Julia Laite
@julialaite.bsky.social
Teller of small stories. Professor of history at Birkbeck. Rider of bikes, grower of vegetables, Brook custodian & friend to five ducks. Townie Cantabrigian. Eternally homesick Newfoundlander; researching the island's history & the legacies of empire.
Pinned
Julia Laite
@julialaite.bsky.social
· Jun 27
The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey
Lydia Harvey was meant to disappear. She was young and working class; she'd walked the streets, worked in brothels, and had no money of her own. In 1910, politi
blackwells.co.uk
Hello new followers! If you like small histories of women surviving against the patriarchal odds, are interested in the history of trafficking, and are a nerd for historical details, then my book might be for you!
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Doing this to a teenage child is bad parenting for them and for the parent on so many levels, as the original op-ed itself demonstrates ('spin out? 'panic'? 'can breathe again'??)
But when your son is nineteen--an adult by all legal definitions--doing this is not parenting at all. It is stalking.
But when your son is nineteen--an adult by all legal definitions--doing this is not parenting at all. It is stalking.
September 18, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Doing this to a teenage child is bad parenting for them and for the parent on so many levels, as the original op-ed itself demonstrates ('spin out? 'panic'? 'can breathe again'??)
But when your son is nineteen--an adult by all legal definitions--doing this is not parenting at all. It is stalking.
But when your son is nineteen--an adult by all legal definitions--doing this is not parenting at all. It is stalking.
Are you over forty? Is it September? It's time to play Floater or Fruit Fly! Is that speck in your vision a sign of your slowly degrading eyeball? Or is it Drosophila melanogaster, breeding in the apples you've picked? The only way to tell is by squinting, which makes you look even older.
September 16, 2026 at 1:44 PM
Are you over forty? Is it September? It's time to play Floater or Fruit Fly! Is that speck in your vision a sign of your slowly degrading eyeball? Or is it Drosophila melanogaster, breeding in the apples you've picked? The only way to tell is by squinting, which makes you look even older.
At least with all the artists dropping Ed Sheeran's tour, I've got myself a solid few weeks of gym music playlists. If you've not read Myles Smith's statement, it's especially excellent.
September 16, 2026 at 9:54 AM
At least with all the artists dropping Ed Sheeran's tour, I've got myself a solid few weeks of gym music playlists. If you've not read Myles Smith's statement, it's especially excellent.
We always ask what's your favourite season but I mostly just enjoy living in a world where I don't have to choose. I like to let the seasons slide together to make a year and also split apart into hundreds of small seasons. Right now it's Noisy Grackles/Goldening Leaves/Crunching Beechnut
September 15, 2026 at 3:52 PM
We always ask what's your favourite season but I mostly just enjoy living in a world where I don't have to choose. I like to let the seasons slide together to make a year and also split apart into hundreds of small seasons. Right now it's Noisy Grackles/Goldening Leaves/Crunching Beechnut
I was just scrolling through the comments on a social media post from a local RNLI group, and one woman commented: 'I cannot imagine being on this island without you'. I think that's a mighty fine sentiment, so I'm posting it here to remember it, and to agree with her.
September 14, 2026 at 8:09 PM
I was just scrolling through the comments on a social media post from a local RNLI group, and one woman commented: 'I cannot imagine being on this island without you'. I think that's a mighty fine sentiment, so I'm posting it here to remember it, and to agree with her.
"My train service has gotten so much worse. Trains only run on time half the time. They've taken out the tray tables. The toilets & the internet are often broken.'
'But at least it's gotten cheaper relative to your income right?'
'No, on the contrary.'
'But at least it's faster?'
'Also no.'
'But at least it's gotten cheaper relative to your income right?'
'No, on the contrary.'
'But at least it's faster?'
'Also no.'
September 14, 2026 at 5:46 PM
"My train service has gotten so much worse. Trains only run on time half the time. They've taken out the tray tables. The toilets & the internet are often broken.'
'But at least it's gotten cheaper relative to your income right?'
'No, on the contrary.'
'But at least it's faster?'
'Also no.'
'But at least it's gotten cheaper relative to your income right?'
'No, on the contrary.'
'But at least it's faster?'
'Also no.'
Taps the sign.
Canada has a total ban on company/corporate donations. Only individuals who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents can make contributions and it's capped at $1,750 a year. They still have functioning parties and the sky hasn't fallen in. Quite the opposite... www.elections.ca/content.aspx...
September 14, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Taps the sign.
25 years ago, almost every plane that was over the North Atlantic when the second tower was hit was forced to land in Newfoundland. A call was on the radio: they needed folks who spoke various languages to come to the stadium to help organize the sea of humanity that just showed up at our door.
September 11, 2026 at 12:09 PM
25 years ago, almost every plane that was over the North Atlantic when the second tower was hit was forced to land in Newfoundland. A call was on the radio: they needed folks who spoke various languages to come to the stadium to help organize the sea of humanity that just showed up at our door.
