Michael H. Whitworth | Lightnews

Light up
your news

About Privacy Terms Help

Michael H Whitworth

Michael H Whitworth

@profmhwhitworth.bsky.social

3.2K followers 1.2K following 650 posts

Oxford, U.K. Prof of Modern Literature and Culture. Literature & Science, Modernism, Book History, Virginia Woolf, 1920s & 30s poetry. Also found on IG under the same name. All posts in a personal capacity.

Art 29%

Philosophy 21%

more

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 9d

Shocked and saddened to hear that Max Eider (Peter Millson) has died. Nimble-fingered guitarist with The Jazz Butcher, and a songwriter who mined a distinctive vein of uncomfortable feelings.

Nice Guy | Max Eider

YouTube video by tundraducks

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Tom Shakespeare , and 5 more Anna O. Law, Steve Peers, Tom Shakespeare, Richard Fletcher, Kelly Smith, Michael H. Whitworth, Katrina Navickas, Judith Jesch

Rhodri Marsden @rhodri.biz · 1d

This is the 15th year of #DuvetKnowItsChristmas, which is preposterous. Rules: if you find yourself dealing with unusual / claustrophobic / gaudy sleeping arrangements this Christmas Eve, share a picture with the world. Use the hashtag (with capitalisation) and cc me if you can be bothered.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Louvain Rees ⚰️ @hellohistoria.bsky.social · 1d

This is thought to be the earliest photograph of a snowman in the world ⛄ ❄

It was taken at Penllergare by Mary Dillwyn in c.1853 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Mary is thought to be one of the earliest female photographers in the world 📷

museum.wales/articles/972...

#Wales #History

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

David Wheatley @nemoloris.bsky.social · 2d

Poetry readings often went ahead in seventh-century Ireland without even the most basic form of risk assessment, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Emily Brand @emilybrand.bsky.social · 2d

Delighted to announce that 2025 is the year I finally bought the long-coveted “stressed out William Wordsworth” Christmas jumper

No regrets 🎅🎄

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Aylwyn Scally @aylwyn-scally.bsky.social · 2d

A Christmas miracle.

www.theregister.com/2025/12/23/u...

UNIX V4 tape successfully recovered

: Crucial early evolutionary step found, imaged, and ... amazingly ... works

www.theregister.com

Reposted by Alan Richardson, Michael H. Whitworth

Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 3d

Sculptor Steven Weitzman placed books under the floorboards of the Barbara Johns statue's self-base (dedicated last week in The Capitol Building) with titles from prominent African American scholars and authors to signify materials the students were missing in their classrooms. 🗃️

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Alice Cann @alicecann.bsky.social · 3d

So many aspects I could quote from this, but this was the first that stood out to me. read.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai/...

Excerpt from Critical AI article: ‘As they promise gains in efficiency and productivity, LLM research assistants purport to “streamline”—or bypass—the challenging, recursive, and often messy work of identifying, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing the existing research on a given topic. Over decades of practice, educators have come to understand these processes as themselves integral to building students’ intellectual abilities and skills. Indeed, from the standpoint of learning, the process of research and writing is often more valuable than the final product handed in for a grade.’

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 3d

Today's stack for The Cosmos is a Black Aesthetic

and if you want it with music:
www.instagram.com/p/DSlT5G5ja8...

book stack:
Stuart Hall SELECTED WRITINGS ON RACE AND DIFFERENCE
Stuart Hall ESSENTIAL ESSAYS VOL. 1
Stuart Hall ESSENTIAL ESSAYS VOL. 2
Stuart Hall SELECTED WRITINGS ON VISUAL ARTS AND CULTURE

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 4d

I missed #Caturday but this cat belongs on your timeline regardless of the day!

A grumpy, round looking cat with a stern expression. The caption reads: "This cat looks like it runs a whole city with an iron fist in the 1800s."

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Michael H. Whitworth

Andrew Male @andrewmale.bsky.social · 4d

Happy 21st December evening everyone. May the Great Veiled Bear pass over you house tonight and not present you with one of his cursed Christmas cookies.

