Julia Laite
@julialaite.bsky.social
Teller of small stories. Professor of history at Birkbeck. Rider of bikes, grower of vegetables, Brook custodian & friend to five ducks. Townie Cantabrigian. Eternally homesick Newfoundlander; researching the island's history & the legacies of empire.
Pinned
Julia Laite
@julialaite.bsky.social
· Jun 27
The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey
Lydia Harvey was meant to disappear. She was young and working class; she'd walked the streets, worked in brothels, and had no money of her own. In 1910, politi
blackwells.co.uk
Hello new followers! If you like small histories of women surviving against the patriarchal odds, are interested in the history of trafficking, and are a nerd for historical details, then my book might be for you!
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
The local news back home has a tradition at midnight to wish Happy New Year to every tiny community in Newfoundland. We used to gather by the TV and drunkenly shout every place & cheer when we came to one we're connected to.
Happy new year all! Pretend I'm drunkenly shouting each of your names.
Happy new year all! Pretend I'm drunkenly shouting each of your names.
January 1, 2026 at 11:37 AM
The local news back home has a tradition at midnight to wish Happy New Year to every tiny community in Newfoundland. We used to gather by the TV and drunkenly shout every place & cheer when we came to one we're connected to.
Happy new year all! Pretend I'm drunkenly shouting each of your names.
Happy new year all! Pretend I'm drunkenly shouting each of your names.
Mission accomplished.
December 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Mission accomplished.
Drop of snow down in Gander, I 'llows.
December 28, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Drop of snow down in Gander, I 'llows.
Take my money, Morning Moustache.
Some local kids write & sell their own newspaper called The Morning Moustache every few months. Last edition, I wrote a letter to the editor about a fruit & veg safari. This edition, they printed the letter & followed up with some replies from the editorial team. An extremely fun correspondence.
December 28, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Take my money, Morning Moustache.
Annual birthday visit to my favourite oak tree, who reminds me that I'm really not so old, after all.
December 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Annual birthday visit to my favourite oak tree, who reminds me that I'm really not so old, after all.
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuC...
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuC...
December 25, 2025 at 5:12 PM
In a life of hardship and of earthly toil
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuC...
There's a need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure
And I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKuC...
Merry Christmas from me and my duck friends!
December 25, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Merry Christmas from me and my duck friends!
Ten months ago, someone asked me if I wanted a disco ball on the streets of London and I managed to get it home on my bike. No regrets.
December 24, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Ten months ago, someone asked me if I wanted a disco ball on the streets of London and I managed to get it home on my bike. No regrets.
Happy Tibb's Eve everyone! share.google/JZ9WXmqlQKzJ...
December 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Happy Tibb's Eve everyone! share.google/JZ9WXmqlQKzJ...
My favourite thing about this holiday season is hearing about food traditions and observing my own. Here's the most important one: Newfoundland salt fish cakes (or just fish cakes, as we call them). Start with salt cod (ideally caught and made for you by Kevin Toope, fish maker extraordinaire)...
December 22, 2025 at 6:27 PM
My favourite thing about this holiday season is hearing about food traditions and observing my own. Here's the most important one: Newfoundland salt fish cakes (or just fish cakes, as we call them). Start with salt cod (ideally caught and made for you by Kevin Toope, fish maker extraordinaire)...
A blessed solstice to you all. May you find light in the darkness.
December 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
A blessed solstice to you all. May you find light in the darkness.
Reposted by Julia Laite
Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women.
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
Reconsidering Violence Against Women through the History of a Refuge for Trans Women
Abstract. Both right-wing forces and gender-critical feminists currently frame cis and trans women’s needs as fundamentally different and conflicting. Viol
academic.oup.com
December 19, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Here, for @historyworkshop.org.uk I discuss the history of a refuge for trans women.
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
I show women’s shared experiences of violence across the spectrum of cis and trans.
I highlight histories of solidarity against male violence by feminists and trans women.
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
As Francois Verges compels us to ask: who cleans (and cares for) the world? The answer is pretty clear. Sending out my own personal thanks to the many migrants who have cared for me and my family in the NHS on this #InternationalMigrantsDay
Today is #InternationalMigrantsDay, and a chance to celebrate the contribution of migrant nursing staff to the profession and to patient care.
Without your dedication, our health and care system would cease to function. Explore our resources for international members ➡️ https://bit.ly/3XFjH3k
Without your dedication, our health and care system would cease to function. Explore our resources for international members ➡️ https://bit.ly/3XFjH3k
December 18, 2025 at 1:30 PM
As Francois Verges compels us to ask: who cleans (and cares for) the world? The answer is pretty clear. Sending out my own personal thanks to the many migrants who have cared for me and my family in the NHS on this #InternationalMigrantsDay
I've just realised how beautifully inclusive and simple a very commonly used turn of phrase is, which perhaps it does not get credit for: 'Loved Ones'. It can be anyone: blood relations, chosen family, friends, pets. Isn't it perfect? I've never really thought about it before now.
December 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I've just realised how beautifully inclusive and simple a very commonly used turn of phrase is, which perhaps it does not get credit for: 'Loved Ones'. It can be anyone: blood relations, chosen family, friends, pets. Isn't it perfect? I've never really thought about it before now.
Lola's work on this seriously under-examined aspect of HIV/AIDS and sex work history in the UK is so important, and I'm so happy to see it in print!
