Francis Dodsworth
@frandod.bsky.social
I teach Criminology at Kingston University; background in history (Manchester) and sociology (OU). Research interests in policing / protection / security. #Wirksworth #Histon #Surbiton #CamUtd
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Did medieval people buy each other Christmas gifts? New Year's Day was the main gifting day, but little is known about everyday people's present giving. Our project on London's customs records has uncovered a wealth of affordable items imported around this time: gloves and hats to toys and rattles🧵
Medieval Londoners’ cheaply imported mass-produced Christmas gifts look surprisingly familiar
We often imagine medieval life as dull, dirty and short, with little in the way of material comfort or decoration. However, medieval Londoners were importing toys, treats and trinkets by the boatload ...
theconversation.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Did medieval people buy each other Christmas gifts? New Year's Day was the main gifting day, but little is known about everyday people's present giving. Our project on London's customs records has uncovered a wealth of affordable items imported around this time: gloves and hats to toys and rattles🧵
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
And people clearly still remember and love Annabel Giles. But I imagine you never thought she'd have to claim benefits. We all need a safety net underclass.substack.com/p/annabels-s...
Pls read, RT and subscribe.
Pls read, RT and subscribe.
Annabel's Story
From celebrity to benefits
underclass.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM
And people clearly still remember and love Annabel Giles. But I imagine you never thought she'd have to claim benefits. We all need a safety net underclass.substack.com/p/annabels-s...
Pls read, RT and subscribe.
Pls read, RT and subscribe.
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
'Leary’s study, to be published in the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, is the first to examine the relationship between nurse staffing levels and death rates over time.'
Meanwhile, how many universities are closing or shrinking their nursing programmes in the funding crisis?
Meanwhile, how many universities are closing or shrinking their nursing programmes in the funding crisis?
🚨 EXCLUSIVE: English hospitals that cut registered nurses saw more deaths while those hiring nurses saw more patients survive. Even when hospitals tried to fill gaps with non-nurses, deaths still went up. Major new study exposes dangerous NHS variation:
www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...
www.thetimes.com/article/7eed...
Death rates rise when NHS cuts back on nursing
Using lower-paid workers to plug the gaps left by a failure to hire registered nurses damages safety, new research has shown
www.thetimes.com
December 21, 2025 at 9:02 AM
'Leary’s study, to be published in the Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, is the first to examine the relationship between nurse staffing levels and death rates over time.'
Meanwhile, how many universities are closing or shrinking their nursing programmes in the funding crisis?
Meanwhile, how many universities are closing or shrinking their nursing programmes in the funding crisis?
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Finally, if you can get through the paywall this piece from earlier in the week illuminates how the experience above is just a tiny part of an industrial-scale, global, and sector-wide catastrophe of AI and citations to nonexistent papers in academic publishing bsky.app/profile/mile...
Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Finally, if you can get through the paywall this piece from earlier in the week illuminates how the experience above is just a tiny part of an industrial-scale, global, and sector-wide catastrophe of AI and citations to nonexistent papers in academic publishing bsky.app/profile/mile...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
The Spring programme for the London Group of Historical Geographers is now live. We start again on 13 January with Thermal Horizons: Energy and Infrastructures of British Global Power, c. 1830-1900. In person at the IHR, London and on Zoom. Free and open to the public. All welcome, please register.
London Group of Historical Geographers
Since 1989, the London Group of Historical Geographers has organised fortnightly themed seminars that are interdisciplinary in focus.
www.history.ac.uk
December 11, 2025 at 3:28 PM
The Spring programme for the London Group of Historical Geographers is now live. We start again on 13 January with Thermal Horizons: Energy and Infrastructures of British Global Power, c. 1830-1900. In person at the IHR, London and on Zoom. Free and open to the public. All welcome, please register.
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Today we published a report on public understanding & attitudes to #irregularmigration in the UK.
this is my a one-line summary:
strong opinions, wrong facts.
But there is so much more to it. Ultimately the picture is much more nuanced and complex...
i-claim.eu/project/publ...
this is my a one-line summary:
strong opinions, wrong facts.
But there is so much more to it. Ultimately the picture is much more nuanced and complex...
i-claim.eu/project/publ...
