Vicky Biggs

Research fellow @Durham_Uni and former special school teacher, interested in storytelling, taboo histories, youth and conflict, and legacies of genocide.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@Puzzledbyadream Applying for funded PhDs is bruising, as is academia itself. I lost count of how many flat "nos" I had for lectureships. Handling rejection on repeat has become a necessary skill on a par with research. It shouldn't be that way, but it is. If it's what you want, keep trying. ❤️

[Ruth Chamberlain @RuthOnTheHoof]

Gorgeous and rare #eriskaypony in the Outer Hebrides. I love this pony, I always like to say hello to him when I’m passing 🥰🐴 @EachNanEilean

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@NoreenMasud @Freya_Gowrley I've been there. Multiple times with multiple strangers. The last time involved me telling a shopper in Tesco, "Have you found that toothpaste yet?" in the belief that he was my husband. (He wasn't. Similar hair and glasses though.) I hope the barista got you a free cup of tea.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@Harrylegg1998 It's a sobering time for you to be doing oral history. I'm really looking forward to reading what comes out of your project. The topic has ramifications for the study of racialization's role in contemporary genocides.

[BBC Free Thinking @BBCFreeThinking]

On @BBCRadio3 at 10pm, @DrMatthewSweet discusses memories of the holocaust and how we pass them on with @RichardZimler @daniellee550 @TaleSpinning and @stuarttaberner1 #HolocaustMemorialDay
https://t.co/LTCPWp5Mpw

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

Tonight I'm on @bbcfreethinking with three other academics and writers who are working with the legacies of the Holocaust. I came away having learned a lot, and it was a privilege to share a snapshot of my current research as part of the conversation.

https://t.co/hOv1fKdQEm

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

I feel seen.

[lala @certifiedcopy]

english fuck up of the day: i thought ballache was pronounced like ganache

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@hagenilda Oof. That stings.

[Katie Barclay @KatieEBarclay]

New article out today: compassion as an agent of historical change! Do think empathy is a helpful tool for the historian? Well maybe read on… #twitterstorians https://t.co/DyIUDhlUlF

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@BurgandiLeeds My supervisors used to tell me that a PhD doesn't need to be perfect, it only needs to be finished, and you should think of it as the starting point of your academic journey rather than the grand finale. Good luck. I'm so excited to read your thesis.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@Sarah_M_Hall You've reminded me that I've been planning to submit an abstract for something. Unfortunately I've forgotten what the conference was and what I planned to say. 👀 I will follow your lead and reclaim that bit of my brain for something else!

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@rmason717 @ChrisKempshall Same. I decided that if I couldn't get a permanent job as my next step that I wasn't going to chase after fixed-term and zero hours contracts any more. At one point I was commuting in three directions for two zero hours gigs and one part-time temporary job. It's not sustainable.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@saqeram Sigmund Freud in Trieste with the Eels sounds like an avant-garde novel (or at least a band with its warm-up act). Someone needs to write it.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@theaurorac @thenameishyde That behaviour is telling because it suggests that whatever solidarity they offer GRT people is conditional on them being able to control the conversation. Native Americans who call themselves Indian/NDN get exactly the same bad-faith hectoring for the same reasons.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

Lately it's been impossible for me to sit down for longer than 4 seconds without my lap being filled by 3.5kg of purring cat. This is all very lovely except for her desire to have full editorial control of my work, which means every 10 minutes she tries to knead the keyboard.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@saqeram You are doing God's work with that. 😊 I hope they took literature or a rarely taught ancient language instead.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

One good thing to emerge from this pandemic is the array of online learning. It used to be almost impossible to find a Yiddish class in the UK outside Oxford and London. If you've always wanted to learn Yiddish (and of course you have) here's your chance.

https://t.co/mXqlsSC1tg

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@lingerie_addict It's not that they didn't understand what you wrote, it's that they resent it and they desperately need you to be the unreasonable bad guy.

[Vicky Biggs @TaleSpinning]

@lingerie_addict People feel defensive about fast fashion etc because they know these things are lethal to the planet and that workers are exploited to the point of slavery, but they don't want to sacrifice their convenience. Rather than admit that they invoke disability as a get-out clause.