Kendrick Oliver
@koushist.bsky.social
Professor of American History, University of Southampton
Interested in many things, but mostly writing these days about technology, physics and cosmology
Interested in many things, but mostly writing these days about technology, physics and cosmology
Some seriously deep cuts played tonight by Gen X indie cognoscenti faves The Clientele, in front of a suitably reverent audience at St Pancras Old Church. Next time, though, I'm bringing a cushion. Church seating is less forgiving than church doctrine.
November 26, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Some seriously deep cuts played tonight by Gen X indie cognoscenti faves The Clientele, in front of a suitably reverent audience at St Pancras Old Church. Next time, though, I'm bringing a cushion. Church seating is less forgiving than church doctrine.
I attended a very touching memorial service for my PhD supervisor, Michael Dockrill, today. Michael died seven years ago. He was a model supervisor: kind, humourous and supportive (and prompt with feedback).
November 26, 2025 at 2:44 PM
I attended a very touching memorial service for my PhD supervisor, Michael Dockrill, today. Michael died seven years ago. He was a model supervisor: kind, humourous and supportive (and prompt with feedback).
A decade further on, with von Braun having designed the Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo spacecraft towards the moon, and we have a picture of Lindbergh and von Braun together.
(12/15)
(12/15)
October 26, 2025 at 9:28 PM
A decade further on, with von Braun having designed the Saturn V rocket that launched the Apollo spacecraft towards the moon, and we have a picture of Lindbergh and von Braun together.
(12/15)
(12/15)
I spent a nice afternoon at the Wallace Collection. Some brilliant Jan Steens and Reynolds portraits, alongside a cabinet of Asante loot and this, um, striking enamel plaque showing the Virgin and child:
October 4, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I spent a nice afternoon at the Wallace Collection. Some brilliant Jan Steens and Reynolds portraits, alongside a cabinet of Asante loot and this, um, striking enamel plaque showing the Virgin and child:
Guardian nails it:
September 27, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Guardian nails it:
I'm sure this will be life-changing for some, but please, don't ever make my inner voice audible. It's nasal, neurotic and never shuts up.
August 14, 2025 at 9:04 PM
I'm sure this will be life-changing for some, but please, don't ever make my inner voice audible. It's nasal, neurotic and never shuts up.
The museum attached to the Cross in the Woods shrine in Indian River, MI. Rooms full of dolls and mannequins dressed in the habits of different Catholic orders, 500+ of them. Quite unsettling.
August 2, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The museum attached to the Cross in the Woods shrine in Indian River, MI. Rooms full of dolls and mannequins dressed in the habits of different Catholic orders, 500+ of them. Quite unsettling.
Not wishing to seem like a hopeless gadabout, but this evening's acoustic set by Lucy Dacus at Kingston Pryzm was pretty good too.
June 9, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Not wishing to seem like a hopeless gadabout, but this evening's acoustic set by Lucy Dacus at Kingston Pryzm was pretty good too.
Well, it turns out there are still some reliable sources of joy in life. The music of Talking Heads, for example, played live by a tight band, ideally with one or two original personnel present. Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew at O2 Indigo this evening: a real delight.
June 7, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Well, it turns out there are still some reliable sources of joy in life. The music of Talking Heads, for example, played live by a tight band, ideally with one or two original personnel present. Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew at O2 Indigo this evening: a real delight.
Mark Eitzel was in fantastic form at the Mid Sussex Music Hall in Hassocks tonight. But WTF is one of the stand-out singer-songwriters of the past 40 years playing the Mid Sussex Music Hall in Hassocks? It was lovely, but in a just world, he'd be selling out the Brighton Dome at least.
April 30, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Mark Eitzel was in fantastic form at the Mid Sussex Music Hall in Hassocks tonight. But WTF is one of the stand-out singer-songwriters of the past 40 years playing the Mid Sussex Music Hall in Hassocks? It was lovely, but in a just world, he'd be selling out the Brighton Dome at least.
Delighted to see this article out in the world, drawn in part from a very fine Southampton PhD thesis:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
April 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Delighted to see this article out in the world, drawn in part from a very fine Southampton PhD thesis:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Joan Didion on My Lai: that would have been something to read.
April 19, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Joan Didion on My Lai: that would have been something to read.
Which got me thinking how amusing, maybe, it would be to have the site of the original 1m by 1m square marked in some way, with a QR code linked to the film so people could watch it, lie down on the spot, look up into the sky and, well, whatever….
