Jonathan Potter
@drjonpotter.bsky.social
Researches Victorian periodicals, visual culture, and literature. Teaches English lit. Probably the least online person you'll meet online.
Author of Discourses of Vision in C19th Britain: https://tinyurl.com/5bxvawy6
Author of Discourses of Vision in C19th Britain: https://tinyurl.com/5bxvawy6
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Next time you visit the Pre-Raphaelite galleries at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, keep an eye out for more information about my project, Victorian Art & Design and the Global!
More information available at: www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/about/what-w...
More information available at: www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/about/what-w...
November 8, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Next time you visit the Pre-Raphaelite galleries at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, keep an eye out for more information about my project, Victorian Art & Design and the Global!
More information available at: www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/about/what-w...
More information available at: www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/about/what-w...
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
SAVE GEOGRAPHY at Leicester University (UK) - We call on the University of Leicester to urgently reconsider the proposal to dissolve Geography. This is direct attack on the discipline of Geography at Leicester with likely loss of Geography staff. Please sign + share
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
November 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
SAVE GEOGRAPHY at Leicester University (UK) - We call on the University of Leicester to urgently reconsider the proposal to dissolve Geography. This is direct attack on the discipline of Geography at Leicester with likely loss of Geography staff. Please sign + share
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
STARSHIP TROOPERS was released 28 years ago today. Among the most popular films of director Paul Verhoeven, and a classic sci fi/action satire, the making of story is as outrageous as the film. Would you like to know more…?
1/69
1/69
November 7, 2025 at 11:41 AM
STARSHIP TROOPERS was released 28 years ago today. Among the most popular films of director Paul Verhoeven, and a classic sci fi/action satire, the making of story is as outrageous as the film. Would you like to know more…?
1/69
1/69
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
You may think this is an easy one, but what if you're a billionaire already planning to have retreated to an underground bunker in ten years, and need a technology which can persuade everyone else that everything is fine, really?
A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?
China has made cheap, clean energy available in huge quantities. The world should take the win econ.st/4oqFszB
Photo: Eyevine
Photo: Eyevine
November 7, 2025 at 8:54 AM
You may think this is an easy one, but what if you're a billionaire already planning to have retreated to an underground bunker in ten years, and need a technology which can persuade everyone else that everything is fine, really?
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
solidarity with all colleagues and students at Nottingham who are having their jobs and degrees destroyed by management. the relentless annihilation of language provision in UKHE is something that *every* academic should be calling out and pushing back against.
I am hearing that @uniofnottingham.bsky.social is suspending (i.e shutting down) *all modern language courses* in 2026-27. One of the largest departments in the UK. A shocking short sighted move that damages regional and national prospects @britishacademy.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 2:42 PM
solidarity with all colleagues and students at Nottingham who are having their jobs and degrees destroyed by management. the relentless annihilation of language provision in UKHE is something that *every* academic should be calling out and pushing back against.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
'mean-spirited'
November 6, 2025 at 11:30 AM
'mean-spirited'
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
The truly maddening thing is that, unlike when I was a young man in science and the materials and engineering just weren’t there yet, the future is *right there.* The problem is *solved*. What’s holding us back is not just greed, but this bizarre nostalgia, an obsession with petro- masculinity.
Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...
Australia has so much solar that it's offering everyone free electricity
Australia's extensive solar power penetration makes so much energy that the government wants to offer free electricity at peak hours.
electrek.co
November 6, 2025 at 2:08 PM
The truly maddening thing is that, unlike when I was a young man in science and the materials and engineering just weren’t there yet, the future is *right there.* The problem is *solved*. What’s holding us back is not just greed, but this bizarre nostalgia, an obsession with petro- masculinity.
David Olusoga was interviewed on the radio this morning and now I'm really looking forward to watching this.
Don’t forget to watch this much needed and long overdue series on the British Empire. Remarkably, it’s not based on the opinions of a travelling ‘personality’, but on what historians who’ve actually researched it say!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Two - Empire with David Olusoga, Series 1, Episode 1
David Olusoga tells the story of the beginnings of the British Empire under Elizabeth I.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
David Olusoga was interviewed on the radio this morning and now I'm really looking forward to watching this.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
It has been my duty as a historian to record how smelly Che Guevara was. Honestly one of the stinkiest dudes in history. He was immensely proud of this & once showed off a pair of underpants he’d been wearing for two months. They were so filthy, he won a bet that they could stand up by themselves.
I am listening to Red Heat, by @alexvont.bsky.social, and I am shocked by how shitty people the male protagonists of political events in Latin America and the Caribbean were in the cold war. And the idea of how bad Che Guevara must have smelt is chasing me in nightmares
November 6, 2025 at 2:49 PM
It has been my duty as a historian to record how smelly Che Guevara was. Honestly one of the stinkiest dudes in history. He was immensely proud of this & once showed off a pair of underpants he’d been wearing for two months. They were so filthy, he won a bet that they could stand up by themselves.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
For 61 years the #BBCWorldService has been broadcasting the latest in science via its weekly Science in Action programme. That dies in the next half hour, with this final edition, reflecting on the fall in trust in expertise driven by malign interests over recent years.
