Andre Keil
@andrekeil.bsky.social
#Historian, #football enthusiast and participating observer. Lecturer in Modern European History. Opinions here strictly my own!
Why am I not surprised? AI-generated reconstructions of ancient Rome turn out to be full of errors - France 24
AI-generated reconstructions of ancient Rome turn out to be full of errors
A number of videos and images created by artificial intelligence that claim to accurately depict ancient Rome have been circulating online. However, these images are far from historically accurate, sa...
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December 17, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Why am I not surprised? AI-generated reconstructions of ancient Rome turn out to be full of errors - France 24
On the same day, Trump sues the Beeb. The whole state visit was for nothing, really.
Very interesting development in UK/US relations...
The US has paused its promised £31bn investment into British tech over trade disagreements, marking a serious setback - by
@ecourea.bsky.social 👇
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The US has paused its promised £31bn investment into British tech over trade disagreements, marking a serious setback - by
@ecourea.bsky.social 👇
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
US puts £31bn tech ‘prosperity deal’ with Britain on ice
Pledge to invest billions in UK paused, with Washington citing lack of progress on trade barriers across pond
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2025 at 6:17 PM
On the same day, Trump sues the Beeb. The whole state visit was for nothing, really.
This is very good news for young people!
UK to rejoin EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme
Exclusive: British students will be able to participate in EU-wide scheme from January 2027, sources say
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2025 at 6:15 PM
This is very good news for young people!
Lithuania's GDP per capita is now just 10% lower than that of the UK (c. $53,000). Given the trajectory of both countries, it's not unlikely that Lithuania (and soon many other CEE countries) will overtake Britain. The stereotype of the poor and underdeveloped "East" should be consigned to the past.
GDP per capita has doubled in all three Baltic states since 2000—
Since 2000, GDP per capita has doubled in all three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (where it has nearly tripled).
Since 2000, GDP per capita has doubled in all three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania (where it has nearly tripled).
December 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Lithuania's GDP per capita is now just 10% lower than that of the UK (c. $53,000). Given the trajectory of both countries, it's not unlikely that Lithuania (and soon many other CEE countries) will overtake Britain. The stereotype of the poor and underdeveloped "East" should be consigned to the past.
I might be a cynic, but maybe, in the end, Brexit was all about making it more difficult for young, educated people to leave Britain for greener shores in Europe (rather than keeping immigrants out)? Like a kind of invisible "Berlin Wall"...
New post just out:
"The Overshoot"
Net migration is collapsing, and will fall further over the coming years. We could even have net emigration.
What does that mean for the country and the political narrative as we head towards the next election?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
"The Overshoot"
Net migration is collapsing, and will fall further over the coming years. We could even have net emigration.
What does that mean for the country and the political narrative as we head towards the next election?
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The Overshoot
What happens to politics, and the country, as net migration collapses?
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:07 AM
I might be a cynic, but maybe, in the end, Brexit was all about making it more difficult for young, educated people to leave Britain for greener shores in Europe (rather than keeping immigrants out)? Like a kind of invisible "Berlin Wall"...
I wrote a book review (as I do so often) on Ute Frevert's #history of emotions in modern #Germany. The publisher gave me some free eprints, so you can read it as well without a paywall.
The Power of Emotions: A History of Germany from 1900 to the Present
Published in Cultural and Social History: The Journal of the Social History Society (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Spending this rainy Sunday morning watching the classic 1971 Get Carter with Michael Caine. But being the historian that I am, I got sidetracked by the Juvenile Jazz Band (Pelaw Hussars) that appears halfway through the film. Turns out that they are an amazing part of British working-class history.
Tish Murtha: Juvenile Jazz Bands, Newcastle, 1979
In the 1970s, juvenile jazz bands thrived in the working-class towns and villages of the UK coalfields. For those unfamiliar with juvenile jazz bands,
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December 14, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Spending this rainy Sunday morning watching the classic 1971 Get Carter with Michael Caine. But being the historian that I am, I got sidetracked by the Juvenile Jazz Band (Pelaw Hussars) that appears halfway through the film. Turns out that they are an amazing part of British working-class history.
VAR taketh, VAR giveth... Wirtz with a strong game for Liverpool tonight. Deserved win!
December 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM
VAR taketh, VAR giveth... Wirtz with a strong game for Liverpool tonight. Deserved win!
I got a pleasant early #xmas surprise today. The first printed copies of my new book have arrived! It's available for pre-order now and officially comes out on 22 January '26: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dictators...
December 9, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I got a pleasant early #xmas surprise today. The first printed copies of my new book have arrived! It's available for pre-order now and officially comes out on 22 January '26: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dictators...
The catastrophic funding crisis of #highereducation is unfortunately not limited to the UK. #German universities are facing severe financial issues, with some institutions reducing student numbers and degree programmes by 20%.
(S+) Sparmaßnahmen an Hochschulen: Welche Studiengänge und Fächer bedroht sind
Viele Bundesländer müssen derzeit sparen, auch in der Bildung. Es droht das Aus für Studiengänge, Studienplätze und ganze Forschungsfelder. Was das für Studierende bedeutet.
www.spiegel.de
December 6, 2025 at 10:41 AM
The catastrophic funding crisis of #highereducation is unfortunately not limited to the UK. #German universities are facing severe financial issues, with some institutions reducing student numbers and degree programmes by 20%.
That Village People performance was a fitting end to this draw.
December 5, 2025 at 7:17 PM
That Village People performance was a fitting end to this draw.
