Beth Kitson
@drbethkitson.bsky.social
Research Associate, Bennett School of Public Policy, University of Cambridge.
Findings indicate 'that exposure to feed algorithms has a lasting impact on users’ feeds and their political attitudes.'
New article in Nature describes a field experiment on X which shows that assigning users to an algorithmic feed pushes conservative content and demotes mainstream news.
Sounds obvious but important in light of prior claims algorithms don't cause attitudinal changes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Sounds obvious but important in light of prior claims algorithms don't cause attitudinal changes.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 18, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Findings indicate 'that exposure to feed algorithms has a lasting impact on users’ feeds and their political attitudes.'
'Salt Monday was observed in some parts of the country, with the condiment freely thrown on single people "to preserve them for another year"' BRUTAL
The weird historic traditions around Pancake Tuesday in Ireland. The day before Lent began may have involved feasting and food, but explains @marionmcgarry.bsky.social ATU, it certainly wasn't a good day for single people www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...
The weird historic traditions around Pancake Tuesday in Ireland
The day before Lent began may have involved feasting and food, but it certainly wasn't a good day for single people
www.rte.ie
February 17, 2026 at 1:51 PM
'Salt Monday was observed in some parts of the country, with the condiment freely thrown on single people "to preserve them for another year"' BRUTAL
This is an excellent - and practical - article on how historians can work with data.
“The fantasy of completely accessible and searchable digital past obviously remains a mirage, even if it’s one that is still tempting.” On the great new piece on historians as data curators in TRHS by @kmcdono.bsky.social and others
🗃️
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/02/16/v...
🗃️
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/02/16/v...
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
February 16, 2026 at 2:37 PM
This is an excellent - and practical - article on how historians can work with data.
'The single strongest predictor of whether a pub closed between 2016 and 2024 is how alone it was. Not how good the beer was or who owned it. But whether it had neighbours.'
This is fascinating from @laurenleek.eu
This is fascinating from @laurenleek.eu
Amazing analysis of pub closures in the UK, by @laurenleek.eu, and the corporate interests behind them. Some important political and policy implications open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
Britain Lost 14,000 Third Places. They Were Called Pubs. Is Your Local Next?
How private equity reshaped the local and the postcode tool that shows the pubs most at risk.
open.substack.com
February 16, 2026 at 10:06 AM
'The single strongest predictor of whether a pub closed between 2016 and 2024 is how alone it was. Not how good the beer was or who owned it. But whether it had neighbours.'
This is fascinating from @laurenleek.eu
This is fascinating from @laurenleek.eu
'it is the great Exchange of all discourse.’
Brilliant @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social on early modern news.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Brilliant @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social on early modern news.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
February 15, 2026 at 9:55 AM
'it is the great Exchange of all discourse.’
Brilliant @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social on early modern news.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Brilliant @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social on early modern news.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
'“Equality” is a word notably lacking in the executive order.'
Eliminating gender studies courses helps to ensure that universities and other institutions will continue to protect men who benefit from the abuse of women and girls, either directly or through their connections to those who exploit girls and women for profit.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott
Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 10:08 AM
'“Equality” is a word notably lacking in the executive order.'
Reposted by Beth Kitson
Delighted to be series editor for Cambridge Elements in Women, Gender and Sexuality in Premodern Literature and Culture. If you have something cool and interesting you’d like to work with us on please get in touch (micrograph 20-30k)
www.cambridge.org/core/publica...
www.cambridge.org/core/publica...
Women, Gender and Sexuality in Premodern Literature and Culture
Welcome to Cambridge Core
www.cambridge.org
February 14, 2026 at 5:08 AM
Delighted to be series editor for Cambridge Elements in Women, Gender and Sexuality in Premodern Literature and Culture. If you have something cool and interesting you’d like to work with us on please get in touch (micrograph 20-30k)
www.cambridge.org/core/publica...
www.cambridge.org/core/publica...
'Celebrate the season of love with the wisdom of nearly 120 years of editorial practice' no notes, perfect copy.
What better way to say "I love you" than with the Chicago Manual of Style
February 13, 2026 at 3:10 PM
'Celebrate the season of love with the wisdom of nearly 120 years of editorial practice' no notes, perfect copy.
'Volunteering is not a transaction and should never be used as a tool of immigration control.'
www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved...
www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved...
February 12, 2026 at 10:50 PM
'Volunteering is not a transaction and should never be used as a tool of immigration control.'
www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved...
www.ncvo.org.uk/get-involved...
I'm back in November 18th.
February 11, 2026 at 8:05 AM
I'm back in November 18th.
From @npjgarland.bsky.social's @powertochange.org.uk essay on the history of place-based policymaking www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...
February 9, 2026 at 4:42 PM
From @npjgarland.bsky.social's @powertochange.org.uk essay on the history of place-based policymaking www.powertochange.org.uk/evidence-and...
Finished Laura Cummings' Thunderclap this week, a truly lovely happy-sad book.
February 8, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Finished Laura Cummings' Thunderclap this week, a truly lovely happy-sad book.
Lyndal Roper on turbulent times.
(Issue 100, @historyworkshop.org.uk) academic.oup.com/hwj/article/...
(Issue 100, @historyworkshop.org.uk) academic.oup.com/hwj/article/...
February 5, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Lyndal Roper on turbulent times.
(Issue 100, @historyworkshop.org.uk) academic.oup.com/hwj/article/...
(Issue 100, @historyworkshop.org.uk) academic.oup.com/hwj/article/...
'Medicine can sometimes extend life; it cannot endow it with meaning. A society fixated on remaining young also risks forgetting why age exists at all, not merely as biological decline, but as the scaffolding of memory, care and generational responsibility.'
