Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
@drsurekhadavies.bsky.social
Historian of science, art & ideas.
Words: Smithsonian, LA Times, TLS, Aeon, Nature, Science, Reactor.
Buy HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY now: https://www.surekhadavies.org/humans-a-monstrous-history
Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/surekhadavies?tag=bluesky
Words: Smithsonian, LA Times, TLS, Aeon, Nature, Science, Reactor.
Buy HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY now: https://www.surekhadavies.org/humans-a-monstrous-history
Newsletter: https://buttondown.com/surekhadavies?tag=bluesky
Pinned
Launch Day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY!
Welcome back, and hallo, new readers! This is it! The US launch day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is February 4th. I’m amazed and relieved to get to this...
buttondown.com
Launch day for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY! So relieved to make it this far.
💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
💙📚 🧪 🗃 #medieval #earlymodern #histsci #histmed #18thC #HAMH
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Right, the answer isn't to abandon the party to these weasels.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
November 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Right, the answer isn't to abandon the party to these weasels.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
November 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Many thanks to the @rsaorg.bsky.social for sharing a notice of the new #OpenAccess teaching module on the Black Death. www.rsa.org/news/709728/.... I will be attending the RSA meeting in February, so get in touch if you want to plan to talk teaching strategies! #MedievalSky #EarlyModern #histmed
www.rsa.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Many thanks to the @rsaorg.bsky.social for sharing a notice of the new #OpenAccess teaching module on the Black Death. www.rsa.org/news/709728/.... I will be attending the RSA meeting in February, so get in touch if you want to plan to talk teaching strategies! #MedievalSky #EarlyModern #histmed
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
And I want to emphasize the only reason I know this is because she made the call on speaker phone at work.
February 13, 2025 at 10:02 PM
And I want to emphasize the only reason I know this is because she made the call on speaker phone at work.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Feeling spicy might delete but I used to work with Chuck Schumer's eldest daughter, and when she was getting ready to go to Yale Law she was dissatisfied with her financial aid package so she made them do a three way call (at the office) with her and her dad to push for a better package
February 13, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Feeling spicy might delete but I used to work with Chuck Schumer's eldest daughter, and when she was getting ready to go to Yale Law she was dissatisfied with her financial aid package so she made them do a three way call (at the office) with her and her dad to push for a better package
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish
November 10, 2025 at 12:36 AM
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
It really is quite a surreal experience to listen to a bunch of entitled mostly old, mostly white, mostly men so aggressively and with apparent pleasure take away my health insurance. #shutdown #obamacare #aca
November 10, 2025 at 1:42 AM
It really is quite a surreal experience to listen to a bunch of entitled mostly old, mostly white, mostly men so aggressively and with apparent pleasure take away my health insurance. #shutdown #obamacare #aca
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
I tend to give books as presents when I don’t know what else to get. I try to buy them from indie bookshops, not Amazon, because that way there’s someone else I like who benefits, instead of an actively harmful company. My favourite bookshop is @newhambookshop.bsky.social.
November 10, 2025 at 9:58 AM
I tend to give books as presents when I don’t know what else to get. I try to buy them from indie bookshops, not Amazon, because that way there’s someone else I like who benefits, instead of an actively harmful company. My favourite bookshop is @newhambookshop.bsky.social.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Also a lesson for morally bankrupt, supposedly progressive parties worldwide: if you spend your energy trying to make voters who hate everything about you hate you slightly less, they still won't vote for you.
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Also a lesson for morally bankrupt, supposedly progressive parties worldwide: if you spend your energy trying to make voters who hate everything about you hate you slightly less, they still won't vote for you.
"Something precious in our polity is again being trashed, just because some with political motives want to give the BBC a good kicking, and the BBC will not (or cannot) defend itself."
November 10, 2025 at 11:14 AM
"Something precious in our polity is again being trashed, just because some with political motives want to give the BBC a good kicking, and the BBC will not (or cannot) defend itself."
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Dominic Cummings, in an earlier incarnation, ran a secretly-funded 'think tank' dedicated to attacking the Beeb while Robbie Gibb glided effortlessly from GBNews to the BBC & started lecturing staff on impartiality. Imagine (cos you'll have to) how the 'left-wing' equivalent would be reported.
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Dominic Cummings, in an earlier incarnation, ran a secretly-funded 'think tank' dedicated to attacking the Beeb while Robbie Gibb glided effortlessly from GBNews to the BBC & started lecturing staff on impartiality. Imagine (cos you'll have to) how the 'left-wing' equivalent would be reported.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
November 10, 2025 at 9:23 AM
In 'How They Broke Britain', I do a pretty good job of detailing the depth & breadth of Tufton Street/Tory/Murdoch/Mail attempts to scupper the BBC, even as I castigate some presenters for going too easy on precisely the people who seek the Corporation's abolition. But I should have done more. 1/2
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Panorama made a stupid editing mistake. But compare this to the deliberate and systemic attempt, sustained across years, to ensure that BBC output aligns ever more closely to the demands of economic power. Against your straw of bias, I raise you a haystack.
