Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 1h

Reminds me of this excellent sign that I saw at the Tubman African American Museum in Macon, Georgia.

Piano, which once belonged to Little Richard, with a sign on it saying "Do not attempt to play Little Richard's piano. He will know."

Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 6h

"When you get down to it, rejection can do you a favour. It forces you to face objective reality. You find out, perhaps contrary to your longstanding expectations, that an entire universe exists outside your own head and the opinions of others might matter as much as yours."

‘Stay true to yourself – and fly closer to the sun’: what I’ve learned from 50 years of rejection

As a writer, I have been rejected thousands of times, and it initially led to shock, denial and anger. Then I accepted it. Here’s what you can gain from doing so too

www.theguardian.com

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Richard Chambers @newschambers.bsky.social · 2d

Breaking: Jim Gavin withdraws from Presidential Election.

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 3d

"... the French state’s brutal stifling of dissent had politicised a generation. ... French rock musicians were against what they considered fascist police-state apparatus ... They were looking for new inspirations, free of American whitewashed pulp. They found it in black American jazz."

Street battles, invented languages and gigs in psychiatric hospitals: France’s lost rock revolution of 1968

Bands such as Magma and Art Zoyd provided a soundtrack for the student protests that shook the country. Little remembered now, a new book reveals their decisive influence on later successes such as Ai...

www.theguardian.com

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 3d

'Doppelgängers stalk her pages, where women are often polished off quickly and unsentimentally; consider the immortal lines “it’s a whydunnit in q-sharp major” (“The Driver’s Seat,” 1970) and, from “The Portobello Road,” in the ... 1950s: “He looked as though he would murder me and he did.”'

Into the Dark Heart of a Novelist Who Was ‘Something of a Witch’

www.nytimes.com

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RTÉ Brainstorm @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social · 7d

Most read on #RTEBrainstorm: how the mantle cloak set fashion trends in Medieval Ireland and made the notion of 'Irishness' visible and distinct in Europe. By
@maireadfinnegan.bsky.social @maynoothuniversity.ie www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

How the mantle cloak set fashion trends in Medieval Ireland

A highly valued item of durable clothing at home, the cloak was what made the notion of 'Irishness' visible and distinct in Europe

www.rte.ie

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Royal Irish Academy @ria.ie · 5d

We had a great turn out for our Book of Lecan conference, hosted in the RIA Library and organised in partnership with Maynooth University and Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Pictured are two speakers, Alex Woolf and Seán Ó Hoireabhárd, with the Book of Lecan (RIA MS 23 P 2)

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you to everyone who participated in the excellent @ria.ie conference on the Book of Lecan. It was a fantastic couple of days. The talks were recorded and will appear on SoundCloud soon!
@scs-dias.bsky.social @ceilteachomn.bsky.social 📚

The speakers at the Royal Irish Academy conference on the Book of Lecan, standing on the stairs at the RIA. I'm at the front on the right.

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Aonghus Ó hAlmhain @aonghusoha.bsky.social · 4d

open.spotify.com/episode/1DTU...

Agallamh na hollúna @niamhwycherley.bsky.social agus @thecelticist.bsky.social faoi filíocht agus filí na meánaoiseanna

Poets and Poetry with Dr Elizabeth Boyle

open.spotify.com

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Niamh Wycherley @niamhwycherley.bsky.social · 4d

What does it say about a society that valued poets so highly? Find out in The Medieval Irish History Podcast — back for a 3rd series! We are kicking off again with the inimitable @thecelticist.bsky.social @ceilteachomn.bsky.social @tiagoovsilva.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/1DTU... 1/2

Poets and Poetry with Dr Elizabeth Boyle

open.spotify.com

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 6d

"a phenomenon often observed in the study of the far-right online ecosystem ... is the seepage of extreme right discourse into more mainstream spaces. Neo-Nazi groups use memes, shitposting and humour as a deliberate strategy to seed increasingly extreme ideas into groups amenable to their message."

‘See you in Valhalla’: how the FBI director waded into the far-right’s obsession with the Vikings

Was the FBI chief sending a message to white supremacists? It’s more likely Patel’s Valhalla reference was a clumsy attempt to call Kirk a hero.

theconversation.com

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National Museum of Ireland @nmireland.bsky.social · 10d

Families Join us for an Open Day: Words on the Wave – Ireland & St. Gallen exhibition
🗓️ Sat 4 Oct | 11.00–16.00
📍 NMI, Kildare St
Talks: Maeve Sikora (11:30), Dr Ó Riain (12:30), Prof Ó Cróinín (14:30)
Take part in free Workshops & handle replica artefacts
🎟️ Free admission
museum.ie/en-IE/Museum...

An Incipit (opening letter) with two birds from the St. Gallen manuscript Priscian Institutiones Grammaticae, Cod. Sang 904, p. 25. © Stiftsbibliothek St Gallen.

