This sounds great! Funnily enough I am reading The Mysteries of Udolpho at the moment. Amazing stuff! Don't think I'm in a position to offer a paper, but I will keep an eye out for the conference itself. 😊

What's that I see before me? A new Romancing the Gothic conference! Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Radcliffe's last publications with a conference on the work of women and people of marginalised genders in the Gothic and horror...

romancingthegothic.com/2025/10/15/r...

For reasons, it would be v. helpful to have information from a broad range of academic and non-academic (incl. GLAM) users of the BBC Written Archives OTHER THAN historians, briefly on: 1) What you've used it for and 2) How the proposed changes would impact on your research.

Reposts welcomed.

Classics friends may enjoy this. Some of the Latin pronunciation is a bit weird, but the essence is spot on! 😆

New Orleans couple discovers ancient Roman grave marker in their yard

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Congratulations! 😁

That every TV spot and discussion I have seen about the NHS has been about 'winning the next election' not 'so what, exactly, are we spending this money on and is that a good idea?' again shapes which MPs get rewarded and also forces smart MPs to sound stupid when they speak in public.

All are welcome to our first research seminar of the academic year with Dr Simon Glenn on ‘The Bactrian Mirage: coins and history in Hellenistic Central Asia’ on 16 October, 17:15-18:30 UK time. More details in the thread below. Please note the change of on campus venue to Michael Sadler 1.01

THE QUATERMASS EVENT takes over QUAD in Derby on Saturday 6 December 2025 from 12pm. All three Hammer films plus full supporting programme and guests. Booking and details available at derbyquad.co.uk

When the last Labour government got in, if you married a UK citizen you could get British citizenship after one year for less than £100, and claim benefits straight away.
By 2010, it was a minimum five-year process that cost seven grand, you had to do a test, and couldn't claim benefits in that time

This train terminates here (and so might you): Horror on the Underground

www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/thi...

Mrs R: "There was a woman on the ward today who didn't want to take paracetamol. We've had to explain that we're not giving it to her because she's got a fever and we want her to feel better, but because she's got a fever and if we don't get her temperature down then her baby is going to die."

'Counting the Stakes: A Reassessment of Vlad III Dracula': new in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society' bit.ly/46iJfIU

In this new article, Dénes Harai reconsiders the victims of 'Vlad the Impaler' (c.1431-76), the historical inspiration for Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula #Skystorians 1/2

Just your basic reminder that a slogan that mobilises your base does not necessarily do anything good for anyone else.

I think we're actually all sleeping on the fact that the Lib Dems 'only' polling at their GE level is a very good result for them, they usually collapse in midterm because they don't get much attention.

Picked up some Lib Dem stats at conference. Some of these surprised me (especially given media coverage):

1. The Liberal Democrats now control more councils than the Conservative Party

2. In May's local elections in England, the LDs elected more councillors than either Labour or the Tories.

(1/x)

Do the BBC know they don't have to make every stupid thing Donald Trump says their leading headline for the day? 🙄

Imagine you're in a weird romcom where Paul Hollywood is your rival. Do you go "let's have a bread baking competition" or do you emphasise your own relative strengths?

Because that in short has been the central problem with the traditional two's approach to anti-immigration voters and Reform UK.

Seriously how hard is it to say “This is an outrageous attack on our friends and neighbours who are in this country legally and have followed all the rules to get settled status, who are valued members of our communities, get to fuck frog-face”?

Reform's latest interventions IMO show the futility of trying to address 'legitimate concerns'. You persuade almost no-one and the opposition move on to demand more anyway. Meanwhile you have missed an opportunity to state the liberal/economic case for migration.

Did you know... there's a tiny Dracula statue hidden in Hungary? 🧛‍♂️
Perched just outside Budapest’s Vajdahunyad Castle - a building inspired by Transylvanian fortresses - this little bronze statue shows Count Dracula reading... Bram Stoker’s Dracula! 🦇

reposting with alt text because this feels incredibly significant. the right-wing disinfo machine means a lot of the people grieving Charlie Kirk never heard any of the things he said that would have tarnished his brand as Guy Who Just Wants to Have Dialogue Across the Aisle

We're delighted to announce that we're going to be joined for 2025-26 by Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts. She's an expert in Greek History, especially accessed via material and visual culture, with a particular interest in the rituals and beliefs of ancient religion!
www.elliemackinroberts.net

This frontispiece in my book just made me laugh a lot. Is this Buddhist reincarnation, or some other form of afterlife?