they said it couldn't be done. but they forgot one thing: The Museum of English Rural Life

happy birthday to our podcast xxxxx

MERL rn

Absolute Units podcast - The Museum of English Rural Life Come for the big sheep. Stay for the history of rural England and its people.

Absolute Units returns!

For our latest episode, we welcome @avlawson.bsky.social, the author, environmentalist, and activist.

We chat about Adrian's career, his time with Extinction Rebellion, and his role in turning an abandoned meadow into a flourishing marsh.

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

this has been one of the most glorious projects I've ever worked on

Hello, we have something extraordinary to share with you.

Iran’s people were facing a horrible shortage of water before the war began. If we are destroying desalination plants and setting fire to Teheran we are committing unfathomable crimes.

International Women's Day 2026: Hidden histories Discover the stories of three women curators, collectors, and designers at The Museum of English Rural Life in the 20th century.

Women curators, designers, and collectors have played a huge part throughout our history at The Museum of English Rural Life.

For #InternationalWomensDay 2026, read about the stories of three women from our earlier years in our new blogpost.

merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

Vast scale of overseas human remains held in UK museums decried by MPs and experts Exclusive: Guardian study finds UK museums hold more than 260,000 items of remains, often in sacrilegious ways

'...exposed UK museums and universities as “imperial charnel houses where the bones of Indigenous peoples torn from Britain’s empire in the past, with little or no regard to the spiritual sensibilities of its people, continue to be retained to this day in circumstances that beggar belief”.'

Saving for later … Part 1 was brilliant. All the good good spirited things we can do to tell different stories of the rural (the rural that’s there for all) create magic, move, engage & change things. Bravo @olliedouglas.bsky.social @joevaughan.net @lisaschneidau.bsky.social Ruth Webb & Crockern!

this is not news. we have been a fully sentient posting museum since at least 2016

Radical Rural Discover the artists, activists and movements championing rural England's people and places today.

We've now made six podcasts featuring artists, writers, and makers who feature in our current Radical Rural galleries trail.

Hear from @maninthewoods.co.uk, @katrinanavickas.bsky.social, @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, and Ruth Webb on our website!

merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rad...

loved working on these episodes. huge thanks to @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, @olliedouglas.bsky.social, Ruth, and Crockern!

Google faces lawsuit after Gemini chatbot instructed man to kill himself Lawsuit is first wrongful death case brought against Google over flagship AI product after death of Jonathan Gavalas

“Our models generally [don't encourage real world violence] but unfortunately they’re not perfect.”

this isn't "not perfect"; it's "very, very bad"

www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Absolute Units podcast - The Museum of English Rural Life Come for the big sheep. Stay for the history of rural England and its people.

Absolute Units returns tomorrow!

We're back with Ruth Webb and @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, picking up where we left off last time and continuing the story of Old Crockern and the fight for wild camping on Dartmoor.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

have you been looking for a reason to come to @themerl.bsky.social? here is a very good one

"Spring LATE. See The MERL after dark. Music, drinks, activities. 25 March 2026."

Tickets are now available for our next LATE! Join us after hours on the night of 25 March for drinks, activities, and talks.

£5 per person; £3 concessions for @uniofreading.bsky.social staff/students.

merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/spr...

"I am the farm worker going home at evening": gender fluidity, rural landscapes, and the Women's Land Army Archivist Lottie Wood explores gender and landscapes in E. M. Barraud's reflections on her time in the Women's Land Army.

A common fictional narrative shows people with nonconforming identities finding self-acceptance in towns and cities.

This #LGBTQHistoryMonth, archivist Lottie Wood explores how author E. M. Barraud found the opposite, through rural work and the Women’s Land Army.

merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

damn the streams are merging

News: we're thrilled to have received £80,000 of funding from the BFI to help us digitise a remarkable archive of agricultural films and make them available to the public!

Read more on the @uniofreading.bsky.social website:

www.reading.ac.uk/news/2026/Un...

Latest episode, expertly edited by my awesome co-host @joevaughan.net. Great chats with the fascinating @lisaschneidau.bsky.social and Ruth Webb!

This was a brilliant & galvanising listen: the power of giants & storytelling, the stars ARE ours, & so much more - so many things connected & woven together! A joyful listen @joevaughan.net @olliedouglas.bsky.social Ruth Webb & @lisaschneidau.bsky.social #RadicalRural @themerl.bsky.social

this was a real joy to record and work on. huge thanks to Ruth Webb and @lisaschneidau.bsky.social for bringing Old Crockern to @themerl.bsky.social <3

h/t to the inimitable @olliedouglas.bsky.social - this was the most involved I've been in MERL's exhibitions/curatorial side and it was wonderful to be a part of this coming together

Voices of the Countryside Explore an exhibition celebrating 100 years of CPRE, whose vital work protects and maintains rural English spaces.

In work news: wonderful to launch our new exhibition/galleries trail today at @themerl.bsky.social, celebrating @cprecountryside.bsky.social as well as many more people and movements defending and cherishing rural pasts, present, and future

merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie...

Performed at 3 comedy shows this week! I am picking up the pace, as they say

Richard Moth becomes the 12th Archbishop of Westminster on Saturday.

He wasn't initially called to religion, but then he saw the light.

Radical Rural gallery trail Discover the artists, activists and movements championing rural England's people and places today.

We're also marking the launch of Radical Rural, a gallery trail championing many more voices who champion and care for rural England today. From summoning the folk spirits of England's woods and tors, to meticulously mapping the data of who really owns England.

merl.reading.ac.uk/whats-on/rad...

here's how one of our trail displays arrived

Voices of the Countryside Explore an exhibition celebrating 100 years of CPRE, whose vital work protects and maintains rural English spaces.

New exhibition!

Tomorrow, we open Voices of the Countryside, a celebration of 100 years of the Campaign to Protect Rural England.

merl.reading.ac.uk/news-and-vie... @cprecountryside.bsky.social