Jack Gann
LightNews LightNews
banner
jackgann.bsky.social
Jack Gann
@jackgann.bsky.social
420 followers 270 following 260 posts
Historian and curator. Museums, Victorians, and medicine.

Currently curator at Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
jackgann.bsky.social
Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Jul 26
New exhibition opens today.

It's about poo. And answering children's questions.

It's both silly and informative. And can be enjoyed throughout the summer and up to the end of the year.

💩

thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/poo/
A paper towel dispenser typically seen in public toilets. It is labelled "Take a Sheet" and dispenses fun worksheets for museum visitors A museum display with a poster and objects in a glass case. A text panel reads "Peek-a-Poo". The case is made up of round peep holes through which different shapes of plasticine poo are displayed on perspex blocks. They are the different shapes of the Bristol Stool Chart, made and described by local school kids. A Bristol Stool Chart type 4 is captioned "A smooth, slippery pickle. Looks like a hotdog or a baby's arm". Twenty toilet seats mounted on a wall. They have questions on the lid ranging from "when?" and "why?" to "can poo be used for medicine?" A fossilised faeces from the Middle Ages, sitting in a clear petri dish on a perspex block. Colourful neon lights reflect off the surface of the block.
jackgann.bsky.social
Always nice to receive feedback!

💩🤮👎
A photo of the 'Poo Lab' in Thackray Museum of Medicine's exhibition gallery. It is bright and colourful, with an undulating intestine of neon lights hanging from the ceiling over a splat-shaped orange table with lab-themed play activities. There are colourful test tubes, both regular size and giant. A close up of the orange lab table in the Thackray Museum's 'Poo Lab'. Inside a perspex cube there is a sphere of resin containing a real human turd. It resembles a fecal crystal ball and has been kindly loaned by the National Poo Museum. Colourful large magnifying glasses accompany a label in a brown splat that invites you to "Take a closer look". A folded piece of lined paper torn from a notebook. In a child's writing it says "Petition. We hate poos!" A handwritten note inside the folded paper. Written in a child's handwriting it reads: "Dear people who created the poo lab you are a very big dumby and idiot. destroy it but first shut down the whole thing for two days. did I mention it's super gross and makes me lose my aptite it's really weird and supergross I really hate it."
November 21, 2025 at 8:21 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Had a good time sharing the story of blood in Otley last week. Looks like the rest of the lineup was fun too
otleyscience.bsky.social Otley Science Festival @otleyscience.bsky.social · 7d
That was a week! Otley Science Festival is over for another year. Follow the link for a small look back...
otleysciencefestival.co.uk
November 19, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Jack Gann
george-harper.bsky.social
Heard of the Evelyn Tables? Displays of real human nerves & blood vessels in their positions in the body. Love that @realgdt.bsky.social included these 17th century science artifacts in #Frankenstein.

Love this article by @emmalgometz.bsky.social, too! www.sciencefriday.com/articles/fra...
400-Year-Old Displays Of Human Tissue Live On In ‘Frankenstein’
The 17th century Evelyn Tables show real human nerves and veins, dried on wooden boards. Designers on the new Netflix film took note.
www.sciencefriday.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Reposted by Jack Gann
hematopolitics.bsky.social
We're happy to share: Amazing Blood Ties! written by Jieun Kim (PI of Hematopolitics) and illustrated by Leigh Bowser. This children’s book introduces kids aged 5–8 to the stories behind blood donation and how we’re all connected. Freely available at: hematopolitics.org/amazing-bloo...
November 13, 2025 at 1:49 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
Have seen various hot takes on how faithful or otherwise del Toro has been with this. But to be honest, of the two Netflix properties we've seen on the big screen this week, it's been the other - Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie - that seems less related to its source material.
jackgann.bsky.social Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · 25d
Saw Guillermo del Toro's beautiful Frankenstein for Halloween.

I love this poster's reference to the 1700s 'Flayed Angel'.

