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drbeard79.bsky.social
Dr Andrew McInnes
@drbeard79.bsky.social
4.4K followers 3.8K following 4.6K posts
Hopeless Romanticist, childless cat dad, and coffee addict (he/him)
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
drreznicek.bsky.social
So grateful to @emilybstanback.bsky.social for this blurb: "Reznicek offers a compelling...of the national tale, calling attention to the foundational ways that concepts of health, illness, and disability have been used to define national identity" www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10....
Tales of Health: Illness, Disability, and Citizenship in the Romantic National Tale | Home
Ebook available to libraries as part of
www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk
February 9, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
johannawinant.bsky.social
CALL FOR PITCHES

@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.

We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.

Details below!
Close Reading Is For Everyone Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant Call for Pitches Based on our previous Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century, we are at work on a new version that’s shorter, slimmer, and aimed at a more general audience. We’re looking for a new set of contributors who would write excellent, brief, model close readings of texts that high schoolers might know and care about. Think: “The Gettysburg Address,” Macbeth, and Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” but also song lyrics, idioms, or even a visual image. What is your best, most instructive, most exciting, most welcoming example of how a close reading builds a real argument out from a tiny, perhaps overlooked detail? If you’re interested in pitching us, please send us your 250-word close reading of the text you propose. Your close reading should be mappable using our vocabulary of close reading: the five steps of scene setting, noticing, local claiming, regional argumentation, and global theorizing. (Our close reading of “The Red Wheelbarrow” in the early pages of our introduction is the sort of thing we’re seeking.) If we think we can use yours, we’ll ask you to expand it to a 1,200 word essay in which you explain how your close reading works step by step. We seek close readings both of texts that are canonical and also ones that aren’t. And so we invite contributors both from the discipline of literary studies, and other disciplines across the university, and the public humanities beyond it. Send your pitches—please include your name and contact info—to daniel.sinykin@emory.edu and jwinant@reed.edu by March 15.
February 9, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
canisargentum.bsky.social
one of the few bad bunny facts i know is his incorporation of said toad in his music led to a boost in awareness and popularity and therefore funding for conservation projects for it! my local zoo has been helping w it for a while and talked about it!

share.google/SqYuqRVsLEmp...
Bad Bunny champions endangered Puerto Rican toad, gives Brookfield Zoo’s conservation efforts a boost
A chatty amphibian starring in videos for Bad Bunny’s recent album has launched the Puerto Rican crested toad into newfound fame, following years of quiet, collaborative conservation efforts …
share.google
February 9, 2026 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
svanimpe.bsky.social
Meanwhile, in an alternate universe where voters chose chaos with Ed Milliband...
a cartoon drawing of a bird laying in a field of daisies
Alt: a cartoon drawing of a bird laying in a field of daisies
media.tenor.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
imcmillan.bsky.social
Crow
On a branch
Like a
Goth
In a bedsit
February 7, 2026 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social
#Baturday 🦇:
#Bat Weight (for weighing gold dust)
Akan culture, West Africa, 19th c.
brass lost-wax casting
Muséum de Toulouse MHNT ETH.2010.25.042 commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ak...
#AfricanArt
photo of the object on black background small gold weight in the form of a bag with wings spread open “This weight is a multiple of the weight of the Abrus precatorius seed (0.14 to 0.19 g), which served as a reference for all weighing. Gold was very important in the economic and political life of the Akan kingdoms of southern Ghana and Ivory Coast. Until the mid-19th century, gold dust was the main form of currency in the region. In order to measure precise quantities of gold, a complex system of weights, usually made of cast brass, developed in the seventeenth century. Beyond this utilitarian function, gold weights often allude to political power, reproducing royal attributes in miniature, as well as to certain virtues, such as wisdom, which is generally accompanied by proverbs. Today, the national currency has replaced the precious metal, and this weight system has not been in use since the beginning of the 20th century.”
February 8, 2026 at 4:59 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
bars.bsky.social
Call for Contributions: 'To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry', a special issue of Brontë Studies, edited by @drbeard79.bsky.social

500-word abstracts due by 1st April. More details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6317
Screenshot of a website. The text reads: Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group Submit a Manuscript to the Journal Brontë Studies For a Special Issue on To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry Abstract deadline 01 April 2026 Manuscript deadline 15 December 2026
February 8, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
zugenia.bsky.social
Yes
drbeard79.bsky.social Dr Andrew McInnes @drbeard79.bsky.social · 1d
Muppet Agnes Grey

