My book with Andy Bartlett - an STS analysis of Bigfooting - is now out and available to order at www.routledge.com/Bigfooters-a... If this is of interest, I would really appreciate it being shared. Thank you.

February 1937 Tory campaign against BBC "bias". To be fair, if Captain Maule Ramsay was leading the charge, "left-wing" probably covered everything up to and including Mussolini...

That final point is absolutely crucial.

Sunflowers, 1911 https://botfrens.com/collections/88/contents/25140

OK hear me out. Celebrity Traitors but with the cast of Slow Horses, all in character.

Did you spot it? This government wants to use a PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP for Neighbourhood Health Centres in its 10 year NHS plan *Even though Private Finance Initiatives mean the NHS paying up to 27 x over for hospitals* Take 1 minute to say no weownit.org.uk/act-now/no-n...

Amazing how things even the National Front and British Movement would not say directly are being normalised while anything deemed 'left' is increasingly denormalised e.g fair wages, human rights, social security, public health, universal healthcare

[THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST] EP.262 - JOHN FOXX #theAdamBuxtonPodcast podcastaddict.com/the-adam-bux... via @PodcastAddict A lovely, interesting conversation. Also enjoyed warm, Chorley tones.

Private equity decimated US hospitals, says Senate report; now targeting the NHS. PE practice, Cut staff/wages, high debt/price, asset-stripping tax abuse, poor service. PE makes millions in the UK from hip/knee/cataract surgery, GP surgeries, care homes, will run new NHS neighbourhood hubs.

Disc with Strings (Moon),1969 by sculptor Barbara Hepworth #womensart

This is bound to be good. Sorry I cant be there

I have signed @weownit.org.uk's petition to block Thames Water's plans to dump sewage in our rivers for the next 15 years. We have until 21st Oct to stop it. Add your name now. weownit.org.uk/act-now/peti...

www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/s... Saw this tonight at York Theatre Royal. Beautifully done. Funny and moving.

The 2024 Little Richard documentary, I Am Everything, is currently streaming on C4 in the UK. Ignore the usual talking heads who appear at the start as this is excellent. Particularly good on the "queer" subculture of the American South. youtu.be/4YC8WUrWtZY?...

Like many Irish folks I’m deeply saddened by the loss of Manchán Magan. The loss of the man himself and the loss of the many beautiful contributions I know he would have made to the world. How lucky we are that he left us with so much of himself, his unique perspective, his curiosity, wonder & awe 🕯️

"We are in nature, and then we are humans in nature connected" Manchán Mangan - may he rest in nature - sad to part with both Jane Goodall and Manchán (far too young) this week - both powerful voices for our human relationship to nature and the environment www.rte.ie/news/2025/10...

Abir Al-Sahlani, a Swedish member of the European Parliament. Born in Iraq, escaped after her father was locked away as a political prisoner by Saddam Hussein and arrived in Sweden, alone, at 15.

Queen

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... This from 2012 gives a much better view of Handsworth than Jenrick's.

Honest Bob Jenrick from Wolverhampton bigging himself up to the moneyed bully boys at the expense of fellow citizens. Specialising in wilfully ignorant dog whistling. £wall. Archive link in replies.

Yes, yes I know I keep banging on about my fucking book! However, if you want one repost this and I’ll do a random winner pick thing by the end of the week because I’m great like that. ♥️📚 #amindofmyown

There are 2 Grammar Schools in Handsworth. I was one of the few locals at the girls one. There has been no shortage of white people willing to 'brave' the area to get to them. Over time these schools have become more reflective of the diversity of the area.

Handsworth's problems are not its people but a post industrial dismantling and lack of investment. Similar impacting 'white' areas elsewhere. An attitude of condescending contempt and a disastrous display of incompetence from a series of arrogant, self-serving politicians does not help.

I was born and raised in Handsworth and have (white Irish) family still there. The Jenrick/venal right wing gaze is a pathetic racist fallacy.

Sharing this beautiful slice of British reggae; "Handsworth Revolution" by Steel Pulse. The good people of Handsworth and Birmingham don't deserve the likes of racist Robert Jenrick in their streets. youtu.be/A3LFvaAD2-Y?...

#Handsworth could teach @RobertJenrick how to live in a global society. #BenjaminZephaniah - spirit of #Birmingham - said "Handsworth for me is...where I learnt all my skills, my communication skills, my hustling skills, my poetic skills, everything."

A welcome, if belated, awakening to the disconnect between Musk's actions and the stated values of the Royal Society?

Can't think of many better illustrations of how badly we have botched housing policy than the fact that our bill for housing homeless families (£2.8bn pa) is now higher than the money we spend each year on new affordable housing (£2.3bn) www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/english...

I have a review of John Ganz's When The Clock Broke in the new LRB www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Vorstadt, 1914 https://botfrens.com/collections/88/contents/25684

An excellent summary of the current state of play ... "where the only standards left in public life are flags."

This government promised us 'the biggest wave of insourcing of public services in a generation' 🌊 Have you seen it?! We definitely haven't. 🧐 BUT now that the government are planning changes to the Procurement Act, we've got a chance to put the pressure on. 💪 Take action now. 👇

A Lone Enraptured Male www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3... Lovely to read about the hackles rising on Kathleen Jamie.

"…the major enemy, the strategic adversary is fascism [...] the fascism in us all, in our heads and in our everyday behaviour, the fascism that causes us to love power, to desire the very thing that dominates and exploits us." ― Michel Foucault #StreetArt Banksy, London

Sad #sociology news via Jonathon Gabe and Mary Ann Elston of the death of Mike Bury a major figure in medical sociology. His early article on chronic illness as biographical disruption, published in the Sociology of Health & Illness in 1982, remains one of its most highly cited.

Ella Baron on the Palestine Action arrests – cartoon www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Hey @angelarayner - hands off our allotments! No more sell-offs of these precious green spaces. Take 1 minute to sign our petition today. 👇#HandsOffOurAllotments

On the podcast: in this extended extract from their Close Readings subscription series, ‘Fiction and the Fantastic’, Adam Thirlwell and Marina Warner explore Mary Shelley’s treatment of birth, death, monstrosity and the limits of science in “Frankenstein”. Listen here: www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and...

Frida Kahlo, Xochimilco, Mexico, 1937 #WomensArt

Panorama - Britain’s Ketamine Crisis, BBC iPlayer - Hazel Martin talks to users, those being treated in detox and rehab, and doctors being inundated by young patients in need of help - www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

How great was Tom Lehrer? In 2020, he moved his entire catalog into the public domain because he felt he'd made more than enough money off of it. Enjoy every Tom Lehrer album: tomlehrersongs.com

NHS England announced 2024 that Health Survey for England 2025 will be the last they would resource. ONS are exploring current requirements for population health data, including the impact of any changes blog.ukdataservice.ac.uk/future-popul...

This is chilling stuff. Protester told by the police that holding up a banner opposing genocide in Gaza and supporting Palestine creates a "suspicion" that they may support a proscribed group and so could be arrested for terrorism offences

Pleased to be represented by Rachel Maskell.