Chris Smith
@spyhistorian.bsky.social
Historian. Spies, signals intelligence, Second World War. Social and Cultural history. History of humour. Insults = 🚫
Pinned
Chris Smith
@spyhistorian.bsky.social
· May 12
I cannot continue financially supporting Labour while it bullies immigrants; while it panders to racist Reform voters; while its leader employs the rhetoric of Enoch Powell; and while it is allowing the destruction of my sector of employment again to pander to racism. @teamlabouruk.bsky.social
Well, I had the email calling my colleagues and I into 'consultation' meeting. I may or may not have a job by the new year. If it goes bad, I think the 20-year run I've had in universities, man and boy, has been on the whole amazing. So, too, has the teaching over 15 years. Thanks for all the fish.
November 13, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Well, I had the email calling my colleagues and I into 'consultation' meeting. I may or may not have a job by the new year. If it goes bad, I think the 20-year run I've had in universities, man and boy, has been on the whole amazing. So, too, has the teaching over 15 years. Thanks for all the fish.
As mentioned in another post, I suspect the US might well now have a moment that the UK went through a few years ago with Jimmy Savile and, more recently, allegedly Russell Brand (not convicted, which is vital to note).
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
Kathryn Ryan talks about Russell Brand
YouTube video by ben parker
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 12:54 AM
As mentioned in another post, I suspect the US might well now have a moment that the UK went through a few years ago with Jimmy Savile and, more recently, allegedly Russell Brand (not convicted, which is vital to note).
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
This interview with comic Katherine Ryan reveals much:
youtu.be/ubMtmQlNy4w?...
Is the US about to have its Jimmy Savile moment. For those unaware, Savile was a really weird TV star and DJ who, it transpires after his death, was among the most prolific paedophiles of recent decades.
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
November 13, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Is the US about to have its Jimmy Savile moment. For those unaware, Savile was a really weird TV star and DJ who, it transpires after his death, was among the most prolific paedophiles of recent decades.
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
His position, power, wealth, and celebrity ensured that though rumours spread throughout his...
Is there a billionaire not implicated in the Epstein emails?
November 12, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Is there a billionaire not implicated in the Epstein emails?
I see the $1bn legal threat has put the frighteners on the BBC. This headline is very weak.
November 12, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I see the $1bn legal threat has put the frighteners on the BBC. This headline is very weak.
Just last night, commentators were predicting that the BBC story was so huge that it would distract from problems faced by the White House for a good while.
Looks rather small fry now...
Looks rather small fry now...
November 12, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Just last night, commentators were predicting that the BBC story was so huge that it would distract from problems faced by the White House for a good while.
Looks rather small fry now...
Looks rather small fry now...
(Dubiously now) Lord Nigel Biggar getting into muddles about history again...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
The Atomic Bombs: History and Lord Biggar
Lord Nigel Biggar, a theologian and ethicist and formerly Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at the University of Oxford, took…
an-historian.medium.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:10 PM
(Dubiously now) Lord Nigel Biggar getting into muddles about history again...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
an-historian.medium.com/the-atomic-b...
I missed my connection from Phily to Heathrow because my flight was delayed at Richmond. There was no one at any info desk at 1am, no info about where to go and no complementary hotel room on offer. Should I now view the US as a failed state?
Noah Smith is paid in the high six-figures to write a blog read by Americans who believe themselves to be intelligent. Yet, he is both unable to read a sign and also for some reason chose to have a 90 minute layover for a flight that takes 90 minutes.
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
onemileatatime.com/news/economi...
Economist Doesn't Follow Signs At Heathrow: Proof The UK Is Failing?
A economist had a bad experience connecting at Heathrow, suggesting it's reflective of bigger issues in the UK. There's only one issue...
onemileatatime.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I missed my connection from Phily to Heathrow because my flight was delayed at Richmond. There was no one at any info desk at 1am, no info about where to go and no complementary hotel room on offer. Should I now view the US as a failed state?
Why does the rightwing media hates the BBC so much? It is partly ideological and the BBC is duty bound to report in a way the right doesn't like. The other obviously is commercial: the BBC eats their dinner. But I think a key reason is rank professional jealousy. The BBC reporting is often better.
November 11, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Why does the rightwing media hates the BBC so much? It is partly ideological and the BBC is duty bound to report in a way the right doesn't like. The other obviously is commercial: the BBC eats their dinner. But I think a key reason is rank professional jealousy. The BBC reporting is often better.
The BRUSA agreement was signed in 1943 and the UKUSA agreement in 1946. Eight decades of shared history evaporating in a matter of weeks.
NEW via CNN: “The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal”
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break | CNN Politics
The United Kingdom is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes ...
www.cnn.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The BRUSA agreement was signed in 1943 and the UKUSA agreement in 1946. Eight decades of shared history evaporating in a matter of weeks.
Ignoring the alleged pro-trans agenda at the BBC for a moment, who are these academics complaining that the history of slavery, the Irish famine, etc. has been "rewritten", not the widely debunked efforts of Historians for Britain or whatever they are calling themselves now?
Suzanne Moore, who would rather be locked up than pay her BBC licence fee because the BBC is too nice to trans people for her liking.
November 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Ignoring the alleged pro-trans agenda at the BBC for a moment, who are these academics complaining that the history of slavery, the Irish famine, etc. has been "rewritten", not the widely debunked efforts of Historians for Britain or whatever they are calling themselves now?
