Juliette Bretan

Researcher, writer, and broadcaster on East-Central Europe, culture, history, and politics. In @publicdomainrev, @thetls, @lareviewofbooks and more.

[Juliette Bretan @JCBretan]

Really delighted that my article on ‘T.S. Eliot, Post-War Geopolitics and “Eastern Europe”’ has just been published in Critical Quarterly (open access, too!).
Dedicated to my mum.
https://t.co/PenWMXih0u

[Jack Dickens @jackfdickens]

Do you have news fatigue? Escape from the digital storm and peruse our eclectic mix of @EngelsbergIdeas articles.

Featuring excellent articles by @militaryhistori on Churchill’s paintings, @JCBretan on Eurovision, and @keharvey2013 on medieval self-improvement - and much more:

[Engelsberg Ideas @EngelsbergIdeas]

The reception of Bulgaria's Eurovision win shows how western assumptions still cannot accommodate success in Eastern Europe.

Eastern European success is no happy accident | @JCBretan

https://t.co/99lf4sPc9n

[Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 @notesfrompoland]

Warsaw’s sewer system, one of the first in Europe, began operating 140 years ago.

Built by British engineers, the sewers survived the destruction of WW2, when they were used by resistance fighters to move around the city, and still serve Varsovians today https://t.co/BNDRFcunac

[Juliette Bretan @JCBretan]

Pleased to be in the @newhumanist summer issue! I reviewed Balázs Trencsényi’s new book: https://t.co/HGsN9oBC1G

[New Humanist @NewHumanist]

@SamiraAhmedUK @touretteshero Plus book reviews from @jcbretan, @Mark_Lorch, @danielcallcut and @lucyjpop, and our regular cryptic crossword and brainteaser.

Subscribe now from just £1.50 a month for instant access to this fantastic issue! https://t.co/kGO1gwHd9P

[Juliette Bretan @JCBretan]

Fun night with wine and music @RobinsonCamb, celebrating the music of Chopin and its connections to the Polish community

[Brendan Simms @brendanpsimms]

My new book with @HugoBromley, British Statecraft and the Baltic Sea Region: A Documentary History, explores how the Baltic has shaped British diplomacy and strategy for more than 300 years.

Its lessons remain highly relevant today.

[Hootcel @Hootcel]

Since I am helplessly autistic, I decided to make a map of the *roots* of the *words*.

This map only shows etymology of the individual components of the names, NOT ancestry.

Blue-Slavic
Cyan-Armenian
Green-Uralic
Lime-Latin
Yellow-Germanic
Orange-Turkic
Purple-Iranic
Red-Hebrew

[Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600]

It's hard to oversell this map - make sure to bookmark it and share it with your friends. Fantastic research that must have been soooo labour intensive: How has the population of evert single small geographic region across Europe changed from 1961 to 2024? You will want to study this map in detail. Source (keep scrolling for a while): https://t.co/2akdcsaBpm

[Lithuania MFA 🇱🇹 | #StandWithUkraine @LithuaniaMFA]

2 states. 3 centuries. 5 values: freedom, equality, unity, reform, courage. Today marks 235 years of the May 3 Constitution (1791) – Europe’s first and the world’s second. A bold Polish–Lithuanian pact for a modern, sovereign state. Its message endures: the state begins with us.

[Wojciech Pawelczyk @WojPawelczyk]

Egg vending machines (jajomaty) are becoming more popular in Poland.

They have transitioned from a niche curiosity to a common sight in both large cities (like Warsaw, Kraków, Poznań, Wrocław) and smaller towns. The primary driver is the desire for freshness. These machines are usually owned by local farmers, allowing them to sell directly to customers without a middleman. They operate 24/7, which appeals to people who want farm-fresh eggs outside of traditional market or grocery store hours. While older models were simple lockers, newer machines often feature touchscreens and support for contactless payments, fitting well into Poland's highly digitized payment culture.

[Jakub Krupa @JakubKrupa]

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but looks like the fantastic & one of its kind Bar Polski in Holborn has closed down.

A special place & Polish institution in heart of London for 30 years, another everyday symbol of our #PolesinUK presence here - gone.

Absolutely gutted.

[The Wall Street Journal @WSJ]

Tadeusz Kościuszko, who played a pivotal role in the American Revolution, is the subject of an involving film on Viaplay that follows him after he returned to his home country to fight the Russians. https://t.co/BWU1KRsMyv

[Jakub Krupa @JakubKrupa]

My low-key dream is to start a proper affordable Polish milk bar in London; billionaire investors, hit me up

[Piotr Wilczek @AmbWilczek]

My new book, "Entwined Histories: Essays on Poland, Britain, and Cultural Memory", is out on 26 May. It’s now available to pre-order, and I’ll be in London for book launches on 3–5 June. https://t.co/TBG7ojRWS6

[#WOMENSART @womensart1]

Tamara de Lempicka,
Wisdom, 1940
Polish Art Deco style painter
#WomensArt #BookArtWeek

[Juliette Bretan @JCBretan]

And in print in @theipaper today:

[Polish Embassy IRL @PLinIreland]

#OTD the great Irish poet, Nobel Prize winner, friend of Poland - Seamus Heaney was born. We remember his wisdom, his openness, friendships he made with 🇵🇱 Nobel laureates W.Szymborska & C.Miłosz & his "Beacons at Bealtaine" poem composed for the EU Enlargement on 1.05.2004.

[Juliette Bretan @JCBretan]

My article in @theipaper on how the fall of Viktor Orbán might spell danger for right-wing politicians across Europe:

[The i Paper @theipaper]

The fall of Viktor Orbán is a warning for right-wing populists like Nigel Farage

Find out why: https://t.co/reVnq4OGVw

[Richard D. Bartlett @RichDecibels]

did you know there’s a network of open mics streaming nature sounds 24/7. I’m listening to the birds waking up in Poland. thank God for EU arts funding

[Polish Heritage Flight @FlightPolish]

@JCBretan Yes - you have our permission😊🇬🇧🇵🇱