Fitting for a movie that is fascinated by traditional anatomical illustration and the language it shares with Catholic art, depictions of martyred saints and memento mori.
A poster for the 2025 film adaptation of Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro. A body seen from the back has been dissected along the spine, exposing the curvature of back of the ribcage, the skin and muscle of the back folded out to give the appearance of wings. The muscles and tendons are a vivid, vibrant blood red. The image is both graceful and horrific. In keeping with the creature in the movie, the figure's neck has needle electrodes sticking into the top of the spine, and his head is wrapped in bandages. Flowers, butterflies and flames seem to emerge from the dissected cadaver. Characters and details from the film, including the ivory white coffin of Frankenstein's mother and the jet black one of his father are arranged around the central image. An 18th century mezzotint of a partially dissected woman, taken from Jacques-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty's book 'Myologie complette en coleur'. The arched back, surgically opened along the spine, musculature peeled back to resemble wings, ribs revealed, is the same as the Frankenstein poster. So is the vibrant red of the body revealed beneath the skin. In this case, however, the face (unbandaged) is that of a young, attractive woman. Credit: Muscles of the back: partial dissection of a seated woman, showing the bones and muscles of the back and shoulder. Colour mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d'Agoty, 1745/1746. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.
November 2, 2025 at 11:44 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Saw Guillermo del Toro's beautiful Frankenstein for Halloween.

I love this poster's reference to the 1700s 'Flayed Angel'.

Fitting for a movie that is fascinated by traditional anatomical illustration and the language it shares with Catholic art, depictions of martyred saints and memento mori.
A poster for the 2025 film adaptation of Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro. A body seen from the back has been dissected along the spine, exposing the curvature of back of the ribcage, the skin and muscle of the back folded out to give the appearance of wings. The muscles and tendons are a vivid, vibrant blood red. The image is both graceful and horrific. In keeping with the creature in the movie, the figure's neck has needle electrodes sticking into the top of the spine, and his head is wrapped in bandages. Flowers, butterflies and flames seem to emerge from the dissected cadaver. Characters and details from the film, including the ivory white coffin of Frankenstein's mother and the jet black one of his father are arranged around the central image. An 18th century mezzotint of a partially dissected woman, taken from Jacques-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty's book 'Myologie complette en coleur'. The arched back, surgically opened along the spine, musculature peeled back to resemble wings, ribs revealed, is the same as the Frankenstein poster. So is the vibrant red of the body revealed beneath the skin. In this case, however, the face (unbandaged) is that of a young, attractive woman. Credit: Muscles of the back: partial dissection of a seated woman, showing the bones and muscles of the back and shoulder. Colour mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d'Agoty, 1745/1746. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.
October 31, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Jack Gann
otleyscience.bsky.social
Here we go! Just a few days now to the kick off the 2025 Otley Science Festival. Here's a picture of the week.
All the details on the website otleysciencefestival.co.uk/festival-2025/
#otleyscience #otleysciencefestival #otley #otleycourthouse
October 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
Visiting the newly revamped Station Hall at National Railway Museum. A blast from the past back to when TG Jones went by a different name.

(And you could buy a cheap giallo George Eliot novel on the platform).
A green steam train and carriage on display in the Station Hall of the National Railway Museum. A vintage poster advertises Great Western Railway's 1939 guide to 'Holiday Haunts', priced at a very reasonable sixpence. The 1920s WH Smith's book stall from the platform of Waterloo Station, displayed in recreated form in the National Railway Museum's Station Hall. On the mahogany fascia, gold lettering spells out "W.H.SMITH & SON - BOOKSELLERS - LIBRARIANS". There are museum interpretation panels in the windows, including one with a photo of an elephant perusing a train station book stall. A copy of Silas Marner by George Eliot on display in the Railway Museum's WH Smith's. A lurid, yellow cover shows a pulpy image of Silas discovering the child Eppie. It is a 2017 Vintage Classics reprint, part of a celebration of Smith's 225th anniversary and the history of cheap 'yellowback' paperbacks sold at train stations.
October 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
All this talk of snakes, health and words prompts my wife to ask: "why isn't a herpetologist an expert on herpes?"

