Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 4h

IT'S A SAD LITTLE LIFE, KEMI

Naomi Alderman @naomialderman.bsky.social · 8h

I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?

It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?

Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 8h

How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Vanessa is the name of the Doctor! @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 9h

Reminder that basing funding on graduate income incentivises unis to close courses like nursing (too poorly paid), and to discriminate against female students and most minority ethnic groups (whose earnings on graduation are lower than white men).

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 9h

'Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce plans to cut the number of UK university places by about 100,000 annually by reintroducing student number controls.' 1/3

Badenoch’s number caps plan would cut 100,000 university places

Tory leader to use conference speech to attack ‘debt trap degrees’ and pledge more money for apprenticeships

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Jana Bacevic @unsocialtheory.bsky.social · 9h

In yet another unsurprising news, Tech/Finbro fix is a fix only for tech-and-fin-bros.

Center for International Environmental Law @ciel.org · 9h

The oil & gas industry is pushing #CCS because it locks in fossil fuels—and governments like the UK are footing the bill.
@influencemap.bsky.social reveals no CCS projects are operational in the UK, and even industry insiders doubt it works.
A win for polluters, a loss for people and planet.

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Des Fitzgerald @desfitzgerald.bsky.social · 9h

Lol it shows what a £200m gift from the Blackstone group can do.
www.timeshighereducation.com/news/oxfords...

Oxford’s largest-ever project ‘shows what the humanities can do’

New building which brings together disciplines for the first time will also open its doors to the public to engage with big questions facing the world

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Association for the Study of Literature and Environment @asle-us.bsky.social · 20h

Want to get more involved with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment? Consider an elected or appointed office! We are seeking candidates for our fall elections now: www.asle.org/stay.../asle...

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Modern Humanities Research Association @themhra.bsky.social · Mar 21

The MHRA has transitioned from Twitter/X and will now use Bluesky to communicate our work. We are excited to contribute to establishing Bluesky as a dynamic, inclusive, and engaging platform for academic exchange and collaboration.

To celebrate this new chapter, we are hosting a book giveaway! 👇

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Patrick Barkham @patrickbarkham.bsky.social · 1d

As a young reporter, I interviewed Jilly Cooper about the Animals in War memorial – she was so warm, kind and funny. I imagine she was a great friend to everyone she met. A lovely person.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Dame Jilly Cooper obituary

Author whose bestselling novels, including Riders and Rivals, were set deep in an English countryside where the natives pursued land, sports, and each other, with lust and gusto

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Ben Mechen @benmechen.bsky.social · 2d

On Weds we welcome @katrinanavickas.bsky.social to IHR @cont-brit-hist.bsky.social seminar

Katrina will talk abt "Public space + popular protest in 20thC England: enclosure, resistance + commoning"

In-person/hybrid. All welcome, register here!
www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

@ihr.bsky.social

Public space and popular protest in 20th century England: enclosure, resistance and commoning

This session draws from the book, Contested Commons: a History of Protest and Public Space in England

www.history.ac.uk

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Prof. Ian Walker @ianwalker.bsky.social · 1d

Will I be the first to suggest the carbon offsets worked exactly as planned: they delayed real action for another 25 years

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Carbon offsets fail to cut global heating due to ‘intractable’ systemic problems, study says

Analysis of 25 years of evidence shows most schemes are poor quality and fail to lower emissions The failure of carbon offsets to cut planet-heating pollution is “not due to a few bad apples”, a review paper has found, but down to deep-seated systemic problems that incremental change will not solve. Research over two decades has found “intractable” problems that have made carbon credits in most big programmes poor quality, according to the study. While the industry and diplomats have made efforts to improve the system, it found much-awaited rules agreed at a UN climate summit last year “did not substantially address the quality problem”. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

😂

Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

unfortunately for me it's a daily practice, too

Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

If I here the phrases 'Let's get into it' or 'here's some new stuff from' one more time...

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Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

I live in hope of NTS scheduling Flo from 7 or 8am. Please I beg.

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Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

Nick Grimshaw's ability to waste a guest like Bob Mortimer is unmatched.

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 1d

Friends, with the world on fire, it feels useless to be here selling my services. But I do need to keep the lights on, and the #maps pay the bills.

So...if you need a map(s) for a book project, let me know! I have space for new commissions.

Here are a few of my favorite maps I've done lately:
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Grayscale map of the Atlantic showing most of the Americas, Europe, and Africa. There are arrows showing the direction of trade, and each arrow has at least one number attached to it. The numbers match a key on the side that lists the products being traded and their place of origin. There are 15 different sets of commodities listed:
1:Midlands & Birmingham: Guns, Gunpowder, Metalware, Silks
2: Liverpool & Lancashire: Cotton-linens
3: Lancashire: Linens, Cottons, Cotton-linens
4: India: Cottons Cowries
5: Midlands & London: Metalware, Silks, Ceramics, Glassware, Guns
6: London & Glasgow: Credit, Shipping Insurance
7: New England: Beef & Pork, Fish, Rum, Wood, Whale products
8: Mid-Atlantic: Grain
9: Chesapeake Colonies: Tobacco
10: Carolinas, Rice, Indigo
11: Caribbean: Sugar, Molasses
12: Brazil: Coffee
13: Brazil: Gold
14: Mexico / Peru: Silver
15: Britain: Grain, Manufactures

The map has a set of grey arrows going from West Africa to the Americas showing the number of enslaved workers transported. The arrows are sized relative to the numbers. The largest arrow shows 6 million enslaved workers going to the Caribbean. 3.5 million went to Africa, 650,000 to the Spanish colonies in Central and South America, and 400,000 to North America.

