Sam Grinsell
@samgrinsell.bsky.social
Historian trying to help build better worlds 🇵🇸🌈✊🏳️⚧️
Pinned
Sam Grinsell
@samgrinsell.bsky.social
· Sep 25
Urban history as urgent work, an argument for disciplinary promiscuity | Urban History | Cambridge Core
Urban history as urgent work, an argument for disciplinary promiscuity
doi.org
Very pleased that my piece 'Urban history as urgent work, an argument for disciplinary promiscuity' has been published in @urbanhistory.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/S096...
Many thanks to @mctom.bsky.social for organising the roundtable that got these thoughts going back in 2023! #UrbanHist #EnvHums
Many thanks to @mctom.bsky.social for organising the roundtable that got these thoughts going back in 2023! #UrbanHist #EnvHums
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Hey y’all! Where should I go to in Southeast London for fun and food? We’re hoping for something Black—Caribbean or West African. Tomorrow is our last full day in London.
November 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Hey y’all! Where should I go to in Southeast London for fun and food? We’re hoping for something Black—Caribbean or West African. Tomorrow is our last full day in London.
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Every day, I strive to be fundamentally honest at the level of the sentence.
I can't remember who it was reviewing whom & internet seqrch is broken but the phrase has stuck, calling a supposedly major USian writer "fundamentally dishonest at the level of the sentence." It's been my guiding star since: to be honest at the level of the sentence. And so many writers aren't.
November 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Every day, I strive to be fundamentally honest at the level of the sentence.
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
The Royal Historical Society has published a very helpful guide to its various membership categories, including the Fellowship. If you're engaged in History study, research or teaching (including in public history, journalism & GLAM) & keen to support the discipline, do have a look. #Skystorians
Joining the Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society: a brief guide if you’re considering an application | Historical Transactions
blog.royalhistsoc.org
November 24, 2025 at 10:07 AM
The Royal Historical Society has published a very helpful guide to its various membership categories, including the Fellowship. If you're engaged in History study, research or teaching (including in public history, journalism & GLAM) & keen to support the discipline, do have a look. #Skystorians
Or at least more than two dudes
I think a lot of the conflict that happened in the Wild West could’ve been avoided had town planners in those days just made their towns big enough for everyone.
November 24, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Or at least more than two dudes
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
The power of Ian Wright
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The power of Ian Wright
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
OK so here is my Music Theory Explainer for why Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is a genius piece of songwriting.
First, you have to be aware that Cohen is of Jewish extraction (It’s in the name - Cohen).
Next, know that figuring out which key Hallelujah is in, is not easy or straightforward —
First, you have to be aware that Cohen is of Jewish extraction (It’s in the name - Cohen).
Next, know that figuring out which key Hallelujah is in, is not easy or straightforward —
June 17, 2024 at 7:21 PM
OK so here is my Music Theory Explainer for why Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is a genius piece of songwriting.
First, you have to be aware that Cohen is of Jewish extraction (It’s in the name - Cohen).
Next, know that figuring out which key Hallelujah is in, is not easy or straightforward —
First, you have to be aware that Cohen is of Jewish extraction (It’s in the name - Cohen).
Next, know that figuring out which key Hallelujah is in, is not easy or straightforward —
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Inspired by someone elsewhere, I hereby vow to try to avoid the terms "content" and "content creator," unless I *must* talk about work across so many fields that a generic term is the only one that will suffice. Let's not reduce art, criticism, journalism, etc. to an undifferentiated smear of Stuff.
November 23, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Inspired by someone elsewhere, I hereby vow to try to avoid the terms "content" and "content creator," unless I *must* talk about work across so many fields that a generic term is the only one that will suffice. Let's not reduce art, criticism, journalism, etc. to an undifferentiated smear of Stuff.
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Buying #2026 calendars. Want to support artists, but am also not super flush. Looking especially for printmaking, wildlife, nature, landscape. (I usually get an Eric Ravilious and an Angela Harding-type.)
Recommendations please. Self noms welcome. Extra points for UK, Ireland or Netherlands-based.
Recommendations please. Self noms welcome. Extra points for UK, Ireland or Netherlands-based.
a drawing of a calendar that says apr and mar on it
Alt: Animated drawing of a pink calendar on a dark blue background, with pages flicking from January to April
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Buying #2026 calendars. Want to support artists, but am also not super flush. Looking especially for printmaking, wildlife, nature, landscape. (I usually get an Eric Ravilious and an Angela Harding-type.)
Recommendations please. Self noms welcome. Extra points for UK, Ireland or Netherlands-based.
Recommendations please. Self noms welcome. Extra points for UK, Ireland or Netherlands-based.
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Laying politics aside I can't help but warm to Zack Polanski as a person. I wish more of our politicians were as genuine as him.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Zack Polanski: ‘People will have to find some other way to hurt me’ | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Laying politics aside I can't help but warm to Zack Polanski as a person. I wish more of our politicians were as genuine as him.
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
observer.co.uk/news/nationa...
