Margot Finn
LightNews LightNews
banner
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn
@eicathomefinn.bsky.social
16K followers 4.3K following 9.2K posts

Historian of Britain and colonialism, material culture, the EIC. Also works on equalities, museums, open access & research policy. Download the EIC @ Home open access volume here: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/88277 (or individual chapters via JSTOR) .. more

Videos

Margot C. Finn is a British historian and academic who specialises in Britain and the British colonial world during the long nineteenth century. She has been Professor of Modern British History at the University College, London (UCL) since 2012. Finn was previously the President of the Royal Historical Society and a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. .. more

Political science 31%
Economics 26%
Posts Replies Media Videos

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3h
Gold (digital) Open Access

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 5h
News story warning people not to use AI to help plan their mountain walks. But sure, use it to govern the country.

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5h
Yes, have lectured for them: very engaged learners.

Reposted by Charles West

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6h
'We don’t really know how AI reaches its conclusions – even the programmers admit as much. Nor can we verify its reasoning against clear, objective criteria. So when we follow AI’s advice, we are not guided by reason. We are back in the realm of faith.'
Our king, priest and feudal lord – how AI is taking us back to the dark ages | Joseph de Weck
Since the Enlightenment, we’ve been making our own decisions. But now AI may be about to change that, says Joseph de Weck, a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute
www.theguardian.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6h
'Sanner, a retired history professor, said older people were “more and more alert” and that there is a “fantastic hunger for education”. She added: “It’s totally fascinating that there are so many who want to learn more and learn more about the world. It is so very needed in our time.”' 2/2

Reposted by Richard Shaw, Samantha Brennan, Leo McCann , and 2 more

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6h
'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2
‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure
Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Margot C. Finn, François Guesnet

duncanweldon.bsky.social
Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 7h
Find this fascinating.
The Tapestry is literally priceless. There is no market. Why not £2 billion? Or £500 million?
www.ft.com/content/ec9a... Bayeux Tapestry set to be covered by £800mn UK Treasury indemnity
Bayeux Tapestry set to be covered by £800mn UK Treasury indemnity
Nearly 1,000-year-old depiction of Norman Conquest will be on display at British Museum in 2026
www.ft.com

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Margot C. Finn

stuartelden.bsky.social
Stuart Elden @stuartelden.bsky.social · 1d
Foucault’s Christmas - "a Christmas day without writing, that was impossible! ... a day when, as he said, 'nothing has happened for several thousand years' " progressivegeographies.com/2024/12/25/f...
A photograph of Foucault sitting at a desk with bookshelves behind and a typewriter and papers in front of him. There is a large old-fashioned lampshade above him.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

katherineschof8.bsky.social
Prof Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺 @katherineschof8.bsky.social · 1d
Happy Christmas to all those celebrating!

A Mughal virgin and child, by Ghulam Shah Salim before 1605, after an engraving by Flemish artist Bernard van Orley (1492-1542). Dedication to Prince Shah Salim who became the emperor Jahangir 1695–27.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

bjpaddy.bsky.social
Brendan Paddy @bjpaddy.bsky.social · 1d
If you like seabirds, living with the people you work with & weather that rolls in fresh off the Atlantic @scotwildlife.bsky.social are looking for a ranger on Handa
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
New ranger wanted for isolated uninhabited island of Handa
The job comes with a few challenges - including weekly boat trips to mainland for washing and shopping.
www.bbc.co.uk

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d
Alt text: A woman dressed in ancient Greek dress stands on the right. She is placing folded textiles into a box (which is on the left). The open lid of the box looks like the lifted cover of a photocopy machine, giving the appearance of the woman attempting to copy a complete, closed volume.
arca-artcrime.bsky.social ARCA @arca-artcrime.bsky.social · 5d
Despite frequent remonstrations from digital archivists, Persephone never accepted that she could not photocopy a whole book in one go.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

hetanshah.bsky.social
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d
Glad to see what is happening to the BBC Written Archive getting a bit more coverage. Can I suggest people use the public consultation for the BBC Charter Review to raise this issue
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/9febe15...
The BBC scandal of 2025 that went unnoticed
The Written Archives Centre has closed off access to most of its treasures, leaving historians in dismay
www.telegraph.co.uk

Reposted by Susan J. Smith, Margot C. Finn

britishacademy.bsky.social
The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 2d
'We need to nurture those subjects which enable us to build a resource - "human ingenuity" - to interact with the technologies, politics and institutions that will shape the future'

Our President @sjs1869.bsky.social looks to the future for BBC R4 Today (from 45mins) https://bbc.in/49pus0h
Today - 24/12/2025 - BBC Sounds
News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

ppfideas.bsky.social
Past Present Future Podcast @ppfideas.bsky.social · 2d
What could be more Christmassy than @leaypi.bsky.social on Rosa Luxemburg?! 🎁
ppfideas.bsky.social Past Present Future Podcast @ppfideas.bsky.social · 2d
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW!

Today in our season of live recordings David and @leaypi.bsky.social. look at the biopic of a revolutionary: Margaretha von Trotta’s 'Rosa Luxemburg' (1986), which explores the deeply unstable relationship between the personal and the political.

Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d
Good reading.
The best of the long read in 2025
The long read: Our 20 favourite pieces of in-depth reporting, essays and profiles from the year
www.theguardian.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d
(with apologies for pre-coffee spelling!)