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David Stifter 🍵📄🦊 @davidstifter.bsky.social · 8d

My contribution to Maths Weeks 2025 (www.mathsweek.ie/2025/), I will part of a panel speaking on "Matamaitic as Gaeilge" at Uni Galway, 12 October. My talk will be on "How to conceptualise numbers in Old Irish".

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 8d

"For a while, he set up a communications centre in a local cafe, where Vava‘u’s residents could come to dictate their messages to Neymen, as if he were the designated letter-writer in a medieval village, and thus reach their relatives overseas."

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...

Extremely offline: what happened when a Pacific island was cut off from the internet | Samanth Subramanian

A colossal volcanic eruption in January 2022 ripped apart the underwater cables that connect Tonga to the world – and exposed the fragility of 21st-century life

www.theguardian.com

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 8d

Fantastic piece on a fascinating aspect of early Irish law, by my former PhD student and @ceilteachomn.bsky.social graduate, Dr Viktoriia Krivoshchekova, who is now a postdoc at @scs-dias.bsky.social

#MedievalSky

www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

How to get away with murder in medieval Ireland

Duinetháide murders, where the killer didn't leave a trace or a body, carry all the intrigue of a classic murder mystery

www.rte.ie

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Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 19d

Very much enjoying the culture of trust and respect implicit in the installation of room usage monitoring devices on academics' office doors today. Imagine my shock on discovering that managers' doors remain unsullied…

A SmartViz monitoring device installed at a university.

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 9d

Essay on Daphne du Maurier by @stephenking.bsky.social in today's @theguardian.com 📚 #BookSky

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...

‘She wrote the best first line – and the most chilling stories’: Stephen King on the dark brilliance of Daphne du Maurier

From Rebecca to The Birds and scores of creepy short stories, Du Maurier was queen of the uncanny, writes the US horror maestro

www.theguardian.com

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Elizabeth Boyle @thecelticist.bsky.social · 9d

"Judd hated most architects. He railed against their misunderstanding of materials, ... & slammed their work as being “derivative of art”. Yet, when it came to trying to realise buildings himself, he would learn that the quest for pure autonomy of form, & his trademark flawlessness, wasn’t so easy."

Leaky roofs, collapsed walls, mega debts: when Donald Judd, art’s master minimalist, tried architecture

Weary of the New York scene, and keen to focus on architecture, the artist started buying up properties to play with in a tiny Texas town. Trouble was, he couldn’t stop. We take the tour of his Marfa ...

www.theguardian.com

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Hyo Yoon Kang 강효윤 @hyoyoonkang.bsky.social · 9d

I'm giving a talk on "After Patent Republic?"
on 22 October, 3pm GMT, online,
in which I'll think about the role of patent law in non-democratic and authoritarian polities.

It's part of @ishtip.bsky.social's 2025-6 Seminar Series.

Everyone welcome.

Abstract and registration:

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: After Patent Republic - Hyo Yoon Kang. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

What comes after ‘Patent Republic’? In his 2006 article, Mario Biagioli showed how the modern U.S. patent law system, with its development of examination, filing, and institutional bureaucracy, was cl...

uqz.zoom.us

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Elizabeth (Liz) Lehfeldt (she/her/hers) @lizlehfeldt.bsky.social · 10d

#earlymodern

Prof. Elaine Chalus @profelainechalus.bsky.social · 11d

Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World- King's College London - Department of History #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOU182/l...

Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World at King's College London

Explore an exciting academic career as a Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.

www.jobs.ac.uk

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 10d

We worry about Very Online Kids much more than their Very Online Parents, and I'm not sure that's wise

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The A.V. Club @avclub.com · 10d

Okatsuka posted the censorship rules for the controversial comedy festival, noting how many "You can’t say anything anymore!" comedians have signed on.
www.avclub.com/riyadh-comed...

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka posts contract after turning down Riyadh Comedy Festival

www.avclub.com

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Viola Tricolor @kaffeehaus.bsky.social · 10d

"The purpose of writing isn’t just to demonstrate knowledge in the most expedient way. Writing is to explore knowledge, to connect and synthesise ideas, to create new knowledge, and to share."

Leon Furze, The Myth of the First AI Draft

Viola Tricolor @kaffeehaus.bsky.social · 10d

The Myth of the AI First Draft

I write daily, often for hours at a time. I’m an author of fiction and nonfiction, and even when I’m not writing something for publication I fill notebooks with ideas and frequently illegible scribble...

leonfurze.com

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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 11d

Nathan Gill is no fringe politician.

He was the leader of the Reform Party and before that UKIP in Wales.

A Brexit Party MEP.

A friend and ally of Nigel Farage, who in 2016 called him:

"terrific," and "as honest as the day is long."

This is a MASSIVE story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery

Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Tina Kotek @tinakotek.bsky.social · 10d

My office is reaching out to the White House and Homeland Security for more information. We have been provided no information on the reason or purpose of any military mission. There is no national security threat in Portland. Our communities are safe and calm.

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