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drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
Kate So
@drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
6.6K followers 2.3K following 230 posts
Above all, pluviophile 🌧️ 📙Freelance book detective 🕵️‍♀️Health and Heritage ♥️ 👩‍🏫Cataloguing enthusiast 📚Medical humanities nerd 💊Away with the faeries🧚‍♀️
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Reposted by Kate So
annacusack.bsky.social
If anyone needs a freelance researcher in London (or across the UK), I'm your person!
I've reasonable rates, lots of archive experience & great recommendations from academics globally. I'm only teaching 1 module this term, as the job market is what it is. Therefore, I'm open to all work. DM me!
October 3, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Kate So
annacusack.bsky.social
Just your periodic reminder that there is an early modern pub night once a month for PhDs and ECRs and anyone else who'd like to join in London. If you'd like to be added to the mailing list please DM me.
Woodcut of four individuals around a table which has tankards of ale on it and a candle in a candle stick. One individual on the right as you look at the image is smoking a pipe and standing. The others are sitting. They are dressed in late Elizabethan or early Stuart clothings with some hats with feathers. One individual may be a woman the other three are male.
October 27, 2025 at 8:34 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
How it started vs how it’s going

Happy three year anniversary to my lovely @alfredso.bsky.social ! Our elopement was one of the best days of my life.

Thankfully he’s never dragged me away from a museum (especially not my fav @surgeonshall.bsky.social), or I wouldn’t have made it down the aisle!
Distracted boyfriend meme THE SURGEONS’ HALL MUSEUM ME (distracted boyfriend looking at surgeons hall museum) ROMANTIC HOLIDAY WITH My boyfriend (looking at ‘me’) Kate in her wedding dress leaning away from her husband towards the surgeons hall museum. Her husband holds her by one arm to tug her away
October 27, 2025 at 8:59 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
Mum? Can you come pick me up? The ‘we are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn’ girlie pops are being really fucking weird again. This is so gross.

Besides, everyone knows the true challenge would a PB chest press challenged called ‘More weight’.
Advert for a salem themed walking challenge with the tag line ‘walk virtually in Salem and lose weight’
October 26, 2025 at 8:09 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
It’s finally cold, which means it’s the perfect weather for layering up on couch with a hot water bottle and blanket and eat super cold chunky ice cream. Sensory heaven.
a small dog wrapped in a blanket on a bed .
ALT: a small dog wrapped in a blanket on a bed .
media.tenor.com
October 26, 2025 at 6:05 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
Just spent five minutes googling whether these little robot guys actually existed or whether I had a key stage 2 fever dream
A ‘roamer’ robot with a tag saying ‘easily the best part about primary school’
October 25, 2025 at 10:50 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
One of the best things about accompanying my husband to his medical work events is he always goes 'This is Kate. She works with old books. Guys, did you know that wearing gloves when handing manuscripts is A LIE?'
October 23, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Kate So
jessemlocker.bsky.social
Flemish painter Catarina Ykens II, mostly known for still her lifes, puts the EEK in Ykens in this memento mori. Signed and dated: "Catharina ykens. filia Devota f. 1688" (Phoebus Foundation, Antwerp).
A painted bust of a woman whose head is a skull, adorned by flowers and a bird pecking at a branch
October 23, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Kate So
drlindseyfitz.bsky.social
Fellow immigrants: if you are on the ILR visa and citizenship is available to you, please consider locking that down before a disastrous Reform electoral win, which would outstrip many of us of our rights. Anyone who thinks this isn't a possibility isn't paying attention to global politics.
robfordmancs.bsky.social Rob Ford @robfordmancs.bsky.social · 23d
A policy this expansive would certainly mean mass stripping of permanent residence status from people with ILR (including pensioners and parents of British children) on a scale far beyond anything any democracy has ever done before. There is no public support for such an extreme policy.
jdportes.bsky.social Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 23d
Via @sundersays.bsky.social the Conservatives' draft legislation - absolutely clear that it applies to (and is intended to apply to) legal permanent residents claiming state pension (on the basis of their contributions) or child benefit for British kids.

publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbi...
October 22, 2025 at 8:21 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
I miss my girl Tallulah so much. I love how her St Tallulah tattoo is on my dog petting arm, so I can pass on a blessing with each pat.
A beagle sitting on a wooden floor. Kate’s right hand reaches down to pet the dog, showing a tattoo of her late dog, Tallulah, with a halo A small whippet cross with big ears sat on an orange rug A dog with large ears sat on a chair at a dining table
October 22, 2025 at 9:15 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
Gives me the ick to see social media history girlies do press with Rylan. They preach empathy and ethics in the portrayal of history + the representation of marginalised people and then do press with someone who recently said very awful things towards refugees. Empathy pending 70+ years post death??
October 18, 2025 at 7:38 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
I hope the parents who dress their babies up in fluffy animal clothes understand their positive impact on my life 🙏
October 15, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Kate So
drkarrschmidt.bsky.social
Boo!
Happy looking ghost annotation at the top right of a printer page.
October 14, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Reposted by Kate So
drlindseyfitz.bsky.social
Tomorrow: DEAD ENDS comes out in the US! Aimed at kids aged 8-12, @tealcartoons.bsky.social and I think everyone will love this grisly romp through medical history. Please consider ordering a copy, and enjoy the weird stories we've uncovered that prove failure is essential to scientific progress.
drlindseyfitz.bsky.social Dr Lindsey Fitzharris @drlindseyfitz.bsky.social · Oct 9
When does death begin?

In the 18th century, no one could agree—some said when the pulse stopped, others when the body began to rot. Out of that debate came a century of strange experiments on severed heads.

Learn more in our kids’ book DEAD ENDS (w/ @tealcartoons.bsky.social): shorturl.at/FS3nd
A cartoon by Adrian Teal that depicts a guillotine and a severed head, with a modern-looking doctor holding a stethoscope to the head. The cover of DEAD ENDS featuring a cartoon man being electrocuted back to life
October 13, 2025 at 4:29 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
So great to be back at The North Wing to celebrate its reopening and the hard work of the teams who made it all happen. 💕 ✨
Kate standing at the top of the Hogarth Staircase looking at the painting of the Pool of Bethesda on the wall opposite her
October 10, 2025 at 9:19 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
If in The Lost Boys you turn into a half vampire by drinking vampire blood and then a full vampire by drinking human blood, why couldn’t David give Michael his blood wine and then at another point give him wine with human blood in it?
a woman is sitting in a chair holding a cup of coffee with the words let 's talk written below her
Alt: Lucy, the mum from Lost Boys, is sitting in a chair holding a cup of coffee with the words let 's talk written below her
media.tenor.com
October 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Reposted by Kate So
drdanielletw.bsky.social
Job Opportunity!

Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World
King's College London - Department of History

Fixed-Term/Contract
Closes: 13th October 2025

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOU182/l...
Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World at King's College London
Recruiting now: Lecturer in the History of Early Modern Europe and the World on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board
www.jobs.ac.uk
October 7, 2025 at 1:07 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
I’m going to make the best autumnal soup 🥣 🍁
An assortment of squashes, mini pumpkins and sweet potatoes
September 29, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Reposted by Kate So
djrgrey.bsky.social
Fantastic #openaccess article 📄 by @dralanagharris.bsky.social & Laura Mitchison in Transactions @royalhistsoc.org on disability, ethics, public history, photography & oral history: Essential read for any of us doing public engagement work on sensitive histories. 🌟

