Dr Corrina Readioff
@fierengraw.bsky.social
Literary detective & long 18th-centuryist. Honorary Research Associate at the University of Liverpool.
Currently working on early modern whales
She/her
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/people/corrina-readioff#tabbed-content
https://18thcparatext.wordpress
Currently working on early modern whales
She/her
https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/people/corrina-readioff#tabbed-content
https://18thcparatext.wordpress
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
New digital exhibition launches 12 October to celebrate 300 years of Gulliver's Travels! Explore books that influenced Swift, the novel's impact on science fiction, and specially commissioned audio readings created exclusively for the exhibition.
#GulliversTravels #LivUni
#GulliversTravels #LivUni
September 24, 2026 at 3:46 PM
New digital exhibition launches 12 October to celebrate 300 years of Gulliver's Travels! Explore books that influenced Swift, the novel's impact on science fiction, and specially commissioned audio readings created exclusively for the exhibition.
#GulliversTravels #LivUni
#GulliversTravels #LivUni
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
Wonderful #Tolkien news! Westminster Abbey has announced that J.R.R. Tolkien will be honoured with a memorial in Poets' Corner. I've known about this project for some years + was privileged to be consulted during its development. Great to see it made public!
www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/a...
www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/a...
September 22, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Wonderful #Tolkien news! Westminster Abbey has announced that J.R.R. Tolkien will be honoured with a memorial in Poets' Corner. I've known about this project for some years + was privileged to be consulted during its development. Great to see it made public!
www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/a...
www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/a...
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
2/2 But this data on enslaved people themselves, derived from the registers of the ‘amelioration’ period is a yet more significant resource on captives & for their descendants:
www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...
www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...
Nearly 4m records of enslaved people in 20 former British colonies now searchable online
Exclusive: Collection’s 300,000 pages record lives of enslaved people in countries including the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, South Africa and Trinidad
www.theguardian.com
September 22, 2026 at 7:06 AM
2/2 But this data on enslaved people themselves, derived from the registers of the ‘amelioration’ period is a yet more significant resource on captives & for their descendants:
www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...
www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
1/2 We have vastly improved data now on British slave-owners (www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/search/) and slave-traders (britishslavetraders.org). Wonderful that this research has persisted despite all the fury of the nationalist right wing backlash.
The Register of British Slave-Traders
The Register of British Slave-traders compiles and presents information on all known slave-traders in Britain who invested in the trafficking of captive Africans from 1563 to 1807.
britishslavetraders.org
September 22, 2026 at 7:06 AM
1/2 We have vastly improved data now on British slave-owners (www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/search/) and slave-traders (britishslavetraders.org). Wonderful that this research has persisted despite all the fury of the nationalist right wing backlash.
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
Your dogs must get all appropriate vaccines. Period. Rabies is less common, but diseases like parvo and distemper are increasing in potency as hot weather alters the bugs.
Treatment for parvo is at least 4 figures. With rising vet costs, vaccines are one of the best ways to keep your dog safe
Treatment for parvo is at least 4 figures. With rising vet costs, vaccines are one of the best ways to keep your dog safe
May I remind everyone that there is currently NO cure for rabies.
May I also remind everyone there is absolutely NO scientific proof connecting ANY vaccine that we produce today with autism.
This is true regarding vaccination in both humans AND in dogs.
Vaccinate your pets please.
May I also remind everyone there is absolutely NO scientific proof connecting ANY vaccine that we produce today with autism.
This is true regarding vaccination in both humans AND in dogs.
Vaccinate your pets please.
September 14, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Your dogs must get all appropriate vaccines. Period. Rabies is less common, but diseases like parvo and distemper are increasing in potency as hot weather alters the bugs.
Treatment for parvo is at least 4 figures. With rising vet costs, vaccines are one of the best ways to keep your dog safe
Treatment for parvo is at least 4 figures. With rising vet costs, vaccines are one of the best ways to keep your dog safe
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
What an utter goddess. Be more Dolly.
August 25, 2026 at 6:13 PM
What an utter goddess. Be more Dolly.
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
You can read more about her at www.infinite-women.com/women/sarah-... courtesy of @ninabake2.bsky.social
August 25, 2026 at 10:29 AM
You can read more about her at www.infinite-women.com/women/sarah-... courtesy of @ninabake2.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
There's no reason to keep supporting Amazon. You can buy books and stream elsewhere. It's just not worth it.
