Chris Callow
@chriscallow.bsky.social
Medievalist at the University of Birmingham, fan of Iceland, Vikings, running and other things
Reposted by Chris Callow
We're pleased to present the Earlier Middle Ages seminar schedule for this autumn! Event registration pages will very shortly be available on the IHR website. And please note that no sign-up is required for this week's David Wilson lecture with Sarah Semple (info: www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...).
October 5, 2026 at 9:28 AM
We're pleased to present the Earlier Middle Ages seminar schedule for this autumn! Event registration pages will very shortly be available on the IHR website. And please note that no sign-up is required for this week's David Wilson lecture with Sarah Semple (info: www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...).
Another article on the Rold gold.
October 2, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Another article on the Rold gold.
Reposted by Chris Callow
Having a nice time - saw lots of bears.
September 29, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Having a nice time - saw lots of bears.
Reposted by Chris Callow
In 2021, income tax personal allowance was frozen at £12,570.
If aligned with inflation, it would now be £16,070.
A minimum wage earner in England will pay extra £980 in income tax & NIC in 2026-27.
Govt can easily increase personal allowance by £3,000, worth £600 to basic rate taxpayer.
If aligned with inflation, it would now be £16,070.
A minimum wage earner in England will pay extra £980 in income tax & NIC in 2026-27.
Govt can easily increase personal allowance by £3,000, worth £600 to basic rate taxpayer.
This is how the Chancellor can increase the personal allowance and lift millions out of hardship
Sustained economic growth can’t be achieved without a major boost to the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population
leftfootforward.org
September 26, 2026 at 11:22 AM
In 2021, income tax personal allowance was frozen at £12,570.
If aligned with inflation, it would now be £16,070.
A minimum wage earner in England will pay extra £980 in income tax & NIC in 2026-27.
Govt can easily increase personal allowance by £3,000, worth £600 to basic rate taxpayer.
If aligned with inflation, it would now be £16,070.
A minimum wage earner in England will pay extra £980 in income tax & NIC in 2026-27.
Govt can easily increase personal allowance by £3,000, worth £600 to basic rate taxpayer.
Reposted by Chris Callow
If I were a government with a medium-sized economy wanting to accelerate economic growth, I'd read this and then invest in social sciences and arts and humanities for the effective use of new technologies, rather than trying to out-compete the trillions of dollars of private investment in the US
'Humanities & social sciences research is central to ask questions about how and in whose interests technology is being developed, how it can be adopted, deployed & governed and how to create a world where AI can benefit the many, not the few'
My blog for @ukri.org
ukri.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
My blog for @ukri.org
ukri.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...
Why AI will fail without the humanities and social sciences
AI can transform society. But only if society has a say in shaping it, writes Hetan Shah, Chief Executive of The British Academy.
ukri.substack.com
September 10, 2026 at 7:58 AM
If I were a government with a medium-sized economy wanting to accelerate economic growth, I'd read this and then invest in social sciences and arts and humanities for the effective use of new technologies, rather than trying to out-compete the trillions of dollars of private investment in the US
Reposted by Chris Callow
This summer's floods and heatwaves have shown the urgency of the climate crisis. We've gathered together 50+ organisations to call for stronger action on transport. Read our joint statement 👇
August 26, 2026 at 11:36 AM
This summer's floods and heatwaves have shown the urgency of the climate crisis. We've gathered together 50+ organisations to call for stronger action on transport. Read our joint statement 👇
Reposted by Chris Callow
It's time to play: spot the former mini hydro power station. These were sometimes used to generate electricity on farms in the first half of the 20th century.
#Iceland #photography #streetphotography #nature #landscape #naturephotography #landscapephotography #abandoned #decay #river #history
#Iceland #photography #streetphotography #nature #landscape #naturephotography #landscapephotography #abandoned #decay #river #history
August 17, 2026 at 10:00 PM
It's time to play: spot the former mini hydro power station. These were sometimes used to generate electricity on farms in the first half of the 20th century.
#Iceland #photography #streetphotography #nature #landscape #naturephotography #landscapephotography #abandoned #decay #river #history
#Iceland #photography #streetphotography #nature #landscape #naturephotography #landscapephotography #abandoned #decay #river #history
Reposted by Chris Callow
The #historic settlement of #Grenjaðarstaður in #Aðaldalur is one of #Iceland’s largest #turf houses, around 30 km south of #Husavik. The #house is available for booked group visits, but today you can tour it with Darren and guide Styrmir Franz Snorrason.
