Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
@sadiahqureshi.bsky.social
Historian of extinction and empire. Vanished shortlisted for Royal Society Trivedi Prize, and a 2025 best book for FT, Guardian, BBC History Extra, Smithsonian Mag and more.
Views own/No DMs
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/309254/vanished-by-qureshi-sadi
Views own/No DMs
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/309254/vanished-by-qureshi-sadi
Pinned
Providing medical aid to Palestinians living under occupation and as refugees
For over 30 years, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has been reaching out to Palestinian communities, striving to deliver health and medical care to those worst affected by conflict, occupation and ...
www.map.org.uk
Donate to medical aid for Gaza and Lebanon here. www.map.org.uk
Get It On (Bang a Gong)- performed by Marc Bolan & T Rex
YouTube video by Scott Newsome (Leandel DeFate)
youtu.be
February 4, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Crackdown also implies migrants have done something wrong, when all they’ve done is exist. As anyone who is targeted for their existence, from trans people to migrants, that’s enough in the current political climate. Utterly despicable cruelty and authoritarianism masquerading as protection.
Labour's changes to immigration rules, including potentially applying them retroactively, would be some of the most draconian anti-immigration policies in decades. They're the hostile environment on speed.
This is pure cruelty as policy, with absolutely no merit to them
archive.today/2026.02.03-2...
This is pure cruelty as policy, with absolutely no merit to them
archive.today/2026.02.03-2...
February 4, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Crackdown also implies migrants have done something wrong, when all they’ve done is exist. As anyone who is targeted for their existence, from trans people to migrants, that’s enough in the current political climate. Utterly despicable cruelty and authoritarianism masquerading as protection.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Devastatingly sad.
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
'When it opened, the campus housed a GP surgery and a new dental clinic offering free treatment to local people. This was followed later by the forum – a library and art gallery shared by the university and local people.' 1/2
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Devastatingly sad.
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
Every Labour MP should be forced to read this. In fact, every MP, who rushed back to Parliament to vote to save one steel mill, whilst hastening the collapse of dozens of universities - and harming the students, staff, communities and economies universities sustain and support
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
18 month postdoc at the lovely IHR in London, $41,740. Deadline 7 March. 'The Fellow will play a key role within the IHR team responsible for hosting the 2027 North American Conference in British Studies (NACBS)' in London 2027.
Repost to spread the word. #Skystorians
Repost to spread the word. #Skystorians
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 9:07 AM
18 month postdoc at the lovely IHR in London, $41,740. Deadline 7 March. 'The Fellow will play a key role within the IHR team responsible for hosting the 2027 North American Conference in British Studies (NACBS)' in London 2027.
Repost to spread the word. #Skystorians
Repost to spread the word. #Skystorians
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Function specific AI’s can be of immense use (eg the protein folding AIs that won the Nobel last year.) LLMs are also useful in reformatting data - text to speech, summarisation etc, where their intrinsic propensity to hallucinate can be controlled.
But for too many, AI has become akin to a cult.
But for too many, AI has become akin to a cult.
AI conferences have rushed to restrict the use of LLMs for writing and reviewing research papers in recent months after being flooded with AI-generated slop (Melissa Heikkilä/Financial Times)
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
February 2, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Function specific AI’s can be of immense use (eg the protein folding AIs that won the Nobel last year.) LLMs are also useful in reformatting data - text to speech, summarisation etc, where their intrinsic propensity to hallucinate can be controlled.
But for too many, AI has become akin to a cult.
But for too many, AI has become akin to a cult.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
I had to write something about this scene because it resonates with what is happening now. People married to US citizens are showing up for green cards, hearings before judges, and DHS/ICE is snatching them up to deport them when they're supposed to be getting their legal residency confirmed.
Teaching 12 Years a Slave this week. Eliza's Master left his wife & daughter tol set up a house where he lived with Eliza & the child they conceived (his slaves). His first daughter, Eliza's half-sister, had Eliza brought to the city on the pretext she'd be emancipated. Instead, Eliza was sold.
