Dr Bob Nicholson
@digivictorian.bsky.social
Historian • Broadcaster • Victorian Pop Culture • Presenter of 'Killing Victoria' on BBC Sounds 🎙️ • www.bobnicholson.co.uk
Pinned
Introducing Killing Victoria
Podcast Episode · Killing Victoria · 12/03/2023 · 4m
podcasts.apple.com
Hello! I’m a historian who loves to unearth surprising new stories about the Victorians.
You’ll usually find me posting about weird things I’ve found in archives, or getting mad about bad newspaper props in period dramas.
I also presented this BBC podcast! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/k...
You’ll usually find me posting about weird things I’ve found in archives, or getting mad about bad newspaper props in period dramas.
I also presented this BBC podcast! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/k...
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Our next #RSVPDigiEvent is coming up on Friday, 21 November! We'll hear from the editors of 3 top Victorian studies journals (including VPR's own kmalonephd.bsky.social) on "How to Get Published in an Academic Journal." Come one, come all! buff.ly/ydJkKAK
November 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Our next #RSVPDigiEvent is coming up on Friday, 21 November! We'll hear from the editors of 3 top Victorian studies journals (including VPR's own kmalonephd.bsky.social) on "How to Get Published in an Academic Journal." Come one, come all! buff.ly/ydJkKAK
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
This is one of three cartoons I have in the current Private Eye.
“It’s 007…”
From the new Private Eye, out now.
From the new Private Eye, out now.
October 21, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This is one of three cartoons I have in the current Private Eye.
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
It’s lovely to see our BAVS CFP out. If you research/teach any aspect of the Victorian period (broadly defined) do consider joining us! You can submit a paper, roundtable, creative workshops/ pedagogical paper. We really are open to a wide range of talks! victorianist.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...
CFP: BAVS 2026 Conference Liverpool
BAVS Liverpool 202627 – 29 July 2026 Keynote Speakers: Dr Alison Chapman (University of Victoria, BC), others to be confirmed. The Centre for Modern and Contemporary History (CMCH) at Liverpool Joh…
victorianist.wordpress.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:37 PM
It’s lovely to see our BAVS CFP out. If you research/teach any aspect of the Victorian period (broadly defined) do consider joining us! You can submit a paper, roundtable, creative workshops/ pedagogical paper. We really are open to a wide range of talks! victorianist.wordpress.com/2025/10/20/c...
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Our @ehunineteen.bsky.social seminar series starts next week with @drreznicek.bsky.social talking to me about care in Romantic novels - register in skeet below! Free, online, all welcome!
First up is:
29/10/25: Matthew Reznicek, 'Too Bodily: Disability, Care, and Belonging in Romantic Novels', 6-7 pm
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
#EHU19SeminarSeries
29/10/25: Matthew Reznicek, 'Too Bodily: Disability, Care, and Belonging in Romantic Novels', 6-7 pm
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
#EHU19SeminarSeries
October 21, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Our @ehunineteen.bsky.social seminar series starts next week with @drreznicek.bsky.social talking to me about care in Romantic novels - register in skeet below! Free, online, all welcome!
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
19th century writers love describing all the different compartments of a woman's face. "Vaulting eyebrows. Rose petal lips. Eyes like a gelid pond."
I'm not a police sketch artist. Just say "brown hair".
I'm not a police sketch artist. Just say "brown hair".
October 19, 2025 at 9:24 AM
19th century writers love describing all the different compartments of a woman's face. "Vaulting eyebrows. Rose petal lips. Eyes like a gelid pond."
I'm not a police sketch artist. Just say "brown hair".
I'm not a police sketch artist. Just say "brown hair".
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
“Copyright growing pains” is one hell of a euphemism for the biggest IP theft in history
Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies
Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon
Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies
www.scientificamerican.com
October 14, 2025 at 7:09 PM
“Copyright growing pains” is one hell of a euphemism for the biggest IP theft in history
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Funeral Invitation, 1688.