Reposted by Julia Laite
I’ve reconciled myself to being to the left of any Labour government in my adult lifetime, but I didn’t anticipate that I’d also wildly diverge from them on whether masked gangs of fascist thugs should be allowed to break the law with impunity in the service of inciting racial hatred
Daniel Thomas / Danny Tommo has today marched his private army of blackshorts to Daily Mail HQ to demand a new house for his mum within 48 hrs, after they doorstepped her for a feature on him.
Apparently he plans to blockade them + cry at them until they do
Bet those lads are glad of the balaclavas
Apparently he plans to blockade them + cry at them until they do
Bet those lads are glad of the balaclavas
September 9, 2026 at 7:22 PM
I’ve reconciled myself to being to the left of any Labour government in my adult lifetime, but I didn’t anticipate that I’d also wildly diverge from them on whether masked gangs of fascist thugs should be allowed to break the law with impunity in the service of inciting racial hatred
The link at the bottom of the page is to another article that claims that AI will cure cancer. Whelp, I guess 'killing all humans' is technically a way to 'cure cancer'. In humans at least. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Anthropic researcher believes more than 10% chance AI 'could kill all humans'
It is the latest in a series of increasing warnings about the safety threat posed by artificial intelligence.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 9, 2026 at 11:19 AM
The link at the bottom of the page is to another article that claims that AI will cure cancer. Whelp, I guess 'killing all humans' is technically a way to 'cure cancer'. In humans at least. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Autumn is blowing in fast this year. I heard it from a Long-Tailed tit, who heard it from an Egret.
September 8, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Autumn is blowing in fast this year. I heard it from a Long-Tailed tit, who heard it from an Egret.
Anyone working in the sector already knows, but still good to see it in black & white. Professional services *people*--not just interchangeable hubs of administration--are essential to a good university. Their institutional knowledge has been consistently undervalued & their loss is catastrophic.
'The need to outsource services following redundancy programmes may be increasing universities’ costs rather than lowering them, as well as impacting staff productivity, a report warns.'
Restructuring ‘too often adding cost rather than removing it’
Universities are ‘underestimating’ the challenges caused by outsourcing services amid major professional services staff redundancies, report warns
www.timeshighereducation.com
September 8, 2026 at 7:06 AM
Anyone working in the sector already knows, but still good to see it in black & white. Professional services *people*--not just interchangeable hubs of administration--are essential to a good university. Their institutional knowledge has been consistently undervalued & their loss is catastrophic.
Reposted by Julia Laite
The courage of those who set out to save those at risk of drowning can never be overestimated.
Each rescue is a challenge.
I used to watch the Orkney lifeboat head out into rough seas with my heart in my mouth. Remarkable bravery.
Donate to the #RNLI here:
shop.rnli.org/products/don...
Each rescue is a challenge.
I used to watch the Orkney lifeboat head out into rough seas with my heart in my mouth. Remarkable bravery.
Donate to the #RNLI here:
shop.rnli.org/products/don...
Donation to RNLI
It costs us around £483,000 a day to run our lifesaving service. Your kind donation will help deliver our lifesaving work.
shop.rnli.org
September 7, 2026 at 5:05 PM
The courage of those who set out to save those at risk of drowning can never be overestimated.
Each rescue is a challenge.
I used to watch the Orkney lifeboat head out into rough seas with my heart in my mouth. Remarkable bravery.
Donate to the #RNLI here:
shop.rnli.org/products/don...
Each rescue is a challenge.
I used to watch the Orkney lifeboat head out into rough seas with my heart in my mouth. Remarkable bravery.
Donate to the #RNLI here:
shop.rnli.org/products/don...
Unless this is like Percy Jackson's sword pen that returns to his pocket nomatter what, the people recommending that parents buy a 27 POUND PEN (that's over 50 Canadian, folks) for their teenager must live on different goddam planet than me.
September 7, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Unless this is like Percy Jackson's sword pen that returns to his pocket nomatter what, the people recommending that parents buy a 27 POUND PEN (that's over 50 Canadian, folks) for their teenager must live on different goddam planet than me.
Sick of this polarization in our society. First, women's trousers were ridiculously skinny-legged. Now they are stupidly wide and flouncy. Bring back the normal legged trouser I am begging you.
September 5, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Sick of this polarization in our society. First, women's trousers were ridiculously skinny-legged. Now they are stupidly wide and flouncy. Bring back the normal legged trouser I am begging you.
In further news, you can do boxing.... but not kickboxing. And you can do dance, that famously standardized sport... but not karate, which is rigourously organized into belts. Someone please riddle this for me.
If you want to see salty them you should see my son who has just been told that he can't do his beloved jujitsu, an olympic sport, as his practical sport for GCSE PE. A classmate is on the national karate team and can't do it for GCSE.