November 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Panorama made a stupid editing mistake. But compare this to the deliberate and systemic attempt, sustained across years, to ensure that BBC output aligns ever more closely to the demands of economic power. Against your straw of bias, I raise you a haystack.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
November 10, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Once every 20 years or so, the director-general of the BBC is forced to resign for being insufficiently rightwing. Alastair Milne in 1987. Greg Dyke in 2004. Tim Davie in 2025. The great irony is that the BBC was in all cases profoundly biased towards established power. But just not biased enough …
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.
November 10, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Just occurred that the BBC is the most literal example of Conquest's third law in that it is actually run by a cabal of its enemies.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
The extreme right will not make anything better by making it impossible to offer fair, evidence-based criticism of their actions.
They won't even make life better for the people who support them.
They will make it easier to substitute hatred for improvement, though.
And their profits will roll in
They won't even make life better for the people who support them.
They will make it easier to substitute hatred for improvement, though.
And their profits will roll in
November 10, 2025 at 8:27 AM
The extreme right will not make anything better by making it impossible to offer fair, evidence-based criticism of their actions.
They won't even make life better for the people who support them.
They will make it easier to substitute hatred for improvement, though.
And their profits will roll in
They won't even make life better for the people who support them.
They will make it easier to substitute hatred for improvement, though.
And their profits will roll in
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Terror definition too broad, Starmer to be told.
New advice could undermine the Palestine Action proscription
🖊️ Ethan Croft
New advice could undermine the Palestine Action proscription
🖊️ Ethan Croft
Terror definition too broad, Starmer to be told
New advice could undermine the Palestine Action ban
www.newstatesman.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Terror definition too broad, Starmer to be told.
New advice could undermine the Palestine Action proscription
🖊️ Ethan Croft
New advice could undermine the Palestine Action proscription
🖊️ Ethan Croft
Also a lesson for morally bankrupt, supposedly progressive parties worldwide: if you spend your energy trying to make voters who hate everything about you hate you slightly less, they still won't vote for you.
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Also a lesson for morally bankrupt, supposedly progressive parties worldwide: if you spend your energy trying to make voters who hate everything about you hate you slightly less, they still won't vote for you.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
April 22, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Gary Lineker: "This is the mistake the BBC makes. The BBC tries to appease the people that hate the BBC, rather than worrying about the people that love the BBC."
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
It really does seem like there's a decent chance that these senators screwed us because they don't want their personal Thanksgiving plans to be disrupted.
Anyway a great way to radicalize people is for them to realize that you just abandoned their chance at being able to access and afford health care because you didn’t like waiting in line at the airport.
November 10, 2025 at 4:21 AM
It really does seem like there's a decent chance that these senators screwed us because they don't want their personal Thanksgiving plans to be disrupted.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
November 9, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Dems backed Trump into a corner where he’s advocating for starving Americans and hemorrhaging support. If they vote to let him off the hook in exchange for nothing it’s a cataclysmic failure. I know people are in pain but insulating Republicans from political consequences is not the answer.
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
Here's a partial list of suspected guilty parties. Call them if they're your senators, friends, right now.
blacksky.community/profile/did:...
blacksky.community/profile/did:...
John Fetterman, Angus King, Maggie Hassan, Dick Durbin, Jon Ossoff, Jeanne Shaheen, Kirsten Gillibrand, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mark Warner, Cory Booker, and of course Chuck Schumer. Maybe others not top of mind. Not all responsible will publicly vote for the cave - that's not how this works.
November 9, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Here's a partial list of suspected guilty parties. Call them if they're your senators, friends, right now.
blacksky.community/profile/did:...
blacksky.community/profile/did:...
Reposted by Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)
I told Schumer and Gillibrand that a "promise" of a vote on ACA funding from Rs is worth NOTHING. You cannot trust them on ANYTHING. No deal without funding the ACA.
If they cut this deal and ACA funding is cut, they will be responsible for the deaths of people who can no longer afford insurance.
If they cut this deal and ACA funding is cut, they will be responsible for the deaths of people who can no longer afford insurance.
November 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I told Schumer and Gillibrand that a "promise" of a vote on ACA funding from Rs is worth NOTHING. You cannot trust them on ANYTHING. No deal without funding the ACA.
If they cut this deal and ACA funding is cut, they will be responsible for the deaths of people who can no longer afford insurance.
If they cut this deal and ACA funding is cut, they will be responsible for the deaths of people who can no longer afford insurance.