Three (of many) favourites from Anna Ancher: Painting Light.

'Isn't history sometimes written by the losers?' This is perfection.

Pressures on current tenants in terms of evictions and rents are easing a bit, but competition for new tenancies is still tough - check out the findings from GR's latest survey

'people are being denied a social home due to fears they will not be able to keep up with their living costs, and the report found 71% of housing associations said the benefit restrictions were a key reason for this.'

Behind the scenes in Ede and Ravenscroft's wig-room, 1920s vs 2025 www.ft.com/content/e035...

James Meek on the ghost(s) of the industrial revolution. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

“The brutal irony is that the generative AI tools affecting novelists are likely trained on millions of pirated novels scraped from shadow libraries without the consent or remuneration of authors" www.cam.ac.uk/stories/gene...

Great culture can save lives. Literally. Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

For the first time in a long old while, I have finally lived somewhere long enough to join AND use the local library, is this what happiness looks like??

'This is a context in which it is important to have a more consistent sense of priorities than the government has so far maintained.'

Even just looking at the chart titles here has reminded me how everything is now content and everyone is a content creator.

'Concern over a deeply unequal society and a lopsided economy is where the wealth tax-ers and I start – but doing something about it requires deep-rooted changes to give more people a fairer share.' Aditya Chakrabortty on the wealth tax www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I think this counts as successful research impact. Turning your archive work into a bestselling trade book, which is then optioned as a feature film. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women 🧵

I had never considered patient satisfaction as anything other than an outcome on its own. Fascinating (if unsurprising really) to read the direct impact on health outcomes, that @samfr.bsky.social cites: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/1/...?

EXC: English councils will still be poorer in 2029 than they were in 2010, according to the IfG. Report finds councils are increasingly providing social care and little else. Libraries, youth services, parks, all falling by the wayside. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Reminded of @stephenkb.bsky.social's excellent column on AI and the curriculum. "It is knowledge that allows you to deploy and use your skills." www.ft.com/content/1369...

Desperate to see an updated chart for Shania please

'Because Black women are overrepresented in public sector jobs, the Trump Administration’s massive cuts to the federal workforce have likely contributed towards over 300,000 Black women leaving the labor force between February and July.' time.com/7315624/risi...

Civil society has reached a milestone: we estimate that for the first time, paid hours now exceed volunteer hours. Do we need to slow the tide and re-emphasise volunteering, or do we accept the sector is becoming more professional? Explore these questions in our new blog: pbe.co.uk/insights/the...

‘Let us not risk getting trapped in the last war.’ My piece for @pbe.co.uk on why the wellbeing v GDP framing has run out of road pbe.co.uk/insights/bey...

In the year to June 2025, 92% of refugee family reunion visas were given to women and children. More than half went to children. Two thirds to people from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Sudan. It helps integration and provides a safe route. Family reunion should be easier, not harder.

"As the basis of their analysis, the authors relied on a 1932 book by French historian"

🌈The lack of accurate data on LGBTQ+ folks is pervasive We're often invisible. Historic exclusion, categorisation challenges, and the potential harm of data collection have all played a part, hindering policy, research, and support services. This report looks to fill in part of that data gap ⬇️

Parkrun is by far the largest charity - by volunteer numbers - in England and Wales. Nations of joggers. register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/sector-da...

"Imagine a football team which measures its success only on the basis of the goals it scores and doesn't count the goals it concedes. That football team could be losing right through without recognising it." www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggo0...

Great new evidence from Rachel Gomez on the longterm impacts of children’s mental health. For the geeks among us…it goes beyond looking at correlations and shows that improvements in mental health as a child lead to better outcomes, even after controlling for a host of other factors.

we invite expressions of indifference

In 2023/24, over thirty thousand children had been left waiting for mental health support for over two years. Important new @pbe.co.uk report from Rachel Gomez and @jonfranklin.bsky.social, showing the huge costs of failing to meet growing need, and the opportunity that comes with acting earlier.

'This display of craft "brings the Palestinians, it almost puts breath into their lives. We’ve existed for a really long time as a people and we had a place and we had a country and a land and that’s all been taken away. But this history shows that not only did we exist, but we still exist".'

"Our data finds the US out of step with the rest of the world in many respects, from the role the state is expected to play in addressing societal issues through to how important these issues are perceived to be." From the new Ipsos Equalities index: www.ipsos.com/sites/defaul...

"School streets, pedestrianised town centres, targeting SUVs for higher parking charges, clean air zones, lower speed limits in residential areas and more severe penalties for breaking them all receive public support, despite placing new limits or charges on car use."

'Where to find a housekeeper with a view to marriage.' 'How to obtain a holiday for a tired mother' @citizensadvice.bsky.social has shared some of the questions they were asked in the 1950s...

'“Our temperatures haven’t gone below 27C inside the house in the past two months,” she said. Her thermometer peaked at 33C this summer. She bought a 25% share of the home with her husband for £121,000. On top of this, she pays £1,264 per month in rent.'

Israel claimed responsibility for killing five Al Jazeera staff in Gaza, including Anas al-Sharif, in a strike on their media tent outside al-Shifa Hospital, bringing the total journalists killed to 237 since the war began. 🔴 Follow our LIVE coverage: aje.io/1490et

'Any meaningful description of which arguments and debates are legitimate in a democracy depends on rejecting arguments rooted in violence, xenophobia and racial prejudice.'

"I hope our research encourages policy officials to be braver and pursue more ambitious climate policies. They have more public support than they may realise." www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-08...

Earlier this year, @jonfranklin.bsky.social and I dug into the data on life satisfaction and housing. We found that private renting - and especially the unaffordability of rents - is making us miserable. Read more below or take a look at our annual wellbeing report: pbe.co.uk/publications...

'The dogs were judged on balance, time on the board and any tricks they performed.'

'Without realizing it, my students had become close readers.' lithub.com/what-happene...

It's official ONS baby name day! Here are the names that are dying out – A mere 9 boys called Norman last year – Rodney = 8 – Nigel = 5 – Giles = 3 And not a single Piers was registered! (If it's 2 or fewer, it's not released for data reasons, so it's possible 2 were) There were 161 called Zorawar

Will the Renters’ Rights Bill end the temporary accommodation crisis? With the cost of renting still soaring across the UK, read my article for @redbrickblog.bsky.social 🏘️ redbrickblog.co.uk/2025/07/rent...

‘Gaza has teetered on the brink of famine for two years, but recent developments have “dramatically worsened” the situation.’ ‘A formal famine declaration, which is rare, requires the kind of data that the lack of access to Gaza, and mobility within, has largely denied.’

On the 'perils of perspective'. A great read.

'If a generation lives paycheck to paycheck, can we even say they’re choosing whether or not to have kids? Yes, they’re making a practical decision. But a free and happy choice about whether they want kids or not? I’m not sure.' www.vogue.co.uk/article/mill...

If you want to know the reality of what a fully deregulated planning system would be like here it is. Which is why we need a strategic land planning system instead of leaving it just to the market. Yes, we need more houses. We also need decent communities. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘On the days he and his brother cannot find food, the children eat a tablespoon of salt and fill their bellies with water.’