Funeral invitations first appeared in the 17th century, and acted as an admission ticket to both the church and the funeral feast. Pallbearers were often assigned a number on the ticket to signify their position in carrying the coffin.
Funeral invitations first appeared in the 17th century, and acted as an admission ticket to both the church and the funeral feast. Pallbearers were often assigned a number on the ticket to signify their position in carrying the coffin.
October 9, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Funeral Invitation, 1688.
Funeral invitations first appeared in the 17th century, and acted as an admission ticket to both the church and the funeral feast. Pallbearers were often assigned a number on the ticket to signify their position in carrying the coffin.
Funeral invitations first appeared in the 17th century, and acted as an admission ticket to both the church and the funeral feast. Pallbearers were often assigned a number on the ticket to signify their position in carrying the coffin.
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Well don't I feel stupid
September 26, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Well don't I feel stupid
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of #vaccines. THREAD🧵
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
February 1, 2025 at 3:29 PM
With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of #vaccines. THREAD🧵
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
So @digivictorian.bsky.social encouraged me to do this
September 26, 2025 at 8:39 AM
So @digivictorian.bsky.social encouraged me to do this
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
the quaint world of Victorian porn advertisements
September 21, 2025 at 10:20 AM
the quaint world of Victorian porn advertisements
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
We don’t all share the same internet. The personalised algorithm has siloed us into parallel worlds
September 14, 2025 at 1:02 PM
We don’t all share the same internet. The personalised algorithm has siloed us into parallel worlds
I’m on TV tonight! Check out the first episode of Britain’s Railway Empire at 8pm on Channel 4.
It’s a new, two part series about the history of the railways, starting with the Victorian Era. It’s not just a story about tech and engineering, but covers the social and cultural impact too.
It’s a new, two part series about the history of the railways, starting with the Victorian Era. It’s not just a story about tech and engineering, but covers the social and cultural impact too.
September 13, 2025 at 12:42 PM
I’m on TV tonight! Check out the first episode of Britain’s Railway Empire at 8pm on Channel 4.
It’s a new, two part series about the history of the railways, starting with the Victorian Era. It’s not just a story about tech and engineering, but covers the social and cultural impact too.
It’s a new, two part series about the history of the railways, starting with the Victorian Era. It’s not just a story about tech and engineering, but covers the social and cultural impact too.
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
It was such a joy this morning to see Lela Harris’s extraordinary portrait of Miss Lambe, Jane Austen’s only character explicitly of African heritage, from the last novel she worked on. She died at age 41 without being able to finish Miss Lambe’s story. 1/
July 31, 2025 at 4:15 PM
It was such a joy this morning to see Lela Harris’s extraordinary portrait of Miss Lambe, Jane Austen’s only character explicitly of African heritage, from the last novel she worked on. She died at age 41 without being able to finish Miss Lambe’s story. 1/
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
Sign the Petition
Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable
www.change.org
July 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Hello UK friends - please, please could you sign this petition against the job cuts at my place of work - 1 in 4 us will be out of a job by August next year if we don't stop the cuts. And once you've signed it, please share. We need your help! www.change.org/p/stop-mass-...
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
does anyone know of any research on the history of the 'family newspaper' - by which I mean a 'newspaper' produced usually by children, about daily goings-on in the household? think Gad's Hill Gazette, Hyde Park Gate News, etc...
July 24, 2025 at 6:14 PM
does anyone know of any research on the history of the 'family newspaper' - by which I mean a 'newspaper' produced usually by children, about daily goings-on in the household? think Gad's Hill Gazette, Hyde Park Gate News, etc...
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close. 50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world.
July 18, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Talk about The Wire, Sopranos, Game of Thrones all you want, but the greatest US television program ever made is Sesame Street. It's not even close. 50+ years of treating kids across class, ethnicity, religion not as mini-consumers...but as citizens with a stake in this world.
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Of use to those working on 1852-1879, it includes a chronological index of open-access copies of the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, a widely read (affordable) secular early women’s monthly miscellany. jmsw.github.io/edm-index/
Now updated with a searchable spreadsheet of contents by category!
