Jo Laycock
@jolaycock.bsky.social
Historian: migration, refugees, humanitarianism, South Caucasus, Armenia. Sidelines in histories of Rochdale and of the Manchester Guardian. UCU Manchester equalities (disabilities) officer. Tired.
Today’s archival mystery. The entirely imaginary Royal Kingdom of Transcaucasia Vitanvalie, Maikop and Ferghana.
November 4, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Today’s archival mystery. The entirely imaginary Royal Kingdom of Transcaucasia Vitanvalie, Maikop and Ferghana.
Heading for Sweden.
August 19, 2025 at 5:55 AM
Heading for Sweden.
Holiday. I like it in Scandinavia, not sure I want to come home.
August 9, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Holiday. I like it in Scandinavia, not sure I want to come home.
The hound being ridiculously cute. Note her emotional support squirrel.
July 17, 2025 at 10:39 AM
The hound being ridiculously cute. Note her emotional support squirrel.
Some better pictures of Prague.
June 19, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Some better pictures of Prague.
Went to Prague, took terrible pictures of a beautiful city, drank some beer. Just the small matter of presenting a paper to deal with now.
June 18, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Went to Prague, took terrible pictures of a beautiful city, drank some beer. Just the small matter of presenting a paper to deal with now.
I thought our lab and her bestie Molly the teeny shipoo were the funniest pair until she started hanging out with big frank the greyhound…
June 14, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I thought our lab and her bestie Molly the teeny shipoo were the funniest pair until she started hanging out with big frank the greyhound…
Also, I discovered that most people thought taking your parents to the archive was a pretty good idea after all. Question is, can I co-write with them?
June 12, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Also, I discovered that most people thought taking your parents to the archive was a pretty good idea after all. Question is, can I co-write with them?
What a day @thejohnrylands.bsky.social talking histories of investigative journalism past and present. I learned so much, not least that Rochdale’s Alternative Paper influenced a whole generation of journalists…
June 12, 2025 at 7:29 PM
What a day @thejohnrylands.bsky.social talking histories of investigative journalism past and present. I learned so much, not least that Rochdale’s Alternative Paper influenced a whole generation of journalists…
I’m presenting the first tiny bit of my new project on Rochdale’s histories of migration and internationalism today. Was nice to see Rochdale Alternative Paper had a more progressive take on migration than many contemporary news outlets.
June 12, 2025 at 8:50 AM
I’m presenting the first tiny bit of my new project on Rochdale’s histories of migration and internationalism today. Was nice to see Rochdale Alternative Paper had a more progressive take on migration than many contemporary news outlets.
From today I’m looking after probably the oldest family possession we have, the trunk my great-grandma took when she left Ireland to work in Boston, around 1900. I only discovered the image inside a couple of years ago. We know so little about her story, but we think…
June 8, 2025 at 2:21 PM
From today I’m looking after probably the oldest family possession we have, the trunk my great-grandma took when she left Ireland to work in Boston, around 1900. I only discovered the image inside a couple of years ago. We know so little about her story, but we think…
Gearing up for Bruce in Liverpool.
June 7, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Gearing up for Bruce in Liverpool.
First stages of my new project and a new kind of archival research for me, reading the John Rylands’ collection of Rochdale Alternative Press 1971-83 with my parents. So much to talk and think about!
June 4, 2025 at 3:15 PM
First stages of my new project and a new kind of archival research for me, reading the John Rylands’ collection of Rochdale Alternative Press 1971-83 with my parents. So much to talk and think about!
A very impressive Carlo Ginsburg speaking on truth and history in Yerevan. (Not a sentence I ever thought I would write)
May 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
A very impressive Carlo Ginsburg speaking on truth and history in Yerevan. (Not a sentence I ever thought I would write)
An essential part of any conference, the ‘electric hot bucket’.
May 23, 2025 at 5:30 PM
An essential part of any conference, the ‘electric hot bucket’.
Y-Conference Yerevan. Must figure out how to stop my glasses slipping down my nose every time I present.
May 23, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Y-Conference Yerevan. Must figure out how to stop my glasses slipping down my nose every time I present.
There is an exhibition on ‘Camp Oddo’, a refugee camp for Armenian genocide survivors in Marseille at the National History Museum in Armenia at present. historymuseum.am/en/%d6%84%d5... some pictures
May 22, 2025 at 11:49 AM
There is an exhibition on ‘Camp Oddo’, a refugee camp for Armenian genocide survivors in Marseille at the National History Museum in Armenia at present. historymuseum.am/en/%d6%84%d5... some pictures
Back in sunny Yerevan.
May 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Back in sunny Yerevan.
Missing Eurovision but Cora got to go to her first festival. A surprise bit of Norman Jay in Keswick.
May 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Missing Eurovision but Cora got to go to her first festival. A surprise bit of Norman Jay in Keswick.
An hour of tourist time at Notre Dame. Glorious!
May 14, 2025 at 8:25 PM
An hour of tourist time at Notre Dame. Glorious!
The Bibliothèque national seems to have captured the current mood.
May 13, 2025 at 8:38 PM
The Bibliothèque national seems to have captured the current mood.
A bit of retro glam in Yerevan at Sirelis.
May 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
A bit of retro glam in Yerevan at Sirelis.
One of my favourites in Yerevan. Who doesn’t love a glamor (except when they are guarding farms in a scary way).
May 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
One of my favourites in Yerevan. Who doesn’t love a glamor (except when they are guarding farms in a scary way).
There is so much going on in Yerevan at the moment… Great to hear David Leupold talk about his work on Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish memory politics.
April 29, 2025 at 8:44 PM
There is so much going on in Yerevan at the moment… Great to hear David Leupold talk about his work on Armenian, Kurdish and Turkish memory politics.
I am haunted by Soviet irrigation projects wherever I go in Armenia. Went to the National Gallery, saw this epic painting of the building of the Shiraz canal (1925).
April 28, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I am haunted by Soviet irrigation projects wherever I go in Armenia. Went to the National Gallery, saw this epic painting of the building of the Shiraz canal (1925).