Brett Holman
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Brett Holman
@airminded.org
3.8K followers 1.4K following 3.7K posts
Independent PhD historian (aviation, bombing; #WW1, #WW2; Britain, Australia; emotions, spectacle); books (Home Fires Burning (WW1 air raids on Britain; in progress), The Next War in the Air). Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. He/him. airminded.org
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airminded.org
Brett Holman @airminded.org · Nov 10
Hi! I’m a historian of early 20th century Britain and Australia. I study the cultural and emotional history of aviation, interested in what people thought and felt about aircraft as much, or even more than, what aircraft actually did. My first book was on the fear of bombing in Britain
The Next War in the Air
Brett Holman. The Next War in the Air: Britain's Fear of the Bomber, 1908-1941. Farnham and Burlington: Ashgate, 2014. The Next War in the Air: Britain's Fear of the Bomber, 1908-1941 is my first book...
airminded.org
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acetomatocompany.bsky.social
Aaaaaand that's enough aviation internet for the day.
November 27, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Reposted by Brett Holman
levesque-chris.bsky.social
Don’t ever work for someone who doesn’t believe in work-life balance if you can at all avoid it.
Image original from Harper’s Weekly in 1886. 8 hours for work. 8 hours for rest. 8 hours for what we will.
November 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM
airminded.org
The most accomplished graduate from my high school. I think the equivalent for my primary school was Ernie Sigley
admirablewomen.bsky.social Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 22h
Biochemist Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn was born #OTD in 1948.

She shared the 2009 #Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the enzyme telomerase & how chromosomes are protected by telomeres. This has 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 implications for the fields of #aging and #cancer research. #WomenInSTEM
Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, stands with arms crossed and a calm, confident smile, wearing a black blazer over a red top, shoulder-length silver-gray hair, and wire-rimmed glasses. Behind her is a blurred, vibrant red-and-orange abstract backdrop. A pioneering woman in STEM who reshaped our understanding of aging and DNA.
November 27, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Brett Holman
vghistory.bsky.social
print ad, excerpt (1981) archive.org/details/byte...
an apple II and connected graphics peripheral to the right. the screen shows the design of a crude wireframe car, above it 'xa-478'.
June 11, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
michaelmazengarb.bsky.social
The new quarterly update to Australia's emissions inventory shows emissions down 2.2% for the year to June 2025.

Emissions down across most sectors, except for transport.
www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-chan...
November 26, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Brett Holman
scgriffith.bsky.social
ruin your thanksgiving by reading new york magazine's take on mathematics
The Ten Most Ridiculous-Sounding Math Classes Currently Offered at Liberal-Arts Colleges By Jessica Pressler, Janelle Zara, and Emily Watkins Rachel Stein andAviva Shen OCT. 19, 2010 Every year, liberal-arts majors anxiously scour their college's course listings looking for classes that will fulfill their math requirement but aren't so, you know, math-y. Here's what they're signed up for this year. 10. Topology: The Nature of Shape and Space: "In geometry we ask: How big is it? How long is it? But in topology we ask: Is it [Sarah Lawrence 9. The Mathematies of Chance: "Most topics are introduced ina case-study fashion, usually by reading an article in a current periodical such as the New York Times. [Bard] 8. Mathematics in Many Cultures: "Mathematical ideas are found in many cultures, among both literate and non-literate peoples. This course examines both mathematics and the role it plays in the cultures. Examples chosen from the mathematical ideas of present-day peoples of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, as well as historic Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Islam and China." [Pomona] 7. The Magic of Numbers: "This course will explore the beauty and mystery of mathematics through a study of the patterns and properties of the natural numbers 1, 2, [and] 3." [Harvard 6. Models of Life: In particular, we will ask such questions as: How do you model the growth of a population of animals? How can you model the growth of a tree? How do sunflowers and seashells grow?" [Kenyon] 5. Mathematical Origamist's Toolkit: "Topics include modular origami and how this models the creation of polyhedra and coloring of graphs, comparison of origami-axiomatic constructions to straight-edge and compass constructions, the combinatorics of possible crease patterns, the mathematics of origami design (circle packing, optimization), matrix models for paperfolding, spherical geometry, Descartes' Theorem, and Gaussian curvature." [Hampshire] 4. Mathematics and Narrative: "Many literary works (Arcadia, Proof, and Uncle Petros and the Goldbach Conjecture) use mathematics as an integral part of their narrative. Movie and television narratives such as Good Will Hunting and Numb3rs are also mathematically based. Nonfiction works about mathematics and mathematical biographies like Chaos, Fermat's Enigma, and A Beautiful Mind provide further examples of the connection between mathematics and narrative." [Vassar] 3. Borges and Mathematics: "Jorge Luis Borges was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Many of his short stories and essays were concerned with philosophical, metaphysical, and mathematical questions. The thesis motivating this course is that if we know the mathematies that Borges referred to, then we will read him differently, and we will read him better." [Bennington 2. Mathematics and Science as Art in Contemporary Theatre: "Playwrights such as Tom Stoppard, Rinne Groff, Michael Frayn, and others have effectively explored mathematical and scientific themes for artistic purposes. Through readings and exercises, and by conducting labs and staging scenes, this class will gain some first-hand insight into the complementary ways in which science and art aim to seek out their respective truths." [Middlebury] 1. Meaning, Math, And Motion: "Quoting a charming articulation by Kinsman (a mathematician-turned-oceanographer, in the preface to Wind Waves): "To the beginner, science is a conversation that has been in progress for a very long time. Our collective work is to catch up on the conversation. [Evergreen] This is why Asia is winning, by the way.
November 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
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gravelinfluencer.bsky.social
I feel much safer today knowing that we deported a Babson College student back to a country where she hasn't lived since childhood.