Today, I learned that the #German version of The #Traitors is called "Werwölfe" (Werwolfs). And I am not sure what to make of it... 🤔
Trailer: Werwölfe · Das Spiel von List und Täuschung - hier anschauen
Psychologische Finesse, strategische Cleverness und ein hohes Maß an Spannung sorgen für Gänsehautmomente in dieser neuen Reality-Gameshow.
13 Menschen mit außergewöhnlichen Fähigkeiten treten in ein...
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December 4, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Andre Keil
Zehntausende Überlebende der NS-Verbrechen in der Ukraine sind durch den russischen Angriffskrieg bedroht. Das @hilfsnetzwerk.bsky.social sammelt schnell & direkt Spenden, um ihnen Wärme und ein Gefühl von Sicherheit in diesem vierten Kriegswinter zu geben hilfsnetzwerk-nsverfolgte.de/spendenaufruf/
Spenden für Überlebende der NS-Verfolgung in der Ukraine
Unterstützen Sie die Überlebenden der NS-Verfolgung in der Ukraine. Das Hilfsnetzwerk aus Gedenkstätten und Erinnerungsinitiativen ruft zu Spenden auf, um dringend benötigte Hilfe zu leisten.
hilfsnetzwerk-nsverfolgte.de
December 2, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Zehntausende Überlebende der NS-Verbrechen in der Ukraine sind durch den russischen Angriffskrieg bedroht. Das @hilfsnetzwerk.bsky.social sammelt schnell & direkt Spenden, um ihnen Wärme und ein Gefühl von Sicherheit in diesem vierten Kriegswinter zu geben hilfsnetzwerk-nsverfolgte.de/spendenaufruf/
Negligible and not worth the amount of money thrown at it. (Not to mention the state-sanctioned theft of intellectual property and destruction of the livelihoods of writers, artists, and creators).
AI will boost the economy, the OBR forecast, except... "Our analysis suggests AI will likely provide a smaller boost to productivity growth over the next five years than the ICT revolution did before 2008."
November 26, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Negligible and not worth the amount of money thrown at it. (Not to mention the state-sanctioned theft of intellectual property and destruction of the livelihoods of writers, artists, and creators).
Listening to Kemi Badenoch's response was deeply unpleasant. Her tone and the personal attacks on Reeves were quite undignified.
November 26, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Listening to Kemi Badenoch's response was deeply unpleasant. Her tone and the personal attacks on Reeves were quite undignified.
Since people seem to post takes on #ww2 #films, this is my recommendation: "Die Brücke" (1959) tells the story of school boys thrown into the final days of the war and killed in a futile battle. Probably the most important #German anti-war film ever made alongside "All Quiet on the Western Front".
Die Brücke (film) - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 24, 2025 at 12:09 PM
You wonder where they will get their Hattori Hanso sword from...
November 20, 2025 at 4:09 PM
You wonder where they will get their Hattori Hanso sword from...
This is probably closer to the reality of using AI in higher education than the cloud-cuckoo-land fantasy that is sold to students (and academics!) by some people.
‘We could have asked ChatGPT’: students fight back over course taught by AI
Staffordshire students say signs material was AI-generated included suspicious file names and rogue voiceover accent
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:53 AM
This is probably closer to the reality of using AI in higher education than the cloud-cuckoo-land fantasy that is sold to students (and academics!) by some people.
Wow... Musk's Grok AI bot dishing out the most horrendous kind of Holocaust denial. If this wasn't in French but in English, it would be a much bigger scandal.
November 19, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Wow... Musk's Grok AI bot dishing out the most horrendous kind of Holocaust denial. If this wasn't in French but in English, it would be a much bigger scandal.
"Among the reasons cited by analysts for the Social Democrats’ decline in Copenhagen were voter fatigue over the prime minister’s hardline policies on issues such as integration and immigration, which have partly inspired a newly unveiled asylum and migration policy in Britain."
Social Democrats in Denmark suffer sweeping election losses
PM Mette Frederiksen’s centre-left party loses control of Copenhagen for first time in more than 100 years
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:03 PM
"Among the reasons cited by analysts for the Social Democrats’ decline in Copenhagen were voter fatigue over the prime minister’s hardline policies on issues such as integration and immigration, which have partly inspired a newly unveiled asylum and migration policy in Britain."
Reposted by Andre Keil
We must copy Denmark Social Democrats' hardline anti-asylum measures in order to win back voters' trust, says Shabana Mahmood.
Meanwhile in Denmark:
Meanwhile in Denmark:
November 19, 2025 at 11:27 AM
We must copy Denmark Social Democrats' hardline anti-asylum measures in order to win back voters' trust, says Shabana Mahmood.
Meanwhile in Denmark:
Meanwhile in Denmark:
Haters gonna hate... but I really like the new Ken Burns series. Always have liked his documentaries, especially the ones on baseball and country music. Make of that what you will.
November 17, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Haters gonna hate... but I really like the new Ken Burns series. Always have liked his documentaries, especially the ones on baseball and country music. Make of that what you will.
Reposted by Andre Keil
Brilliant to see the exciting work of our very own @malcolmcraig.bsky.social receiving such interest. Surely, the downloads will be in the 100s now!
Gee whizz! My article on Twilight 2000 in the Journal of American studies is now the most read piece over the last 3 months, despite it only being available for a couple of weeks. That's kind of terrifying! Thanks so much to everyone who's taken the time to engage with it!
doi.org/10.1017/S002...
doi.org/10.1017/S002...
November 17, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Brilliant to see the exciting work of our very own @malcolmcraig.bsky.social receiving such interest. Surely, the downloads will be in the 100s now!