Richard Carr
@richardcarr.bsky.social
https://www.routledge.com/Britain-and-Ireland-from-the-Treaty-to-the-Troubles-Independence-and-Interdependence-c-1921-1973/Carr/p/book/9781032879871
History/politics lecturer. My views only.
Books about British-Irish relations, Blair/Clinton, Chaplin etc
History/politics lecturer. My views only.
Books about British-Irish relations, Blair/Clinton, Chaplin etc
Pinned
Richard Carr
@richardcarr.bsky.social
· Feb 14
Britain and Ireland from the Treaty to the Troubles: Independence and Interdependence, c. 1921-1973
Using extensive and fresh archival material, this book places the relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland after 1921 in a new light, encouraging us to rethink the dominant narrative of con...
www.routledge.com
My book on Britain and Ireland from the 1920s to the early 1970s is now available to pre-order (sure, given the price, very likely for an institutional library - but hey, flag it up).
Trade, tariffs, and sovereignty - so very current. Also marriage and migration.
www.routledge.com/Britain-and-...
Trade, tariffs, and sovereignty - so very current. Also marriage and migration.
www.routledge.com/Britain-and-...
Reposted by Richard Carr
Can anyone *imagine* what would have happened if it had become public, at the height of the financial crisis, that Mandelson was leaking to Wall Street, and advising bankers to threaten his own Government? To stop a tax on bankers' bonuses!
Would the Government have fallen?
Would the Government have fallen?
February 4, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Can anyone *imagine* what would have happened if it had become public, at the height of the financial crisis, that Mandelson was leaking to Wall Street, and advising bankers to threaten his own Government? To stop a tax on bankers' bonuses!
Would the Government have fallen?
Would the Government have fallen?
Great listen this. Even if it gets four listeners, I want that teased REF deep dive too.
I've been busy this week... third and last, I've been talking on the @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social podcast. A bit about my book, a lot about the disaster now unfolding in Britain's universities. It's an hour, but it's fun: www.podmasters.co.uk/oh-god-what-...
Oh God, What Now? Podcast | Podmasters
Oh God, What Now? combines top-quality guests, expert analysis and poor-quality jokes to make the unbearable bearable. Launched from the anti-Brexit movement in 2017, Oh God, What Now? is on a mission...
www.podmasters.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 6:17 PM
Great listen this. Even if it gets four listeners, I want that teased REF deep dive too.
Did the Battersea Power Station lift panoramic view thing with great Cinnamon Kitchen lunch. Lift thing began with a weird propaganda video talking about the rebuild. “This could have been a theme park! It could have been a football ground! But it’s a… [shopping centre/luxury flats].” Weird pay off.
February 3, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Did the Battersea Power Station lift panoramic view thing with great Cinnamon Kitchen lunch. Lift thing began with a weird propaganda video talking about the rebuild. “This could have been a theme park! It could have been a football ground! But it’s a… [shopping centre/luxury flats].” Weird pay off.
Ok this looks a cool gig
Job opportunity: 18 month fellowship in British Studies working @ihr.bsky.social to undertake own research and prep for NACBS2027 @thenacbs.bsky.social
www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Jacob Price Fellowship in British Studies (18 month FTC):London Senate House - Hybrid
The University of London is both the UK’s largest provider of international distance and online learning and the convenor of a federation of 17 renowned higher education institutions.
www.jobs.london.ac.uk
February 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Ok this looks a cool gig
Reposted by Richard Carr
I mean, Kid Rock, sure, that’s their one guy. The rest I assume are a genAI response to the prompt “make up some plausible names for generic right-wing American entertainers”
Turning Point USA has announced the performers for their alternative Super Bowl halftime show:
Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett
Kid Rock, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, and Gabby Barrett
February 2, 2026 at 8:45 PM
I mean, Kid Rock, sure, that’s their one guy. The rest I assume are a genAI response to the prompt “make up some plausible names for generic right-wing American entertainers”
It’s true. These guys went out of business in 2021
February 2, 2026 at 10:15 AM
It’s true. These guys went out of business in 2021
Reposted by Richard Carr
Marginal tax rates for graduates with student loans – add interest and another 6% for postgrads.
£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%
£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%
February 1, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Marginal tax rates for graduates with student loans – add interest and another 6% for postgrads.
£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%
£25,000: 37%
£50,270: 51%
£100,000: 71%
Reposted by Richard Carr
Amazon has placed a VERY specific product warning on the published edition of the Kenneth Williams diaries. The incident that prompted this surely deserved more media attention.
January 31, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Amazon has placed a VERY specific product warning on the published edition of the Kenneth Williams diaries. The incident that prompted this surely deserved more media attention.
Article begins: People on the ground don’t like their jobs in today’s bureaucratic, stifling, and increasingly research autonomy sapping universities.
Article ends:
Article ends:
February 1, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Article begins: People on the ground don’t like their jobs in today’s bureaucratic, stifling, and increasingly research autonomy sapping universities.
Article ends:
Article ends:
“Matt Goodwin…From the Oasthouse”
You dont win 'em all! Reform's Matt Goodwin in Sunday Times: 'Most .. people criticising me are nerds.The last thing I want is to be at some dinner party table with Nick Robinson & Mary Beard. I'd rather shoot myself in the head'. Hang on, I'm not THAT bad!Nerds sometimes have a (thoughtful!) point.
February 1, 2026 at 8:50 AM
“Matt Goodwin…From the Oasthouse”
Still looking at this wondering what *I*’ve got to do?