Public understanding and attitudes to irregular migration in the UK - I-CLAIM
This report summarises findings from the February 2025 I-CLAIM survey of 1,147 UK adults, exploring public knowledge of irregular migration, how people define it, and their attitudes toward irregular ...
i-claim.eu
December 11, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Today we published a report on public understanding & attitudes to #irregularmigration in the UK.
this is my a one-line summary:
strong opinions, wrong facts.
But there is so much more to it. Ultimately the picture is much more nuanced and complex...
i-claim.eu/project/publ...
this is my a one-line summary:
strong opinions, wrong facts.
But there is so much more to it. Ultimately the picture is much more nuanced and complex...
i-claim.eu/project/publ...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
2024-25 community life survey, which has a large sample of 175k, distributed at 500+ in each local authority area
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
Community Life Survey 2024/25: Headline findings
www.gov.uk
December 11, 2025 at 11:14 AM
2024-25 community life survey, which has a large sample of 175k, distributed at 500+ in each local authority area
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
The findings are stable year on year & reflect the themes of the State of Us
Generally high local belonging
Mixed trust
Varied civic participation
www.gov.uk/government/s...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
'There in the shadows [of the White Paper] lies the call for HE institutions to specialise, with the lurking threat that many will lose their research funding in some, but perhaps many, areas, in order to better fund those with more intensive research.'
Labour must not repeat history by sidelining research in post-92 universities
The abolition of the binary divide in HE made visible the wealth of research excellence in what became known as the post-92 part of the sector. Katie Normington worries that forcing specialisation ris...
wonkhe.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:48 AM
'There in the shadows [of the White Paper] lies the call for HE institutions to specialise, with the lurking threat that many will lose their research funding in some, but perhaps many, areas, in order to better fund those with more intensive research.'
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
An early Christmas present for all you Court of Requests fans. *All* the calendared Elizabethan proceedings [TNA REQ 2/26-294], over 20,000 items in total, are now searchable on The National Archives' online catalogue. Ho ho ho 🎄 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C...
Browse records of other archives | The National Archives
The official archive of the UK government. Our vision is to lead and transform information management, guarantee the survival of today's information for tomorrow and bring history to life for everyone...
discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk
December 7, 2025 at 12:49 PM
An early Christmas present for all you Court of Requests fans. *All* the calendared Elizabethan proceedings [TNA REQ 2/26-294], over 20,000 items in total, are now searchable on The National Archives' online catalogue. Ho ho ho 🎄 discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/browse/r/h/C...
What?!
Your seasonal reminder that Quality Street chocolates are a cash-in on a hit play by J M Barrie, and used to feature the characters on the box. So a bit like people in 2100 buying 2.22 A Ghost Story chocolates every Christmas with Lily Allen on the tin.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality...
Quality Street (play) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 4, 2025 at 9:01 AM
What?!
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
If you are a historian with policy-facing interests who has recently submitted their PhD (or will do so imminently), this fantastic new London-based postdoc fellowship in Applied History could be for you. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/...
Robert Mcintosh Applied History & Policy Fellowship
Robert Mcintosh Applied History & Policy Fellowship
www.history.ac.uk
December 4, 2025 at 7:44 AM
If you are a historian with policy-facing interests who has recently submitted their PhD (or will do so imminently), this fantastic new London-based postdoc fellowship in Applied History could be for you. www.history.ac.uk/fellowships/...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
A blast from my past - the Medieval Soldier database takes nearly 300,000 military service records from 1369-1453 and makes them available as a searchable database.
An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
We built a database of 290,000 English medieval soldiers – here’s what it reveals
We created the database in order to challenge assumptions about the lack of professionalism of everyday soldiers.
theconversation.com
December 2, 2025 at 10:17 AM
A blast from my past - the Medieval Soldier database takes nearly 300,000 military service records from 1369-1453 and makes them available as a searchable database.
An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️
One thing that strikes me is that we often didn't "do the reading" in the past, because there wasn't any expected. As far as I remember, most sessions, at least for the first two years, were lectures pretty passively absorbed. We expect much more active student engagement now
Wrote this before threads on here about how “students today don’t read anything” blew up, and I stand by it.
It’s not only that every generation makes same complaint (I cant possibly know what other people’s students eg in US are like).
It’s more: what have we tried to do to help students read?
It’s not only that every generation makes same complaint (I cant possibly know what other people’s students eg in US are like).
It’s more: what have we tried to do to help students read?
