Joe

Big Mangel Wurzel. One for @themerl.bsky.social

I'm hosting this! Come and hang out with us on YouTube and watch some short archival films

this is my favourite kind of social media post that i get to make. the kind that if you remove all context it looks absolutely preposterous, because it is

Our website is currently down while we resolve the same PHP issues that are affecting so many other sites. But we're fine, emotionally. And the museum is still open. There's even a scone with your name on it.

currently listening on my commute to the audiobook of Blood Meridian, and I arrive each day at work having seen some things

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hello come and join us watch some films and have a little chat

BTS of this morning's podcast recording at @themerl.bsky.social lol (Bayeux Tapestry special drops in 2 weeks)

we are so back (again). also: first episode that I've hosted solo. @olliedouglas.bsky.social returns from next week!

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if you say "The Museum of English Rural Life" three times in a mirror, nothing happens. but if you speak it a fourth time, a man in a smock appears and asks you to incant the poem on the side of this rather menacing jug

did my first improv class this weekend in like 3 years and let me say how much i freaking love improv

Fun fact: this year we turned 75! It's a fine age. We remain extremely young at heart. But why the heck did people in 1951 think it was a good idea to make The Museum of English Rural Life?

we see the new iPhone and raise you a please do not try to fold up The Museum of English Rural Life

social media strategy: post absolutely giant horse

every now and then i write a sentence that leaves me feeling very surprised by my ability of beading words together

what would the Minions think of The Museum of English Rural Life

just received a newsletter (that I never signed up for) from my letting agent with the subject line > Can landlords still profit in 2026? Here's how are you kidding me

i set my Waze's voice to be Spongebob Squarepants, and let me tell you he's insufferable

apparently in GTA 6, you're going to be able to build your own farm, combining heritage skills and modern technologies to tackle the polycrisis by building sustainable and environmentally-friendly food systems. you're also going to be able to fire rockets out of a Ferguson tractor

in honour of @bsky.app testing longer videos, here's our most successful short: holding space with @olliedouglas.bsky.social

I'm not crying, you're-

So, we found a live bat in our galleries. 🦇 a thread🦇

obsessed with him

I've seen a few people commenting on Bluesky's user numbers vs Threads. So, I wrote a blog about it. including: - what makes social media platforms grow/sink - why MAU comparisons are flawed - how Facebook beat MySpace joevaughan.net/posts/bluesk...

From this review- “Think of all the diligent, decent black academics who have been lumbered with the embarrassment of having Arday as a figurehead” - no, think of *why* black academics are held collectively responsible in ways that white academics are not

This is an amazingly in-depth analysis by Ray Morrison, of how arts and culture job ads reveal the sector's attitudes towards work and culture journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

i edited this! i hope you like it

it's time: we would like to nominate ourselves to be President of Fifa www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...

it really makes you think

Does anyone work in museum interpretation? How's it been affected by social media and short-form content basically rewiring our brains? Are labels still in? Do we need to radically rethink things? I'm thinking of writing something.

Should museums be present on the most prevalent media platform known to humanity?

You heard it here first ❤️

I was interviewed by the @museumsassociation.org about whether museums should still use social media. My answer: resoundingly yes :) www.museumsassociation.org/museums-jour...

should we update the bluesky account name to this y/n