Matt Houlbrook
@tricksterprince.bsky.social
Cultural history, Britain, cities, sexuality & gender, #20s30s.
Now - Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London (MUP)
Next - The Self-Improvers: The people who remade themselves and made the modern world
Now - Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London (MUP)
Next - The Self-Improvers: The people who remade themselves and made the modern world
Pinned
This is what publication day looked like.
I am buzzing but broken this morning. Thank you to everyone who made time to talk to me or came out to hear me talk about Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London.
The book is out now with @manchesterup.bsky.social
I am buzzing but broken this morning. Thank you to everyone who made time to talk to me or came out to hear me talk about Songs of Seven Dials: An intimate history of 1920s and 1930s London.
The book is out now with @manchesterup.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Anyone who can look at the current underfunded state of UK universities and think there's half a billion quid you can take out of the sector without doing catastrophic damage is just not fit for office.
November 24, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Anyone who can look at the current underfunded state of UK universities and think there's half a billion quid you can take out of the sector without doing catastrophic damage is just not fit for office.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
A probably rare reference to Mulligan & O'Hare in a fashion article: for The Guardian, I've written about the enduring appeal of workwear, with a focus on how the generous cuts and boxy shapes suit the sportswear-averse, expanding & ageing male body:
www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...
www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...
‘It’s an acceptance of where my body is now’ – the modern-day appeal of workwear
Its popularity is as enduring as its fabrics – and it allows men to age stylishly without worrying about their waistlines. One collector delves into the reasons the ordinary clothes of workers past li...
www.theguardian.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:56 AM
A probably rare reference to Mulligan & O'Hare in a fashion article: for The Guardian, I've written about the enduring appeal of workwear, with a focus on how the generous cuts and boxy shapes suit the sportswear-averse, expanding & ageing male body:
www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...
www.theguardian.com/fashion/2025...
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
📣 Learning the Lessons of Britain’s Multicultural History
Ahead of his talk on Tues 25 November, historian Dr Kieran Connell reflects on the long arcs of migration, identity and everyday life that have shaped modern Britain.
👉 Read the full Q&A and book tickets here: www.brlsi.org/learning-the...
Ahead of his talk on Tues 25 November, historian Dr Kieran Connell reflects on the long arcs of migration, identity and everyday life that have shaped modern Britain.
👉 Read the full Q&A and book tickets here: www.brlsi.org/learning-the...
Learning the Lessons of Britain’s Multicultural History – Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution
https://www.brlsi.org/learning-the-lessons-of-britains-multicultural-history/"
November 19, 2025 at 10:53 AM
📣 Learning the Lessons of Britain’s Multicultural History
Ahead of his talk on Tues 25 November, historian Dr Kieran Connell reflects on the long arcs of migration, identity and everyday life that have shaped modern Britain.
👉 Read the full Q&A and book tickets here: www.brlsi.org/learning-the...
Ahead of his talk on Tues 25 November, historian Dr Kieran Connell reflects on the long arcs of migration, identity and everyday life that have shaped modern Britain.
👉 Read the full Q&A and book tickets here: www.brlsi.org/learning-the...
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
At this point voting for Labour is like turkeys voting for Christmas
November 24, 2025 at 8:20 AM
At this point voting for Labour is like turkeys voting for Christmas
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
We pour billions into saving an economically tiny steel industry whilst actively destroying one of our largest export industries. (Yes, higher education to overseas students who already massively subsidise UK students, are counted as exports).
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 24, 2025 at 7:37 AM
We pour billions into saving an economically tiny steel industry whilst actively destroying one of our largest export industries. (Yes, higher education to overseas students who already massively subsidise UK students, are counted as exports).
#20s30s excitement here.
Exciting news: throughout January BFI Southbank has a season of documentaries and early feature films linked to the publication on 8 January of Magic Rays of Light: The Early Years of Television in Britain.
First details here...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/magic-rays-o...
First details here...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/magic-rays-o...