She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
A Babson College student wanted to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. She was deported instead. - The Boston Globe
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was at Logan to catch a flight to Texas when immigration authorities detained her as she was about to board the plane.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
The Trump administration effectively says that no one should ever work with Americans during wartime; that our promises mean nothing, our word is dust, and we will throw our allies under the bus the moment we want.

In any future armed conflict, who would ever trust us again?
mikeeckel.bsky.social Mike Eckel @mikeeckel.bsky.social · 7h
CIA statement about the Afghan man identified as the gunman who shot two National Guardsmen in Washington
November 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Brett Holman
vandawilcox.bsky.social
Wartime fascist propaganda from before July 1943:

fake British & US banknotes, with text on the back explaining that Allied airmen are getting paid bonuses to destroy Italy's people, civilization and religion
Poorly copied 10 dollar and 2 dollar notes: a 1 pound note. All are printed in the same dark green. Text on the back of the notes: they accuse the Americans of economically exploiting Europe in alliance with the Bolsheviks, and repeat statements against aerial bombing by the Archbishop of Naples. Only 'monarchical and fascist Italy' has true principles of social justice, apparently
November 27, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Brett Holman
tomhulme.bsky.social
I heard a story about a female academic giving a paper at the IHR who, after receiving a long and aggressive question from a senior male professor, simply leaned back with her hands behind her head and replied “Oh, do fuck off.”
plashingvole.bsky.social Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 5h
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.
November 27, 2025 at 6:16 PM
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abcnewsbot.bsky.social
Hot air balloon rides are nearly 10 times riskier than a joy flight in a light plane or a helicopter, a new report by the national transport safety investigator has found.
Hot air balloon rides nearly 10 times riskier as helicopter or plane
Hot air balloon rides are nearly 10 times riskier than a joy flight in a light plane or a helicopter, a new report by the national transport safety investigator has found.
www.abc.net.au
November 27, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Reposted by Brett Holman
paul-pritchard.bsky.social
I have been reading this magazine for decades, it is part of who I am.
To all you writers out there it is a goldmine of weirdness. Honestly, throw a Fortean scene in a book, even a romance or YA, just for fun #writer #authors #writingcommunity
forteantimes.bsky.social Fortean Times @forteantimes.bsky.social · 10h
Our Christmas issue is now on sale! South Shields Poltergeist at 20; SAS vs Gnomes; Enys Tregarthen's Cornish tales; Europe's Yuletide spectres; Warminster Thing; Fortean TV 1988 Christmas Special; illustrious eunuchs; phantom twanger; Masonic Super Mario + much more
shop.forteantimes.com/subscribe
November 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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lottelydia.bsky.social
guys please don’t make me side with Rutger Bregman I’m begging you
November 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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nataliereed84.bsky.social
Amazing. Absolutely fucking amazing.
November 26, 2025 at 10:18 PM
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hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Deimos before dawn | Perseverance Navcam Left | Sol 1433 - From Simeon Schmauß (stim3on.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2r6neAK
NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this view of Deimos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons, shining in the sky at 4:27 a.m. local time on March 1, 2025, the 1,433rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In the dark before dawn, the rover’s left navigation camera used its maximum long-exposure time of 3.28 seconds for each of 16 individual shots, all of which were combined onboard the camera into a single image that was later sent to Earth. In total, the image represents an exposure time of about 52 seconds. The sun was about 13° below the horizon when this image was captured. The raw image was corrected for bias using an exposure taken earlier in that night. Remaining line noise was corrected using a custom filter and hot pixels (likely from radiation hits) were removed. The image was then debayered, denoised and color processed to approximate what the human eye would have seen if it was sensitive enough. Finally, this version was also corrected for lens distortion and leveled for the horizon. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Simeon Schmauß
November 27, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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modinmetro.bsky.social
NLA Tower, Croydon

1970

Richard Seifert & Partners

bit.ly/4oC6xQB
A black and white photograph of the NLA building in Croydon, with its distinctive rotated floor design
November 27, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
ottoenglish.bsky.social
It's almost like much of the mainstream media and right wing press has an agenda, isn't it.
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 13h
New net migration figures at 930am.

