If I were viewing the Odyssey in the cinema, and trying to work out at what point to nip out for a strategic loo break, I would stand up about 90 seconds after Circe says her name. That’s your top tip for the day.

Are they going to keep the signs up anyway? Because local kids have been writing cute 'The GOAT!' messages on them, and it's quite lovely. southwarknews.co.uk/news/communi...

Every time I read a story about gynecology it's always something like "doctors discovered women could experience pain in 1989 but decided not to act on this knowledge for 20 years"

This is the kind of fearmongering that gets pushed at new and expecting mums online. This is advertising a £70 cooling pad from what’s almost certainly a scam website.

Why it matters that @andyburnham.bsky.social is an English Lit graduate. Thoughtful piece from @tanjilrashid.bsky.social magazine.newstatesman.com/2026/07/01/a...

This is a very good piece

Do we know who we are? Ian McKellen reads James Graham's love letter to England www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

‘Hello, I’d like to talk about neighbourhood governance.’ ‘Great, are those NHS neighbourhoods, police neighbourhoods, local government neighbourhoods or Pride in Place neighbourhoods?’

Lots to think about here. First I'll admit it's always a relief with these articles to get to the bottom without finding a quote from someone at UCL or wherever.

The basic problem with a lot of MPs' video clips is that they're mimicking news pieces-to-camera. Start walking, say stats. One reason the better ones work, & why Mamdani's are brilliant, is that they don't do that. They have a visual conceit or a gag or a twist. (Just like the best news clips.)

The great thing about these room thermometers they’ve made it feel essential for new parents to buy is that the colour scheme really helps you feel more calm and able to prevent your newborn from dying of overheating. So empowering. So non-threatening. 😶

Drafting a polite letter to the storm inviting it over to South East London, where it’s welcome to deposit some rain also.

You can prepare all you like for the heatwave, but some members of the household will still be completely furious about it.

Always grateful for proper research to confirm a hunch but you would expect that if you think less you would get worse at thinking

The first question school children asked Martin Lewis at the National Money Assembly was ‘does money make you happy’. The assembly was filmed at St Charles 6th form college London and live streamed to over 300 schools and sixth forms by @youngenterprise.bsky.social

Got to love British election declarations. A Prime Minister-in-waiting launching his bid for the leadership of the country from between a man with a bin on his head and a man in a fox costume.

Nevermind the Germans having a word for everything. This is lovely.

Tumblr's fine though?

A policy billed as banning social media for under-16s in practice means requiring ID for all over-16s to use social media.

Parents: is YOUR child staying up late at night arguing about the costs of HS2?

If you're gonna pick a group to compensate for their treatment by government why not pick one that did acrually face financial disadvantage without notice, like Plan 2 graduates? As opposed to "some people who had many years' notice but didn't open some letters"

Absolutely crucial piece of research on misinformation in local news on Facebook, X and Nextdoor by @smfthinktank.bsky.social Full report is here (www.smf.co.uk/publications...) but these are some key findings:

This is exactly it. The work is the point.

rip Anthony Stewart Head 😭😭

The comms around the Obama Presidential Center have been a masterclass in centreing the audience as the hero. It's. So. Well. Done.

"True fulfillment is not achieved by eliminating weakness, but through harmonious growth. It is found where freedom and responsibility are intertwined with mutual care and true solidarity, and where progress is measured by the dignity of each person and the good of all peoples."

Tolkien would be absolutely thrilled about this lol

If you were to, hypothetically, ask a woman in the 7th month of pregnancy about the weather she would like to be experiencing... It. Would. Not. Be. This.

👮 "The beagle we spent thousands of pounds training is alerting! What could it be? Drugs? Exotic pets? Weapons?" 🐶 "Illegal sammies."

I think Labour thinking here has gone backwards since 2015. The Ed M ‘responsible capitalism’ agenda was a genuinely interesting engagement with the varieties of capitalism literature and how to change institutions to get different outcomes. The agenda since 2024 has been “make companies do things”.

Back pain management advice in pregnancy is insane. "Reduce sitting or standing" - Those are the main options. "Keep up exercise" - I just had to crawl up the stairs. "Maintain a healthy weight" - This child's weight will triple. "It will probs go away when you give birth" - That's 3 months away.

Astonishing, given the ward’s makeup. Given that (and appreciate they’ve only announced 8 of 52 councillors), huge Green majority in Lewisham absolutely nailed on by my reckoning.

Nice voting system you've got there. Definitely able to cope with electoral landscape. No issues whatsoever

So it happened. 40% of the vote to Labour's 35%. Blimey.

In much-more-wholesome-news-than-the-news, a gleeful small boy just yelled “GOOD MORNING BUS DRIVER” at the top of his delighted lungs as he boarded the 54. Ah to have that verve for the simple things in life.

One thing I do think the U.K. inclusive does well wrt elections is the widespread access to polling locations. they’re everywhere. they’ll turn anything into a polling station. I’ve never had to go further than my neighbourhood

This quote really struck a chord: “Nothing good can happen democratically if people have nothing to leave their homes for, and no places to meet when they do.”

Finding it quite difficult to stop myself solely buying baby clothes based on what I find the most inexplicable. Dinosaurs and ballet dancers on babygrows have nothing on A SCHOOL FOR EELS, A STARWARS FEVER DREAM, or DOGS IN THE NAVY - let alone the feral need to dress your 2mo as a highland cow.

Not a single person standing for election in my ward lives in my ward.

In addition, the “shit shit, gonna make the OBR light go green: cur welfare!” stuff hurts, not helps, working out how to reform “UK spends roughly the same as it did in 2008 to get more destitution”/“rising number of Neets”.

Did you guys know “grandma hobbies” like knitting, quilting, embroidery, big cooking projects, etc get more popular during times of strife? We all just try to focus on making a small beautiful thing because it’s the only power we have, and that’s sadly lovely. Anyway I’m making all day tomato sauce.

"it's giving war crime" in a southern accent is just going to play on loop in my head the rest of the day

Sound thesis advice And ‘use’ is always better than ‘utilise’ 😏 Though ‘fatuous numbskull’ has its uses too

One of the best jobs in UK social science, research & policy.

Someone needs to explain why rules of origin and chemicals regulation are easier to understand than the baby seat/pram market. Not only that, someone should be held accountable. There should be someone I can invoice for hours spent trying to make an appropriate choice in this capitalist labyrinth.

Warm. Funny. Space-y. Top film for this moment.

It's worse than that. It's because they try to do too much in the immediate term for their constituents that they then pursue bad policies, like opposing development, freezing prices, playing along to fear of change and outsiders

A Bank Holiday worth aspiring to:

"when a local café becomes too expensive to visit, when travel costs make it harder to see friends, when long hours leave little time for community.." The Belonging Barometer does a good job of centering the erosion of the ordinary things that make life worthwhile belongingforum.org/wp-content/u...