Olga Byrska
@obyrska.bsky.social
PhD researcher in post-WW2 intellectual history at the @EUI_EU. Teaching history at @sciencespo Reims campus. Sometimes making theatre. 🏳️🌈 she/her
📍Paris/Warsaw/elsewhere
📍Paris/Warsaw/elsewhere
And tomorrow at Warsaw's Drama School, I am curating a student performance based on fragments of plays by one of the best Polish theatre writers, Jola Janiczak. Stay tuned!
February 16, 2026 at 1:46 PM
And tomorrow at Warsaw's Drama School, I am curating a student performance based on fragments of plays by one of the best Polish theatre writers, Jola Janiczak. Stay tuned!
Yikes. Giving the platform to an alt-right, 'neo-reactionary' 'philosopher', or just a propagandist... I hope that people from the panel will boycott him or pull off altoghether.
Curtis #Yarvin, der "reactionary fascist" (JD Vance), tritt nicht nur bei den Identitären in Wien auf, sondern auch auf dieser von Ivan Krastev kuratierten Tagung in Schloss Elmau, neben @leaypi.bsky.social, Eva Illouz, Dan Diner und @quinnslobodian.com.
www.schloss-elmau.de/kultur/sympo...
www.schloss-elmau.de/kultur/sympo...
February 13, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Yikes. Giving the platform to an alt-right, 'neo-reactionary' 'philosopher', or just a propagandist... I hope that people from the panel will boycott him or pull off altoghether.
There are losses that are hard to describe, and this book is for those who seek some understanding of this impossibility. An incredible read.
February 12, 2026 at 7:21 PM
There are losses that are hard to describe, and this book is for those who seek some understanding of this impossibility. An incredible read.
Reposted by Olga Byrska
Hello, new followers, thanks to whom I figured out I was quoted in @timeshighered.bsky.social! Apart from complaining about the current state of academic funding, I'm slouching towards finishing a PhD on post-WW2 revolutions and reconstructions, and making theatre on the side.
‘Brutal’ success rate for European postdoctoral fellowships
Only 9.6 per cent of applicants awarded coveted Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowships, with many postdoctoral researchers saying the programme has become too competitive
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Hello, new followers, thanks to whom I figured out I was quoted in @timeshighered.bsky.social! Apart from complaining about the current state of academic funding, I'm slouching towards finishing a PhD on post-WW2 revolutions and reconstructions, and making theatre on the side.
Brilliant episode of @lrb.co.uk’s podcast On Politics with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @ethanshone.bsky.social, Mandelson, but above all—networks of influence and how the power is being constructed via those networks. A must!
February 11, 2026 at 10:42 AM
Brilliant episode of @lrb.co.uk’s podcast On Politics with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @ethanshone.bsky.social, Mandelson, but above all—networks of influence and how the power is being constructed via those networks. A must!
Hello, new followers, thanks to whom I figured out I was quoted in @timeshighered.bsky.social! Apart from complaining about the current state of academic funding, I'm slouching towards finishing a PhD on post-WW2 revolutions and reconstructions, and making theatre on the side.
‘Brutal’ success rate for European postdoctoral fellowships
Only 9.6 per cent of applicants awarded coveted Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowships, with many postdoctoral researchers saying the programme has become too competitive
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:24 AM
Hello, new followers, thanks to whom I figured out I was quoted in @timeshighered.bsky.social! Apart from complaining about the current state of academic funding, I'm slouching towards finishing a PhD on post-WW2 revolutions and reconstructions, and making theatre on the side.
Brutal numbers on Marie Curie Fellowships: over 17 000 applications, with success rate dropping to below 10%. For a scholarship of 2-3 years only, no matter how prestigious, it only shows how impossible academia has become.
February 10, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Brutal numbers on Marie Curie Fellowships: over 17 000 applications, with success rate dropping to below 10%. For a scholarship of 2-3 years only, no matter how prestigious, it only shows how impossible academia has become.
Just sayin'
Bad Bunny has a consulting historian. news.wisc.edu/pop-star-bad...
Pop star Bad Bunny needed a Puerto Rican history scholar. UW–Madison had just the one.
Bad Bunny collaborated with UW–Madison history professor Jorell Meléndez-Badillo on Puerto Rican narratives that accompany the new album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
news.wisc.edu
February 9, 2026 at 9:10 AM
Just sayin'
Democracy dies in billionaire's hands
INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.
February 4, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Democracy dies in billionaire's hands
Last month's @financialtimes.com article discussed economists facing a recession, but in this image you can also see the bad news for historians (and this graph concerns only the US...). Yes, I am looking for work outside of academia these days (and open to offers!)
www.ft.com/content/eb08...
www.ft.com/content/eb08...
February 4, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Last month's @financialtimes.com article discussed economists facing a recession, but in this image you can also see the bad news for historians (and this graph concerns only the US...). Yes, I am looking for work outside of academia these days (and open to offers!)
www.ft.com/content/eb08...
www.ft.com/content/eb08...
Flammarion republie "Imperium" par Ryszard Kapuściński, un reportage sur l’URSS à travers de décennies. à lire, absolutement !
February 4, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Flammarion republie "Imperium" par Ryszard Kapuściński, un reportage sur l’URSS à travers de décennies. à lire, absolutement !
For German speakers!
Germany | Goethe-Institut Fellowship at the documenta archiv 2026 | ASEF culture360
Goethe-Institut and documenta archiv | documenta und Museum Fridericianum gGmbH are calling for applications from international scholars, artists, and curators to participate in the fellowships from M...
culture360.asef.org
February 1, 2026 at 9:24 AM
For German speakers!