So the DG of the BBC has had to resign for making an edit to what Trump said to make it clear... what Trump said?
November 10, 2025 at 7:53 AM
So the DG of the BBC has had to resign for making an edit to what Trump said to make it clear... what Trump said?
Wait...? What?! The Dems go through the longest shutdown on record all for health care. They win one of the most seismic electoral contests in decades, winning just about everywhere. And then they fold when they suddenly hold a full house? Is that what is happening? Are they this bad at politics?
November 10, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Wait...? What?! The Dems go through the longest shutdown on record all for health care. They win one of the most seismic electoral contests in decades, winning just about everywhere. And then they fold when they suddenly hold a full house? Is that what is happening? Are they this bad at politics?
It's only November the 9th and already Christmas ads are insufferable. Can we not have a moratorium on Christmas until say December 20th?
November 9, 2025 at 12:28 PM
It's only November the 9th and already Christmas ads are insufferable. Can we not have a moratorium on Christmas until say December 20th?
The Heritage Foundation is neither conservative nor patriotic. They are radicals, racists and reactionary.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 12:14 PM
The Heritage Foundation is neither conservative nor patriotic. They are radicals, racists and reactionary.
The country needs to be booted. It has no business being anywhere the EU. It is rather like letting go Guy Fawlkes into the building with dozens of unmarked barrels.
At some point, Europe needs to stand up and deal with that asshole
November 8, 2025 at 8:00 PM
The country needs to be booted. It has no business being anywhere the EU. It is rather like letting go Guy Fawlkes into the building with dozens of unmarked barrels.
November 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The vast majority of so-called free speech cases are legitimate, suggest violence like kicking someone in the testes as Linehan did you invite arrest. Where we have gone wrong is labelling protest groups as "terrorists" and arresting hundreds of pensions for holding signs.
There’s a number of commentators who’ve criticised the UK’s free speech laws in recent times, with I think some justification. But it’s worth noting that the First Amendment doesn’t defend itself and speech in the US is being criminalised as well.
It's impossible to overstate how much of what ICE is doing on the ground reflects this completely preposterous conflation of hostile *speech* and hostile *conduct.*
The First Amendment protects—or, at least, is supposed to protect—the former up and until it's a "true threat," which none of this is.
The First Amendment protects—or, at least, is supposed to protect—the former up and until it's a "true threat," which none of this is.
November 5, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The vast majority of so-called free speech cases are legitimate, suggest violence like kicking someone in the testes as Linehan did you invite arrest. Where we have gone wrong is labelling protest groups as "terrorists" and arresting hundreds of pensions for holding signs.
A question for #intelhistorians but #historians more generally. What do you want from a short textbook?
November 2, 2025 at 11:17 PM
A question for #intelhistorians but #historians more generally. What do you want from a short textbook?
Question: of all of the money spent in a few years on AI, a tech of dubious value, had been invested into green tech and tackling climate change, would that problem now essentially be solved?
October 30, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Question: of all of the money spent in a few years on AI, a tech of dubious value, had been invested into green tech and tackling climate change, would that problem now essentially be solved?
Every day, if not more than once a day, the President of the USA goes onto his personal social media website and writes things he knows will generate headlines. These are nothing to do with policy, but bait for journalists.
Have journalists considered just not biting? Like once? Ever?
Have journalists considered just not biting? Like once? Ever?
October 30, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Every day, if not more than once a day, the President of the USA goes onto his personal social media website and writes things he knows will generate headlines. These are nothing to do with policy, but bait for journalists.
Have journalists considered just not biting? Like once? Ever?
Have journalists considered just not biting? Like once? Ever?
The ceasefire is fragile, is it? Err...
October 29, 2025 at 2:55 PM
The ceasefire is fragile, is it? Err...
My cousin's kids grew up calling me "uncle". The right is becoming utterly unhinged.
October 28, 2025 at 5:55 PM
My cousin's kids grew up calling me "uncle". The right is becoming utterly unhinged.
What happened to capitalism? Are companies not free to advertise in a fashion they choose driven by what they perceive will maximise sales? If happy multi-racial society achieves this, why do the right have a problem with it? Could it be that Reform and the Tories have embraced racism?
Danny Kruger just told Nick Robinson that Sarah Pochin’s remarks weren’t racist because she was “driven mad” not by seeing Black and Asian people on TV but by their “over-representation”. Robinson didn’t ask what’s so maddening about over-representation. Is there a rule adverts have to reflect life?
October 28, 2025 at 10:46 AM
What happened to capitalism? Are companies not free to advertise in a fashion they choose driven by what they perceive will maximise sales? If happy multi-racial society achieves this, why do the right have a problem with it? Could it be that Reform and the Tories have embraced racism?
Reading the lengthy piece in Private Eye about the absolute scandal that was the Teeside shakedown on Houchen's watch. Why that guy has a peerage and not a custodial sentence for his role in losing over £100m of public money in pocket lining for precisely no benefit remains a mystery.
October 27, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reading the lengthy piece in Private Eye about the absolute scandal that was the Teeside shakedown on Houchen's watch. Why that guy has a peerage and not a custodial sentence for his role in losing over £100m of public money in pocket lining for precisely no benefit remains a mystery.