Happy Christmas. The greatest Christmas song ever recorded. youtu.be/j9jbdgZidu8?...

Lovely, thoughtful interview with Ian McEwan here. On his new book, What we Can Know, and much else besides. Courtesy of @newyorker.com podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Some good news headlining the Guardian for what seems like the first time since about 1997….. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Absolutely spot on.👇

Got young people in the house? Try them on this. Lord of the Flies meets Stranger Things. Nice job, @michaelgrantbks.bsky.social!

A brilliant book by Andy Weir. Survival, friendship, and how to ‘science the shit’ out the mother of all problems. Project Hail Mary is a great read!

To all those Europeans now complaining about the new US National Security Strategy, either grow a spine and some self respect, and support moves to European strategic independence, or go away.

Lovely piece on why we read, and why not to believe everyone has stopped, via @reactorsff.bsky.social reactormag.com/what-keeps-y...

Very nice summary of some of the key themes in Jonathan Rose’s The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes. open.substack.com/pub/culturis...

4️⃣0️⃣

A full-frontal, persuasive assault on what the smart phone is doing to our civilisation, from James Marriott. open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...

A great window on the restless adolescent soul, on the relationships of the young with their parents, and on the power and appeal of raw nature. Highly recommended.

I know you wrote this over a decade ago, @aptshadow.bsky.social but it is new to me, and a brilliant piece of work!

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Not international, but interstellar politics, with a good dose of the Cultural Revolution and advanced scientific concepts thrown in. Looking forward to the second book in the trilogy. @liu-cixin.bsky.social

Thoroughly enjoyed this and learned a lot about the history of the Algeria-France relationship in the process.

Terrific film about the very brave Gareth Jones, who brought the story of the #Holodomor (the famine imposed on Ukraine by Stalin’s Soviet Union), to the world, in 1933. He was killed by the Soviet secret police, it seems, in 1935, at the age of 29. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Terrific film about the very brave Gareth Jones, who brought the story of the #Holodomor (the famine imposed on Ukraine by Stalin’s Soviet Union), to the world, in 1933. He was killed by the Soviet secret police, it seems, in 1935, at the age of 29. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Room full of satire writers will struggle to find a funnier line that the BBC Newsreader just now saying “The Chinese approached Prince Andrew in the hope of finding intelligence’”

New CrimeTime FM BEST OF THE YEAR fr @NewcastleNoir pod.fo/e/29147a applec.co/3znb7b5 Podfollo bit.ly/402NUM1 @samhollandbooks.bsky.social @jofurniss.bsky.social @robparkerauthor.bsky.social Michael Wood @trevorwoodwrite.bsky.social @antonyjohnston.bsky.social @toonlibraries.bsky.social

I’d definitely be up for watching this. Great idea!

Really enjoyed this Spymasters conversation with Jane Thynne, about her new book, Midnight in Vienna. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/s...

Really enjoyed this and A Rising Man, @radiomukhers.bsky.social Looking forward to Smoke and Ashes next.

And as cover versions go this is an absolute banger www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kn7...

How come I have never heard of this guy until today? www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUjL...

My book came out at a terrible time, really. Was relying on my own Twitter to plug it, but then they removed my verification and reach plummeted as a result. So buy my book for a Christmas present or something. It’s a bit cheaper now anyway. www.amazon.co.uk/United-Dad-F...

Well done to #TheakstonsCrime for nabbing the peerless Mick Heron as next year’s Programming Chair! I’d congratulate Mick, too, but he doesn’t do social media, probably doesn’t have a phone & lives a little too far away for my voice to carry! harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/news/slow-ho...