Joe Moran
@joemoransblog.bsky.social
Professor of English @LJMU and author of If You Should Fail, First You Write a Sentence, Shrinking Violets, Armchair Nation, On Roads etc. Website: joemoran.net
Reposted by Joe Moran
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
November 10, 2025 at 11:53 PM
A radio programme like the Shipping Forecast but it’s called Bin Day and it just reads out every single council in the country’s bin schedule
I reviewed Hu Anyan's I Deliver Parcels in Beijing here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
I Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu Anyan review – startling stories of China’s new precarity
The viral blog turned book details the exhausting life of a courier, but something may have been lost in translation
www.theguardian.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:25 PM
I reviewed Hu Anyan's I Deliver Parcels in Beijing here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Reposted by Joe Moran
The BBC are accidentally running the subtitles to Mrs Marple over the Mercury Prize, and it’s rather wonderful. A few of lines could plausibly have been written by Jarvis.
October 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The BBC are accidentally running the subtitles to Mrs Marple over the Mercury Prize, and it’s rather wonderful. A few of lines could plausibly have been written by Jarvis.
From Jung Chang’s Fly, Wild Swans: Oliver Twist is translated into Chinese as Orphan in the Capital of Fog
October 11, 2025 at 8:52 PM
From Jung Chang’s Fly, Wild Swans: Oliver Twist is translated into Chinese as Orphan in the Capital of Fog
I reviewed Sarah Perry's Death of an Ordinary Man here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry review – a brilliant meditation on mortality
The Essex Serpent author offers a moving account of her father-in-law’s final illness that will resonate widely
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:52 AM
I reviewed Sarah Perry's Death of an Ordinary Man here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Reposted by Joe Moran
Calling historians and researchers. The BBC Written Archives Centre has changed its access rules without consultation. This means an end to proper independent research into the BBC's rich history. 178 have already signed the open letter. Please join the campaign here:
tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign
tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign
Open letter BBC Written Archives - August 2025
Join the campaign to protect the future of independent research at the BBC Written Archives Centre The following text is an open letter expressing the concern of historians and researchers about chan...
tinyurl.com
August 18, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Calling historians and researchers. The BBC Written Archives Centre has changed its access rules without consultation. This means an end to proper independent research into the BBC's rich history. 178 have already signed the open letter. Please join the campaign here:
tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign
tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign
Reposted by Joe Moran
'The newsreader Tina Ritchie imagines she is reading the midnight news to King Charles, who she knows listens in bed.'
Joe Moran on night as a space of fear and imagination
Joe Moran on night as a space of fear and imagination
Under the cover of darkness
www.the-tls.com
July 27, 2025 at 1:59 AM
'The newsreader Tina Ritchie imagines she is reading the midnight news to King Charles, who she knows listens in bed.'
Joe Moran on night as a space of fear and imagination
Joe Moran on night as a space of fear and imagination
Oxford supervision, mid 1980s style. From Richard Flanagan's Question 7
July 20, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Oxford supervision, mid 1980s style. From Richard Flanagan's Question 7
Just added to my collection of graduation booklets (useful for recalling names of past students). No prizes for guessing why there are three for 2022 and none for 2020 and 2021
July 15, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Just added to my collection of graduation booklets (useful for recalling names of past students). No prizes for guessing why there are three for 2022 and none for 2020 and 2021
Reposted by Joe Moran
Join us! We are advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop in 2025-27.
Our fellowships support early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history & to gain experience of working in an editorial team.
www.historyworkshop....
Our fellowships support early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history & to gain experience of working in an editorial team.
www.historyworkshop....
Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop, 2025
History Workshop is advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships in 2025, open to early career historians.
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
July 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Join us! We are advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop in 2025-27.
Our fellowships support early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history & to gain experience of working in an editorial team.
www.historyworkshop....
Our fellowships support early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history & to gain experience of working in an editorial team.
www.historyworkshop....
I wonder if the Microsoft Bing algorithm feels hurt that so many people type 'Google' into its search box
June 30, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I wonder if the Microsoft Bing algorithm feels hurt that so many people type 'Google' into its search box
I reviewed Ian Mayes's history of the Guardian here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Witness in a Time of Turmoil by Ian Mayes review – a lively history of the Guardian
A lively history of the paper from 1986 to 1995 covers global upheaval, internal conflict and a bold but brilliant redesign
www.theguardian.com
June 24, 2025 at 1:30 PM
I reviewed Ian Mayes's history of the Guardian here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
Reposted by Joe Moran
The Universal Turing Machine now live. Read online for free. Think about how you'd write your own.
universalturingmachine.co.uk
universalturingmachine.co.uk
Richard Beard
universalturingmachine.co.uk
June 24, 2025 at 7:33 AM
The Universal Turing Machine now live. Read online for free. Think about how you'd write your own.
