Peaceful lane in Worcestershire surrounded by rolling fields of yellow rapeseed.

From Sunday and where a bicycle took me.

Exactly as the Cadburys' envisioned...a carpark in a garden. @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social

Modern British Studies Conference 2026 - University of Birmingham Conference information

Registration for MBS2026 is now open! Registration link and the conference programme can be found here: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

Midlands historians have a hard time sometimes convincing people that slavery ran just as deeply through our economy as through Colston's Bristol, say. But here we are: inherited wealth from enslavement in the family history leading to urban change.

A local election candidate aggressively opposing the @a38cycleway.bsky.social extension to Longbridge has been revealed to live in Redditch, two council areas away.

It would take them approximately 42 minutes to cycle to where the extended lane will begin. 😅

Free to attend and conveniently located.

All you need to do is register!

Abstract of article

I have a new open access article out @historicaljnl.bsky.social 🤩 “Marriage, collaboration, and the literary mass market in the English-speaking world, c. 1870-1939” www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Grateful to Marta Bartkowska for making a beautiful postcard & flyer for mine & @svenjaros.bsky.social workshop & public event in Germany this May! "Power Couples: Collaborations at work and at home, c. 1750-1920s" funded by the DFG & others. Do get in touch if you want more info about the project!

Graphic that says "More stops please!" on station and stop name style signage.

With three new rail stations on the Camp Hill line and two tram stops on the Eastside extension open in the last few days, we're taking the opportunity to ask for more stops please!

Management consultants are ruining UK universities Relentless off-the-peg commercial rewiring has undermined British higher education

Management consultants are ruining UK universities - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Lol.

Panels on the beach, obvs.

In 1938, multiple technologies of mobility co-existed on British public roads; today in 2026, government planners and politicians have designed an exclusionary public streetscape for the most inefficient of these technologies: the private automobile.

Imagine a city where pedestrians and cyclists getting injured and killed by car drivers all the time was an issue in an upcoming election.

The bed areas of these two trucks are roughly the same, but the one on the right will kill more children.

This is an amazing book. That everyone should read!

📢 CFA - 3 Postdoctoral Researchers in Early Modern History (35 months) within the project ‘Travellers’ interactions in early modern Italy’ at the Italian-German Historical Institute in Trento. Deadline: 8 May 2026. jobs.fbk.eu/Annunci/Jobs...

Please circulate widely!

MA Scholarship Award for scholars of colour. In 2026, we plan to offer two scholarships of £4,000 each, to contribute to the costs of postgraduate study. This scholarship is open to candidates studying on either a full time or a part time basis. Apply by 15 July 2026

rensoc.org.uk/apply/schola...

In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan brags that road deaths in London are lower than nearly every other European city

In Birmingham @richardparkerwm.bsky.social and @cllrjohncotton.bsky.social will shake their heads, wring their hands and give you every reason why Brummies have to accept road violence

Life After Cars Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile

On 9 June, join me & @yosra999.bsky.social for a conversation with authors @sgoodyear.bsky.social & @brooklynspoke.bsky.social about Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile.

With Azbah Ansari, Sadok Damak, @reenamahajan.bsky.social, & Gabriela García Portuondo.

No. I live in Birmingham, UK. @bhamcitycouncil.bsky.social

Photo of the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick on a grey day.

Cover of the pushbikes newsletter featuring of a drawing of a bicycle becoming a raised fist on a yellow background

Taking a break from being a historian of U.S. foreign power, and spending the day in Warwick looking at how Birmingham's citizens organised against fossil capital during the last oil crisis in 1979.

Register for the Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures Big Annual Event here - should be a good one: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/every...

Wind & solar are currently producing 65% of Britain's electricity. Meanwhile, renewables now offer 30,000 more UK jobs than oil and gas. Meanwhile, we're in a climate emergency. Meanwhile, we're in a fossil fuel supply crisis. Meanwhile, the Tories and Reform want to scrap Net Zero. grid.iamkate.com

How RCMP spies infiltrated the Indigenous rights movement YouTube video by CBC Indigenous

youtu.be/4MvUim-Oqxk?... great journalism by Brett Forester and the CBC about RCMP surveillance of Indigenous groups and Indigenous leaders. An interview with me is part of it

Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change. Air pollution fell substantially as the city restricted car traffic and made way for parks and bike lanes.

“Air pollution fell substantially as Paris restricted car traffic and made way for parks, people-streets and bike-lanes.”

Better for the climate, better for health, better for livability and quality of life.

Common sense.

Such a no-brainer, it’s remarkable that more cities HAVEN’T done the same.

Title: Change lane to escape the global energy crisis. Car - £108 per week and rising fast. (Source: Average weekly cost of car ownership (IPPR, 2025)). Bus - £20 per week (Contactless card weekly cap for National Express West Midlands). Walking and cycling - Free. Fewer short car trips also leads to less congestion, more reliable public transport, quicker journey times for all.

With the price of fuel going up by the week, change lanes to avoid the impact. Bus tickets are capped at £20 a week. Walking and cycling short trips is free.

Fewer short car trips also means less congestion, more reliable public transport, safer and better roads, cleaner air, and healthier people.

I'm in here with a chapter on Progress (nice small topic!)

One thing that AI evangelists seem to assume, particularly legal AI evangelists assume, is that the thinking and analysis is quick, and the writing is just tedious busywork that slows us down.

But the writing IS the thinking and analysis. You work out the thinking and analysis by writing it down.

Churchill Associate Professor of United States Politics at University of Oxford Searching for an academic job? Explore this Churchill Associate Professor of United States Politics opening on jobs.ac.uk! Click to view more details and browse other academic jobs.

A **new** and **permanent** job in US Politics at the RAI.

An exciting opportunity to help design and launch a new one year Master’s program in US politics, and join our intellectually vibrant (and fun) multidisciplinary dept dedicated to the study of the US and its place in the wider world.