“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... 🗃️
December 1, 2025 at 8:57 AM
One thing that strikes me is that we often didn't "do the reading" in the past, because there wasn't any expected. As far as I remember, most sessions, at least for the first two years, were lectures pretty passively absorbed. We expect much more active student engagement now
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
'Small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found.' 1/3
Small changes to ‘for you’ feed on X can rapidly increase political polarisation
Study finds that a week of political content can bring about a shift in views that previously would have taken three years
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:32 AM
'Small changes to the tone of posts fed to users of X can increase feelings of political polarisation as much in a week as would have historically taken at least three years, research has found.' 1/3
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
In today’s ‘Vaccines Work, You Idiots’ news.
Incredible and enviable and with alt-text
November 27, 2025 at 3:00 AM
In today’s ‘Vaccines Work, You Idiots’ news.
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Londoners! I'm doing a free lunchtime talk about my book at the V&A on Thursday
www.vam.ac.uk/event/xd9XBD...
www.vam.ac.uk/event/xd9XBD...
Lunchtime Lectures: Shoes and the Georgian Man - V&A Academy Talk at
V&A South Kensington · V&A
This talk is part of the free Lunchtime Lecture programme. No booking is required.
www.vam.ac.uk
November 18, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Londoners! I'm doing a free lunchtime talk about my book at the V&A on Thursday
www.vam.ac.uk/event/xd9XBD...
www.vam.ac.uk/event/xd9XBD...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
We then stuck with open-ends but changed the question a little.
Most pollsters ask about issues facing the country.
When we ask about people's day-to-day lives, the change is starkly different.
Immigration is only mentioned in a tenth of results. A majority mentioned the Cost of Living.
Most pollsters ask about issues facing the country.
When we ask about people's day-to-day lives, the change is starkly different.
Immigration is only mentioned in a tenth of results. A majority mentioned the Cost of Living.
November 17, 2025 at 11:41 AM
We then stuck with open-ends but changed the question a little.
Most pollsters ask about issues facing the country.
When we ask about people's day-to-day lives, the change is starkly different.
Immigration is only mentioned in a tenth of results. A majority mentioned the Cost of Living.
Most pollsters ask about issues facing the country.
When we ask about people's day-to-day lives, the change is starkly different.
Immigration is only mentioned in a tenth of results. A majority mentioned the Cost of Living.
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
A week of chaos, cowardice and negligence: Labour has managed to pack so many failures into a single five day period that it's becoming difficult to remember all the details iandunt.substack.com/p/a-week-of-...
A week of chaos, cowardice and negligence
Labour has managed to pack so much failure into a single week that it becomes hard to remember all the details.
iandunt.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
A week of chaos, cowardice and negligence: Labour has managed to pack so many failures into a single five day period that it's becoming difficult to remember all the details iandunt.substack.com/p/a-week-of-...
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
BREAKING Home Office is about to announce that police and crime commissioners are to be scrapped..
Established in 2012 by Theresa May, Labour has never been a fan of the PCC system…they’ll be replaced in 2028 by policing mayors & local policing boards ..
Established in 2012 by Theresa May, Labour has never been a fan of the PCC system…they’ll be replaced in 2028 by policing mayors & local policing boards ..
November 13, 2025 at 11:13 AM
BREAKING Home Office is about to announce that police and crime commissioners are to be scrapped..
Established in 2012 by Theresa May, Labour has never been a fan of the PCC system…they’ll be replaced in 2028 by policing mayors & local policing boards ..
Established in 2012 by Theresa May, Labour has never been a fan of the PCC system…they’ll be replaced in 2028 by policing mayors & local policing boards ..
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
BBC really burying the lede there
November 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
BBC really burying the lede there
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
London Lives
www.londonlives.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
Given that people is asking me for the numbers, here the table provided by UKRI:
October 23, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Given that people is asking me for the numbers, here the table provided by UKRI:
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 22, 2025 at 7:55 AM
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
Reposted by Francis Dodsworth
China spent decades laying its rare earths trap. Then Trump blundered straight into it - and now there is no way out. My latest with thoughts on how we got there and what happens next
How The West Was Lost
China spent decades laying its rare earths trap. Then Donald Trump blundered straight into it. Now there is no way out. Some thoughts on how we got here, and what happens next
open.substack.com
October 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM
China spent decades laying its rare earths trap. Then Trump blundered straight into it - and now there is no way out. My latest with thoughts on how we got there and what happens next