January 31, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Still looking at this wondering what *I*’ve got to do?
Drowning in process questions - referencing style, how to indent quotes, does X count towards word count - on essays again. When did this become a thing? Make it look like a book/journal article is always the way.
January 30, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Drowning in process questions - referencing style, how to indent quotes, does X count towards word count - on essays again. When did this become a thing? Make it look like a book/journal article is always the way.
How is this “job title” not woke? It feels so woke!
January 30, 2026 at 3:47 PM
How is this “job title” not woke? It feels so woke!
Reposted by Richard Carr
New trick discovered today: an LLM-generated essay, saved as a PDF, with a tiny white space between each letter. This makes it impossible to paste quotes into a search engine, prevents text-matching in plagiarism checkers, & means URLs in bibliographies can't be clicked on. A lot of my time wasted.
January 30, 2026 at 12:09 PM
New trick discovered today: an LLM-generated essay, saved as a PDF, with a tiny white space between each letter. This makes it impossible to paste quotes into a search engine, prevents text-matching in plagiarism checkers, & means URLs in bibliographies can't be clicked on. A lot of my time wasted.
Reposted by Richard Carr
I'm late to this but what on earth were Question Time doing putting Konstantin Kisin on the show? These are not serious people. They're controversialists-for-cash. The whole business model is to say increasingly outrageous things for the coverage and clicks. Next week: Lucy White.
January 30, 2026 at 10:21 AM
I'm late to this but what on earth were Question Time doing putting Konstantin Kisin on the show? These are not serious people. They're controversialists-for-cash. The whole business model is to say increasingly outrageous things for the coverage and clicks. Next week: Lucy White.
Reposted by Richard Carr
If you're around in Bristol today, I'm giving a lecture on my New Labour book at the University! I'll be kicking off in the Arts Faculty about 1pm... Come along! www.bristol.ac.uk/history/even...
January 29, 2026 at 10:41 AM
If you're around in Bristol today, I'm giving a lecture on my New Labour book at the University! I'll be kicking off in the Arts Faculty about 1pm... Come along! www.bristol.ac.uk/history/even...
Not relevant for universities: gotcha and agree
January 30, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Not relevant for universities: gotcha and agree
Reposted by Richard Carr
It’s British politics’ midlife crisis again. Hurt your own base. Get negged by Reform voters. And repeat.
benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...
benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...
January 29, 2026 at 12:01 PM
It’s British politics’ midlife crisis again. Hurt your own base. Get negged by Reform voters. And repeat.
benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...
benansell.substack.com/p/british-po...
Reposted by Richard Carr
When I look up an academic I basically just want a chronological list of their publications, but because PMC execs love shovelling money at fancy but shit software, you’re more likely now to get a set of AI-generated keywords and a graph comparing their citations in 2022 v 2023
January 28, 2026 at 3:42 PM
When I look up an academic I basically just want a chronological list of their publications, but because PMC execs love shovelling money at fancy but shit software, you’re more likely now to get a set of AI-generated keywords and a graph comparing their citations in 2022 v 2023
Reposted by Richard Carr
if they can offer free AI training they could offer free media literacy training too. i know which of those would do more for the public good
January 28, 2026 at 10:19 AM
if they can offer free AI training they could offer free media literacy training too. i know which of those would do more for the public good
The academic parlour game is now flesh out that by-election ballot paper with only academics
January 27, 2026 at 6:30 PM
The academic parlour game is now flesh out that by-election ballot paper with only academics
Reposted by Richard Carr
This. I'm not a BBC-basher but IMO Mason is a poor political journalist. It's not that he's 'biased' per se, it's that he reports politics as a kind of giggly spectator sport and as such is preoccupied with spectacle, talking up 'exciting' events rather than analysing them. 1/2
~ Chris Mason, the BBC's Farage fanboy - The New World ~
https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rats-in-a-sack-chris-mason-the-bbcs-farage-fanboy/
https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rats-in-a-sack-chris-mason-the-bbcs-farage-fanboy/
Chris Mason, the BBC's Farage fanboy - The New World
The corporation's political editor has penned another piece cheering on Reform after Suella Braverman defected to the party
www.thenewworld.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 5:53 PM
This. I'm not a BBC-basher but IMO Mason is a poor political journalist. It's not that he's 'biased' per se, it's that he reports politics as a kind of giggly spectator sport and as such is preoccupied with spectacle, talking up 'exciting' events rather than analysing them. 1/2
There was a bit on the Balls-Osborne the other day where Osborne conflated universities/think tanks as being in the same space.
BBC essentially doing this with a billion Triggernometry appearances - “well, it’s kind of a seminar, right?”
BBC essentially doing this with a billion Triggernometry appearances - “well, it’s kind of a seminar, right?”
"In recent years he [Goodwin] has slightly moved away from studying the politics of the right to becoming an activist ..."
"Slightly" is doing some heavy lifting in that sentence.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
"Slightly" is doing some heavy lifting in that sentence.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
GB News presenter Matt Goodwin unveiled as Reform UK's by-election candidate
The Greater Manchester seat of Gorton and Denton became vacant after Andrew Gwynne stepped down for health reasons.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 5:40 PM
There was a bit on the Balls-Osborne the other day where Osborne conflated universities/think tanks as being in the same space.
BBC essentially doing this with a billion Triggernometry appearances - “well, it’s kind of a seminar, right?”
BBC essentially doing this with a billion Triggernometry appearances - “well, it’s kind of a seminar, right?”