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Us and Them: Disability Ethics, Oral History and Inclusive Praxis in the Reuse of Asylum Photography | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core
Us and Them: Disability Ethics, Oral History and Inclusive Praxis in the Reuse of Asylum Photography
www.cambridge.org
September 23, 2025 at 9:28 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
Thesis? Submitted! The next few days will be spent reading spooky books.❤️❤️ I debated sharing I’d submitted because I’m so unsure about the Viva, but honestly if that goes badly I’ll be talking about it publicly too. Success comes in all forms and on its own timeline. Celebrate the little wins!
Acknowledgments I am grateful to be a recipient of LAHP/AHRC funding, which has opened a world of opportunity and academic, professional, and personal growth that would otherwise remain unavailable to me. As part of this doctoral funding, I was able to undertake a placement at the Royal College of Physicians London library, which was a dreamy six months under the tutelage of Dr Katie Birkwood and the wider RCP team. This thesis would not be possible without the expertise of Information Professionals. The names of those who made significant contributions are present in the body of my thesis, where they should be. This journey was by no means solitary, nor did it start with the PhD. I am indebted to many wonderful tutors who supported my enthusiasm for all things books. I would like to thank the late Dr Nora Bartlett, Dr Abi Shinn, Dr Katie Garner, and Dr Olivia Smith. This thesis is also indebted to Dr Matt Symonds and Dr Robyn Adams and their colleagues at the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters. I am also grateful to Dr Hannah Leah Crummé for her insights on Recusant receipts. A special thank you goes to Dr Daniel Starza Smith for convening the remarkable MA now known as Books That Matter at KCL. Not only did this MA light my brain on fire (in a good way), but also gave me a ready-made community of peers, some of whom have become the truest of friends. I am extremely grateful for the patience and guidance of my supervisory team made up of Prof Jane Gilbert, Prof Alison Shell, and Dr Debbie Lee. They also quickly identified that I may have dyslexia, confirmation of which has been a soothing balm on a lifetime of frustration and self-doubt. Sam Brown and Dr Grace Murray have been the most steadfast of PhD pals throughout my thesis, but they have been a boon towards the end. Together they have gently but firmly steered me towards the finish line with kind words, even kinder feedback, and an extremely generous number of coffees. Their co-founding of the online Miscell…
September 28, 2025 at 7:37 PM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
There is nothing more beautiful than science and research offering new possibilities of treatment for diseases that have previously been seen as untreatable.
julienhoez.eu Julien Hoez @julienhoez.eu · Sep 24
One of the cruellest and most devastating diseases known to humanity, Huntington's disease, has been successfully treated for the first time in our history.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that could transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.
www.bbc.com
September 25, 2025 at 10:30 AM
drsoandsoresearch.bsky.social
'A politician is the devil's quilted anvil; He fashions all sins on him, and the blows are never heard' Duchess of Malfi (1612) 💅
September 23, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Reposted by Kate So
drlindseyfitz.bsky.social
There's a lot of bad in the world right now. But @tealcartoons.bsky.social and I have a new kids' book coming out called DEAD ENDS that reminds us that failure isn't just inevitable but essential to success. There are a limited number of SIGNED copies from @mysteriousbookshop.com - shorturl.at/1A9CS
A photo of the cover of DEAD ENDS featuring a cartoon of a doctor zapping a patient in a coffin back to life. There are signed book plates and medical oddities all around the book.
September 23, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Kate So
zanzjan.bsky.social
For anyone concerned there may be something to the Tylenol-autism BS, I present:
Graph showing that GMO use in corn in the US correlates to global pirate attacks, courtesy of Spurious Correlations, tylervigen.com
September 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Reposted by Kate So
greenleejw.bsky.social
It's 1100. You're a peasant in Harmston, England. Congrats! It's a fine place to live. But at what cost?

Eels. That's what. Each spring, the village owes Earl Hugh 75,000 eels in rent. So every fall your life becomes all about the eels.*

Welcome to Harmston. Here's your net.
🗃️🧪
Meme. Medieval colored drawing showing a figure in a small boat with a large green fish attached to his head. The figure is likely a man, but this is uncertain. His name is even less certain, but we'll call him Yedward. He is wearing a long orange shirt, and is paddling his boat across a body of blue water. There are clouds int eh background. Yedward might have been wearing a hat at some point, but if he was, the fish has eaten it. He seems very concerned, and you would too. That fish is no joke. The fish has it's jaws around Yedward's head, and is arching its back so far that its tail will soon touch the top of its head. It's fins are thrust out, and it looks very graceful. It's unfair to name the man but not the fish, so we'll call her Merwena. She was raised on tales of Jonah & Moby Dick, & longs to be like her literary heroes. She's going to eat this man if it takes all day. He can't paddle forever. Especially with a hole in his head. Meme text reads: "It's gonna be a long fall"
September 23, 2025 at 2:40 PM