April 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Which got me thinking how amusing, maybe, it would be to have the site of the original 1m by 1m square marked in some way, with a QR code linked to the film so people could watch it, lie down on the spot, look up into the sky and, well, whatever….
And lo, I happened to be in Chicago this week and had a couple of hours to kill before leaving for the airport, so went to see if I could identify the site, which in the film featured a man on a picnic blanket. I think I did, although my methods were not very scientific.
April 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
And lo, I happened to be in Chicago this week and had a couple of hours to kill before leaving for the airport, so went to see if I could identify the site, which in the film featured a man on a picnic blanket. I think I did, although my methods were not very scientific.
Compare the image in the book and Google Maps and you'll see that the area, once flat lawn, has since been landscaped, trees planted, a bike trail laid, etc.
April 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Compare the image in the book and Google Maps and you'll see that the area, once flat lawn, has since been landscaped, trees planted, a bike trail laid, etc.
Why am I telling you this now? Well, the original site of the 1m by 1m square in the film was in Chicago, on a thin strip of parkland next to what is now Special Olympics Drive, east of the Field Museum, and the marina enclosed by Northerly Island.
April 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Why am I telling you this now? Well, the original site of the 1m by 1m square in the film was in Chicago, on a thin strip of parkland next to what is now Special Olympics Drive, east of the Field Museum, and the marina enclosed by Northerly Island.
The concept was that of the scalar zoom (film) or leap (book) to encompass progressively larger magnitudes, beginning with a square, 1m by 1m, on the surface of the earth, occupied by a human figure, and then moving outwards so that the imagined traveller looks back on the same scene...
April 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
The concept was that of the scalar zoom (film) or leap (book) to encompass progressively larger magnitudes, beginning with a square, 1m by 1m, on the surface of the earth, occupied by a human figure, and then moving outwards so that the imagined traveller looks back on the same scene...
A thread for science/cosmology nerds…
This is a page from Powers of Ten, a book published in 1982 to explain in more detail the concept behind the film of the same name, released in 1978.
This is a page from Powers of Ten, a book published in 1982 to explain in more detail the concept behind the film of the same name, released in 1978.
April 6, 2025 at 7:03 PM
A thread for science/cosmology nerds…
This is a page from Powers of Ten, a book published in 1982 to explain in more detail the concept behind the film of the same name, released in 1978.
This is a page from Powers of Ten, a book published in 1982 to explain in more detail the concept behind the film of the same name, released in 1978.
I am culling my library, but decided to read my copy of Bertrand Russell's memoirs (Vol 1) before disposing of it. I’m not sure why: the book has sat on the shelf for nearly 40 years without me taking any interest in it. I'm glad I bothered, just for the clipped weirdness of passages like this:
March 30, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I am culling my library, but decided to read my copy of Bertrand Russell's memoirs (Vol 1) before disposing of it. I’m not sure why: the book has sat on the shelf for nearly 40 years without me taking any interest in it. I'm glad I bothered, just for the clipped weirdness of passages like this:
Congratulations Paul, Weiss et al. You have produced a text suitable for many future gobbet/source commentary assignments.
March 21, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Congratulations Paul, Weiss et al. You have produced a text suitable for many future gobbet/source commentary assignments.
Reads headlines, glances through mail.... The world definitely has a consistent vibe right now
January 29, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reads headlines, glances through mail.... The world definitely has a consistent vibe right now
2) Cricket pitch on Belle Isle, Detroit, currently inhabited by geese, outfield slick with their droppings. Imagining Liam Livingstone hitting a mighty six and having to ask the Canadian Coast Guard for his ball back.
December 31, 2024 at 11:52 PM
2) Cricket pitch on Belle Isle, Detroit, currently inhabited by geese, outfield slick with their droppings. Imagining Liam Livingstone hitting a mighty six and having to ask the Canadian Coast Guard for his ball back.
1) Tiny jade spoon included in The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Used for serving majoun, a sweet containing honey, nuts, cardamon and, cough, opium. If I ever develop a drug habit, it will involve jade spoons and majoun.
December 31, 2024 at 11:52 PM
1) Tiny jade spoon included in The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Used for serving majoun, a sweet containing honey, nuts, cardamon and, cough, opium. If I ever develop a drug habit, it will involve jade spoons and majoun.
Good to see all the other cool indie mums and dads out in force this evening enjoying The Clientele at the Village Underground.
November 23, 2024 at 11:52 PM
Good to see all the other cool indie mums and dads out in force this evening enjoying The Clientele at the Village Underground.