Preparing for this week’s Rare Earth on amphibians and I have just discovered the “tomato frog”. I sometimes feel that people can a bit too far in naming animals after other things, but… it really does look like a tomato.🍅. How fabulous!

I was responsible for this (it was literally my idea while I was Product Manager for Media Playout at the BBC) and it is still my proudest achievement ever

The mastery of artist Harry Wingfield. Painted tap (First Picture Book, 1970)

Convert a band. 0.35 fl oz

Oh to be a peregrine chick in the hands of David Attenborough ... Happy birthday.

We love your posts of dogs at polling stations 🐶 Just remember people using screen readers can't enjoy their little faces without a photo description. To add alt text: click 'add alt text', describe the photo (like we have here) and click done.

Just finished Ep 6 - and now I want to listen to it all again. Tear in my eye at the implied realisation of the Uncle’a nickname… and the loudest I’ve laughed for a long time when the hat makes its entrance. Bravo - and thank you so much @johnfinnemore.bsky.social (plus @edmorrish.com et al)

Happy 13th birthday, @micropython 🎉 We’re really happy to be increasing our GitHub sponsorship to $500/month to help support the project and ensure its future. If MicroPython’s been useful to you, it’s well worth supporting too: github.com/sponsors/mic...

Today’s poem is called ‘An Invention of Collective Nouns’.

Leibniz: But let us set our differences on the matter of calculus aside for a minute. Perhaps you would care for a biscuit? I have some delicious chocolate-backed confections, far superior to those fig-based monstrosities that have become so popular recently. Newton: now hang on just a minute…

I felt bad about eating this little tomato guy

Before social media, we had ‘Chicken Licken’ (1969) Artist: Robert Lumley

Today’s poem is called ‘Requiem for Whoever’. It’s one of my more tender, thoughtful poems, as I attempt to gain a small share of the lucrative funeral poetry market.

Today’s poem is called ‘On Tender Hooks’.

Today’s poem is called ‘Job Interview with a Cat’.

Is Steve Witkoff a bit like hiccough and should pronounced Steve Witkup?

WHO WANTS SOME! A slightly new cut of the JONAH NON GRATA TRAILER to galvanise me finally to get. it. on. Put me on your stage please thanks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtdE...

Episode 2 is live this week, and James Pond is having a panic attack, with David MItchell, Tamsin Greig, Clare Foster and Rosie Holt. Subscribe to Listen & Often to get the lot, and a ton more - www.patreon.com/listenandoften

Today’s poem is called ‘Acrostic Poetry: The Benefits’.

Today’s poem is called ‘This is One of Those Poems without any Rhymes’.

‘A Drove of Hares’ (From a vintage ad produced for Boots the chemist) Artist: CF Tunnicliffe

Today’s poem is called ‘Slow Puncture’.

Featuring David Mitchell, Tamsin Greig, Clare Foster, @rosieisaholt.bsky.social - get all four eps: www.patreon.com/listenandoften

Advance warning: from tomorrow, I'm going to start sharing a poem each day again; so, if you were ever thinking about closing down your BlueSky account, now might be a good time.

Tall Tales is @NorthLondonTav on Tuesday 31st, 730, with Abigail Burdess @johnfinnemore.bsky.social @matthewdparker.bsky.social Susannah Pearse and all new Taxidermy from @annasavory.bsky.social No one gets this info here, right? Email talltalesnight at gmail - www.listenandoften.com/talltales

AS BAD AS EACH OTHER The Strait of Hormuz is much in the nuz. How I wish it were not – I’d regime change the lot.

Of course, now I have to listen to Magnitsky the Musical again. It's the law. What good fortune that it's still available on Sounds for anyone to enjoy. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

WHAT'S A HAIKU? (Anagrammed Lines) Basically, the paced heptadecasyllabic blade; a patchy slice.

#5thofFebruary #JFSP youtube.com/watch?v=WJBr...

HOW TO MAKE A RAGÙ (Palindrome) Ragù: Shallot. A tuna. Deft salt (light) or beer, up a root. A motto. Herb most sombre. Hot tomato, or a purée. Broth, gilt, last fed a nut. A toll. Ah, sugar!

I've just realised, there really is a staircase behind our sofa. All these years I've been laughing when my wife walked down it.

A cow who is too cool for school Employing a stick as a tool To scratch her behind Suggests, experts find, Veronika's nobody's fool. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Tips if you're new to Bluesky: Don't Quote Dunk, instead try reading ancient tomes of forgotten lore If you hear a tapping, tis some visitor, or the wind and nothing more If a raven flaps in through the shutter, do NOT ask what its lordly name is on the night's Plutonian shore Use Alt Text

Stunning alt text like this makes coming back to work much easier 🫶

#JFSP #December27th youtu.be/VRU2ujV2fDw?...

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

Like everyone else caught up in the Unbound “drama”, John Finnemore is working out what to do with a book that was terminated with incompetent prejudice by people who vanished. If you would like a lovely Xmas gift, he’s opened a shop, announced in this post here! open.substack.com/pub/johnfinn...

If you don’t add alt text, your image is just vibes and mystery 🕵️‍♀️ Uncover the mystery, simply click "Alt" after you've uploaded your image, write a description and post.

If you hold a yacht up to your ear, you can hear the c

Meet Twitch, our Head of Elf Accessibility. He’s here to make sure every elf can shine at their job with all the right adaptions. ❤️ Just like in Santa’s workshop, we humans can build a more accessible world too. We can listen and adapt so everyone has the opportunity to thrive. 1/2

This is tantalisingly close to £3k. The news moves on, but the lives of Jamaicans are still very difficult. Every bit helps (shares cost nothing but can be incredibly helpful). www.gofundme.com/f/huricane-m...

It's the Seasonal Reposting Competition! Repost this over the weekend, and on Sunday one lucky person will win a signed copy of one of my books. For you or the #crossword addict in your life: 50 fiendish @theguardian.com #puzzles and all the stories behind them: boatmancryptics.co.uk/crossword-bo...

Oh, hello… thepihut.com/products/ras...

The wait is finally over, we're happy to announce that the KeebDeck Keyboard and our first product using it, the KeebDeck Basic, are now available for sale from our @lectronz.com store! ⌨️ lectronz.com/stores/solde...

I know many of you will already have done something to help the people of Jamaica, but if you felt like helping a specific family, this is the GoFundMe set up by my son’s girlfriend for her relatives, who find themselves in dire straits. Every bit helps, shares appreciated. gofund.me/9b5b74984

It's my October #Scrabblegram and I'm going #darkmode for this one! 🎃👻👹 (board in reply below) #halloween #scrabble #poem #constrainedwriting #poetry #undead #zombies #creepy

Today’s Halloween poem is called ‘Come, take this hand in yours’.

Happy World Pasta Day to all those who celebrate.

Top tip: after an afternoon of scything remember to dial down the vigour before you next shave.