Jonathan Potter
@drjonpotter.bsky.social
Researches Victorian periodicals, visual culture, and literature. Teaches English lit. Probably the least online person you'll meet online.
Author of Discourses of Vision in C19th Britain: https://tinyurl.com/5bxvawy6
Author of Discourses of Vision in C19th Britain: https://tinyurl.com/5bxvawy6
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
This house thinks this is the best party political broadcast we've ever seen.
Help us make hope normal again.
Join the Green Party now.
Join the Green Party now.
January 23, 2026 at 8:24 AM
This house thinks this is the best party political broadcast we've ever seen.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
The video in the thread redacts the images, mercifully. But you can see from the prompts what is happening. This is obscene, vicious and intolerable. X and Grok should be shut down until this grotesque harassment can be stopped. Those responsible should face the full force of the law.
One example of how Grok is being used to target women. Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch being sexualised, degraded, and humiliated step-by-step by Grok. All the images accurately reflect the prompts provided.
January 5, 2026 at 7:04 PM
The video in the thread redacts the images, mercifully. But you can see from the prompts what is happening. This is obscene, vicious and intolerable. X and Grok should be shut down until this grotesque harassment can be stopped. Those responsible should face the full force of the law.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
January 5, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
January 1, 2026 at 10:53 AM
Everyone has their blind spots etc, but Hobsbawm is a great historian - accessible, interesting, provocative - for undergrads and general readers so I'd be surprised if he wasn't still on many undergrad reading lists (he's on mine!).
do you remember or know of socialist historian Eric Hobsbawm? Christmas University Challenge teams on 29th December didn't
wp.me/p15p2Q-fQc
wp.me/p15p2Q-fQc
University Challenge Christmas 2025. Alumni Teams had never heard of Eric Hobsbawm
The University Challenge Christmas series, consisting of teams of Alumni, on Monday 29th December featured St Hilda’s Oxford and Edinburgh Amol Rajan asked who the joint author (with Terence …
wp.me
December 31, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Everyone has their blind spots etc, but Hobsbawm is a great historian - accessible, interesting, provocative - for undergrads and general readers so I'd be surprised if he wasn't still on many undergrad reading lists (he's on mine!).
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Out of curiosity, I just ran a few paragraphs from The Butchering Art through an AI checker and it got flagged: 88% AI. This book was released in 2017, and AI machines were subsequently trained off it. How many writers are getting flagged for AI because of the literal theft of their work(s)? Insane.
OMG - f*ck AI for ruining the em-dash for writers. I use them all the time. Of course, what a shock that AI uses them since they were trained off my voice and other authors' voices.
I'm a writer who has specifically been directed *not* to use em-dashes because "they mean it was written by AI." I can detect AI writing, but it is not simply a matter of the punctuation used.
December 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Out of curiosity, I just ran a few paragraphs from The Butchering Art through an AI checker and it got flagged: 88% AI. This book was released in 2017, and AI machines were subsequently trained off it. How many writers are getting flagged for AI because of the literal theft of their work(s)? Insane.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Disco Elysium being free on the Epic Games Store is truly a Christmas miracle. This is such a singular and superb video game.
store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/disc...
store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/disc...
Disco Elysium - The Final Cut | Download and Buy Today - Epic Games Store
Download and play Disco Elysium - The Final Cut at the Epic Games Store. Check for platform availability and price!
store.epicgames.com
December 25, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Disco Elysium being free on the Epic Games Store is truly a Christmas miracle. This is such a singular and superb video game.
store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/disc...
store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/disc...
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
December 25th. The day the Fellowship departs Rivendell to destroy the One Ring.
Whatever you celebrate, may you have the courage to take the first steps to defy and endure against the dark, and rekindle light into the world.
Whatever you celebrate, may you have the courage to take the first steps to defy and endure against the dark, and rekindle light into the world.
December 25, 2025 at 3:52 PM
December 25th. The day the Fellowship departs Rivendell to destroy the One Ring.