Now updated with a searchable spreadsheet of contents by category!
The EDM - Open Access Chronological and Searchable Indexes, 1852-1879
jmsw.github.io
July 16, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Of use to those working on 1852-1879, it includes a chronological index of open-access copies of the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, a widely read (affordable) secular early women’s monthly miscellany. jmsw.github.io/edm-index/
Now updated with a searchable spreadsheet of contents by category!
Now updated with a searchable spreadsheet of contents by category!
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Speaking of the Illustrated London News, a paper whose pages I never tire of turning, here's an account of its (mainly 19th-c.) history I put together some years back for the publisher Gale, which has made the essay free to access. It was fun to write. www.gale.com/intl/essays/... #C19th
A Brief History of The Illustrated London News | Patrick Leary
"On the 14 of May, 1842, The Illustrated London News burst upon a world that had never seen anything quite like it. Not that there hadn’t been plenty of…"
www.gale.com
July 16, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Speaking of the Illustrated London News, a paper whose pages I never tire of turning, here's an account of its (mainly 19th-c.) history I put together some years back for the publisher Gale, which has made the essay free to access. It was fun to write. www.gale.com/intl/essays/... #C19th
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
IT'S ALIVE!!!!! I had the best time working with Annemarie to edit our fabulous contributions - huge thanks to our authors for sharing their research, and for being polite when I suggested revisions. Huge thanks also to VPR ed Kathy Malone for her patience and making the editorial process so smooth.
VPR's special issue "Currents and Currencies in the #Victorian #PeriodicalPress" is out now! Huge thanks to guest editors Victoria Clarke (@vjctorianist.bsky.social) and Annemarie McAllister. Check out their intro essay: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl... @rs4vp.org
July 14, 2025 at 7:49 PM
IT'S ALIVE!!!!! I had the best time working with Annemarie to edit our fabulous contributions - huge thanks to our authors for sharing their research, and for being polite when I suggested revisions. Huge thanks also to VPR ed Kathy Malone for her patience and making the editorial process so smooth.
Job alert! We're advertising for a full-time, permanent Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in 20thC American History at Edge Hill. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX206/l...
Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in American History at Edge Hill University
Start your UK & international job search for academic jobs, research jobs, science jobs and managerial jobs in leading universities and top...
www.jobs.ac.uk
July 14, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Job alert! We're advertising for a full-time, permanent Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in 20thC American History at Edge Hill. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNX206/l...
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
This is terrifying, and happening right now. My university is about to reduce the curriculum from 6 20-credit modules per year to 4 30-credit ones, one assessment per module. Explicitly designed to reduce subject richness in favour of skills (and save on teacher numbers). Students will hate it.
June 25, 2025 at 9:06 AM
This is terrifying, and happening right now. My university is about to reduce the curriculum from 6 20-credit modules per year to 4 30-credit ones, one assessment per module. Explicitly designed to reduce subject richness in favour of skills (and save on teacher numbers). Students will hate it.
I'm on the TV! 'Jack the Ripper: Written in Blood' is a new docudrama about the journalists who reported on the killings and helped to mythologise the figure of the Ripper. I'm one of the talking-head historians. Part one premiers tonight at 9pm on Sky History & NOW TV. #WritteninBlood
April 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
I'm on the TV! 'Jack the Ripper: Written in Blood' is a new docudrama about the journalists who reported on the killings and helped to mythologise the figure of the Ripper. I'm one of the talking-head historians. Part one premiers tonight at 9pm on Sky History & NOW TV. #WritteninBlood
Reposted by Dr Bob Nicholson
Got weekend plans? Cancel them to read my chapter, 'Working-Class Writing in Victorian Britain' in the absolutely stellar Routledge Companion to Working-Class Literature!
February 20, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Got weekend plans? Cancel them to read my chapter, 'Working-Class Writing in Victorian Britain' in the absolutely stellar Routledge Companion to Working-Class Literature!