New article out 🎉 Drawing on my PhD research, I explore the construction of the 'prostitute' and the 'client' within England's AIDS Policy in the late 1980s.
Published with the @sshmedicine.bsky.social and now available to read here (though sadly not open access!):
#histmed #histsex #AIDShistory
Published with the @sshmedicine.bsky.social and now available to read here (though sadly not open access!):
#histmed #histsex #AIDShistory
The ‘Prostitute’ and the ‘Client’ in the Making of England’s AIDS Policy
Abstract. This paper explores the state’s evolving discourse on prostitution and sexual health during the ‘crisis years’ of England’s HIV epidemic. Analysi
academic.oup.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Lola's work on this seriously under-examined aspect of HIV/AIDS and sex work history in the UK is so important, and I'm so happy to see it in print!
Reposted by Julia Laite
We are at the stage of British politics where David Lammy and Keir Starmer are seemingly willing to let hunger strikers in prison die. The situation is extremely concerning. They have been in prison, without trial, for over a year.
www.instagram.com/p/DSVg7zFiOi...
www.instagram.com/p/DSVg7zFiOi...
December 17, 2025 at 10:05 PM
We are at the stage of British politics where David Lammy and Keir Starmer are seemingly willing to let hunger strikers in prison die. The situation is extremely concerning. They have been in prison, without trial, for over a year.
www.instagram.com/p/DSVg7zFiOi...
www.instagram.com/p/DSVg7zFiOi...
Reposted by Julia Laite
My mother just referred to loose leaf tea as 'live tea' ("You can steep that in a mug, it's not live tea") and I think I'm going to use this from now on.
December 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
My mother just referred to loose leaf tea as 'live tea' ("You can steep that in a mug, it's not live tea") and I think I'm going to use this from now on.
Yup.
If you tell your voters over and over that you hate them and repeatedly emphasise that you oppose their politics and are working to destroy them, replacing them with the horrific politics of a different electoral bloc, then those people will stop voting for you. The end.
December 17, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Yup.
Reposted by Julia Laite
For your collective delectation this holiday season:
Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!)
loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!)
loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
Jingle Bells (Batman Smells): an incomplete festive folk-rhyme taxonomy
Gather round the fire, everyone, and let me tell you a story. It has everything you could want in a Christmas blockbuster: superheroes and villains, a car crash, children singing, a mystery to solv…
loreandordure.com
December 16, 2025 at 5:06 PM
For your collective delectation this holiday season:
Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!)
loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
Quite possibly the silliest thing I've ever written (and definitely the most ridiculous graph I've ever made!)
loreandordure.com/2025/12/16/j...
Well, if you're a sailor or a shepherd in the UK this morning I think you should probably take warning.
December 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Well, if you're a sailor or a shepherd in the UK this morning I think you should probably take warning.
My mother just referred to loose leaf tea as 'live tea' ("You can steep that in a mug, it's not live tea") and I think I'm going to use this from now on.
December 16, 2025 at 9:04 PM
My mother just referred to loose leaf tea as 'live tea' ("You can steep that in a mug, it's not live tea") and I think I'm going to use this from now on.
Looking for something for folks who have everything? Why not treat them to an independent news media subscription! Democracy and citizenship starts with local news and are sustained by good journalism at all levels. I'm giving the gift of the Newfoundland Independent! theindependent.ca
The Independent
The Independent is Newfoundland and Labrador’s premiere outlet for progressive ideas and dialogue, and we do it without the corporate funding that other media outlets depend on.
theindependent.ca
December 16, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Looking for something for folks who have everything? Why not treat them to an independent news media subscription! Democracy and citizenship starts with local news and are sustained by good journalism at all levels. I'm giving the gift of the Newfoundland Independent! theindependent.ca
Quite frankly, this is what I've come to expect from Springer.
Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest academic publishers, has been caught using fake AI-generated citations in their textbooks
Publisher under fire after ‘fake’ citations found in AI ethics guide
A book published by Springer Nature includes dozens of questionable citations, including references to journals that do not exist
www.thetimes.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:18 AM
Quite frankly, this is what I've come to expect from Springer.
How to host the perfect Christmas dinner, according to my mother in 1988:
-outsource dessert to grandma
-guard kitchen like a cop so no one can eat the turkey skin
-make sure it involves Tur (a seabird that tastes like fishchicken)
-boil some vegetables
-accept that they'll eat it all in 5 minutes
-outsource dessert to grandma
-guard kitchen like a cop so no one can eat the turkey skin
-make sure it involves Tur (a seabird that tastes like fishchicken)
-boil some vegetables
-accept that they'll eat it all in 5 minutes
December 14, 2025 at 10:27 AM
How to host the perfect Christmas dinner, according to my mother in 1988:
-outsource dessert to grandma
-guard kitchen like a cop so no one can eat the turkey skin
-make sure it involves Tur (a seabird that tastes like fishchicken)
-boil some vegetables
-accept that they'll eat it all in 5 minutes
-outsource dessert to grandma
-guard kitchen like a cop so no one can eat the turkey skin
-make sure it involves Tur (a seabird that tastes like fishchicken)
-boil some vegetables
-accept that they'll eat it all in 5 minutes
Winter sunset in the park, part two.
December 13, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Winter sunset in the park, part two.