Katherine Mackinnon
LightNews LightNews
banner
kamack.bsky.social
Katherine Mackinnon
@kamack.bsky.social
3.3K followers 890 following 480 posts
Writer and PhD researcher interested in oral history, migration and methodology. Also radical history walking tours, books, social history, Glasgow kmackinnon.org radicalglasgowtours.com she/her
Posts Replies Media Videos
kamack.bsky.social
Research assistant
A lovely tabby cat called Susan with white feet and kind eyes, sitting on top of a pile of notes on a table. In the background are various coffee mugs, a pile of books and a computer. It’s cool Susan I wasn’t even using those notes anyway
November 11, 2025 at 12:24 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Did a @radicalglasgowtour.bsky.social tour for some young people from the Uni of Wisconsin today and one of them drew these amazing notes including a portrait of me 😭
Beautiful pen and ink notes with a portrait of me with notes and words in different scripts surrounding me including “Glasgow: city of defiance” , “Nelson Mandela” “the past we inherit the future we build” and then in big capitals at the bottom it just says RADICAL. I love it so much
November 10, 2025 at 5:54 PM
kamack.bsky.social
I’ve been rereading a load of Alan Moore comics. Full of tremendous sentences:
Photo of a page from Swamp Thing book 1 showing a guy in green scrubs and face mask holding up something that looks a bit like a marrow with text beside his face that reads I WONDERED ABOUT THE UNWORKABLE PSEUDO-KIDNEYS
November 9, 2025 at 8:22 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Current reading while hanging about outside kids gymnastics classes: this beaut new book edited by @suchmayer.bsky.social celebrating maps in the work of Ursula K Le Guin 💙
Front cover of The Word for World: the Maps of Ursula K le Guin with the title in a beautiful font with curling lines around the words, in glossy cobalt ink on a matt black background Highly detailed map of the islands of Earthsea with gorgeous names like Havnor and Karego-At. My favourite are two wee islands shaped quite like hands labelled The Hands Sparse drawing of the the continents of Anarres from The Disposessed Snakey map of the labyrinth from The Tombs of Atuan looking a wee bit like Celtic knit work with no symmetry at all
November 7, 2025 at 5:24 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Some of Pieńkowski’s illustrations:
Intricate silhouetted scene of people, building and plants in black over a marbled sky Baba Yaga’s house and an incredible fence made from skeletons in silhouette in front of a sickly yellow green sky Back cover of a book showing a wee dragon in its subterranean lair under a mountain. This one is black silhouette over rich red, purple and pink tones
November 5, 2025 at 10:35 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Incredible Jan Pieńkowski looking sunset over Pollokshields yesterday
Black silhouettes of roofs and trees against and incredible gradient sunset sky of orange pink and pale purple One tree and the roof of some flats in silhouette against the sky which here is more pink and blue Trees in front of an incredible wash of vibrant colour across the sky
November 5, 2025 at 10:32 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Love Halloween. Great to see Pollokshields is full of militants keeping the old ways alive - no sweeties without doing a turn, dooking for apples means your head is going in the cold water
Group of children guising (tradition in Scotland where they need to do a turn - tell a joke, do a dance etc - before they get a sweetie) at a house covered in cobwebs with witches hats hanging from the ceiling A pals flat which contained a huge inflatable squid the full height of the tenement leftover from an art project. They played haunted music in the background as well A lovely wee friendly pumpkin sitting on a dark step with a smiley face and fairy lights round it Blurry photo of some kids dooking for apples by sticking their heads in a basin of cold water and trying to grab apples with their teeth
November 1, 2025 at 10:01 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Spending my extra hour working on a new pair of gloves. The excellent pattern is Shine mittens by Pia Kammeborn, drawing on patterns found in Baltic knitting traditions (and elsewhere I’m sure).
Half knitted Latvian mitten in plum and grey wool, photo shows the front with a repeating geometric tumbling blocks pattern that is very old. Back of the same mitten showing highly satisfying patterned thumb increases. Thumb stitches are held on a piece of spare yarn which is a nice duck egg blue colour
October 26, 2025 at 10:16 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Barcelona graffiti and stickers
Simple but effective red spray paint symbols = four vertical lines with a wee star above them for the Catalan flag, hammer and sickle, woman symbol that’s a circle with a crossed line running from the bottom Sticker with woven patches of both flags saying “Catalan countries with Palestine” Highly elegant blue spray painted calligraphy saying Antifa One eviction Another occupation!
