Fifty Shades of Farage?! C’mon @mrjamesob.bsky.social, some of us are trying to quietly edit their pieces about Roman military strategy when all of a sudden I am doubled back crying with laughter. I also blame Keith for his liberal use of ‘Je t’aime…’ youtu.be/Z-Lf-y2gDl8?...

As much as I love Interstellar for Zimmer’s transcendent score and Nolan’s existential gravitas, I am rather perturbed by quite how popular the film is amongst self-serious pseudo-intellectuals. Can I truly allow myself to enjoy Chris Williamson’s favourite film? youtu.be/Eu1kHIztT24

Is it me or do things sound a bit fractious between Lando and Will Joseph? #F1 #QatarGP

Subtly enjoyed the way my prejudices against both the sprint and the Lusail circuit were fully vindicated. #F1 #QatarGP

What extraordinary show. All the usual realism and gravitas from the BBC Natural History Unit, but with unquestionably the greatest VFX creatures ever created. I think that you could take a screenshot at random and most people would believe that they are real animals tv.apple.com/gb/show/preh...

“What’s the most adorable way to troll flat-earthers…?” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As ever, my thanks to Bernie Collins for her truly superb insight throughout the weekend on @skyf1.bsky.social Bernie was a softly-spoken, detail-oriented lifeline amid the headache-inducing abyss of vacuous stupidity that is the #VegasGP #F1

Almost completely empty grandstands…   …welcome to the VIP-Tacky-Corporate-Vacuous-Celebrity-Vulgar-Bullshit-Influencer Grand Prix liiiiiive from my bespokely tailored vision of hell: Las fucking Vegas   #F1

Down with faux-Tolkienism and rampant autocracy. Predictably well-articulated by the face of thoughtful soft-right institutionalism. Chapeau, Rory 👏

Ollie Bearman is 💥 #F1

Political demolition

“She gave me a kiss and said “Oh, I’m glad you got that out of your system”…” My utter thanks to Neil Kinnock and @lewisgoodall.com for genuinely one of the most absorbingly beautiful podcasts I’ve ever listened to pca.st/episode/81a3...

Now for the litmus test: just how much hate will MAGA direct towards the woman who beat their beloved “peace president” to the NPP? Such peace-loving people…

The salve of Heseltinian clarity: the ultimate Jenrick antidote…

Ideological chameleons with a taste for power have often proven the most corrosive figures in politics. In that vein, former Cameronite and erstwhile Remainer Robert Jenrick strikes me as the most dangerous man in British politics.

Every time this remarkable gentleman writes or says anything, I feel my populist-addled sanity click back into place. A hero and a titan.

Absolutely not. Cameron has always been the yardstick for just how far the Tories have fallen and of how inarticulate, ineffective and inelegant British politics has become as a whole.

A rare sighting of the critically endangered Torius cognizantus There is just a few breeding pairs left in the wild due to feral Brexitus deludens overpopulation

It appears that #F1 is now so populist that the feed is literally prioritising close-ups of the driver’s girlfriends over showing the actual racing. Completely unacceptable TV direction by FOM. youtu.be/GeDPIKZq0eg?...

I differ from @owenjones.bsky.social politically, but I think it’s pretty telling that only Chris Bryant had the intellectual self-confidence to discuss Gaza in anything than polyfiller platitudes. Jones’ expulsion speaks of a govt brittle to all but total acquiescence youtu.be/RLApab1L1-E?...

Verstappen’s lines, commitment and track usage are unsurprisingly impeccable. Truly indistinguishable from a GT3 professional or a Nordschleife stalwart. youtu.be/9GaMD3FhTIQ?...

Au revoir, adieu et merci pour les souvenirs, le Phénix 👏

He is a Frankenstein of human awfulness to such an extent that it requires sustained, conscious effort to remind oneself that he is an actual real person.

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Inasmuch as I detest his presence, there is something superbly British about taking the tangerine chimp and presenting him with a kindly old man who likes gardening and feeding him chicken ballotine as Ave Maria plays mellifluously in the background. Civility in the populist age.

To those mythologising Charlie Kirk as a democratic fellow-traveler and purveyor of vanilla, mainstream conservatism (those like Boris Johnson no less), may I present the views of Charlie Kirk:

Charlie Kirk’s death is an appalling event. Precisely because it is so appalling, it is staggering to see senior politicians and media figures commenting at a time when we don’t have firm evidence about motive or the murderer.

Papaya rules #F1 #ItalianGP #RaceFans

Spectacular scenes ❤️ #F1 #ItalianGP #ScuderiaFerrari

KEEP. THAT. LIVERY. 🤩

My hatred for this is so vast and intricate it could be mapped, catalogued, and taught as a postgraduate course. #F1

Farage’s pantomime nationalism is venality in a blazer: all froth, no substance. To believe deportation is a unilateral act is to think diplomacy is a pub eviction—shout, shove, and problem solved.

Goodness, a YouTube channel producing better quality analysis than the actual FIA stewards… youtu.be/9M7ULjxt-20?...

This is the point where I smugly point out that I’ve been quietly raving about Isack Hadjar ever since his exceptional F3 season in 2022. He now just needs to try not to take any phone calls from messers Mekies and Marko… #F1

The fact De Meo was so interested in F1, but didn’t have the first clue of how to run an F1 team, was arguably one of the main problems for Alpine. A more traditional CEO relationship might do the team some good.

It’s been three months, and I still cannot comprehend the complete and utter genius of this move. Genuinely one of the most impressive things I’ve seen anyone do with a racing car. When he keeps his petulance in check, Verstappen is a total freak. #F1

So the convicted sex trafficker, who is looking for the corrupt President’s pardon and who has been transferred to a minimum security prison, says the corrupt President is innocent in an interview with the corrupt President’s crooked lawyer. Is it possible to imagine a less credible testimony?

Could this in fact be the most pathetic spectacle in the history of representative government?

A Testudo of the Willing…

I only watch Fox. Can someone tell me about all the serious consequences Putin is facing for not ending the war? I missed them.

If you missed @therestpolitics.bsky.social LIVE on the Alaska Trump Putin summit catch up here alastaircampbell.org/2025/08/438-...

A fascinating line from Putin: faux flattery/inverted dig subtle enough for Trump not to notice whilst also allowing Putin to present himself as a more passive non-aggressive actor. Putin is actively trying to seed the idea that the Ukrainian invasion is a diffuse, structural geopolitical conflict.