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d
Kudos to North Allerton (and to the Refugee Council). giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
‘A place of welcome’: Yorkshire town rallies round to help asylum seekers
Churches and community groups in Northallerton provide food, clothing and company for refugee families
giftarticle.ft.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

alanrichardson.bsky.social
Alan Richardson @alanrichardson.bsky.social · 2d
Reminder that within research community contexts the demand for evidence before allowing assertion is not censorship; it is upholding standards of evidence.
markhisted.org Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 2d
There is a direct line between Mario Rubio now weaponizing the government against “censorship,” Jay Bhattacharya crying “censorship,” M Shellenberger lying on Substack about “censorship,” and the ongoing destruction of our public health, vaccine, and science infrastructure.
noupside.bsky.social Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 2d
The US State Department is now going to be deporting people and/or revoking visas over Benz, Taibbi, and Shellenberger’s “censorship industrial complex” hoax.

Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.

www.state.gov/releases/off...

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Alan Richardson, Margot C. Finn

markhisted.org
Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 2d
There is a direct line between Mario Rubio now weaponizing the government against “censorship,” Jay Bhattacharya crying “censorship,” M Shellenberger lying on Substack about “censorship,” and the ongoing destruction of our public health, vaccine, and science infrastructure.
noupside.bsky.social Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 2d
The US State Department is now going to be deporting people and/or revoking visas over Benz, Taibbi, and Shellenberger’s “censorship industrial complex” hoax.

Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.

www.state.gov/releases/off...
Announcement of Actions to Combat the Global Censorship-Industrial Complex - United States Department of State
The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose....
www.state.gov

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

jamesbarr.bsky.social
James Barr @jamesbarr.bsky.social · 2d
Lots of good recommendations here
Books of the Year 2025
Contributors to Engelsberg Ideas highlight the books they’ve enjoyed in 2025.
engelsbergideas.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

conunitucl.bsky.social
UCL Constitution Unit @conunitucl.bsky.social · 2d
Join and help to lead the Constitution Unit!

@uclspp.bsky.social is looking for a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics who will also join our senior team and contribute to our research and impact activities.

Applicants must have, or be near to finishing, a PhD.

Apply 👇
Job opportunity: Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics
The UCL Department of Political Science and Constitution Unit are seeking to appoint a Lecturer in British and Comparative Politics. The successful candidate will join the senior team at the Unit.
www.ucl.ac.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

hetanshah.bsky.social
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 3d
I had no idea that India has been running a job guarantee scheme for rural workers for the last twenty years. It reaches around 126 million people and on average boosts beneficiary household incomes by 14%
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
MNREGA: Is India's landmark rural jobs guarantee scheme under threat from G RAM G?
India’s rural jobs guarantee, a global model, faces controversy as a new law reshapes the original scheme.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn , and 1 more

kawulf.bsky.social
Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 3d
Last post for the year to say that @jcblibrary.bsky.social we've been thinking hard about how to support scholars and scholarship amidst the multi-dimensional crises for humanities research. We remain committed to our traditional fellowships (indeed in the wake of NEH revocation we expanded), but 1/

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

lrb.co.uk
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 3d
‘The clear mirror, itself a fairly new commodity, provided James with one of his favourite images of kingship: a king should be ‘a mirror’ to his people, and his royal authority respected lest “it fall or break (for glass is brittle)”.’

Alice Hunt on James VI and I.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Alice Hunt · Out of Rehab: Two Kings or One?
The 400th anniversary of James VI and I’s death has been marked by several new approaches to the reign that gave us...
www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

peterjukes.bsky.social
Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 3d
"The flight records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware), including during the period we would expect to charge in a Maxwell case”

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

iansociologo.bsky.social
Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 3d
Important publication (by @ginnybraun.bsky.social and co-authors) to add to any critical AI reading list.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
We Reject the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence for Reflexive Qualitative Research - Tanisha Jowsey, Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Deborah Lupton, Michelle Fine, 2025
Four hundred and nineteen experienced qualitative researchers from 32 countries invite readers of Qualitative Inquiry to consider their position on use of gener...
journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn, Melanie Simms

rnib.bsky.social
RNIB @rnib.bsky.social · 3d
Santa told us that people that don’t add alt text are getting coal in their stocking this year.

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d
'Traditional printing is an endangered craft. We’re here to ensure it thrives for centuries to come. Our superbly-equipped pressroom, museum and gallery is located in the beautiful St Anthony’s Garden in the heart of York. We look forward to welcoming you!' 2/2

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d
'Other ventures tackle tangible local issues with scalable solutions – like Arcade, which repurposes disused spaces for community development, or Thin Ice Press, which revives forgotten industries to foster creativity and engagement.'

Industrial Strategy, anyone? 1/2
eicathomefinn.bsky.social Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d
'Unlike tech or biomedical innovations, SHAPE commercialisation typically involves service & process innovation, rarely includes protectable IP, and is often rooted in the deep expertise of a small group of researchers. These ventures are quicker to bring to market and require far fewer resources.'
Why the UK should commercialise research for social good – not just profit - HEPI
This blog was kindly authored by Huw Vasey, a Principal Consultant at Oxentia. For the past six years, I’ve worked across sectors to build an ecosystem that supports the commercialisation of research ...
www.hepi.ac.uk

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d
Thanks!