October 17, 2025 at 9:41 AM
kamack.bsky.social
The knowledge that Nick has of the era is absolutely incredible, as is his skill at communicating the complex politics of the time to a contemporary audience. A masterclass in popular history! @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social
Building with a ghost sign saying “plaça of the unknown militiaman”, a remnant of the Spanish civil war which was only uncovered in 2004 A rusty tin, the kind that open with a key, held in front of a photo of international brigades at the front eating rations out of the same type of tins Well-known to me, a photo of the Glasgow district roll of honour banner listing the names of the men who died in Spain A box of matches produced by the CNT, the anarchist trade union
October 15, 2025 at 8:39 AM
kamack.bsky.social
One of the best things I’ve done in BCN is @spaincivilwartours.bsky.social tour - a real deep dive into the history of the civil war through the city streets. You get to see and handle an utterly unique collection of archive photos and objects from the time
Iconic photo of Marina Ginesta shouldering a rifle on a rooftop, shown in front of the building in Placa Catalunya she was stood on top of when it was taken A milk label from when industries were collectivised and the anarchists were running the buses, the cinemas, catering etc. the label says “Socialised dairy industry: CNT milk” Two postcards, one an illustration of a militiawoman with a resemblance to Marlene Dietrich, the other showing a group of men admiring the illustrations in poster form in 1930s barcelona Famous antifascists poster of an espadrilled foot crushing the swastika
October 15, 2025 at 7:39 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Back in Barcelona. What a city
A 140 year old magic shop called King of Magic Mural outside a community garden of Leila Khaled and a Zapatista woman with “for a world with room for all: rebel dignity flourishes” in Catalan A kid in a black and white patterned dress runs across a plaza to a piece of well-maintained, thoughtful play equipment Sun shining on the wild vision of Barcelona beach, huge waves crashing onto the shore with the outline of big 90s scyscrapers on the horizon
October 15, 2025 at 7:01 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Past leader of Glasgow City Council, known as Lazarus Lally for repeated resurrection in the face of scandal. You have to hand it to him:
Cover of “Lazarus only done it once: the story of my lives” by Pat Lally. Cover photo of him doing a cheeky side eye while dripping in the gold chains of civic office
October 6, 2025 at 11:03 AM
kamack.bsky.social
We were only here for one full day and it was atrocious weather. I spent 15 mins in lashing rain on a deserted crazy golf course until I completed THIS:
The best crazy golf hole in Scotland, a beautiful shining red miniature version of the Forth Rail bridge. You have to tap the ball and it’ll go along tiny rails where the trains go. Took me about 100 gos to finally succeed but it was all worth it
September 28, 2025 at 8:06 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Arran is so beautiful at this time of year:
View over Arran hills with wisps of cloud around the tops and white torrents of water clearly visible crashing down the sides; caused by it being pissing rain for 10 hrs yesterday Series of figures walking along a beautiful wooden bridge over a river, with mountains and streaks of light breaking through cloud. View of Goat Fell from Brodick with colourful seaweed on the beach in front Another view of GoatFell from Brodick, blue sea and cloudy skies
September 28, 2025 at 7:59 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Me trying to write a history phd:
Screenshot of famously poetic account Horse_ebooks tweet from 2012 just saying “Everything happens so much”
September 23, 2025 at 4:10 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Really enjoyed reading this over the weekend. Chapter on Scotland's love of hi-NRG was so interesting - suggestion that clubbers in Scotland and the North of England have a shared love of fast music going back to Northern Soul, had never thought about it like that
Cover of Small Town Joy - From Glam Rock to Hyperpop: How Queer Music Changed the Sound of Scotland
September 8, 2025 at 10:06 AM
kamack.bsky.social
Proud to have contributed to this comprehensive and kaleidoscopic book, alongside a host of brilliant thinkers, writers, organisers and educators. There is a lot of really vital writing in here on ethics, decolonial praxis, grief, politics and community.
