This isn’t me. This is Oscar Rejlander (c. 1870), who posed for Charles Darwin.

According to Darwin, he’s displaying ‘helplessness’. Personally, I think he wants to look humble, but he comes across as full of himself.

With that in mind, let’s talk about me …

I’m currently Professor of History and Theory of Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I’m a past winner of the Jeremiah Dalziel Prize for British History, a former Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts, and a past Secretary of the British Psychological Society (History and Philosophy of Psychology Section).

I’m also a former professional magician and a member of the Magic Circle. I’ve been an academic consultant to the BBC, appeared on various programmes, such as The One Show (BBC1) and Midweek (BBC Radio 4), spoken at book festivals, science festivals, art galleries, museums, and theatres, performed at the Edinburgh Fringe, The Magic Circle (London) and the Magic Castle (Los Angeles), and co-founded (with Richard Wiseman) the Edinburgh Secret Society - I can’t talk about that - and once appeared as a clue on the American quiz show, Jeopardy - I can’t explain that.

My work has been covered by a wide range of well-known fake news outlets, from The Guardian and New Statesman to The Spectator and The Telegraph, from the Calcutta Telegraph to the Chicago Tribune, New York Times and Time Out and, at various times, by Financial Times, The Sunday Times, The Times, The Times Higher Education Supplement and The Times Literary Supplement. And once on the front page of The Independent (it was a quiet day).