Turns out they do share an etymology: 'ἕρπης' ('herpēs'), meaning 'to creep' in ancient Greek. (Herpetologist studies creeping creatures, herpes sores creep across the body).
jackgann.bsky.social Jack Gann @jackgann.bsky.social · Oct 25
While the word 'theriac' comes from the ancient Greek meaning 'concerning venomous wild animals', today the word lives on as 'treacle', so named because the molasses-like sugar syrup was remimiscent of the dark, sweet, sticky snake medicine. (Theriacs tended to have honey as a core ingredient).
October 27, 2025 at 9:27 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Why did it have to be snakes?

The greatest fear of antiquity-hunting adventurers is the focus of this temporary display case for Halloween half term's "Fears and Phobias" theme.

(Which means spending my last afternoon before the school holidays putting a bunch of cheap plastic snakes on display).
A museum display case containing historic artefacts from ancient Rome to 1960s South Africa, all related to the theme of snakes and medicine. Children's toy snakes in an array of colours are arranged around the case: entwined around a vial of cobra venom from India, or spilling from an apothecary jar from 1600s Italy.
October 25, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Jack Gann
groomb.bsky.social
An Autumn Lane, 1886, painting by Leeds-born John Atkinson Grimshaw (private collection). #NorthernArt
October 15, 2025 at 7:21 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
By inviting kids to keep asking questions in our latest exhibition, I have condemned myself to a job of constantly responding to weird fecal enquiries.

Fortunately, having a 5 year old has been the perfect training for this.
A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Lucy, aged 9, from barsnley. in the olden days what did the people use to wipe there bottoms before toilet roll" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Even before toilet roll, people used paper to wipe their bums. Pages torn from books or newspapers were popular with the Victorians. Further back, Vikings used moss and natural materials, while ancient Greeks favoured broken bits of pottery. Ouch!" A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Tabitha, aged 10, from Bolton. Is it true that we get our gut bacteria from our mother when we are born?" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Yes, it is. Your gut develops its community of helpful germs right from the moment you are born. Germs passed on from your mum while she gives birth give your guts a healthy start in life, helping you to fight disease as you grow." A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Rosa, aged 9, from barnsley. did people use to eat poo?" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Eating human poo exposes you to some nasty germs, so has never been a good idea. However, for Inuit people in Greenland, the droppings of a bird called a ptarmigan are considered a delicacy." A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Emily S, aged 9 and a quarter, from Milnrow. Do bigger/older people do bigger poos?" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Grown ups tend to do bigger poos than children, because they eat more. But that does not mean poos get bigger and bigger as you get old. In fact, people over 60 are much more likely to be constipated, which generally results in much smaller poos. (Type 1 on the Poo Chart over there)."
October 14, 2025 at 5:17 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
Enjoyed visiting the Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum exhibition at the Armouries.

Especially learning that they existed on an almost entirely bean-based diet. Which means that Russell Crowe in the training barracks should have been letting rip like that scene in Blazing Saddles.
A gladiator's helmet in a museum display. It is an example of the heavily armed "murmillo"-class gladiator. The helmet shows an embossed depiction of the personification of Rome standing over conquered people.
October 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
Come and have free food and a chat about gardening at Thackray Museum this Wednesday.

thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/commun...
A poster with people sitting at a long table enjoying a meal, surrounded by plants. The title reads "Community Table: Plants, gardens & health".
October 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Reposted by Jack Gann
hpsvanessa.bsky.social
*peers through two holes cut in a newspaper*
www.spymuseum.org/about/career...
Historian
Job Opportunity: The International Spy Museum is searching for a Historian & Curator to join our Exhibitions and Collections team. Our new museum is located at L’Enfant Plaza.
www.spymuseum.org
October 7, 2025 at 9:17 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
The museum's lecture series, Insights, is back from this Saturday.

To tie in with our POO! exhibition, the first lectures come from Dr Piers Mitchell from Cambridge's Ancient Parasites Laboratory and gut microbiome scientist Dr Jane Freeman.

