Matthew Sweet
@drmatthewsweet.bsky.social
Writer, broadcaster, Barbara Cartland fan
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
The Society invites applications for the following three funding programmes, with deadlines 23 to 31 January 2026 bit.ly/3LbxDQb
> RHS Workshop Grants
> Applied History Fellowships, in association with @ihr.bsky.social
> Fellowships, for completion of a History PhD, also with the IHR
#Skystorians
> RHS Workshop Grants
> Applied History Fellowships, in association with @ihr.bsky.social
> Fellowships, for completion of a History PhD, also with the IHR
#Skystorians
Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: current programmes - RHS
The Society currently invites applications for the following six schemes — open to historians across a range of career stages and backgrounds — with closing dates from 23 January to 6 March 2026. For ...
bit.ly
January 5, 2026 at 9:47 AM
The Society invites applications for the following three funding programmes, with deadlines 23 to 31 January 2026 bit.ly/3LbxDQb
> RHS Workshop Grants
> Applied History Fellowships, in association with @ihr.bsky.social
> Fellowships, for completion of a History PhD, also with the IHR
#Skystorians
> RHS Workshop Grants
> Applied History Fellowships, in association with @ihr.bsky.social
> Fellowships, for completion of a History PhD, also with the IHR
#Skystorians
This breaks a link with the deep past. It was a privilege to know Faith Clarke, whose great-grandfather, Wilkie Collins (born 1824) is my great literary love. She was a shrewd & generous keeper of his legacy. Her maiden name, Dawson, was a fiction invented by Wilkie for his “morganatic family”.
January 5, 2026 at 8:35 AM
This breaks a link with the deep past. It was a privilege to know Faith Clarke, whose great-grandfather, Wilkie Collins (born 1824) is my great literary love. She was a shrewd & generous keeper of his legacy. Her maiden name, Dawson, was a fiction invented by Wilkie for his “morganatic family”.
Kudos to the kid who instead of booing Carabosse shouted BURN HER
January 4, 2026 at 6:47 PM
Kudos to the kid who instead of booing Carabosse shouted BURN HER
Beautiful brutalist Basildon
January 4, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Beautiful brutalist Basildon
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
Fascinating. And obv it gives the lie to the old "Nobody could have imagined that home video recorders would come along" excuse for junking.
An absolute favourite bit of lunancy. Some people dancing to incidental music from The Moonbase in 1966.
January 3, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Fascinating. And obv it gives the lie to the old "Nobody could have imagined that home video recorders would come along" excuse for junking.
Been reading this again after 20 years. Breathtakingly, pitilessly brilliant.
January 3, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Been reading this again after 20 years. Breathtakingly, pitilessly brilliant.
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
Just sold a book which I described in 2022 as "the missing Barbara Pym episode of Blakes 7". I'm sure you know the book I mean
January 3, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Just sold a book which I described in 2022 as "the missing Barbara Pym episode of Blakes 7". I'm sure you know the book I mean
Felt strangely at home here
January 2, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Felt strangely at home here
The new Traitors seems to have found lots of ways to clutter and block its own drama. Coincidence handed it something amazing on a plate. And it didn’t have time to make anything of it. And some of the contestants seem to be speaking in trailer sound bites. Hmm.
January 2, 2026 at 12:14 PM
The new Traitors seems to have found lots of ways to clutter and block its own drama. Coincidence handed it something amazing on a plate. And it didn’t have time to make anything of it. And some of the contestants seem to be speaking in trailer sound bites. Hmm.
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
So much truth. And controversial view: for me one of the key differences between radio programmes and podcasts is that radio programmes rarely make me shout GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER IN THE PUB I WASN’T THERE
January 2, 2026 at 9:36 AM
So much truth. And controversial view: for me one of the key differences between radio programmes and podcasts is that radio programmes rarely make me shout GET THE FUCK ON WITH IT I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAID EARLIER IN THE PUB I WASN’T THERE
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
Happy New Year! 🇬🇧 Bonne année! 🇫🇷 The Garlic&Pearls podcast is back, starting 2026 as we mean to go on, with Gallic rectitude, and with me telling @suzanneraine.bsky.social about LA DICTÉE - how dictation, a school spelling test, became a FRENCH OBSESSION and SYMBOL OF FRENCHNESS! Tune in!