Whatever you celebrate, may you have the courage to take the first steps to defy and endure against the dark, and rekindle light into the world.
Whatever you celebrate, may you have the courage to take the first steps to defy and endure against the dark, and rekindle light into the world.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Go check out Bob for Wired!
I made a video for @wired.com answering questions from the internet about Victorian history! youtu.be/10iYlK7bsJw?...
Historian Answers Victorian England Questions | Tech Support | WIRED
YouTube video by WIRED
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Go check out Bob for Wired!
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
We are delighted to be co-sponsoring this event alongside @ihr.bsky.social and @royalhistsoc.org. Details and sign-up information is below!
📢Upcoming Event!
💻JBS Listening Session for UK-based Scholars
📅January 8
⏰4pm GMT/ 11am EST/ 9am MST/ 8am PST
Info and RSVP here: www.nacbs.org/event-detail...
💻JBS Listening Session for UK-based Scholars
📅January 8
⏰4pm GMT/ 11am EST/ 9am MST/ 8am PST
Info and RSVP here: www.nacbs.org/event-detail...
JBS Listening Session for UK-based scholars | NACBS
The Journal of British Studies will host a listening session for UK-based scholars of British Studies on Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 4pm GMT.
www.nacbs.org
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
We are delighted to be co-sponsoring this event alongside @ihr.bsky.social and @royalhistsoc.org. Details and sign-up information is below!
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Its all over Threads www.threads.com/@permanent_o...
KarolinaM (@permanent_optimist) on Threads
So, everyone has already seen the comparison of Miller to Goebels, but have you seen these?
Rubio the same as Nixon in January 1973 (6 months into Watergate)
And
Scavino like Himmler?
www.threads.com
December 18, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Its all over Threads www.threads.com/@permanent_o...
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Amazing 😳 digital archaeology
How AI’s annoying blandness “accidentally replicated the linguistic ghost of the British Empire”
How AI’s annoying blandness “accidentally replicated the linguistic ghost of the British Empire”
December 16, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Amazing 😳 digital archaeology
How AI’s annoying blandness “accidentally replicated the linguistic ghost of the British Empire”
How AI’s annoying blandness “accidentally replicated the linguistic ghost of the British Empire”
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
💪🏽💪🏽
we can kill them all if we just work together and ✨believe💫
December 16, 2025 at 6:52 PM
💪🏽💪🏽
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Happy 100th birthday Dick Van Dyke!
a man in a hat is dancing in a crowd of people
ALT: a man in a hat is dancing in a crowd of people
media.tenor.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Happy 100th birthday Dick Van Dyke!
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
The world's richest 0.001% now control 3x as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity combined.
56,000 wealthy individuals have more than roughly 4 billion people.
Read that back.
56,000 wealthy individuals have more than roughly 4 billion people.
Read that back.
Just 0.001% hold three times the wealth of poorest half of humanity, report finds
Data from World Inequality Report also showed top 10% of income-earners earn more than the other 90%
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:15 PM
The world's richest 0.001% now control 3x as much wealth as the entire bottom half of humanity combined.
56,000 wealthy individuals have more than roughly 4 billion people.
Read that back.
56,000 wealthy individuals have more than roughly 4 billion people.
Read that back.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Excellent advice.
Get away from the desk, go for a walk.
Don’t listen to a podcast, just walk.
That’s when the best thinking happens.
Get away from the desk, go for a walk.
Don’t listen to a podcast, just walk.
That’s when the best thinking happens.
And then, unbidden, her book's actual premise came to her. 🫠
Go for walks, kids. I've only ever written things for real on walks.
Go for walks, kids. I've only ever written things for real on walks.
December 11, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Excellent advice.
Get away from the desk, go for a walk.
Don’t listen to a podcast, just walk.
That’s when the best thinking happens.
Get away from the desk, go for a walk.
Don’t listen to a podcast, just walk.