Magic Rays of Light: the BFI season - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Exciting news just released by the British Film Institute: throughout January BFI Southbank has a season of documentaries and early feature films linked to the publication of my mon...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 8:26 AM
#20s30s excitement here.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
See my thread above as to why this is a bad idea
bsky.app/profile/sgfm...
bsky.app/profile/sgfm...
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 10:38 PM
See my thread above as to why this is a bad idea
bsky.app/profile/sgfm...
bsky.app/profile/sgfm...
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Why are they so fucking *stupid*
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 23, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Why are they so fucking *stupid*
The reflections on today's @sundaymiscellany.bsky.social about Bloody Sunday 1920 are all powerful, but as usual Anne Dolan's contribution on the reverberations of violence is an unmissable exemplar of the historian's art. Listen on RTÉ radio Player if you missed it.
November 23, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
An absolutely harrowing investigation into the “free birth” and “wild pregnancy” movement, appalling, lethal, social media-fuelled woo woo grift. The poor families duped into this, unthinkable.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:13 PM
An absolutely harrowing investigation into the “free birth” and “wild pregnancy” movement, appalling, lethal, social media-fuelled woo woo grift. The poor families duped into this, unthinkable.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Home Office: How dare people say we are acting like the far-right?
Also the Home Office: These far-right graphics look great, let's copy them.
Also the Home Office: These far-right graphics look great, let's copy them.
November 21, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Home Office: How dare people say we are acting like the far-right?
Also the Home Office: These far-right graphics look great, let's copy them.
Also the Home Office: These far-right graphics look great, let's copy them.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Launch event for the Modern British City at
@c20society.bsky.social on 26th of January: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
Do come!
The book is out with @lhartbooks.bsky.social next week.
@c20society.bsky.social on 26th of January: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
Do come!
The book is out with @lhartbooks.bsky.social next week.
November 21, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Launch event for the Modern British City at
@c20society.bsky.social on 26th of January: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
Do come!
The book is out with @lhartbooks.bsky.social next week.
@c20society.bsky.social on 26th of January: secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
Do come!
The book is out with @lhartbooks.bsky.social next week.
Historian Sarah Churchwell on what Hollywood gets wrong about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
Catch up! youtu.be/LQNljwh4QD8
Catch up! youtu.be/LQNljwh4QD8
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
This gorgeous little book of slides from the Design Council collection has arrived & single handedly saved my sanity
November 21, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This gorgeous little book of slides from the Design Council collection has arrived & single handedly saved my sanity
Men of the South, 1921, painting by Séan Keating (Crawford Art Gallery). North Cork Brigade of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence.
November 21, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Sometimes you need to hear that you're not the only one feeling that way. Yeah, it's sweary; but it's also one of @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com's very best - and that's a high bar.
this week's newsletter is titled "aren't you tired of feeling insane all the time?" and I think it speaks for itself
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
it is also free to read
youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/arent-you-...
November 21, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Sometimes you need to hear that you're not the only one feeling that way. Yeah, it's sweary; but it's also one of @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com's very best - and that's a high bar.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Compare and contrast the Government language.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
November 21, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Compare and contrast the Government language.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
£3,750 EV grant on a £35k car: ‘helping families’.
Cycle to Work: ‘subsidising leisure’.
And yet cycling delivers TEN TIMES the impact of electric cars for reaching net zero. It’s almost like narrative, not data, is driving policy.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
I've been writing about books, authors and the Cambridge Ladies' Dining Society for two years now on Substack. If you fancy joining the (virtual) tour, there's a special offer this week.
My second Substack anniversary...
...and other reasons to celebrate
akennedysmith.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 11:37 AM
I've been writing about books, authors and the Cambridge Ladies' Dining Society for two years now on Substack. If you fancy joining the (virtual) tour, there's a special offer this week.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
No way I’m sharing Stock’s UnHerd article. But I am going to point to this bit which amply demonstrates the anti-trans=>anti-women’s rights pipeline. “Abortions should only be done for a highly restricted set of reasons. They should not be just nodded through for any reason a pregnant woman likes.”