February 1, 2026 at 7:48 PM
I had to write something about this scene because it resonates with what is happening now. People married to US citizens are showing up for green cards, hearings before judges, and DHS/ICE is snatching them up to deport them when they're supposed to be getting their legal residency confirmed.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
This is a very illuminating thread. For further insight into the aftermath of the 1807 abolition of the slave trade (and its entanglement with forced labour regimes) see Jake Subryan Richards' new book, The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade.
January 31, 2026 at 12:43 PM
This is a very illuminating thread. For further insight into the aftermath of the 1807 abolition of the slave trade (and its entanglement with forced labour regimes) see Jake Subryan Richards' new book, The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Donald MacKenzie on visions of infinite scaling in tech: "AI’s scale doesn’t matter just to specialists. The rest of us are being taken on a ride along the logarithmic curve too." (NB Mackenzie seems to have taken the hint from Shapin and is now writing essays for LRB, hurrah!) #sts #envhums #envsoc
"Data is not growing, because we have but one internet ... data is the fossil fuel of AI. It was like created somehow, and now we use it, and we’ve achieved peak data, and there’ll be no more." share.google/4EkXwYfGYz6r...
Donald MacKenzie · AI’s Scale
AI’s scale doesn’t matter just to specialists. The rest of us are being taken on a ride along the logarithmic curve...
share.google
January 31, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Donald MacKenzie on visions of infinite scaling in tech: "AI’s scale doesn’t matter just to specialists. The rest of us are being taken on a ride along the logarithmic curve too." (NB Mackenzie seems to have taken the hint from Shapin and is now writing essays for LRB, hurrah!) #sts #envhums #envsoc
Selecting the swimming sharks screensaver on the work computer has worked wonders to improve the working day.
a large school of sharks are swimming in the ocean
Alt: a large school of sharks swimming in the ocean
media.tenor.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Selecting the swimming sharks screensaver on the work computer has worked wonders to improve the working day.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Switching to Vivaldi has been a brilliant move. Worth trying.
The ‘rollout squares with Silicon Valley’s vision for the future of web browsing, which includes a whole lot more AI and a whole lot less of you… almost every option available to consumers now has some level of baked-in AI
Vivaldi is a notable exception…[if you don’t want] AI-powered web browsing.’
Vivaldi is a notable exception…[if you don’t want] AI-powered web browsing.’
Google’s latest addition to its Chrome browser puts generative AI behind the wheel and you in the passenger seat. www.wired.com/story/google...
January 30, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Switching to Vivaldi has been a brilliant move. Worth trying.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Tatler's profile of the Mitford family includes the line "Sir Oswald and Diana Mosley, became key figures in Britain’s far-right political movement in the 1930s" but makes no mention of the name of Mosley's party, the British Union of Fascists.
www.tatler.com/gallery/most...
www.tatler.com/gallery/most...
July 15, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Tatler's profile of the Mitford family includes the line "Sir Oswald and Diana Mosley, became key figures in Britain’s far-right political movement in the 1930s" but makes no mention of the name of Mosley's party, the British Union of Fascists.
www.tatler.com/gallery/most...
www.tatler.com/gallery/most...
The ‘rollout squares with Silicon Valley’s vision for the future of web browsing, which includes a whole lot more AI and a whole lot less of you… almost every option available to consumers now has some level of baked-in AI
Vivaldi is a notable exception…[if you don’t want] AI-powered web browsing.’
Vivaldi is a notable exception…[if you don’t want] AI-powered web browsing.’
Google’s latest addition to its Chrome browser puts generative AI behind the wheel and you in the passenger seat. www.wired.com/story/google...
Google’s New Chrome ‘Auto Browse’ Agent Attempts to Roam the Web Without You
Google’s latest addition to its Chrome browser puts generative AI behind the wheel and you in the passenger seat.
www.wired.com
January 28, 2026 at 6:52 PM
The ‘rollout squares with Silicon Valley’s vision for the future of web browsing, which includes a whole lot more AI and a whole lot less of you… almost every option available to consumers now has some level of baked-in AI
Vivaldi is a notable exception…[if you don’t want] AI-powered web browsing.’
Vivaldi is a notable exception…[if you don’t want] AI-powered web browsing.’