That’s when the best thinking happens.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
As a chess fan this is a marvelous read. I had no idea Marx played chess, though I'm not hugely surprised.
December 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
As a chess fan this is a marvelous read. I had no idea Marx played chess, though I'm not hugely surprised.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
“One person is an autocratic president of the university for decades” certainly wasn’t a flawless system but it’s clear that “admins hop from job to job scaling the career ladder by filling their CV with ‘accomplishments’ that are expensive burdens to the schools they leave behind” is even worse.
The worst thing to happen to academia was the emergence of a nomadic administrative class like the one in corporations who just move from institution to institution setting fires and walking away.
Say what you will about the flaws of faculty governance, but at least they believe in the mission.
Say what you will about the flaws of faculty governance, but at least they believe in the mission.
December 1, 2025 at 4:28 PM
“One person is an autocratic president of the university for decades” certainly wasn’t a flawless system but it’s clear that “admins hop from job to job scaling the career ladder by filling their CV with ‘accomplishments’ that are expensive burdens to the schools they leave behind” is even worse.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
So kid, in your heart you want to study humanities but you worry about your job prospects? Let’s play a game.
On the latest data, who is more likely to be unemployed after 15 months after graduation. The English Lit grad or the Maths grad?
WRONG!
On the latest data, who is more likely to be unemployed after 15 months after graduation. The English Lit grad or the Maths grad?
WRONG!
December 1, 2025 at 9:19 PM
So kid, in your heart you want to study humanities but you worry about your job prospects? Let’s play a game.
On the latest data, who is more likely to be unemployed after 15 months after graduation. The English Lit grad or the Maths grad?
WRONG!
On the latest data, who is more likely to be unemployed after 15 months after graduation. The English Lit grad or the Maths grad?
WRONG!
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
“Scholarly effort is in decline everywhere as never before. Indeed, cleverness is shunned at home and abroad. What does reading offer to pupils except tears?”
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
‘Doing the Readings’
Dr Will Pooley (Associate Professor in Modern History), University of Bristol The students, we often grumble, don’t read the secondary readings we set for class. Every year, we find ourselves press…
www.history-uk.ac.uk
November 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
“Scholarly effort is in decline everywhere as never before. Indeed, cleverness is shunned at home and abroad. What does reading offer to pupils except tears?”
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Grant. Andrew. Stewart. Andre.
Four vendors equipped to earn this winter.
A Vendor Support Kit gives them the tools to work their way to a better future:
♨️ Warm hat and gloves
☕ Hot food voucher
💳 Cashless payment support
📈 One-to-one sales coaching
Buy one online at bigissue.com/supportkit
Four vendors equipped to earn this winter.
A Vendor Support Kit gives them the tools to work their way to a better future:
♨️ Warm hat and gloves
☕ Hot food voucher
💳 Cashless payment support
📈 One-to-one sales coaching
Buy one online at bigissue.com/supportkit
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Grant. Andrew. Stewart. Andre.
Four vendors equipped to earn this winter.
A Vendor Support Kit gives them the tools to work their way to a better future:
♨️ Warm hat and gloves
☕ Hot food voucher
💳 Cashless payment support
📈 One-to-one sales coaching
Buy one online at bigissue.com/supportkit
Four vendors equipped to earn this winter.
A Vendor Support Kit gives them the tools to work their way to a better future:
♨️ Warm hat and gloves
☕ Hot food voucher
💳 Cashless payment support
📈 One-to-one sales coaching
Buy one online at bigissue.com/supportkit
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
What do UK graduates do? Lots of information in this annual report.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What do UK graduates do? Lots of information in this annual report.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
A huge figure in Dickens Studies, his contribution to the field over the last half century is unsurpassed. @dickensfellowhq.bsky.social has lost a champion.
November 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A huge figure in Dickens Studies, his contribution to the field over the last half century is unsurpassed. @dickensfellowhq.bsky.social has lost a champion.