Future Unremembered Poet
of the Seventeenth Century AccepIs a Christmas Cookie from the Great Veiled Bear by Edward Gorey.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 4d

I'm not in marketing but an angry guy shrieking "Guess what asshole...AI isn't going away so you might as well accept it!" doesn't strike me as the way you'd pitch an ostensibly useful product

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Michael H. Whitworth

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · 4d

Research is about discovery. THE FACEMAKER opens with the story of Private Percy Clare, who's shot in the face in WWI. I found his handwritten diary at the Imperial War Museum, which led me to connecting with relatives of his who were able to provide further documents & details about his life.

David M Weigel @spdbump.bsky.social · 4d

Not a historian but like to research. The AI might summarize what I'm looking for, but it doesn't find what I'm *not* looking for. The book on the shelf next to the one I wanted. The insight in chapter 6 based on the quote I needed from chapter 4.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

The Victorian Society @thevicsoc.bsky.social · 4d

📣 NORTH WEST ENGLAND! We need your nominations for the Victorian Society’s Top Ten Endangered Buildings list for 2026 by 5th January.

Please let us know about your local threatened, dilapidated and neglected Victorian and Edwardian buildings. 🙏

Reposted by Tom Shakespeare, Margot C. Finn, Michael H. Whitworth

Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 4d

We made a mistake by calling the output of AI ‘slop’. In academia it is now looking much more like toxic pollution, on the verge of laying waste to previously fertile plains. Suing for royalties is only a small part of the battle.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Michael H. Whitworth , and 2 more Anna O. Law, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Michael H. Whitworth, Jelena Subotić, Klaus Oschema

Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 4d

A big part of being a historian is being a detective! Who did this? Why? Where? Why does it matter in the grand scheme of things? You have to learn how to probe, how to uncover, how to read against the grain, how to find unusual sources, how to interpret those sources. How to piece together a puzzle

Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 4d

It also robs students of learning *how* to research.

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 6d

I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.

Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy, Steve Peers, Leigh Sparks , and 4 more Patrick Dunleavy, Steve Peers, Leigh Sparks, Alison Phipps, Ailsa Cameron, Margot C. Finn, Michael H. Whitworth

Toby Earle 🇺🇦 @tobyontv.bsky.social · 6d

Jo Cox was murdered before the vote by a far-right terrorist & this is the language this complete disgrace chooses to use

BORIS JOHNSON: If Labour
MPs try to reverse Brexit they will be walking into a hail of machine gun fire - and if that's the fight they want, bring it on! But they should heed my warning before things get bloody..

Reposted by Ian Miles, Steve Peers, Carlos Nunes Silva , and 4 more Ian Miles, Steve Peers, Carlos Nunes Silva, Michael H. Whitworth, Michiel van Meeteren, Mark Robinson, Jelena Subotić

public health guy @publichealthguy1.bsky.social · 6d

this is the greatest feeling, when the cord box proves its utility to a family member

new yorker cartoon by bernstein. watercolor of a middle aged white dad holding a cord up from the cord box in a heavenly light in triumph. title reads THE BEST DAY OF MY FATHER'S LIFE. caption reads “Did you say you needed a six-pin-to-eight-pin FireWire for a 2006 MacBook?"

Reposted by Reece Jones, Guntram B. Wolff, Richard S.J. Tol , and 58 more Reece Jones, Guntram B. Wolff, Richard S.J. Tol, Dorothy Bishop, Peter Thorne, Mor Naaman, Suzana J. Camargo, Steve Peers, Brad R. Humphreys, Evelyne de Leeuw, Jonathan Wolff, Mary Feeney, Olivier Corneille, Kai Arzheimer, Ian Hall, Henning Melber, Julian Webb, Patricia Aufderheide, Lesley A. Hall, Juan Cole, John Mullahy, Valerie Mueller, James Grimmelmann, Smith, Silvia Secchi, Robert Wolfe, Ariadne Vromen, Trevor A. Branch, Aileen McHarg, Margot C. Finn, Marina Costa Lobo, Howard Stevenson, Michael H. Whitworth, Melanie Simms, Stephen Jones, Miranda J. Lubbers, Maria Abreu, Jen Schneider, Anders Sundnes Løvlie, Michael Jones‐Correa, Aurélien Mondon, Kevin Manaugh, David Bartram, Yue Qian, Helen Schwenken, Henrik Skaug Sætra, Urška Demšar, Jeremy J. Schmidt, Judith Freedman, Hisham Zerriffi, Klaus Oschema, Daxton R. Stewart, Pádua Fernandes, Annette Yoshiko Reed, Lisa A. Kramer, Aidan O’Sullivan, Karin Wulf, Giulio Mattioli, Catherine Spooner, Clark Gray, David Spurrett

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 6d

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵

Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 7d

Ambleside, 1786, painting by Francis Towne, 1739-1816 (Yale Center for British Art).