Florence Pugh is the only human actress

All of the horrible children are played by Miss Piggy or Animal

Snap, her lovely terrier, is a new Muppet specially designed for the film

When, Disney+, when!?
My battered copy of Agnes Grey - sinfully I tried and failed to read it a few years ago and have since spilled a blueberry brioche on it - featuring a young woman in black with a fuck my life expression sitting in shadow and some brightly dressed children looking delighted with themselves ignoring her
February 8, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
bars.bsky.social
The Eighteenth-Century Ecologies Network (@e-cen.bsky.social) will be hosting their inaugural seminar online and in-person at Heslington Hall, Uni of York on 26th Feb at 5pm! Dr Jeremy Davies (Leeds) will present on 'Continuity and Change in Eighteenth-Century Environmental Culture’.
Poster for the ECEN Inaugural Seminar: Dr. Jeremy Davies (Leeds), 'Continuity and Change in Eighteenth-Century Environmental Culture' Thursday 26" February, 2026 Heslington Hall, University of York (H/G21) and Online 17:00-19:00 GMT Please jown us for the inaugural seminar of the ECEN, in which Dr. Jeremy Davies of the University of leeds will address us on 'Continuity and Change in Eighteenth-Century Environmental Culture? From 17:00 to 19:00 GMT, both here at Heslington Hall and over a Zoom link which will be provided nearer the time, Dr. Dayies will speak on the Georgic mode, the rise of the machine, and Romantic green onsciousness. We are incredibly excited to welcome a scholar as important to the field, and to our own work, as Dr. Davies, and hope that as many of you as possible will be able to jormus, and enjoy what promises to be a brilliant paper and a lively discussion! Visit us at: https://hzj520.wixsite.com/eighteenth-century-e
February 8, 2026 at 6:18 PM
drbeard79.bsky.social
I would like ‘full speed ahead to uber-woke, net-zeroist, rejoinerism’ on a T-shirt, please.

And on a probably Green Party poster.

And a manifesto.
tpgroberts.bsky.social Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 1d
Yes, god help we risk a floundering government that feels like no one is in charge.
Morgan McSweeney does have some fans in the Parliamentary Labour Party, of course. One MP says they are "devastated" he has left. Another warns it represents "full speed ahead to uber-woke, net-zeroist, rejoinerism". An MP who has been through several general elections when the tide was against Labour says of colleagues: "Good luck to all these careerists when they face an election without someone like Morgan at the helm. "Some of us are old enough to remember the Corbyn era with no one in charge and the party floundering."
February 8, 2026 at 6:26 PM
drbeard79.bsky.social
Muppet Agnes Grey

Florence Pugh is the only human actress

All of the horrible children are played by Miss Piggy or Animal

Snap, her lovely terrier, is a new Muppet specially designed for the film

When, Disney+, when!?
My battered copy of Agnes Grey - sinfully I tried and failed to read it a few years ago and have since spilled a blueberry brioche on it - featuring a young woman in black with a fuck my life expression sitting in shadow and some brightly dressed children looking delighted with themselves ignoring her
February 8, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
metalclassicist.bsky.social
Happy Superb Owl Sunday!
My holding a large Eurasian eagle owl.
February 8, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
angelawright1794.bsky.social
Delighted to receive the hard copy of Jimmy Packham’s fabulous Coastal Gothic, 1719-2020 from our Cambridge Elements in the Gothic
@dalegothic96.bsky.social
@jfpackham.bsky.social
@universitypress.cambridge.org
Coastal Gothic, 1719-2020 by Jimmy Packham
January 27, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
davidhiggins.bsky.social
Fine array of snowdrops at the churchyard in Harewood this morning. Hawfinches didn’t show while I was there. But I did see the Iceland gull (lifer) at Roundhay Park earlier.

Needed some quiet birding this morning as I am currently at a very noisy trampoline park for a kids’ party...
Old gravestones surrounded by snowdrops. Bare trunks and a yew tree in the background.
February 8, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
augustaquarius.bsky.social
CFP: Monster Media Conference

University of Edinburgh

18-19 June 2026 (abstracts due 15 March 2026)

call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2026/01/...
cfp | call for papers
call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu
February 5, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
drnwillburger.bsky.social
For #SuperbOwlSunday a gorgeous armed #owl, depicted on a Greek vessel, dating 5th century BC.