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Yes! This is so important! Machine Learning is doing wonderful things like mapping Martian craters and analyzing microbe genomes. LLMs are a very specific form & it’s them doing these huge amounts of harm. I also sometimes say “Gen AI”
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Yes! This is so important! Machine Learning is doing wonderful things like mapping Martian craters and analyzing microbe genomes. LLMs are a very specific form & it’s them doing these huge amounts of harm. I also sometimes say “Gen AI”
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
when I mean both LLMs and art generators; I try to never say AI
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
21st century history PhD: sorry, my specialty is mid-19th century mustaches, you'll need to ask someone else about 1890s beards
19th century German:
19th century German:
November 22, 2025 at 5:34 PM
21st century history PhD: sorry, my specialty is mid-19th century mustaches, you'll need to ask someone else about 1890s beards
19th century German:
19th century German:
Confused by all this stuff about background viewing as a new thing, because it implies that E4 being on most of the day in a student house circa 2007 is not a universal experience
November 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Confused by all this stuff about background viewing as a new thing, because it implies that E4 being on most of the day in a student house circa 2007 is not a universal experience
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
oh 👋🏽 — I was thinking about this too the other day, but for slightly different reasons
bsky.app/profile/calm...
bsky.app/profile/calm...
Tehran now faces “catastrophe” as land in parts of the capital sinks by up to 30 centimeters a year and water supplies shrink
the President of Iran argues that Tehran’s population and construction load can no longer expand
9m people in the city
15m in metropolitan area
of a vast 93m country
the President of Iran argues that Tehran’s population and construction load can no longer expand
9m people in the city
15m in metropolitan area
of a vast 93m country
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
November 22, 2025 at 3:20 PM
oh 👋🏽 — I was thinking about this too the other day, but for slightly different reasons
bsky.app/profile/calm...
bsky.app/profile/calm...
Sending this to that chap on Norwegian TV who said damage from 2 degrees of warming wouldn't be all that big a deal
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
Iran president says capital move now a necessity as water crisis deepens
Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has mad...
www.iranintl.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Sending this to that chap on Norwegian TV who said damage from 2 degrees of warming wouldn't be all that big a deal
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
NEW: Common Crawl, the massive archiver of the web, has gotten cozy with AI companies and is providing paywalled articles for training data. They’re also lying to publishers who have asked for material to be removed. “The robots are people too,” CC’s exec director told us when we asked about this.
The Nonprofit Feeding the Entire Internet to AI Companies
Common Crawl claims to provide a public benefit, but it lies to publishers about its activities.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Remember when Aaron Swartz downloaded JSTOR archives that he had full legal rights to download and the FBI hounded him literally to death for it? Anyway,
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
movie posters featuring the muppets: thread
November 22, 2025 at 1:49 PM
movie posters featuring the muppets: thread
Yet another sign that we live in a Douglas Adams universe
Mentioned this before, but, last time I was at the dentist, they analysed my teeth with AI. It found an incipient cavity that the human dentist had not spotted.
Very clever.
Except that the cavity it found was just outside my actual head. Arguably, the entire universe is a cavity outside my head.
Very clever.
Except that the cavity it found was just outside my actual head. Arguably, the entire universe is a cavity outside my head.
Government launches major push for AI-driven science.
Strategy focuses on five areas of “existing UK strength” with £137m in funding.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Strategy focuses on five areas of “existing UK strength” with £137m in funding.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
November 21, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Yet another sign that we live in a Douglas Adams universe
Do I know any former British Academy postdocs here who'd be willing to have a quick chat about the format of the final report? Some questions have come up with my research office and it'd be useful to have another insight
November 21, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Do I know any former British Academy postdocs here who'd be willing to have a quick chat about the format of the final report? Some questions have come up with my research office and it'd be useful to have another insight
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
the kind of freedom and democratic self-realisation William Wall-Ice fought and died for 😿
November 21, 2025 at 12:01 PM
the kind of freedom and democratic self-realisation William Wall-Ice fought and died for 😿
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Cornell are having a 44% off sale until December 5th! Buy books including mine… www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
November 21, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Cornell are having a 44% off sale until December 5th! Buy books including mine… www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...
People ADORE this and would've loved Boaty McBoatface just as much
It's the most wonderful time of the year: Scotland's gritter tracker is back! 🏴❄️🧊
www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...
www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...
November 21, 2025 at 11:44 AM
People ADORE this and would've loved Boaty McBoatface just as much
One of the problems with public discourse in the UK is that we weren't allowed Boaty McBoatface but we were allowed Brexit. Trapped in a state of laughing the wrong things off
November 21, 2025 at 9:51 AM
One of the problems with public discourse in the UK is that we weren't allowed Boaty McBoatface but we were allowed Brexit. Trapped in a state of laughing the wrong things off
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
Man hands on misery to machine
It catches like a Tesla fire
Jailbreak AI while you can
And write your code yourself.
It catches like a Tesla fire
Jailbreak AI while you can
And write your code yourself.
November 21, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Man hands on misery to machine
It catches like a Tesla fire
Jailbreak AI while you can
And write your code yourself.
It catches like a Tesla fire
Jailbreak AI while you can
And write your code yourself.
Reposted by Sam Grinsell
They feck you up your rhyming prompts
They mean to and they do
They fill you full of all their
Caesurae
Then add enjambement
Just for you
But they were fecked up in their turn
By weird tech bros in polo necks
Who half the time are raving mad
And half Nazi Hitlermechs
They mean to and they do
They fill you full of all their
Caesurae
Then add enjambement
Just for you
But they were fecked up in their turn
By weird tech bros in polo necks
Who half the time are raving mad
And half Nazi Hitlermechs
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 21, 2025 at 9:41 AM
They feck you up your rhyming prompts
They mean to and they do
They fill you full of all their
Caesurae
Then add enjambement
Just for you
But they were fecked up in their turn
By weird tech bros in polo necks
Who half the time are raving mad
And half Nazi Hitlermechs
They mean to and they do
They fill you full of all their
Caesurae
Then add enjambement
Just for you
But they were fecked up in their turn
By weird tech bros in polo necks
Who half the time are raving mad
And half Nazi Hitlermechs