New from 404 Media: we solved which AI company is buying massive shipments of rare books, scanning and destroying them to train AI.
We put an Apple AirTag in a rare book, followed it. It ended up at an Amazon facility. Its logo is a dinosaur ripping through a book www.404media.co/we-tracked-a...
We put an Apple AirTag in a rare book, followed it. It ended up at an Amazon facility. Its logo is a dinosaur ripping through a book www.404media.co/we-tracked-a...
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 5:27 PM
There's no reason to keep supporting Amazon. You can buy books and stream elsewhere. It's just not worth it.
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
It feels like a good time to re-post this thread and remind people of the benefits of #vaccines.
With science falling under increasing attack, this medical historian is here to remind people of the power of vaccines. THREAD👇
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7 #history #skystorians
Hard-hitting polio advert from 1958. In the first half of the 20th century, polio was the leading cause of death in children and young adults. 1/7 #history #skystorians
August 10, 2026 at 7:54 PM
It feels like a good time to re-post this thread and remind people of the benefits of #vaccines.
*Only* four great B/W films?! That’s so hard…
Faust (dir. Murnau, 1926)
Casablanca (obv!)
Captain Kidd (1945)
It (1927: so funny!!)
The Chess Player (1927, technically colour tinted, so might not qualify)
Faust (dir. Murnau, 1926)
Casablanca (obv!)
Captain Kidd (1945)
It (1927: so funny!!)
The Chess Player (1927, technically colour tinted, so might not qualify)
Four Great B/W films:
Passport to Pimlico
Went the Day Well?
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Lavender Hill Mob
Passport to Pimlico
Went the Day Well?
Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid
Lavender Hill Mob
just realised I've watched more black and white movies in 2026 so far (6) than I had in my whole life until that point, can't believe I spent so long I assuming all old films had to be dull
August 3, 2026 at 8:52 AM
*Only* four great B/W films?! That’s so hard…
Faust (dir. Murnau, 1926)
Casablanca (obv!)
Captain Kidd (1945)
It (1927: so funny!!)
The Chess Player (1927, technically colour tinted, so might not qualify)
Faust (dir. Murnau, 1926)
Casablanca (obv!)
Captain Kidd (1945)
It (1927: so funny!!)
The Chess Player (1927, technically colour tinted, so might not qualify)
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
I don't usually share petitions but this is one I must highlight...
The way Making Tax Digital is being implemented is disgraceful. It punishes people who are already fastidious about their tax reporting by forcing them to share data with commercial firms.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
The way Making Tax Digital is being implemented is disgraceful. It punishes people who are already fastidious about their tax reporting by forcing them to share data with commercial firms.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
Petition: Create a government-owned, free software for Making Tax Digital (MTD)
With the roll-out of Making Tax Digital going ahead, HMRC must provide an in-house, government-developed, fully-functional software that allows easy and confident compliance with MTD. Self-employed pe...
petition.parliament.uk
July 20, 2026 at 10:08 AM
I don't usually share petitions but this is one I must highlight...
The way Making Tax Digital is being implemented is disgraceful. It punishes people who are already fastidious about their tax reporting by forcing them to share data with commercial firms.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
The way Making Tax Digital is being implemented is disgraceful. It punishes people who are already fastidious about their tax reporting by forcing them to share data with commercial firms.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
With immeasurable sadness I must announce that Napoleon, our best boy, went missing a few nights back.
if you see a small black kitty with two white toes around Boundary/Markhouse roads in #walthamstow do DM me.
if i post no photos of him anymore, this will be why.
he was my very best boy 💔
if you see a small black kitty with two white toes around Boundary/Markhouse roads in #walthamstow do DM me.
if i post no photos of him anymore, this will be why.
he was my very best boy 💔
July 11, 2026 at 4:51 AM
With immeasurable sadness I must announce that Napoleon, our best boy, went missing a few nights back.
if you see a small black kitty with two white toes around Boundary/Markhouse roads in #walthamstow do DM me.
if i post no photos of him anymore, this will be why.
he was my very best boy 💔
if you see a small black kitty with two white toes around Boundary/Markhouse roads in #walthamstow do DM me.
if i post no photos of him anymore, this will be why.
he was my very best boy 💔
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
It's not OK to wear smart glasses around other people. It's not cool. It's creepy, disrespectful. It pollutes the public sphere with the oppression of surveillance. It puts the onus on non-Glassholes; that's not asking for consent.
www.vogue.com/article/do-s...
www.vogue.com/article/do-s...