universalturingmachine.co.uk
universalturingmachine.co.uk
Reposted by Joe Moran
“It’s very important history, but above all, it’s very readable and enjoyable history.” bit.ly/43yzlS9
Histories of news in the news: surviving editions of the 'Belfast News Letter', the world’s oldest, continuously published English-language daily, can now be accessed free #Skystorians
Histories of news in the news: surviving editions of the 'Belfast News Letter', the world’s oldest, continuously published English-language daily, can now be accessed free #Skystorians
‘It’s thrilling’: almost three centuries of the Belfast News Letter go online
The surviving editions of the world’s oldest, continuously published English-language daily can now be accessed free
bit.ly
June 1, 2025 at 11:41 AM
“It’s very important history, but above all, it’s very readable and enjoyable history.” bit.ly/43yzlS9
Histories of news in the news: surviving editions of the 'Belfast News Letter', the world’s oldest, continuously published English-language daily, can now be accessed free #Skystorians
Histories of news in the news: surviving editions of the 'Belfast News Letter', the world’s oldest, continuously published English-language daily, can now be accessed free #Skystorians
Reposted by Joe Moran
‘‘The mood over in Germany was, inevitably, distinctly more sombre. The defeated country was under military occupation by the Allies, towns and cities had been devastated by bombing, and millions were on the move - refugees in their own homeland, hungry and afraid’
Listening to the BBC on VE Day
Listening to the BBC on VE Day
VE Day 80
A day in which the BBC would try to capture the mood not just of Britain, but of the wider world.
canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk
May 11, 2025 at 10:59 AM
‘‘The mood over in Germany was, inevitably, distinctly more sombre. The defeated country was under military occupation by the Allies, towns and cities had been devastated by bombing, and millions were on the move - refugees in their own homeland, hungry and afraid’
Listening to the BBC on VE Day
Listening to the BBC on VE Day
Reposted by Joe Moran
Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine
April 23, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Someone on Threads noticed you can type any random sentence into Google, then add “meaning” afterwards, and you’ll get an AI explanation of a famous idiom or phrase you just made up. Here is mine
I reviewed Fara Dabhoiwala's book about free speech here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
What Is Free Speech? by Fara Dabhoiwala review – a brilliant history of a weaponised mantra
This fascinating book questions whether such a misunderstood ideal should be lauded as an end in itself
www.theguardian.com
March 27, 2025 at 8:40 AM
I reviewed Fara Dabhoiwala's book about free speech here www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Really enjoying this new book by @jakecampbell88.bsky.social . A modern pilgrimage through the north country in the footsteps of saints and poets
March 19, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Really enjoying this new book by @jakecampbell88.bsky.social . A modern pilgrimage through the north country in the footsteps of saints and poets
Reposted by Joe Moran
The Times / Sunday Times paywall is down all weekend, so here's👇where you can read all my stuff for free, with selected highlights to follow: 🧵
www.thetimes.com/profile/john...
www.thetimes.com/profile/john...
John Self | The Times & The Sunday TimesTwitter Icon
John Self is a freelance writer and book critic. In his previous career he was a lawyer, which like his present role involved the art of persuasion.
www.thetimes.com
March 15, 2025 at 9:10 AM
The Times / Sunday Times paywall is down all weekend, so here's👇where you can read all my stuff for free, with selected highlights to follow: 🧵
www.thetimes.com/profile/john...
www.thetimes.com/profile/john...
Reposted by Joe Moran
"universities are communities, sites of knowledge production, & of collective and collaborative problem-solving. However, they are no longer treated, funded, or indeed governed, as if they are any of these things."
Dave Hitchcock on a decade of crisis.
www.historyworkshop....
Dave Hitchcock on a decade of crisis.
www.historyworkshop....
A Decade of Crisis
The UK's universities are in crisis. Dave Hitchcock on how the sector became 'broken' and why it must be understood as an interdependent system.
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
March 13, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"universities are communities, sites of knowledge production, & of collective and collaborative problem-solving. However, they are no longer treated, funded, or indeed governed, as if they are any of these things."
Dave Hitchcock on a decade of crisis.
www.historyworkshop....
Dave Hitchcock on a decade of crisis.
www.historyworkshop....
Reposted by Joe Moran
A truly lovely review by @joemoransblog.bsky.social of my book in the TLS (@thetls.bsky.social). www.the-tls.co.uk/politics-soc...
Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain by Sam Wetherell | Book review
This history of postwar Liverpool begins, predictably enough, with the darkest period of its recent history: the early 1980s. The vast Victorian docks are
www.the-tls.co.uk
March 13, 2025 at 12:07 PM
A truly lovely review by @joemoransblog.bsky.social of my book in the TLS (@thetls.bsky.social). www.the-tls.co.uk/politics-soc...
I reviewed Sam Wetherell's book Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain here www.the-tls.co.uk/politics-soc...
Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain by Sam Wetherell | Book review
This history of postwar Liverpool begins, predictably enough, with the darkest period of its recent history: the early 1980s. The vast Victorian docks are
www.the-tls.co.uk
March 13, 2025 at 8:20 AM
I reviewed Sam Wetherell's book Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain here www.the-tls.co.uk/politics-soc...
Every so often I make a poem out of the headlines to Adrian Chiles’s articles in the Guardian. This is the latest one
February 27, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Every so often I make a poem out of the headlines to Adrian Chiles’s articles in the Guardian. This is the latest one