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Agenda des médiévistes @rmblf.bsky.social · 7d

Offre d’emploi – Postdoctoral Researcher in Social and Economic History (12th-20th Centuries) (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

rmblf.be/2025/12/19/o...

Offre d’emploi – Postdoctoral Researcher in Social and Economic History (12th-20th Centuries) (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Closes : 31st January 2026 The research group SHOC (Social History of Capitalism) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is looking for a postdoctoral researcher. SHOC is a young, vibrant research group…

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

louderthanwar.com @louderthanwar.bsky.social · 7d

Max Eider (Jazz Butcher Conspiracy) RIP : a tribute to an undergound talent louderthanwar.com/max-eider/ via @louderthanwar

Max Eider was the very definition of the criminally underrated guitar genius

Max Eider was the very definition of the criminally underrated guitar genius

louderthanwar.com

Reposted by Andrew Scott, Jacob T. Levy, Michael H. Whitworth , and 1 more Andrew Scott, Jacob T. Levy, Michael H. Whitworth, Mark Rice

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7d

Ladies and gentleman: The President of the United States
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...

One woman, then a model and college student in her early 20s living in Manhattan, said she attended four parties at the mansion. She cannot recall the names of most of the men she met at the gatherings, not even those Mr. Epstein directed her to “take care of” at two of them. Recruited by Ms. Maxwell and then abused by Mr. Epstein, she buried her shame and kept their secrets for years. But Mr. Trump’s presence stood out, she told The Times. He was a household name, someone Mr. Epstein often bragged about to the women around him, yet also seemed to compete with.

“It was like a pissing contest — who had the most women,” she recalled. She requested anonymity to describe her experiences in detail, saying she feared for her family’s safety after Mr. Trump said some of his critics could be executed for sedition.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

sianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 7d

It's hard to find the words for how disgusting this is. It completely silences girls' experiences of male violence. It fails to recognise the importance of education for prevention. It ignores the drivers of men's violence. And it's racist.

Oh and for good measure, which party cut police numbers?

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Longbarrow Press @longbarrowpress.bsky.social · 8d

There's still time to order from us for Christmas delivery to Sheffield addresses (postcodes S1-S17), and we're happy to gift-wrap books, if you like, at no extra cost. Orders received by 23 December will be delivered - by hand, on foot - on or before 24 December.
longbarrowpress.com/current-publ...

'To the End of the Land', a text & audio collaboration between Martin Heslop & Helen Tookey, in pamphlet and CD editions.

Reposted by Timothy Snyder, Jan W. Mueller, Laurent Pech , and 4 more Timothy Snyder, Jan W. Mueller, Laurent Pech, Michael H. Whitworth, Jon Dean, Gerry Hassan, David Darmofal

Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 @judiciarydems.senate.gov · 8d

Sen. BLUMENTHAL: Was the U.S. Capitol attacked on January 6, 2021?

Trump nominee: *dodges*

Trump nominee: *dodges*

Trump nominee: Well, individuals entered the Capitol.

Blumenthal: You are in fear—how will you have the courage to be fair and impartial?

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 8d

Solo lockdown performance of Pat’s “Partytime,” May 2020

Partytime | Max Eider

YouTube video by tundraducks

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

King's CHoSTM @kingschostm.bsky.social · 8d

Want to study the history of science and technology? We're inviting applications for "1+3" year (MA+PHD) or 3-year PhD scholarships to study at CHoSTM and
@kingshistory.bsky.social !
Click here for more information about how to apply and what we offer: tinyurl.com/mw84w7py

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Alan Lester @alanlester.bsky.social · 8d

British conservatives who think this is just about a Panorama edit & alleged BBC ‘leftist’ bias need to realise before its too late that all the UK’s parties to the right of Labour are now intent on removing ANY independent media scrutiny: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 8d

Possibly the only English songwriter to have released a song in Japanese as a 7” single.

Max Eider: 心配しないで (Shinpai Shinaide – 'Don't Worry')

YouTube video by tundraducks