Do Smart Glasses Have a Surveillance Problem?
Big Tech is investing in fashion’s cultural legitimacy to make AI smart glasses socially acceptable, but consumers view them as synonymous with surveillance. Is removing the camera the key to adoption...
www.vogue.com
July 10, 2026 at 8:37 AM
It's not OK to wear smart glasses around other people. It's not cool. It's creepy, disrespectful. It pollutes the public sphere with the oppression of surveillance. It puts the onus on non-Glassholes; that's not asking for consent.
www.vogue.com/article/do-s...
www.vogue.com/article/do-s...
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
This is why the use of “AI” as a marketing term is so corrosive. It means nothing, hurts good tech, shields harmful/useless tech. It’s a gimmick, it’s a sign of ignorance, it’s doublespeak
A lot of media coverage of the ‘AI’ reading of the Herculaneum scrolls really fails to understand what’s happened here. There’s no language processing happening, the AI/ML is not trained on a corpus of texts or language. It can detect ink to see shapes. HUMAN EXPERTS are then transcribing the text.
June 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM
This is why the use of “AI” as a marketing term is so corrosive. It means nothing, hurts good tech, shields harmful/useless tech. It’s a gimmick, it’s a sign of ignorance, it’s doublespeak
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
In case you didn’t know, Exeter uni, where I work, has announced a plan to make 25% of staff in my English department redundant. Left-over staff will do double the teaching while their research time will be shrunk to 1%. Meanwhile admissions for English at Exeter are HIGH, and on the rise this year
June 27, 2026 at 5:01 AM
In case you didn’t know, Exeter uni, where I work, has announced a plan to make 25% of staff in my English department redundant. Left-over staff will do double the teaching while their research time will be shrunk to 1%. Meanwhile admissions for English at Exeter are HIGH, and on the rise this year
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
🚨 PLEASE SHARE WIDELY 🚨
If you are an Exeter alumnus, and wish to express your horror at the proposed cuts to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, please sign the Google Doc petition below. Not an alumnus? You can still help by signing the Exeter UCU petition at c.org/msXfsb2g5b 🗃️
If you are an Exeter alumnus, and wish to express your horror at the proposed cuts to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, please sign the Google Doc petition below. Not an alumnus? You can still help by signing the Exeter UCU petition at c.org/msXfsb2g5b 🗃️
Alumni petition against the cuts to the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Any Exeter alumni who wish for their names to be added to the petition below should please complete the form at this link: https://forms.gle/SpdYvmmsCaJbmZft6. If you are not an alumnus, but still wis...
docs.google.com
June 24, 2026 at 3:55 PM
🚨 PLEASE SHARE WIDELY 🚨
If you are an Exeter alumnus, and wish to express your horror at the proposed cuts to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, please sign the Google Doc petition below. Not an alumnus? You can still help by signing the Exeter UCU petition at c.org/msXfsb2g5b 🗃️
If you are an Exeter alumnus, and wish to express your horror at the proposed cuts to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, please sign the Google Doc petition below. Not an alumnus? You can still help by signing the Exeter UCU petition at c.org/msXfsb2g5b 🗃️
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
📣 People are understandably up in the arms about this (it is horrible). But just want to wave a hand out there 👋 as we're going through the same thing in Humanities at Northumbria (1 out of 5 staff need to go by end of July). 1/?
'About 150 academic roles are set to go at the south-west institution, which said it was targeting areas that are “no longer sustainable” or have seen changes in student demand.' History and English are name-checked. 1/3
University of Exeter cuts an ‘existential threat to humanities’
Russell Group institution cites changing student demand as it puts 500 staff at risk of redundancy, with 150 jobs set to go
www.timeshighereducation.com
June 24, 2026 at 12:04 PM
📣 People are understandably up in the arms about this (it is horrible). But just want to wave a hand out there 👋 as we're going through the same thing in Humanities at Northumbria (1 out of 5 staff need to go by end of July). 1/?
It would be really nice if the government could spare some attention for the accelerating dissolution of our country’s knowledge factories, instead of wasting time playing fantasy football teams with the cabinet top jobs
University of Exeter plans to cut 150 jobs.