RÚV English Radio - GRENJAÐARSTAÐUR TURF HOUSE - RÚV.is
Today, RÚV English Radio is at the Grenjaðarstaður turf house.
www.ruv.is
August 20, 2026 at 5:35 AM
The #historic settlement of #Grenjaðarstaður in #Aðaldalur is one of #Iceland’s largest #turf houses, around 30 km south of #Husavik. The #house is available for booked group visits, but today you can tour it with Darren and guide Styrmir Franz Snorrason.
Reposted by Chris Callow
Working on #MedievalWales or the March but don't how your research fits with the #IMC2027 communities theme? Worry not! We would like to hear from you regardless of the topic so that we can highlight the latest exiting research.
#MedievalSky #Medieval #Medievalist #MedievalHistory #MedievalStudies
#MedievalSky #Medieval #Medievalist #MedievalHistory #MedievalStudies
Call for papers Communities in Medieval Wales & the March, @imc-leeds.bsky.social 2027, sponsored by the Mortimer History Society. If you are researching any aspect of Medieval Wales & the March, please consider submitting a paper proposal for our strand at next year's IMC. #MedievalSky #Skystorians
August 17, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Working on #MedievalWales or the March but don't how your research fits with the #IMC2027 communities theme? Worry not! We would like to hear from you regardless of the topic so that we can highlight the latest exiting research.
#MedievalSky #Medieval #Medievalist #MedievalHistory #MedievalStudies
#MedievalSky #Medieval #Medievalist #MedievalHistory #MedievalStudies
Reposted by Chris Callow
"...massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate."
Exactly what many of us predicted. AI literacy is a poor substitute for critical thinking and real skills. futurism.com/future-socie...
Bosses Horrified as "AI Native" College Graduates Hit the Workplace
"AI native" college graduates are hitting the workplace -- and, as experts warned, bosses are finding their performance disappointing.
futurism.com
August 17, 2026 at 6:29 PM
"...massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate."
Reposted by Chris Callow
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
www.404media.co
August 17, 2026 at 1:30 PM
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
Reposted by Chris Callow
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
Two Orkney-led PhDs available as part of North Sea Heritage project
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
archaeologyorkney.com
August 8, 2026 at 12:08 PM
Eleven funded PhD projects are now available as part of the North Sea Heritage in Transitions (NHT), which launched last month.
Reposted by Chris Callow
‘One morning in October 1552, Felix Platter left his hometown of Basel for Montpellier, where he was to study medicine. He was fifteen years old. Things started to happen to him, and he wrote them down in his daybook.’
@erinmaglaque.bsky.social on a Renaissance diary:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@erinmaglaque.bsky.social on a Renaissance diary:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Erin Maglaque · Green into Gold: A Renaissance Diary
For all the force of his curiosity I’m not sure Felix Platter’s life was any less elusive to him. His diary is...
www.lrb.co.uk
August 8, 2026 at 8:16 AM
‘One morning in October 1552, Felix Platter left his hometown of Basel for Montpellier, where he was to study medicine. He was fifteen years old. Things started to happen to him, and he wrote them down in his daybook.’
@erinmaglaque.bsky.social on a Renaissance diary:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@erinmaglaque.bsky.social on a Renaissance diary:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Chris Callow
Working on Britain and/or Ireland in the 12th-14th Centuries? I'm putting together an @imc-leeds.bsky.social panel proposal for #IMC2027 on Borderland Communities of Rebellion.
Details attached, but by no means exhaustive! If you'd like to chat, or have any questions, please get in touch.
Details attached, but by no means exhaustive! If you'd like to chat, or have any questions, please get in touch.
August 3, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Working on Britain and/or Ireland in the 12th-14th Centuries? I'm putting together an @imc-leeds.bsky.social panel proposal for #IMC2027 on Borderland Communities of Rebellion.
Details attached, but by no means exhaustive! If you'd like to chat, or have any questions, please get in touch.
Details attached, but by no means exhaustive! If you'd like to chat, or have any questions, please get in touch.
Reposted by Chris Callow
"This study examines AI’s ability to write essays analysing Old English poetry; human markers assessed and attempted to distinguish them from authentic analyses of poetry by first-year undergraduate students in English at the University of Oxford."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
ChatGPT versus human essayists: an exploration of the impact of artificial intelligence for authorship and academic integrity in the humanities - International Journal for Educational Integrity
Generative AI has prompted educators to reevaluate traditional teaching and assessment methods. This study examines AI’s ability to write essays analysing Old English poetry; human markers assessed an...
link.springer.com
August 7, 2026 at 8:24 AM
"This study examines AI’s ability to write essays analysing Old English poetry; human markers assessed and attempted to distinguish them from authentic analyses of poetry by first-year undergraduate students in English at the University of Oxford."
