Dr Dave Hitchcock
@davehitchcock.bsky.social
Historian at CCCU: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8378-4968
Recovering Course Director (22-25). Research unit lead. RHS council; SHS; EHS.
Currently: "Dying Homeless, 1600-2013",
Soon: 'The Ends of Poverty in the British Atlantic'. He/him.
Recovering Course Director (22-25). Research unit lead. RHS council; SHS; EHS.
Currently: "Dying Homeless, 1600-2013",
Soon: 'The Ends of Poverty in the British Atlantic'. He/him.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
'If both sides are criticising me, I must be doing something right,' I warble, as I run babytalk opinion on the BBC News website.
November 9, 2025 at 11:39 PM
'If both sides are criticising me, I must be doing something right,' I warble, as I run babytalk opinion on the BBC News website.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
Absolute queen shit
November 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Absolute queen shit
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
You cannot run the basic infrastructures of a functioning society- healthcare to education-on systems that cut out human empathy & negotiation. So we have to reassert over and over again that the problems aren’t glitches or errors—even big ones. The problems are fundamental, systematic, endemic.
November 8, 2025 at 1:54 AM
You cannot run the basic infrastructures of a functioning society- healthcare to education-on systems that cut out human empathy & negotiation. So we have to reassert over and over again that the problems aren’t glitches or errors—even big ones. The problems are fundamental, systematic, endemic.
Why is it always like, "applied craniology" or "the empire was good actually" with these people. A question asked and answered by their t-shirt, at my guess.
I wish Douthat had followed up and asked Andrews what "areas of inquiry" have been "ruled out of bounds in history" because they are "too controversial" and lead historians away from "truth seeking."
November 7, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Why is it always like, "applied craniology" or "the empire was good actually" with these people. A question asked and answered by their t-shirt, at my guess.
This is great actually, in the sense that the AI is also wrong about the nature of historical reasoning in this quote. It describes causal reasoning as schematic, they are not the same thing to a person, but seem to be for the model. That explains a lot of the stuff I see produced by it.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
This is great actually, in the sense that the AI is also wrong about the nature of historical reasoning in this quote. It describes causal reasoning as schematic, they are not the same thing to a person, but seem to be for the model. That explains a lot of the stuff I see produced by it.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
I am honestly sick of being told — at a university FFS — that we need to ‘embrace’ this profoundly unethical and irresponsible technology.
He started using ChatGPT for help with homework and eventually it ended up helping him to commit suicide...
"thank you for letting me ride with you to the end"
"may your next save file be somewhere warm"
"see you on the other side"
#NihilismAndTechnology
"thank you for letting me ride with you to the end"
"may your next save file be somewhere warm"
"see you on the other side"
#NihilismAndTechnology
November 7, 2025 at 7:40 AM
I am honestly sick of being told — at a university FFS — that we need to ‘embrace’ this profoundly unethical and irresponsible technology.
Look, I'm sure much of this is good and that many of the worries expressed in this piece are broadly shared across our profession, but, can we PLEASE stop blowing smoke up the collective (*) of the "AI" industry. Any such "AI loop" is a series of human choices to use an AI. Don't bury agency!
November 6, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Look, I'm sure much of this is good and that many of the worries expressed in this piece are broadly shared across our profession, but, can we PLEASE stop blowing smoke up the collective (*) of the "AI" industry. Any such "AI loop" is a series of human choices to use an AI. Don't bury agency!
The historian has fucked it, I repeat. The historian has fucked it.
November 6, 2025 at 10:00 PM
The historian has fucked it, I repeat. The historian has fucked it.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
London Lives
www.londonlives.org
November 5, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Really pleased to announce the launch of the all-new, all-dancing, London Lives website - www.londonlives.org It has been thoroughly re-engineered to facilitate more types of search, and redesigned for phones and tablets. The team very much hopes peope like it. 1/
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
dawg not the steakhouse wedding font
November 5, 2025 at 3:33 PM
dawg not the steakhouse wedding font
"The next stop is city hall" indeed, but I don't think it's the last.