Reposted by Olga Byrska
Looking for a postdoc opportunity outside the UK/US? I'm happy to support up to two JSPS postdoc applicants for the coming round for two-year posts starting from Sep./Oct. 2026 onwards at UTokyo. The application to be submitted before the end of March. 1/n
January 29, 2026 at 9:26 AM
Looking for a postdoc opportunity outside the UK/US? I'm happy to support up to two JSPS postdoc applicants for the coming round for two-year posts starting from Sep./Oct. 2026 onwards at UTokyo. The application to be submitted before the end of March. 1/n
Reposted by Olga Byrska
For friends with an EU passport but not a French one, living in #Paris: you can vote in the upcoming municipal elections! You have to register, though (till 4th of February). More details here:
#municipales
#municipales
Municipales 2026 : comment s’inscrire sur les listes électorales ? | info.gouv.fr
Pour voter aux élections municipales 2026, l’inscription sur les listes électorales est obligatoire. Quelles sont les démarches ? Quels sont les justificatifs nécessaires ? Quels sont les délais ? Voi...
www.info.gouv.fr
January 27, 2026 at 11:50 AM
For friends with an EU passport but not a French one, living in #Paris: you can vote in the upcoming municipal elections! You have to register, though (till 4th of February). More details here:
#municipales
#municipales
As I put in the comment: The upcoming (yet another) reform of higher education in Poland is apparently aiming at setting the upper age limit for full-time positions at the university, but I also fear it will only make HE institutions not to hire anyone instead, as they are already starving.
'If the aim of having mandatory retirement ages for academics is to improve job prospects for young people, there needs to be more effective and non-discriminatory ways to achieve this, researchers say.'
Should professors be forced to retire?
Some universities are implementing a mandatory retirement age for academics. Will it help young researchers to get permanent positions?
www.nature.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:30 AM
As I put in the comment: The upcoming (yet another) reform of higher education in Poland is apparently aiming at setting the upper age limit for full-time positions at the university, but I also fear it will only make HE institutions not to hire anyone instead, as they are already starving.
Worth watching.
In just a few days, the Dollar has crashed through the bottom end of the range it was in for all of H2 2025. This is the second sharp decline in less than a year and follows that of April 2025 after the chaos of reciprocal tariffs. This is doing damage...
robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/dollar-col...
robinjbrooks.substack.com/p/dollar-col...
January 27, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Worth watching.
For friends with an EU passport but not a French one, living in #Paris: you can vote in the upcoming municipal elections! You have to register, though (till 4th of February). More details here:
#municipales
#municipales
Municipales 2026 : comment s’inscrire sur les listes électorales ? | info.gouv.fr
Pour voter aux élections municipales 2026, l’inscription sur les listes électorales est obligatoire. Quelles sont les démarches ? Quels sont les justificatifs nécessaires ? Quels sont les délais ? Voi...
www.info.gouv.fr
January 27, 2026 at 11:50 AM
For friends with an EU passport but not a French one, living in #Paris: you can vote in the upcoming municipal elections! You have to register, though (till 4th of February). More details here:
#municipales
#municipales
among rare good news these days
January 26, 2026 at 2:18 PM
among rare good news these days
“She always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.” (Mrs Dalloway)
Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf, born #OTD in 1882.
Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf, born #OTD in 1882.
January 25, 2026 at 3:41 PM
“She always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.” (Mrs Dalloway)
Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf, born #OTD in 1882.
Happy birthday to Virginia Woolf, born #OTD in 1882.
Reposted by Olga Byrska
Every three months or so, I try to do a deep dive into what's been published recently in the anglophone academic and non-fiction spheres, and get the most interesting (for me) books. Only now I saw Lois Shearing' very timely book, published at @manchesterup.bsky.social. Can't wait to read it!
January 24, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Every three months or so, I try to do a deep dive into what's been published recently in the anglophone academic and non-fiction spheres, and get the most interesting (for me) books. Only now I saw Lois Shearing' very timely book, published at @manchesterup.bsky.social. Can't wait to read it!
Every three months or so, I try to do a deep dive into what's been published recently in the anglophone academic and non-fiction spheres, and get the most interesting (for me) books. Only now I saw Lois Shearing' very timely book, published at @manchesterup.bsky.social. Can't wait to read it!
January 24, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Every three months or so, I try to do a deep dive into what's been published recently in the anglophone academic and non-fiction spheres, and get the most interesting (for me) books. Only now I saw Lois Shearing' very timely book, published at @manchesterup.bsky.social. Can't wait to read it!
Finally a moment to take a breath. (this is Warsaw's National Library, one of the prettiest and comfiest ones I have ever worked in!)
January 23, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Finally a moment to take a breath. (this is Warsaw's National Library, one of the prettiest and comfiest ones I have ever worked in!)
Happy birthday to Antonio Gramsci, born #OTD in 1891. His thoughts on hegemony, intellectuals, and revolutions made him one of the most inspiring and important philosophers and political theorists — and the patron of my PhD.
January 22, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Happy birthday to Antonio Gramsci, born #OTD in 1891. His thoughts on hegemony, intellectuals, and revolutions made him one of the most inspiring and important philosophers and political theorists — and the patron of my PhD.
Trump sharing Macron’s texts is just like all of us sharing printscreens of this douchebag of a person we once dated 💀
January 20, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Trump sharing Macron’s texts is just like all of us sharing printscreens of this douchebag of a person we once dated 💀
BTW, fellow #skystorians, if you need any photos from the Polish National Library's archives but can't travel, let me know! I'm here till the 30th of January and can still find a couple of hours to work on it.
January 20, 2026 at 9:54 AM
BTW, fellow #skystorians, if you need any photos from the Polish National Library's archives but can't travel, let me know! I'm here till the 30th of January and can still find a couple of hours to work on it.