September 3, 2026 at 3:17 PM
In further news, you can do boxing.... but not kickboxing. And you can do dance, that famously standardized sport... but not karate, which is rigourously organized into belts. Someone please riddle this for me.
If you want to see salty them you should see my son who has just been told that he can't do his beloved jujitsu, an olympic sport, as his practical sport for GCSE PE. A classmate is on the national karate team and can't do it for GCSE.
September 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM
If you want to see salty them you should see my son who has just been told that he can't do his beloved jujitsu, an olympic sport, as his practical sport for GCSE PE. A classmate is on the national karate team and can't do it for GCSE.
All my parent friends, whose kids I've seen grow up from birth, are sending pictures of their youngest ones headed to high school and I'm a total puddle. Time is a construct, raising kids alongside friends is a wonderful thing, and I am so not ready for my youngest to start high school next year.
September 3, 2026 at 8:56 AM
All my parent friends, whose kids I've seen grow up from birth, are sending pictures of their youngest ones headed to high school and I'm a total puddle. Time is a construct, raising kids alongside friends is a wonderful thing, and I am so not ready for my youngest to start high school next year.
I am begging capitalism to please make an internet/streaming-enabled MP3 Player, on behalf of all parents trying to get their kids off their effing phones. We live in a world where they've just launched a toothbrush with a goddam mouth camera and yet my far more needed thing does not exist.
September 2, 2026 at 6:27 PM
I am begging capitalism to please make an internet/streaming-enabled MP3 Player, on behalf of all parents trying to get their kids off their effing phones. We live in a world where they've just launched a toothbrush with a goddam mouth camera and yet my far more needed thing does not exist.
I wonder how hot this chilli I grew is, she wondered, touching her tongue tentatively to the pith.
[Fifteen minutes and two bowls of yoghurt later]
So, apparently it's hot.
[Fifteen minutes and two bowls of yoghurt later]
So, apparently it's hot.
September 2, 2026 at 9:29 AM
I wonder how hot this chilli I grew is, she wondered, touching her tongue tentatively to the pith.
[Fifteen minutes and two bowls of yoghurt later]
So, apparently it's hot.
[Fifteen minutes and two bowls of yoghurt later]
So, apparently it's hot.
My haul. Five kilos of fresh- frozen cod caught by me & wild blueberry & raspberry jam. There'd be moose & chanterelles too if it was allowed. So blessed to have access to so much wild food!
(And Newfoundlanders may be the only people on earth who use ship's biscuit in their present-day cuisine).
(And Newfoundlanders may be the only people on earth who use ship's biscuit in their present-day cuisine).
September 1, 2026 at 10:28 AM
My haul. Five kilos of fresh- frozen cod caught by me & wild blueberry & raspberry jam. There'd be moose & chanterelles too if it was allowed. So blessed to have access to so much wild food!
(And Newfoundlanders may be the only people on earth who use ship's biscuit in their present-day cuisine).
(And Newfoundlanders may be the only people on earth who use ship's biscuit in their present-day cuisine).
When you come back after 6 weeks away to grapes, tomatoes, and candy roaster squash that has gone into beast mode.
August 31, 2026 at 3:55 PM
When you come back after 6 weeks away to grapes, tomatoes, and candy roaster squash that has gone into beast mode.
There have been many exciting achievements in my life. Getting my PhD, making Professor, etc.
But today my mother conceded that I have officially become a faster and cleaner berry picker than her. That maybe I'm even on par with my grandmother.
Thank you in advance for your congratulations.
But today my mother conceded that I have officially become a faster and cleaner berry picker than her. That maybe I'm even on par with my grandmother.
Thank you in advance for your congratulations.
August 29, 2026 at 4:17 PM
There have been many exciting achievements in my life. Getting my PhD, making Professor, etc.
But today my mother conceded that I have officially become a faster and cleaner berry picker than her. That maybe I'm even on par with my grandmother.
Thank you in advance for your congratulations.
But today my mother conceded that I have officially become a faster and cleaner berry picker than her. That maybe I'm even on par with my grandmother.
Thank you in advance for your congratulations.
I'm spending my last days home in the berry grounds, listening to the sounds of the community below me & keeping company with the spiders & the birds. I marvel at the fact that planet earth has gifted us fields upon fields of perfect blueberries. The least I can do is honour her by picking them.
August 27, 2026 at 1:50 PM
I'm spending my last days home in the berry grounds, listening to the sounds of the community below me & keeping company with the spiders & the birds. I marvel at the fact that planet earth has gifted us fields upon fields of perfect blueberries. The least I can do is honour her by picking them.
Sitting in the spot my great grandfather sat, watching the moonrise over the harbour. The water the colour of mermaid shimmer in the setting sun.
August 22, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Sitting in the spot my great grandfather sat, watching the moonrise over the harbour. The water the colour of mermaid shimmer in the setting sun.