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Down with this sort of thing.
Google is planning an enormous new data centre, concreting over an important natural habitat and the destruction of a speedway ground.
A data centre is uniting bugs and bikers to fight big tech
www.bigissue.com
August 4, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Down with this sort of thing.
I’m yearning for the days when a casual sweater felt necessary.
August 3, 2026 at 11:17 AM
I’m yearning for the days when a casual sweater felt necessary.
It gladdens my heart to see that men have been leaning on other men’s shoulders since at least the 1930s. I’d love to see earlier examples. FAO @tricksterprince.bsky.social @apartridgeqotd.bsky.social
1937: Men's Fashion from Littlewoods
(+Sports Jacket; Tweed Jacket; Two-Piece Suit; Men's Tweed Sports Jacket; Cotton Jacket; and Sports Sweater)
(+Sports Jacket; Tweed Jacket; Two-Piece Suit; Men's Tweed Sports Jacket; Cotton Jacket; and Sports Sweater)
August 1, 2026 at 12:41 PM
It gladdens my heart to see that men have been leaning on other men’s shoulders since at least the 1930s. I’d love to see earlier examples. FAO @tricksterprince.bsky.social @apartridgeqotd.bsky.social
Reposted by Chris Callow
A rare and fragile survival from Viking-age York!
A delicate silk cap made of hand-spun, undyed silk, c. AD 875-950
Silk was an exotic material imported via a vast network of Viking trade routes.
Found during excavations at Coppergate in 1980.
Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
A delicate silk cap made of hand-spun, undyed silk, c. AD 875-950
Silk was an exotic material imported via a vast network of Viking trade routes.
Found during excavations at Coppergate in 1980.
Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
July 31, 2026 at 5:26 PM
A rare and fragile survival from Viking-age York!
A delicate silk cap made of hand-spun, undyed silk, c. AD 875-950
Silk was an exotic material imported via a vast network of Viking trade routes.
Found during excavations at Coppergate in 1980.
Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
A delicate silk cap made of hand-spun, undyed silk, c. AD 875-950
Silk was an exotic material imported via a vast network of Viking trade routes.
Found during excavations at Coppergate in 1980.
Yorkshire Museum 📷 by me
#FindsFriday
#Archaeology
Reposted by Chris Callow
Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface
July 19, 2023 at 8:48 AM
Under a Binface government, anyone who doesn’t accept human-made climate change as fact will be sent back to school, from Year 1 right the way to A Levels, to see if anything goes in the second time round. #VoteBinface
Google translate has got a bit confused here. Though it is good to see a mention of the rare place-name Sakka. nafnid.arnastofnun.is/leit/ornefni...
July 25, 2026 at 7:08 AM
Google translate has got a bit confused here. Though it is good to see a mention of the rare place-name Sakka. nafnid.arnastofnun.is/leit/ornefni...
Good news.
The #ferry #Baldur is sailing across #Breiðafjörður again. The mayor of #Stykkishólmur says local businesses have taken a major hit during the ferry's absence.
https://www.ruv.is/english/2026-07-24-delight-as-baldur-returns-to-breidafjordur-482154
https://www.ruv.is/english/2026-07-24-delight-as-baldur-returns-to-breidafjordur-482154
Delight as Baldur returns to Breiðafjörður - RÚV.is
The ferry Baldur is sailing across Breiðafjörður again. The mayor of Stykkishólmur says local businesses have taken a major hit during the ferry's absence.
www.ruv.is
July 24, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Good news.
Flekka lasted only 18 months as an outlaw in the wilds of Hornstrandir. And while she suffered a humiliating capture she gets to live on, unlike so many Icelandic outlaws. #grettir
Few #sheep could match the adventures of #Flekka the outlaw, who was captured on #Hornstrandir on Sunday after roaming for almost a year and a half.
https://www.ruv.is/english/2026-07-23-sheep-rescued-after-18-month-adventure-482066
https://www.ruv.is/english/2026-07-23-sheep-rescued-after-18-month-adventure-482066
Sheep rescued after 18 month adventure - RÚV.is
RÚV.is
www.ruv.is
July 23, 2026 at 8:52 AM
Flekka lasted only 18 months as an outlaw in the wilds of Hornstrandir. And while she suffered a humiliating capture she gets to live on, unlike so many Icelandic outlaws. #grettir