Tickets here:
thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/thackr...
An image of microscopic gut bacteria in shades of purple. It has the title "Insights 2025/2026" over the image.
October 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Jack Gann
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
I knew they’d come for the archivists and librarians but honestly I assumed it would be for a reason better than “Our Special Boy wants to give his friend a sword! Give him a sword!”
piperformissouri.bsky.social Jess Piper @piperformissouri.bsky.social · Oct 3
“They asked for a sword, and we said, ‘Well, we do have swords, but we can’t give them away because they’re museum artifacts,’” said Todd Arrington, forced to resign as head of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.”
October 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
Being stuck at home with covid makes me wonder how long until the museum puts on its inevitable covid exhibition.

How soon is too soon? At what point does it become a valuable and important thing to look back on and memorialise?
A photo of the lights hanging over the staircase at Thackray Museum of Medicine. A set of spiky balls resembling the COVID-19 viruses, each in a different rainbow colour, it is the museum's covid memorial. A photo of a pop-up museum display from 2021, showing the Thackray Museum's contemporary collecting around COVID-19. The display includes homemade scrubs and posters and signs. A photo of a vial of COVID-19 vaccine on display at Thackray Museum of Medicine. It is the Novavax version, taken from trials conducted at the museum. A photo of a street in Leeds, taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. The streets are unusually quiet and empty. A public information sign gives information on social distancing and hand sanitiser, saying: "Welcome to Leeds city centre. Your safety is our main priority."
October 1, 2025 at 9:50 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Just booked my covid vaccine for two weeks time, then this happens.
A positive Covid test.
September 26, 2025 at 11:54 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Come and see me talking blood, politics, capitalism, and disease at @otleyscience.bsky.social on November 14th. What a fun afternoon (Mike Berners-Lee is on in the evening, you could make a depressing day of it).

otleycourthouse.org.uk/events/otley...
A museum display featuring three objects: a vial of blood clotting factor from the 1970s, blood sample test tubes with HIV biohazard labels, and a red, yellow and black memorial ribbon from the campaign group Tainted Blood.
September 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
"Kind and witty"

www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/2536769...
Tributes paid to ‘exceptionally generous’ councillor and digital health pioneer
Tributes have been paid to “kind and thoughtful” Salisbury councillor and digital healthcare pioneer Bob Gann, who died last Thursday aged 72
www.salisburyjournal.co.uk
September 7, 2025 at 10:39 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Something I really appreciate in all the professional tributes to Dad is the emphasis on his kindness and generosity as much as the big stuff he did. Good to be reminded of the value of being a kind person.
pifonline.bsky.social Patient Information Forum @pifonline.bsky.social · Aug 28
This week we are paying tribute to our friend and colleague Bob Gann.

Bob was a tireless campaigner for health literacy and digital inclusion. He had a hugely successful career but was always willing to share his knowledge and expertise.

He will be greatly missed.
pifonline.org.uk/news/bob-gan...
pifonline.org.uk
September 3, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Jack Gann
bobgann.bsky.social
Bob’s funeral will be held at 12 on September 2nd at Salisbury Arts Centre. Tea and Coffee from 11.30.

Wear whatever you like.

No flowers, donations to the Samaritans via the funeral director ([email protected]).

All welcome to our home for refreshments after the funeral.
August 16, 2025 at 12:17 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
I'm going to take some time out. This has left me shocked and at a loss.
bobgann.bsky.social Bob Gann @bobgann.bsky.social · Aug 2
Bob’s sons Tom, Jack and Joey here. We’re really sad to let you know that Bob died suddenly on Thursday. The funeral will be in about 3 weeks – we’ll share further details here when we can. If you want to get in touch, you can email Jane, our mum, at jcgannuk[at]yahoo.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Reposted by Jack Gann
groomb.bsky.social
Love story of two Edwardian servants on Yorkshire estate told in new collection. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Love story of two Edwardian servants on Yorkshire estate told in new collection
Grandson of valet Alf Edwards and kitchen maid Caroline Palmer donates dozens of their personal objects to English Heritage
www.theguardian.com
July 30, 2025 at 1:44 PM