📷Louvre, Paris
A Greek vessel with an armed owl, wearing helmet, shield, and a lance.
February 8, 2026 at 7:01 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
drbibliomane.bsky.social
And here is Joan Hassall's 1973 wood engraving illustration to Austen's "Love and Freindship"--presumably picturing Laura and Sophia, as they faint alternately on the sofa
Wood engraving of Regency ladies with especially unkempt hair running mad/fainting, whatever.
February 8, 2026 at 1:55 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
“Heavy rains that often fall in February have flooded the low-lying meadows in the broad valley.”
‘What to Look for in Winter’, 1959
Artist: CF Tunnicliffe
Writer: EL Grant Watson
Flooded fields under a leaden sky, a scene that could be the Somerset Levels
February 8, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
nationaltrust.org.uk
It’s #NationalSnowdropDay! Snowdrops, also known by the botanical name Galanthus, are one of the first plants to flower in the new year.

‘Drifts’ of snowdrops make for spectacular photos. Like this display at The Weir Garden, Herefordshire.
A bank covered in small whit snowdrops. The sky is blue with fluffy white clouds. Although bright the image gives a slightly cold, wintry feel. A bank that leads down to a river which is fenced off. Across the bank are hundreds of white snowdrop flowers. It is a slightly overcast day A pathway with snowdrops on either side. They are blooming beautifully creating a snow-like covering across the grass.
February 8, 2026 at 8:02 AM
drbeard79.bsky.social
This is very funny
My post from yesterday reading: Left: what I think I look like at conferences Right: what I actually look like at conferences With Rizzo in a suit vs Rizzo wielding a pizza In response to • Adam Rothman aced... @adamr... • 17h I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference. With a reply from Cheese Queen with an avatar of the pizza-wielding Rizzo reading Cheese Queen @ratczarina.bsky.s... • 15h hey Write your reply
February 8, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
clairewillett.bsky.social
the magic of the Muppets is that there are two fourth walls. they constantly break the one that reminds the audience they are performers. they NEVER break the one that reminds the audience they are puppets. this dynamic is the key to their entire comedy style
markpopham.bsky.social abraconagra @markpopham.bsky.social · 1d
MY KIDS: so why are there muppets in the AUDIENCE

ME: THE CONCEIT!! IS THAT THEY'RE PUTTING ON A VARIETY SHOW!!! IN A WORLD WHERE MUPPET AND HUMAN COEXIST!!! YOU ARE WATCHING A DOCUMENTARY!! FILMED!! IN REAL TIME!!!
February 8, 2026 at 6:22 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
imcmillan.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Early stroll soundtrack: The New Music Show, one of my favourite shows of the week. Great to hear a new piece by Alex Paxton. So much to listen to, so little time! @bbcsounds.bsky.social
New Music Show - Too Much Is Never Enough - BBC Sounds
Kate Molleson presents exclusive recordings including Alex Paxton's Shrimp BIT Babyface.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 6:23 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
ashmoleanmuseum.bsky.social
Today we’re bringing you this charming print by Ohara Koson.

Koson was a Japanese painter and woodblock print designer. He was famous as a master of bird-and-flower designs and was a prolific artist, creating around 500 print designs during his lifetime.

🦆 EA1957.81
A colour woodblock print of a diving mallard, you can see the duck both above and below the water
February 7, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
weratedogs.com
This pup found a stick shaped like an old timey pipe earlier today and has already solved three mysteries. 13/10
a brown wire-haired pup stands on a wooden deck in a grassy yard. he looks at us with golden eyes and his right ear flipped inside out. he has a pipe-shaped stick in his mouth, giving him the appearance of a sophisticated and dapper gentleman. just give him a deerstalker cap and a cloak, and he'd give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money.
February 4, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Dr Andrew McInnes
alicebennett.bsky.social
pleased to report that we’ve managed to reclaim half the sofa for human bums after giving the cat the option to shelve herself
a black and white cat sitting on a grey knitted cushion on a bookshelf behind an orange sofa
February 7, 2026 at 6:29 PM