November 21, 2025 at 10:55 AM
No way I’m sharing Stock’s UnHerd article. But I am going to point to this bit which amply demonstrates the anti-trans=>anti-women’s rights pipeline. “Abortions should only be done for a highly restricted set of reasons. They should not be just nodded through for any reason a pregnant woman likes.”
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Shabana Mahmood's proposal to stop being told to "go back home" is to send people "home". Her proposal to stop black and brown people from feeling like they don't belong, is to bake in to the immigration system that they will never belong.
November 20, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Shabana Mahmood's proposal to stop being told to "go back home" is to send people "home". Her proposal to stop black and brown people from feeling like they don't belong, is to bake in to the immigration system that they will never belong.
A wee trailer for the about-to-be-released interactive 3D model of the Empire Exhibition of 1938. The original modelling of all these pavilions was done in 2007. This new app incorporates archival materials and quotes from contemporary Glaswegians.
#Glasgow #history #research #playfulLearning #3D
#Glasgow #history #research #playfulLearning #3D
November 20, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
Call for papers #CFP
Blood is the Price of Coal: Coal Communities, Health and Welfare in Britain and Beyond from the 19th Century to the Present
18 June 2026: 1 day conference + NUM archive exhibition
Submit abstracts / express interest at warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Deadline: 25 Jan 2026
Blood is the Price of Coal: Coal Communities, Health and Welfare in Britain and Beyond from the 19th Century to the Present
18 June 2026: 1 day conference + NUM archive exhibition
Submit abstracts / express interest at warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Deadline: 25 Jan 2026
November 20, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Call for papers #CFP
Blood is the Price of Coal: Coal Communities, Health and Welfare in Britain and Beyond from the 19th Century to the Present
18 June 2026: 1 day conference + NUM archive exhibition
Submit abstracts / express interest at warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Deadline: 25 Jan 2026
Blood is the Price of Coal: Coal Communities, Health and Welfare in Britain and Beyond from the 19th Century to the Present
18 June 2026: 1 day conference + NUM archive exhibition
Submit abstracts / express interest at warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Deadline: 25 Jan 2026
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
May their memories move us to keep fighting for a world where all trans people are free.
This #TransgenderDayOfRememberance, we remember the over 280 trans people killed globally this year and the many more lost to suicide.
They deserved to live safely, without fear, and to be fully who they are.
May their memories move us to keep fighting for a world where all trans people are free.
They deserved to live safely, without fear, and to be fully who they are.
May their memories move us to keep fighting for a world where all trans people are free.
November 20, 2025 at 10:45 AM
May their memories move us to keep fighting for a world where all trans people are free.
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
'The UK should establish a network of “disruptive invention” labs outside of the university system to pursue frontier science and technology'. (Tony Blair Institute)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
UK needs new ‘disruptive’ labs for frontier science, says think tank.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
November 20, 2025 at 10:14 AM
'The UK should establish a network of “disruptive invention” labs outside of the university system to pursue frontier science and technology'. (Tony Blair Institute)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
Reposted by Matt Houlbrook
The fact that in the UK, our government is content that roads are for car owners and sidewalks are also for car owners is actually a pretty good window into the politics of this country as a whole.
Pavement parking impacts everyone and is a major barrier to walking and wheeling local journeys.
The result of the national pavement parking consultation is long overdue and we cannot afford to wait, so want to see marked bays and measures on a street-by-street basis.
The result of the national pavement parking consultation is long overdue and we cannot afford to wait, so want to see marked bays and measures on a street-by-street basis.
Woman calls for pavement parking ban after falling out wheelchair on school run
Aideen Blackborough was left lying in the road after being forced to manoeuvre her way around a vehicle blocking the pavement in Great Barr
www.birminghammail.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 9:05 AM
The fact that in the UK, our government is content that roads are for car owners and sidewalks are also for car owners is actually a pretty good window into the politics of this country as a whole.