anymore? How do they think it works?
Didn’t they want Europe not to rely on the US as much anymore? How do they think it works?
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Quote for today's negotiations:
"The aggressor is always peace-loving; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."
Carl von Clausewitz in "On War," 1816-1830
"The aggressor is always peace-loving; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."
Carl von Clausewitz in "On War," 1816-1830
December 2, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Quote for today's negotiations:
"The aggressor is always peace-loving; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."
Carl von Clausewitz in "On War," 1816-1830
"The aggressor is always peace-loving; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed."
Carl von Clausewitz in "On War," 1816-1830
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone, but this, happily, is one of his lesser-known inventions: "he designed the "Saxotonnerre", a massive, locomotive-powered organ which was supposed to be so loud as to be heard across all of Paris at once"
November 29, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Adolphe Sax invented the saxophone, but this, happily, is one of his lesser-known inventions: "he designed the "Saxotonnerre", a massive, locomotive-powered organ which was supposed to be so loud as to be heard across all of Paris at once"
Reposted by Will Mawhood
A great interview from @viljamsmauhuds.bsky.social with Jacob Mikanowski for @deepbaltic.bsky.social. Mikanowski's Goodbye Eastern Europe was my favorite book from last year and its great to read an interview with two people who obsess over the region like me!
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
Goodbye Eastern Europe? An Interview with Jacob Mikanowski
"That’s what I’m pushing again – to say: no, this is a unique and uniquely rich human landscape that has had also some of the most extreme experiences in all of human history"
deepbaltic.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
A great interview from @viljamsmauhuds.bsky.social with Jacob Mikanowski for @deepbaltic.bsky.social. Mikanowski's Goodbye Eastern Europe was my favorite book from last year and its great to read an interview with two people who obsess over the region like me!
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
Reposted by Will Mawhood
You know, people on the internet often make these enormous and racist claims like “Muslims can’t assimilate to the traditions of British life” but if there’s anybody out there right now doing a better impersonation of 100 years of the British far left then I fail to see it
November 29, 2025 at 2:24 PM
You know, people on the internet often make these enormous and racist claims like “Muslims can’t assimilate to the traditions of British life” but if there’s anybody out there right now doing a better impersonation of 100 years of the British far left then I fail to see it
Reposted by Will Mawhood
German is a beautiful language.
November 28, 2025 at 7:18 PM
German is a beautiful language.
Reposted by Will Mawhood
Happy Birthday to William Blake, who knows where the wild things are...
November 28, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Happy Birthday to William Blake, who knows where the wild things are...
Midway through a 7-hour journey from (almost) one side of Latvia to (almost) the other, occurs to me that one underrated reason for LV's greater economic/social struggles compared to its Baltic neighbours is that it's a much more awkward shape
November 28, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Midway through a 7-hour journey from (almost) one side of Latvia to (almost) the other, occurs to me that one underrated reason for LV's greater economic/social struggles compared to its Baltic neighbours is that it's a much more awkward shape
Reposted by Will Mawhood
#nowplaying In anticipation of Wednesday... @iammilliam.bsky.social 🙏💙
November 23, 2025 at 11:47 AM
#nowplaying In anticipation of Wednesday... @iammilliam.bsky.social 🙏💙
Reposted by Will Mawhood
To add to this - it's not like the public is being well served by broadcast news moving at the pace of 24 hour scrolling and the politically obsessed - it just means every election large numbers of people end up googling 'what is austerity?' 'What is brownfield?' etc. etc.
This is bizarre. Like the editor of the guardian or mail or any other paper complaining repeatedly about the front page lead they decided to run with.
Very good example of what's wrong with broadcast news - they've given up deciding for themselves what is or isn't news and what the priorities are
Very good example of what's wrong with broadcast news - they've given up deciding for themselves what is or isn't news and what the priorities are
It’s a sign of how insane the news cycle is these days that this historic failure of government policy got just one day of news coverage this week.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
Not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s astonishing how quickly the agenda moves on these days.
November 23, 2025 at 12:33 PM
To add to this - it's not like the public is being well served by broadcast news moving at the pace of 24 hour scrolling and the politically obsessed - it just means every election large numbers of people end up googling 'what is austerity?' 'What is brownfield?' etc. etc.
Reposted by Will Mawhood
A wildcard contender in the 'what does GH in English spelling stand for?' game.
November 23, 2025 at 1:15 PM
A wildcard contender in the 'what does GH in English spelling stand for?' game.
My talk about learning Latvian as a native speaker of English - discussed: why streets have no beginnings in English, the mysteries of the letter "ķ", is Latvian very literal or is English just weird, and much else...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
Learning Latvian as a native English-speaker - Will Mawhood
YouTube video by Valodu māja - House of Languages
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
My talk about learning Latvian as a native speaker of English - discussed: why streets have no beginnings in English, the mysteries of the letter "ķ", is Latvian very literal or is English just weird, and much else...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
Reposted by Will Mawhood
"Estonia’s interesting, because just as you say a lot of that religious, ethnic diversity is much less present. And it’s very present in northern Greece – northern Greece really has everything I’m talking about in terms of Eastern Europe"
#DBarchives
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
#DBarchives
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
Goodbye Eastern Europe? An Interview with Jacob Mikanowski
"That’s what I’m pushing again – to say: no, this is a unique and uniquely rich human landscape that has had also some of the most extreme experiences in all of human history"
deepbaltic.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:45 AM
"Estonia’s interesting, because just as you say a lot of that religious, ethnic diversity is much less present. And it’s very present in northern Greece – northern Greece really has everything I’m talking about in terms of Eastern Europe"
#DBarchives
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
#DBarchives
deepbaltic.com/2024/12/15/g...
Reposted by Will Mawhood
I hate how every nation is living down to its stereotype because I’m trained to look for complexity in things, yet the USA is run by a caricature of crony capitalism that Soviet propaganda would consider too unsubtle, Russia is run by a Bond villain, the UK is speedrunning Children of Men, etc.
November 19, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I hate how every nation is living down to its stereotype because I’m trained to look for complexity in things, yet the USA is run by a caricature of crony capitalism that Soviet propaganda would consider too unsubtle, Russia is run by a Bond villain, the UK is speedrunning Children of Men, etc.
Reposted by Will Mawhood
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
November 19, 2025 at 2:22 PM
LLMs give people with delusional belief systems a way to organise those beliefs. The model fills in gaps, supplies connective tissue, and wraps the madness in formal language.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
It doesn't make the claims more credible to us, it just tidies them up.
Reposted by Will Mawhood
18. novembris ir īpaša diena ne vien latviešiem, bet arī lībiešiem. Piecus gadus pēc Latvijas valsts dibināšanas šajā pašā datumā pirmo reizi mastā tika pacelts lībiešu karogs. Tas notika Mazirbes mācītājmuižā. Kopš tā laika šī diena lībiešiem ir divtik svarīga.
🖥️ youtu.be/Bos5IRGBZhg
🖥️ youtu.be/Bos5IRGBZhg
November 17, 2025 at 4:09 PM
18. novembris ir īpaša diena ne vien latviešiem, bet arī lībiešiem. Piecus gadus pēc Latvijas valsts dibināšanas šajā pašā datumā pirmo reizi mastā tika pacelts lībiešu karogs. Tas notika Mazirbes mācītājmuižā. Kopš tā laika šī diena lībiešiem ir divtik svarīga.
🖥️ youtu.be/Bos5IRGBZhg
🖥️ youtu.be/Bos5IRGBZhg