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
BILLY BRAGG - CITY OF HEROES
YouTube video by Billy Bragg
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:42 PM
Hazel is such a gorgeous tree to grow and spend time with, especially when in bloom.
The hot-pink tentacle-like styles of female Hazel flowers (just 2-3mm long) are out now. Titchy-tiny intense decorations for the sharp-eyed.
#UKwildlife
#trees
#WildflowerHour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social
#UKwildlife
#trees
#WildflowerHour
@bsbibotany.bsky.social
@sussexwildlife.bsky.social
January 28, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Hazel is such a gorgeous tree to grow and spend time with, especially when in bloom.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
JOB! Lecturer in early medieval history at my lovely once and future department! www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/136727-...
Lecturer in Early Medieval History | King's College London
www.kcl.ac.uk
January 28, 2026 at 5:40 PM
JOB! Lecturer in early medieval history at my lovely once and future department! www.kcl.ac.uk/jobs/136727-...
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
A useful thread of what running a journal now involves. I recently reviewed something which was so bad that it felt like the author could not have read it before submission. If they had, it would be even more shocking that they felt the draft was ok to submit.
We’re getting so many journal submissions from people who think ‘it kinda works’ is the standard to aim for.
1. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it.
January 28, 2026 at 8:35 AM
A useful thread of what running a journal now involves. I recently reviewed something which was so bad that it felt like the author could not have read it before submission. If they had, it would be even more shocking that they felt the draft was ok to submit.
‘Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse (irreversible loss of function beyond repair).’
The costs of ignoring climate change are vast, but instead of tackling this urgently we have secrecy, a lethal obsession with growth and consumption, while relentlessly attacking migrants.
The costs of ignoring climate change are vast, but instead of tackling this urgently we have secrecy, a lethal obsession with growth and consumption, while relentlessly attacking migrants.
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot
It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 8:19 AM
‘Every critical ecosystem is on a pathway to collapse (irreversible loss of function beyond repair).’
The costs of ignoring climate change are vast, but instead of tackling this urgently we have secrecy, a lethal obsession with growth and consumption, while relentlessly attacking migrants.
The costs of ignoring climate change are vast, but instead of tackling this urgently we have secrecy, a lethal obsession with growth and consumption, while relentlessly attacking migrants.
I wrote something for the British Academy blog and then completely forgot to post a link. This draws on a case study from my book Vanished about the foundation of national parks. If you want to know more, there’s a rather large discount on some sites. 🐯
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-ca...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-ca...
What can histories of Empire teach us about modern environmental efforts?
Professor Sadiah Qureshi, author of 'Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction' (2025), explores the current biodiversity crisis by examining it through the historical lens of Empire.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
January 27, 2026 at 9:09 PM
I wrote something for the British Academy blog and then completely forgot to post a link. This draws on a case study from my book Vanished about the foundation of national parks. If you want to know more, there’s a rather large discount on some sites. 🐯
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-ca...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-ca...
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Enter for your chance to win £500 and publication in the journal for the winning entry!
Submission deadline: 28 February 2026. more details at the link:
Submission deadline: 28 February 2026. more details at the link:
Notes and Records Essay Award | Royal Society
Open to early career researchers in the history of science.
royalsociety.org
November 11, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Enter for your chance to win £500 and publication in the journal for the winning entry!
Submission deadline: 28 February 2026. more details at the link:
Submission deadline: 28 February 2026. more details at the link:
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Powerful reflecitons on Gaza and German memory culture, with much to think about for people in other countries, in this interview with @dirkmoses.bsky.social. A must-watch.
January 27, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Powerful reflecitons on Gaza and German memory culture, with much to think about for people in other countries, in this interview with @dirkmoses.bsky.social. A must-watch.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
January 27, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder.
Auschwitz took time.
Reposted by Sadiah Qureshi 🦈
A few days ago we lost an important hidden figure in the history of 20th century Cold War technology—Gladys West’s work and insights were essential in the creation of GPS:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology
She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.
www.nature.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:27 PM
A few days ago we lost an important hidden figure in the history of 20th century Cold War technology—Gladys West’s work and insights were essential in the creation of GPS:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...