The Russell Group institution said it is consulting its staff over “limited and specific potential changes” across some academic faculties.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
The Russell Group institution said it is consulting its staff over “limited and specific potential changes” across some academic faculties.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
University of Exeter plans to cut 150 jobs - Research Professional News
Staff consultation underway, with UCU claiming 14 per cent of academic workforce is at risk
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
June 24, 2026 at 9:46 AM
It would be really nice if the government could spare some attention for the accelerating dissolution of our country’s knowledge factories, instead of wasting time playing fantasy football teams with the cabinet top jobs
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
So 'limited' it reputedly entails making 25% of the History Department (which took how many additional students last autumn...?) redundant....
Is the targeting specifically directed toward top-performing departments, in a 'specific' effort to degrade the UK research base?
Asking for some friends.
Is the targeting specifically directed toward top-performing departments, in a 'specific' effort to degrade the UK research base?
Asking for some friends.
University of Exeter plans to cut 150 jobs.
The Russell Group institution said it is consulting its staff over “limited and specific potential changes” across some academic faculties.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
The Russell Group institution said it is consulting its staff over “limited and specific potential changes” across some academic faculties.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
University of Exeter plans to cut 150 jobs - Research Professional News
Staff consultation underway, with UCU claiming 14 per cent of academic workforce is at risk
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
June 24, 2026 at 9:29 AM
So 'limited' it reputedly entails making 25% of the History Department (which took how many additional students last autumn...?) redundant....
Is the targeting specifically directed toward top-performing departments, in a 'specific' effort to degrade the UK research base?
Asking for some friends.
Is the targeting specifically directed toward top-performing departments, in a 'specific' effort to degrade the UK research base?
Asking for some friends.
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
!!!!! My C18 and long C19 colleagues —
*THE* Olaudah Equiano’s original letter to Josiah Wedgwood on the abolition of the slave trade 1793
At V&A East “The Music is Black: A British Story”
*THE* Olaudah Equiano’s original letter to Josiah Wedgwood on the abolition of the slave trade 1793
At V&A East “The Music is Black: A British Story”
June 19, 2026 at 3:26 PM
!!!!! My C18 and long C19 colleagues —
*THE* Olaudah Equiano’s original letter to Josiah Wedgwood on the abolition of the slave trade 1793
At V&A East “The Music is Black: A British Story”
*THE* Olaudah Equiano’s original letter to Josiah Wedgwood on the abolition of the slave trade 1793
At V&A East “The Music is Black: A British Story”
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
My 500 year history of disabled people's political activism is out now! Thanks to The Independent for making it their non-fiction book of the month! www.penguin.co.uk/books/455782...
#disabilityhistory
#disabilityhistory
Disability
A ground-breaking history of modern Britain that puts the experiences of disabled people to the fore for the first time.
Despite there being more than 16 million disabled people in the UK today, disa...
www.penguin.co.uk
June 10, 2026 at 8:46 AM
My 500 year history of disabled people's political activism is out now! Thanks to The Independent for making it their non-fiction book of the month! www.penguin.co.uk/books/455782...
#disabilityhistory
#disabilityhistory
Years ago, before I started my PhD, I had a small RA job that required bibliographic references to be compiled & logged using citation software… and that experience convinced me to always, *always*, hand type footnotes for my own work
Cowardly **** has turned off QTs. So, yes, I've just finished a 120,000-word research monograph, and I typed every single one of the footnotes myself.
June 9, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Years ago, before I started my PhD, I had a small RA job that required bibliographic references to be compiled & logged using citation software… and that experience convinced me to always, *always*, hand type footnotes for my own work
Reposted by Dr Corrina Readioff
In my latest article "Unveiling Community in Kuang's Babel" I explore how contemporary fantasy literature uses language, translation, and community to expose the hidden structures of colonial and institutional power that still shape our world today. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
“To Make the Unknown Known, To Make the Other Familiar”: Unveiling Community in R. F. Kuang’s Babel
This article examines R. F. Kuang’s Babel or The Necessity of Violence through the theoretical lens of Critical Transparency Studies in order to illuminate the novel’s reconfiguration of community ...
www.tandfonline.com
May 25, 2026 at 12:29 PM
In my latest article "Unveiling Community in Kuang's Babel" I explore how contemporary fantasy literature uses language, translation, and community to expose the hidden structures of colonial and institutional power that still shape our world today. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....