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
For 61 years the #BBCWorldService has been broadcasting the latest in science via its weekly Science in Action programme. That dies in the next half hour, with this final edition, reflecting on the fall in trust in expertise driven by malign interests over recent years.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Also good guidelines for life.
final project guidelines for both grad and undergrad seminars:
1. pick a topic you care about
2. don’t use ai
3. get smarter
1. pick a topic you care about
2. don’t use ai
3. get smarter
October 30, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Also good guidelines for life.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
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 Jonathan Potter
There is still time to enter the Midland History essay prize
£400 first prize and opportunity to publish in a peer reviewed journal
Closing date for entries 31 October 🎃
#phd #ecr #postgrad
£400 first prize and opportunity to publish in a peer reviewed journal
Closing date for entries 31 October 🎃
#phd #ecr #postgrad
To enter the Midland History Essay Prize, the essay must be a genuine work of original research, not published or accepted for publication as an article or a chapter in an edited collection book. Max. 10,000 words, including footnotes, tables and figure captions (2/2)
More Details 👇
More Details 👇
October 24, 2025 at 6:55 AM
In Grok we trust...
I really don't know what could be clearer evidence of Musk's intentions to fully shift from facilitating networks of actual human interaction to providing a one-way brainwashing service for fascism.
Musk: X will delete all heuristics from its recommendation system within six weeks. ...the familiar logic of likes, replies, and reposts that shaped Twitter for years is about to disappear. In its place, Grok, the platform's in-house Al model, will read and watch more than one hundred million posts.
October 27, 2025 at 11:34 AM
In Grok we trust...
I'm back teaching English lit after a very long break and I'm curious what critical texts people are using. For anyone happy to share, would love to hear your recs for close reading fiction/poetry in general and for the Victorians specifically. One from me below.
October 24, 2025 at 8:24 AM
I'm back teaching English lit after a very long break and I'm curious what critical texts people are using. For anyone happy to share, would love to hear your recs for close reading fiction/poetry in general and for the Victorians specifically. One from me below.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
We all know that the UK could have a well-funded university system without heaping debt on the heads of students, if politicians wanted it to.
That's the only thing to say, really. Every dysfunction is a choice. A choice made by politicians, not by lecturers or students.
That's the only thing to say, really. Every dysfunction is a choice. A choice made by politicians, not by lecturers or students.
October 20, 2025 at 5:40 PM
We all know that the UK could have a well-funded university system without heaping debt on the heads of students, if politicians wanted it to.
That's the only thing to say, really. Every dysfunction is a choice. A choice made by politicians, not by lecturers or students.
That's the only thing to say, really. Every dysfunction is a choice. A choice made by politicians, not by lecturers or students.
Really saddened to see this. Danya brought a kindness and passion to the chess world that will be very much missed. Always loved his videos/lessons/commentary, and never failed to be amazed by his talent and seemingly magical (to me at least) ability to calculate combinations.
GM Daniel Naroditsky passed away. He was a talented chess player, commentator, and educator. FIDE extends its deepest condolences to Daniel’s family and loved ones.
October 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Really saddened to see this. Danya brought a kindness and passion to the chess world that will be very much missed. Always loved his videos/lessons/commentary, and never failed to be amazed by his talent and seemingly magical (to me at least) ability to calculate combinations.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
A reminder that pg researchers and ECRs working in Romantic Studies in the UK are invited to apply for a Stephen Copley Research Award (valued up to £500)
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
Stephen Copley Research Awards – British Association for Romantic Studies
www.bars.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 8:52 AM
A reminder that pg researchers and ECRs working in Romantic Studies in the UK are invited to apply for a Stephen Copley Research Award (valued up to £500)
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
The late Stephen Copley supervised my PhD and I appreciate seeing his name live on like this
#Romanticism
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
This sounds great! The format could allow for some really timely, provocative work too.
New series just dropped! Victorian/ 19th C Global Anglophone folks, please take a look.
www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
www.cambridge.org/core/blog/20...
Elements in Victorian Literature, Science, and the Environment « Humanities# « Cambridge Core Blog
Many eco-scholars today have lamented our current tendency to soft denial. We acknowledge major environmental concerns such as climate change while continuing to go about our lives as if they don’t ex...
www.cambridge.org
October 17, 2025 at 9:27 AM
This sounds great! The format could allow for some really timely, provocative work too.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Reading a book from the university library and found this
October 16, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reading a book from the university library and found this
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Today is the birthday of both Nietzsche and Foucault, which means it should really be some kind of Continental philosophy holiday.
October 15, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Today is the birthday of both Nietzsche and Foucault, which means it should really be some kind of Continental philosophy holiday.
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
Reposted by Jonathan Potter
When Farage told the people of Clacton that he would spend his time working I imagine they thought it would be for them and not for 12 companies.
Twelve Jobs Nigel has earned over £1 million in additional income since the general election.
To understand the scale of it, since the July 2024 election he's earned roughly £100k more as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion than Starmer gets as PM.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...
To understand the scale of it, since the July 2024 election he's earned roughly £100k more as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion than Starmer gets as PM.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...
Nigel Farage earns over £1m from 12 'second jobs' - check how much your MP earns
The Reform UK leader's most lucrative second jobs include hosting on GB News, serving as a brand ambassador for Direct Bullion and recording videos for Cameo
www.mirror.co.uk
October 9, 2025 at 5:54 PM
When Farage told the people of Clacton that he would spend his time working I imagine they thought it would be for them and not for 12 companies.