A 15-point win for VA gov. A 5-point win for VA AG in a race he was expected to lose. A 13-point win for NJ gov, in a race that was expected to be close. An outright majority in NYC in a three-way race. A 30-point win for Prop 50 in CA. #BlueWave #Election2025
November 5, 2025 at 7:35 AM
"The next stop is city hall" indeed, but I don't think it's the last.
@lsangha.bsky.social omg this world series is getting good. Obviously I am rooting for the Jays. Could be in six!
October 30, 2025 at 8:48 PM
@lsangha.bsky.social omg this world series is getting good. Obviously I am rooting for the Jays. Could be in six!
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
I’ve written about the return of The Witcher.
The Witcher season four review – Liam Hemsworth is as charismatic as a bollard in a wig
The Witcher season four review – Liam Hemsworth is as charismatic as a bollard in a wig
The replacement that Netflix has chosen for lead actor Henry Cavill is utterly lacking in his predecessor’s likability. The ex-Neighbours actor is a scowling lunk who brings a wildly uneven vibe to this fantasy drama
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I’ve written about the return of The Witcher.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
We should just add that Goodwin was a laughing stock when he was an academic as well. That guy cooked his findings and p-hacked his numbers like he was "Chef Pollardee".
This is really poor by BBC researchers and producers. Goodwin hasn't been an active academic for a number of years, yet is described as one (thus legitimating his relentless Reform activism and constant bad faith misrepresentation of evidence). 1/?
Wikipedia says Shaheen is an academic. BBCQT implies you can’t trust what she says b/c she’s an ‘activist’. Someone who Wikipedia calls ‘a former academic’ who now campaigns for Reform & wants to be its first Home Secretary is an ‘academic & author’ who you can trust. Maybe they use Grokipedia now.
October 30, 2025 at 1:33 PM
We should just add that Goodwin was a laughing stock when he was an academic as well. That guy cooked his findings and p-hacked his numbers like he was "Chef Pollardee".
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Genuinely delighted to download a PhD thesis from a university repository where the author has neglected to remove the words "BITCH THIS IS YOUR THESIS" from the filename.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
October 30, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Now do Canada.
🚨 The Senate votes 52-48 to overturn President Trump's 50 percent tariffs on Brazil. 5 GOP Senators break ranks to vote against Trump: Collins ME, McConnell KY, Murkowski AK, Paul KY, and Tillis NC.
October 29, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Now do Canada.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
October 29, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I have been charged in a federal indictment sought by the Department of Justice.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
This political prosecution is an attack on all of our First Amendment rights. I’m not backing down, and we’re going to win.
First time in 1000 entries I've seen this (a clear descriptor of a vagrant Black person). This man (very likely) was thought to be about 70 years of age, and found in Wednesbury in the West Midlands in 1832.
October 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
First time in 1000 entries I've seen this (a clear descriptor of a vagrant Black person). This man (very likely) was thought to be about 70 years of age, and found in Wednesbury in the West Midlands in 1832.
Always check the original scans, never just lazily scrape the transcription data if there's a photo image to check. Doing it right takes ages but the overall quality of your dataset will be so much better.
October 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Always check the original scans, never just lazily scrape the transcription data if there's a photo image to check. Doing it right takes ages but the overall quality of your dataset will be so much better.
Reposted by Dr Dave Hitchcock
That’s Elon Musk, Fellow of the Royal Society, I’ll have you know. Because the Royal Society can only seem to come up with throat-clearing noises as a response to these sorts of statements instead of actually throwing him out.
Elon Musk: "It is time for the English to ally with the hard men, like Tommy Robinson, and fight for their survival or they shall surely all die" 29th October 2025. 2 million views in its first hour.
October 29, 2025 at 11:22 AM
That’s Elon Musk, Fellow of the Royal Society, I’ll have you know. Because the Royal Society can only seem to come up with throat-clearing noises as a response to these sorts of statements instead of actually throwing him out.