Yeah, well. They're paid to know this. I'm not.

navigating the hell that is trying to figure out if I am eligible for a British passport or not.

Basement adventures showed me why ChatGPT can only ever be garbage. In The British Library. Photo by Surekha Davies. Hallo readers, First, a news flash: Join me for a virtual book launch for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY...

Here's an example of what process looks like in the discipline of history, and what it reveals about why LLM-based efforts don't pass muster:

an image with a series of nested net bowls in oceanic blues and greens with a text superimposed on them. The text reads: "Stitching Stories; or, Imagining the Biography of Those who did not write."

finishing off my slides for this weekend's Creative Writing and Storytelling Conference at University of King's College. Archives. Erasures. Empire. Politics. Resistance. Stitchery = these are a few of my favourite things.

Man Charged in Lego Theft Scheme of Replacing Pieces With Pasta, Police Say A California man was charged with grand theft after the police said he reaped about $34,000 in what an official called an “off the charts” pasta-and-switch scheme involving Lego kits.

A California man was charged with grand theft after buying thousands of dollars worth of Lego kits, replacing pieces with bags of uncooked pasta, and returning the sets to stores for refunds, the police said on Thursday.

Radical Histories - Manchester University Press The Radical Histories series encourages innovative and field-defining research in the history of individuals, groups, movements and ideas which challenged the political, social and cultural status quo...

I'm pleased to announce I'm a founding co-editor of the new @manchesterup.bsky.social book series, Radical Histories.

Do let me know if you have a proposal for a book that fits our inclusive remit on radical histories.

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/series/radic...

Well, you already know where I stand on that.

Cartoon meme featuring a very round, smiley green frog playing an Ouija board (spelled “wedgie”). The background is a slate blue color, and curving above the frog is the following in black, all caps lettering: FUCK CHATGPT. I’M ASKING GHOSTS.

one of my oldest friends sends totally random monday memes. i thought the skyline would appreciate yesterday’s:

I'm seeing people defending this decision by saying things like "this is eliminating prison LIBRARIANS, not LIBRARIES" so let's take a closer look at that. 1/

The other thing is that in a gig economy there is no degree that promises a good career anymore, not because you should have studied computer science or social media management instead of history or Russian literature, but because there are no careers

Delighted to have a fragmented, experimental creative nonfiction piece in this issue - Thanks for giving it a home, @fiddlehd.bsky.social! Looking forward to reading the whole issue.

ORBÁN CONCEDED

Second annual Creative Writing & Storytelling Conference | University of King's College This year’s conference explores writing & storytelling as resistance—how writers can contribute, and what are their duties, to a new age of artistic resistance.

delighted to be presenting the keynote at this conference and looking forward to listening to and learning from everyone!

ukings.ca/events/creat...

Thanks! Making sure I didn't miss any other possible option.

thanks! what I was thinking, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any other possible option.

yes, what I was thinking; just making sure I didn't miss any other possibility.

same Overton Window-shattering tactic he’s always used: Even if worst doesn’t happen tonight - rhetorically he’s opened up possibility of the unimaginable, making lesser (but still horrible) actions seem moderate by comparison… all increasing likelihood that one day the worst really will happen

I feel sick to my stomach waiting around to see what atrocity Trump has in mind for the people of Iran this evening. It's hard to fathom our other elected leaders aren't able to check him in any meaningful way. It's an indictment not just of voters but of our whole system. We're ruled by a mad king.

This 👇

detail from a Dutch civic record entry that reads: "van beroep" followed by what looks like Bouweresse

Dutch paleography folks: what do you read here? I see "bouweresse". Any other option present itself to you?

Quebec passes law banning street prayers, prayer rooms in universities, CEGEPs Quebec will now ban street prayers as the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) “super-minister” of identity, Jean-François Roberge, has just passed his bill to strengthen secularism.

"Minister Roberge has previously stated that street prayers could be considered “acts of provocation.”

Bill21 is a fascist policy. The CAQ is a disgrace.

www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...

Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC

What a time to be alive www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

This is why I keep it out of my classrooms.
This is why I teach my students to be careful/critical in their consumption of gAI.
This is why universities shouldn't be so bloody ridiculously uncritical in forcing gAI on faculty, staff and students.
We're inculcating dependence on a catastrophic scale

Oh so now copyright matters.

Why this 'time machine' of Confederation-era letters to Smallwood still matters today | CBC News The archive of letters from ordinary citizens to Joey Smallwood gives a window into history, but also shows the power of political engagement, says the co-editor of Dear Mr. Smallwood: Confederation I...

More on the letters to Smallwood, and here's your chance to see some of them!

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

After Intense Lobbying, Carney Allows Gas-Powered Data Centres in Alberta Energy firm pushed federal officials to scale back clean-electricity rules tied to AI sector by Taylor C. Noakes Updated 11:46, Mar. 27, 2026 | Published 6:30, Mar. 27, 2026

he Alberta electricity company Capital Power, which is developing a new, large artificial intelligence data centre in the province powered by natural gas, lobbied the federal Mark Carney government dozens of times in 2025 to eliminate clean-energy regulations, DeSmog has learned. These regulations were subsequently dropped from a fossil fuel accord that the prime minister signed with the Government of Alberta this past November, allowing new, large data centres fuelled by gas turbines to proceed. “We’ve got a new paradigm that allows us to look at growth capital” for Canadian gas-powered AI projects, Capital Power chief executive officer Avik Dey said in reaction to the Carney government announcing it would suspend the regulations.

The term “data centre” appears at least twenty-five times in notes from Capital Power’s interactions with the federal government, while the term “emissions” appears seventeen times, and “clean-energy regulations” and “net zero” appear each at least fourteen times.

The AI boom is itself driving a massive development of gas-power generation: over 1,000 gigawatts worldwide, a quarter of which is in the United States. Though AI data centres can be powered by any form of electricity, the gas industry has marketed gas power as cheap, efficient, and reliable.

What a stunning demonstration of how data centre development is directly and materially boosting fossil fuels. After ferocious lobbying the Carney government caved and killed off environmental rules to allow fossil gas power plants to be built for data centres:

thewalrus.ca/after-intens...

Screenshot of an Instagram video capturing pope Leo with his mouth open in astonishment

Pop Leo asked if he should put on gloves to turn pages in the gorgeous Renaissance Bible and the librarian explained why it’s better to do so with bare hands. Glorious reaction.

Every rare books librarian & archivist feeling very seen, I gather. www.instagram.com/reel/DUcpEBY... #BookHistory

@acantle.bsky.social @hcoombs.bsky.social @curioushermit.bsky.social @smlewisimpson.bsky.social