A key in the bottom right lists a set of African kingdoms that participated in the selling of enslaved workers, including Benin, the Oyo Empire, Dahomey, the Ashanti Confederacy, the Kingdom of Allada, the Kingdom of Whydah, and the Nupe people. These kingdoms are outlined on the map.

Greyscale drawing of a floor plan of what looks like the first floor of a house, with ten rooms and a flight of stairs. The title at the bottom reads: "The Magic Bookshop." There are two exterior doors: a front door and a back door. The floor plan is on a tattered piece of paper that looks as if it is being unrolled from the top, so there is a curl of paper, or a scroll, at the bottom. Around the floor plan are four animals. A cat, labeled Angel, is resting on top of floor plan, dangling a paw down. To her left is a huntsman spider named Drusilla. At the bottom of the page on the left is a golden retriever named Willow, sitting behind the scroll like a good boy. On the right side is a cat named Spike, who is sitting on top of the scroll and crushing it like an jerk. Typical dog and cat stuff. There are four piles of books around the outside of the floor plan: two large, and two small

From top left down in a switchback pattern, the rooms are labeled:
Yellow: Books with gold covers
Possibility: Mystery, Crime (where they do the spell)
Exeunt Omnes: Older books (where Kennedy finds the magic book)
The Office (where hazel makes tea)
Bathroom
Gurgler: Sci-fi, Fantasy (where Hazel goes to hide out)
The Scriptorium: More modern books (where Hazel sends Luke to find a book for his niece)
Taboo
The Fishbowl: Romance (where Luke makes a pink and purple bookcase)
Pooh Corner: Children, Young adult (where Bob has his armchair and the silent book club happens)

A label in the central hallway reads: "(where they put a bookcase for Today's Donations). Another label on the stairs reads "Hazel's loft apartment" and there is an arrow pointing up the stairs.

Art. A greyscale map of southern Africa showing different biomes. The map map key indicates 7 different biomes: Succulent Karoo; Fynbos; Albany Thicket; India Ocean Coastal Belt; Mixed Woodland; Grassland; Nama-Karoo; and Kalahari Savanna. Each is represented on the may by a different shade of grey, with areas of more rainfall being darker, and areas of less rainfall being lighter. Several of the rivers are labeled, as is the Indian Ocean.

Art. Colored map showing the locations of Alderely Edge, done in a fantasy style. The map is drawn to look like an old map done on parchment, with torn edges curling up. Two bars with ribbons wrapped around them form a frame at the top and right sides of the map. The ribbon on top is blue, the one on the right is a dusty red. On the right side of the map, between the frame and the edge, the map is colored turquoise and does not show any land forms. Written in large vertical letters in this space is the maps' title: "The Edge".

The main part of the map is cut with forests and cliffs, and has 13 locations noted. Each location name is in a small frame that looks like a torn piece of parchment. Two roads cut across the map, one labeled Macclesfield Road and the other labeled Artists Lane. They meet in the bottom 3rd of the map by a location called "The Wizard Tearoom." An arrow at the top left points up one of the roads and has a label reading "to Alderely Edge (village). An arrow a the other end of the road, at the bottom of th emap, reads: "To Macclesfield."

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 2d

It’s real!!
I just got my first copy of Ghosts Behind Glass and it is beautiful. You all really need to order your copies. You will not regret it. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Double page spread with a photo of diorama

Chapter 3 Cursed treasures on left, lion on right

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Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

Congrats Dolly, great to see all those colour images! 😍🦜🦌

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Steve Mullis @stevemullis.net · 1d

"hand-to-hand combat with antifa every night"

a guy in a frog costume standing facing a line of police and ICE agents in Portland

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Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

🫣

Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 2d

The RHS is a membership organisation of 6500+ historians. We welcome applications to join us at any time. Our next closing dates are 13 October and 15 December.

We offer categories for all kinds of historians and at all stages of research, from Postgraduate to Fellow: bit.ly/46V8WOQ #Skystorians

Closing dates for next application rounds:
Mondays 13 October and 15 December 2025

The Royal Historical Society represents the interests of historical researchers in universities, libraries, archives, museums, heritage and broadcasting, as well as those engaged in public, community and family history research.

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Marianna Dudley @dudleymarianna.bsky.social · 1d

This sounds like good policy - and puts the *meanness* of UK’s current political discourse into stark relief.

Irish Literary Times @irishlittimes.bsky.social · 2d

Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent www.rte.ie/news/budget-...

Budget 2026: Basic income for artists to become permanent

The Basic Income for the Arts scheme will be put on a permanent footing in the Budget tomorrow.

www.rte.ie

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Reposted by Marianna Dudley

Katrina Navickas @katrinanavickas.bsky.social · 2d

I'm so going to miss this module when we shift, like every other Humanities department in the country it seems, to generic 30 credit skills modules...

Katrina Navickas @katrinanavickas.bsky.social · 2d

Today I also introduce the students to Meades Shrine