January 2, 2026 at 6:29 AM
Happy New Year! 🇬🇧 Bonne année! 🇫🇷 The Garlic&Pearls podcast is back, starting 2026 as we mean to go on, with Gallic rectitude, and with me telling @suzanneraine.bsky.social about LA DICTÉE - how dictation, a school spelling test, became a FRENCH OBSESSION and SYMBOL OF FRENCHNESS! Tune in!
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
On iPlayer now, campy noir fans! 88 minutes of crackling genius
January 1, 2026 at 6:42 PM
On iPlayer now, campy noir fans! 88 minutes of crackling genius
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
In Agadoo did Kubla Khan
Push pineapples, shake the tree
Push pineapples, shake the tree
January 1, 2026 at 5:37 PM
In Agadoo did Kubla Khan
Push pineapples, shake the tree
Push pineapples, shake the tree
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
For 2026, History Book Club meetings will take place bimonthly.
Our first two books are...
- NONFICTION – The Wrath to Come by Sarah Churchwell
- FICTION – The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Sign up here: histfest.org/history-book... 📚
For 2026, History Book Club meetings will take place bimonthly.
Our first two books are...
- NONFICTION – The Wrath to Come by Sarah Churchwell
- FICTION – The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Sign up here: histfest.org/history-book... 📚
January 1, 2026 at 6:46 PM
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
For 2026, History Book Club meetings will take place bimonthly.
Our first two books are...
- NONFICTION – The Wrath to Come by Sarah Churchwell
- FICTION – The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Sign up here: histfest.org/history-book... 📚
For 2026, History Book Club meetings will take place bimonthly.
Our first two books are...
- NONFICTION – The Wrath to Come by Sarah Churchwell
- FICTION – The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Sign up here: histfest.org/history-book... 📚
Happy burek to you
January 1, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Happy burek to you
Excellent. I fully expect to see an increase in the solution of baffling murder cases.
“This year there was a net increase of about 90 shops in the UK selling significant numbers of second-hand books, taking the overall total to about 1,375, probably the highest number there has ever been.”
wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2025/12/seco...
wormwoodiana.blogspot.com/2025/12/seco...
Second-Hand Bookshops in Britain: 2025 Report
This year there was a net increase of about 90 shops in the UK selling significant numbers of second-hand books, taking the overall total ...
wormwoodiana.blogspot.com
January 1, 2026 at 9:28 AM
Excellent. I fully expect to see an increase in the solution of baffling murder cases.
South London pub culture
December 31, 2025 at 2:18 PM
South London pub culture
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
Just sold a wedding card to an urgent man who was wearing the full wedding regalia. Do people get married on NYE?
December 31, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Just sold a wedding card to an urgent man who was wearing the full wedding regalia. Do people get married on NYE?
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
For 2026. Big bundle of my BBC radio work releasing on Audible and most other audio platforms, June 18th. Essentially a boxed set, if downloads came in boxes. Eight Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramas.
Chimera & other thrillers
A collection of suspense-filled thrillers from master of the genre Stephen Gallagher
A listening treat for fans of gripping drama: eight thrillers, plus a bonus story, from ‘the finest British write...
www.penguin.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 12:22 PM
For 2026. Big bundle of my BBC radio work releasing on Audible and most other audio platforms, June 18th. Essentially a boxed set, if downloads came in boxes. Eight Full-Cast BBC Radio Dramas.
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
Great stuff, well worth your time.
December 29, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Great stuff, well worth your time.
Reposted by Matthew Sweet
How does Moscow view Donald Trump at the end of 2025? One Russian paper today: “The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World…he sees Europe as a liberal stronghold to be destroyed…” #ReadingRussia youtu.be/7EwZNk6KgHU
"Russian industry has entered a perfect storm" warns Russian paper.
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
youtu.be
December 29, 2025 at 7:44 AM
How does Moscow view Donald Trump at the end of 2025? One Russian paper today: “The US leader’s philosophy is closer to the values of Russia’s president, not the politicians of the Old World…he sees Europe as a liberal stronghold to be destroyed…” #ReadingRussia youtu.be/7EwZNk6KgHU
On BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds today, 11am. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - What Happened to Progress?, Forward Thinking
From technology to the climate to the global order, has human progress gone into reverse?
www.bbc.co.uk
December 29, 2025 at 8:08 AM
On BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds today, 11am. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
It pleases me that the Palladium panto has a song in it with a joke about Nigel Havers being in a provincial tour with Rula Lenska
December 27, 2025 at 10:38 PM
It pleases me that the Palladium panto has a song in it with a joke about Nigel Havers being in a provincial tour with Rula Lenska