Net migration fell half a million to 344,000 in 2024 from 848k in 2023

56% of people think it went up last year
17% think stayed the same
14% think it went down

2025 figure to be lower again
16% expect that
38% think it will be up
31% about the same
November 27, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
sundersays.bsky.social
Nus Ghani MP - the Deputy Speaker - moved to the UK as a small child. She has been elected by the voters in Wealden in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2024

More outright racism from the regular GB News & Talk TV contributor Lucy White - who previously called (on GB News) for all Muslims to leave Britain
November 26, 2025 at 9:54 PM
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gifs-bot.bsky.social
ABSTRACT/DALI.GIF
November 27, 2025 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
ketanjoshi.co
Political journalists are so intensely bad at dealing with environment and climate issues, it is absolutely remarkable

archive.ph/tpFlb
The Greens lost both their leader Adam Bandt and their housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, at the hands of vengeful voters. It seems reasonable to conclude they were punished at least in part for intransigence in refusing to support government legislation, particularly on the hot-button issue of housing. Albanese’s intervention to block the Greens’ pre-election environment deal with Plibersek usefully robbed them of the chance to try to rectify that reputational damage. The Greens are also still sensitive to historical accusations that their 2009 decision to reject the Rudd government’s carbon pollution reduction scheme as not tough enough contributed to the poisonous politics that have surrounded climate action in Australia for more than 15 years. New leader Larissa Waters is an environmental lawyer by training and, like her environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young, much more of a pragmatist than Bandt. If they needed a deal last time, they need it more now. For Ley and the Coalition, smashed at the polls and riven by left-right infighting, there was no good outcome. Had they refused to negotiate at all, the government would have branded them environmental wreckers and moderate Liberals would have revolted. But reaching agreement with the government would potentially have required such a degree of compromise – Albanese would’ve made sure of it – as to risk further leakage of their vote to One Nation. That would’ve put Ley’s leadership under even more pressure.
November 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
juliagiantrat.bsky.social
your 14yr old nephew is addicted to at least 4 different gambling apps on his phone where he's actively betting daily on the outcome of individual skirmishes in a real life war happening on the other side of the globe
POLYGLOBE JUST GOT ANOTHER MASSIVE UPGRADE 🌐 DeepStateLive’s Ukraine war map is now draped directly onto the globe, live and synced with @Polymarket . Shaded control zones, shifting frontlines, Russian/Belarusian unit icons and direction of attack arrows all sitting under your markets and OSINT in near real time. These Ukraine geo markets confuse people constantly. is it the city limits, the oblast, “enter” vs “capture all of”? Now, when you hover a market, we draw the exact area of operation it resolves on and spell out the rule in plain English. No more rule debates, no more guessing what actually settles. The only way to monitor the situation.
November 27, 2025 at 9:32 AM
airminded.org
Mt Whateverest, amirite?
rahaeli.bsky.social rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 17h
I'm not the first to say it, but I think we should absolutely start a campaign to convince all the worst people that K2 is a *much* more impressive mountain to climb than Everest and we would all be much more impressed by that achievement
dopestatistics.bsky.social Mollz @dopestatistics.bsky.social · 20h
People should stop climbing mt everest
November 27, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
simoncraven.bsky.social
Whatever they were paying the Leeds street-namer at a certain point in the late Victorian era, it was too much
Street map clip of Beeston in Leeds, showing Recreation Street, also Recreation View, Terrace, Place, Row, Grove, Mount, View, and Crescent (the last being a LIE, because you could run a ruler along it)
November 27, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Reposted by Brett Holman
davidcayjohnston.bsky.social
The latest evidence that America is becoming a land of idiots:
November 27, 2025 at 7:18 AM
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alanlester.bsky.social
1/5 It was entirely predictable that The Telegraph would jump on @DavidOlusoga’s Empire series to fight its right wing culture war for control of our public history. Let’s see what they’ve done:
November 27, 2025 at 8:28 AM