"A Handbook of Integration with Refugees: Global Learnings from Scotland" edited by Esa Aldegheri, Dan Fisher and Alison Phipps, sitting on a kitchen table. The book cover features a colourful illustration of swirling green leaves with a tartan strip in one corner, and a golden sun in the background
August 20, 2025 at 11:36 AM
kamack.bsky.social
RGT in the paper! Thanks @charlielynch.bsky.social, to read the whole thing check out print or digital @scotnational.bsky.social
Section of newspaper article with the text: BY CHARLIE LYNCH On a summer's evening, I joined a walking tour group winding their way through the streets and alleys of Glasgow, learning as they went stories of LGBTQ+ lives in the city's past. I spoke to Henry Bell, David Lees and Katherine Mackinnon, public historians and social activists, who are behind Radical Glasgow Tours. They modestly describe themselves as "three pals exploring radical histories on foot" I asked them how their operation had come into being. "We did our first tour, Red Clydeside in 2022, but. it was 2023 when we really started running regularly," they tell me. How do the tours work and what do they hope to achieve? "We think tours can be a really powerful way of showing people a familiar place from a new perspective by sharing stories of people and events which might be missing, overlooked or omitted from mainstream histories of the city. "But the tours also work as a space where people share their own experiences of political organising, protests and struggle. So, it's a method of communicating and understanding as well as of documenting histories.' Cool photo in the paper of David Lees in a lovely cobalt blue trackie top sharing some queer histories in front of a huge mural of a woman with pink hair
August 12, 2025 at 11:18 AM
kamack.bsky.social
If you live in/are visiting the west of Scotland this summer you should treat yourself to a wee trip on the Waverley. We did Greenock-Millport then got the Cal Mac ferry back to Largs. Perfect day out
Incredibly detailed knitted post box topper showing the Waverley, a 1940s paddle steamer with two red, black and white striped funnels The Waverley docked at Keppel Pier, Millport View on deck of the boat with beautiful old carved wood benches, blue skies with wispy clouds above and the iconic stripes funnels in view A porthole in the ladies toilets showing a view of Dunoon
July 10, 2025 at 9:27 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Great time at Glasgow Zine Fair today meeting many top cats and acquiring lots of great stuff!
David, one of the other radical tours people, wearing a mask and a blue adidas trackie top, sat behind a table laden with zines and various other bits and pieces Gorgeous series of colourful riso postcards of Irish republican women by Aoife Cawley Three pin badges: one with a black and white illustration of people and bilingual text in English and Arabic “in solidarity with Palestine”, one with mr happy saying “Glasgow welcomes refugees” and one small white badge saying “eat crisps read zines” Zine titled “Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks: Interpretations, Art & Pedagogy” by Rahul Patel | Rotimi Akinsete | Jheni Arboine | Anita Waithira Israel | Dr Amita Nijhawan | Dr Gurnam Singh
July 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Glasgow pals I’m at the Glasgow Zine Fest tomorrow (11am-6pm at the Tramway) with a ton of @radicalglasgowtour.bsky.social radical history zines as well as the full set of tasteful and elegant RGT badges. Drop in and say hiya!
Boxes of zines on radical histories including Pollok Free State, Glasgow garden festival and refugee histories Four pin badges showing: mr happy with the text “radical Glasgow tours”, stylised illustration of la Pasionaria statue with same text, pink rectangle in the style of current Glasgow city branding saying “comrades make Glasgow” and a green square that reads “break ass for emergency ass” referencing signs in the old subway carriages which were supposed to say “break glass for emergency access” but were unfailingly edited
July 5, 2025 at 10:22 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Summer solstice on Bute
Pink sky over the Kyles of Bute, 10:30pm and still fully light Sunshine sparkling on the waves at Scalpsie Bay, with the jagged Arran peaks across the sea in the background
June 21, 2025 at 10:04 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Word to the wise: if you see this in a charity shop and think it would be fun for the kids, keep moving. It is incredible but within genuinely 90 seconds of turning it on both my children were howling
Admittedly very cool foam toy drone of the Millennium Falcon
June 17, 2025 at 8:13 PM
kamack.bsky.social
Really enjoying watching the cycling on home turf today
Cyclists coming through Glasgow green where a large Palestine flag is being flown in the crowd Two cyclists passing one of the entrances to the Barras Peloton just passed George Sq
June 8, 2025 at 10:27 AM