I can’t get all of this in but it’s a beautiful letter in @financialtimes.com about life and death
February 4, 2026 at 11:37 AM
'Medicine can sometimes extend life; it cannot endow it with meaning. A society fixated on remaining young also risks forgetting why age exists at all, not merely as biological decline, but as the scaffolding of memory, care and generational responsibility.'
Reposted by Beth Kitson
Our @glasnevincemetery.bsky.social @historytcd.bsky.social Spring Lecture Series is live. Theme is 'Work and working in 19th & 20th century #Dublin' - please RT. Speakers @antoniahart.bsky.social @dublincity.bsky.social @drdeefoley.bsky.social & Conor Dodd formerly Glasnevin.
February 3, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Our @glasnevincemetery.bsky.social @historytcd.bsky.social Spring Lecture Series is live. Theme is 'Work and working in 19th & 20th century #Dublin' - please RT. Speakers @antoniahart.bsky.social @dublincity.bsky.social @drdeefoley.bsky.social & Conor Dodd formerly Glasnevin.
'We force innovation where it doesn’t belong, pushing companies to be creative not in how they help us, but in how they exploit us.'
Is competition always the hero?
We compete for schools & jobs, while economists praise market competition for better choices.
But cases like SHEIN, Palantir, Samsung, & Boeing suggest competition can sometimes do more harm than good.
Nghi Nguyen explains in this latest blog: bit.ly/4rmChKq
We compete for schools & jobs, while economists praise market competition for better choices.
But cases like SHEIN, Palantir, Samsung, & Boeing suggest competition can sometimes do more harm than good.
Nghi Nguyen explains in this latest blog: bit.ly/4rmChKq
February 3, 2026 at 11:06 AM
'We force innovation where it doesn’t belong, pushing companies to be creative not in how they help us, but in how they exploit us.'
Reposted by Beth Kitson
I'm here on BBC World Service's History Hour about 10.25mins in, talking about the history of children's protests! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... #skystorians #histchild #historyhit
BBC World Service - The History Hour, Chile’s Penguin Revolution and the 5,000-year-old frozen mummy
Children march in protest in Chile and a perfectly preserved mummy is found in the Alps
www.bbc.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 8:22 AM
I'm here on BBC World Service's History Hour about 10.25mins in, talking about the history of children's protests! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w... #skystorians #histchild #historyhit
'These phrases do nothing to capture any useful meaning. The economy is not leashed. There is no “fuel” that is needed to boost it.
Whatever companies of a certain size are like, they are neither a boney carapace for nerve signals nor the fluid that carries oxygen around.'
Whatever companies of a certain size are like, they are neither a boney carapace for nerve signals nor the fluid that carries oxygen around.'
"I can actually picture it and that is a problem - any picture that shows something percolating is just not how an economy behaves. You cannot picture the economy like a thing." - terrific piece by @gilesyb.bsky.social:
it is not just that there are no "levers"
language is a huge barrier to understanding
gileswilkes.substack.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:31 PM
'These phrases do nothing to capture any useful meaning. The economy is not leashed. There is no “fuel” that is needed to boost it.
Whatever companies of a certain size are like, they are neither a boney carapace for nerve signals nor the fluid that carries oxygen around.'
Whatever companies of a certain size are like, they are neither a boney carapace for nerve signals nor the fluid that carries oxygen around.'
'What they offer instead is a politics of limits, hierarchy and resignation—a boilerplate conservatism, repackaged for a gloomy age whose prevailing emotion is fear.'
January 31, 2026 at 6:47 PM
'What they offer instead is a politics of limits, hierarchy and resignation—a boilerplate conservatism, repackaged for a gloomy age whose prevailing emotion is fear.'
Reposted by Beth Kitson
Reposted by Beth Kitson
New podcast featuring Prof @michaelkenny.bsky.social from @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk and fellow experts, on how to rebuild confidence in the future, & our collective ability to shape it through place & community.
Download the podcast produced by @cisl.cam.ac.uk
ow.ly/5E5X50Y16Uf
Download the podcast produced by @cisl.cam.ac.uk
ow.ly/5E5X50Y16Uf
What next? Leadership Conversations for a Better Future | Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)
How do we rebuild confidence in the future - and in our collective ability to shape it? How do we reconnect economic growth with social progress, fairness, and stability? And how do we harness innovat...
ow.ly
January 23, 2026 at 12:40 PM
New podcast featuring Prof @michaelkenny.bsky.social from @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk and fellow experts, on how to rebuild confidence in the future, & our collective ability to shape it through place & community.
Download the podcast produced by @cisl.cam.ac.uk
ow.ly/5E5X50Y16Uf
Download the podcast produced by @cisl.cam.ac.uk
ow.ly/5E5X50Y16Uf
Reposted by Beth Kitson
Read the full report here -> www.southampton.ac.uk/publicpolicy...
January 28, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Read the full report here -> www.southampton.ac.uk/publicpolicy...
'But it matters, too, because it is a reminder of a neglected truth, that writing is a core part of providing effective leadership.'
Why speeches matter - and why leaders should, at the least, draft their own. This week's column:
Carney, Trump and the power of a good speech
Leaders don’t need to write every word themselves, but they do need to make sure it clearly represents their vision
www.ft.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:46 PM
'But it matters, too, because it is a reminder of a neglected truth, that writing is a core part of providing effective leadership.'
This will be *fantastic*
My book, PRESENCE: A Hidden History of the Female Body is out in June with Cape in the UK and with Astra House in the US. If you're an editor / reviewer / etc, let me know if you'd like to be on the list for an advance copy.
January 27, 2026 at 9:55 AM
This will be *fantastic*
