Common sense is a historical category - and none of our questions around sex and gender are really new
Author: fluff35
I blog on a range of subjects arising from various aspects of my life. On https://theretiringacademic.wordpress.com, I focus on my reactions to early retirement and think about aspects of teaching and research which I hope will be stimulating to those still working in higher education. On https://shared-conversations.com, I blog as an authorized lay preacher in a pretty standard parish church of the Church of England, who needs to write in order to find out what she thinks. I took part in the Oxford/St Albans/Armed Forces C of E 'Shared Conversations' in March 2016, worked on the Living in Love and Faith resources from 2017 and was elected to General Synod in October 2021, and continue to try to reflect on some of the issues. On https://mistakinghistories.wordpress.com I share my thoughts on various aspects of the history of medicine and the body.
I have also written for The Conversation UK on https://theconversation.com/profiles/helen-king-94923/articles
‘Just practising’? The history of Adam’s rib
What about that spare rib?
Let’s talk about (assisted) dying
There’s something going on here about how we don’t want to take full responsibility for our decisions; we don’t want to think through the issues properly, instead bringing in some text from the past as if it is entirely without its own historical context.
Talking about the book
(updated updated May 2025) Getting out the message about a new book mostly means podcasts, I've found. That's great because you can do the recording from your home, and also podcast hosts are generally very lively and so the level of energy is high. So here is a short list of the ones I've done… Continue reading Talking about the book
Judging a book by its cover
(updated April 2025) You shouldn't do that, right? But we do, otherwise we wouldn't need to be warned not to... If you are writing a book, you will at some time have to make a decision about the cover. Having only previously published academic books, my foray into the world of trade books has given… Continue reading Judging a book by its cover
Mistaking histories 