Brutalism is nothing new.

Immigration salience has less to do with aggregate Immigration numbers than - visibility of boats & asylum > visas - general vibes about integration - elite cues from media & political discourse in shaping public perceptions This is more true when immigration is falling then when it is rising

🤮

You do everything in your power to get every relevant voice in a story. But as one of my former colleagues told a local official who thought his silence would kill a piece: “I’d like to have you. But the story is being written with or without you.”

This is very much a northern thing. Once went on holiday to Tuscany with a relative who described every delectable confection in the panificio as a 'bun'.

(Wait) Oh yes, wait a minute Mr Binman (Wait) Way..ay..ay..ait, Mr Binman Mr Binman look and see (Oh yeah) Is there an Evri 📦 in the bin for me?

Quite possibly the creepiest Christmas window display I've ever seen: Boyes in Scarborough

It's four days away, that's not much of a prediction.

Printing some photographs to take with me to the meeting with Westminster Council next week to discuss the Adelphi tent encampment. It’s easy to make decisions about people when you don’t know who they are & don’t see them as individuals. Not so easy when faced with the reality & the consequences.

I'm not sure this is the right question. Obviously journalists use AI. How they use it, how they don't, and whether they are open about it matter more. (Chart from Muckrack's State of Journalism report.)

The Rain It Raineth Every Day, 1889, painting by Norman Garstin (1847-1926), Irish artist.

I’m currently outside of the Kennedy Center:

On we go, into the light.

This photo shows students of Sister Corita Kent at Immaculate Heart College working on a Christmas window display for IBM in 1965. After it was installed, several IBM staff told Kent that it was “un-Christmasy.” (1/2)

I wrote about Dickens, decorations and what they mean now. open.substack.com/pub/helenbar...

If you were feeling the need for some Christmas music - I mean free-range, hand-reared Christmas music with all the trimmings - look no further. open.spotify.com/playlist/1A4...

Just 150 words left to write this year, yet here I am.

The Brutalist Wolverhampton School of Art building, home to England’s first National Black Art Convention, has been granted Grade II listed status, saving it from demolition. buff.ly/e6W4PM4

Wyna Liu phoning it in today.

Wait, I'm confused. Does she think JFK is alive?

Trying to finish this sucker today. Every 30 seconds or so there’s some wonderful line like “I always wanted to direct a Hamlet and have all the parts played by ex-livestock auctioneers. I wanted the performance to come in under 14 minutes.”

Thinking about Antony Price's greatest hits and remembered this dress. The MAJESTY of writing a book called "Rock Stars in Their Underpants" and putting a photograph of you wearing an Anthony Price dress on the cover.

It is once again that time of year when every Books Dad gets absolutely bodied by Molesworth.

Leicester square! Christmas in London, friends. It’s just lovely!

Good news at last. www.ctvnews.ca/health/artic...

Honestly, if it wasn't for HeatTech I wouldn't leave the house.

Woah.

After the picturesque, mood was the most important watchword of the Hague School, and this early work (1907) by Piet Mondrian complies with both. Its title, 'Haystacks, Dusk,' suggests a mood, the idyllic mood of the departing day.

Remembering Eddie Kendricks on his birthday. Here's his isolated lead vocal from the Temptations' Just My Imagination - simply stunning (🔈🔉🔊)

Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group does incredible work. The organisation is looking for people interested in becoming volunteer visitors to detainees. More details here, and please share. www.instagram.com/reel/DSXY6wT...

The subeditors’ room at the offices of the Manchester Guardian, 1958, photo by Bert Hardy.

Re-branded "Tracey and Sandra" because the censors thought "Fat Slags" a bit much for early evening viewers (I worked for ITV at the time -- the debate went on for weeks).

Boring in 1969 when Allen Jones did it; still boring now.

The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned to honor Napoleon in 1806. By the time construction had really begun in earnest, Napoleon had suffered a disastrous military defeat and had been forced into exile.

I am enjoying writing this.

Let me introduce to you this year's bauble.

🚨 New post. You may not have heard of Sidney Colwyn Foulkes but he was one of Britain’s most significant regional architects and the designer of some of its finest council housing. Adam Voelcker recounts his life and work. municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2025/12/16/s...

ICYMI: The Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace is launching the South London Writing School, offering a scholarship in tribute to the late co-owner Jonathan Main and monthly masterclass Sundays featuring Diana Evans and Evie Wyld 👇 #BookSky

Overheard train chat between two tough-looking youths: Youth one: “I got déjà vu, man. I saw this dog and felt like I’d seen it before.” Youth two: “That’s not déjà vu. You just saw a dog twice.”

Thinking about one of my favourite scenes in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal ad libs his pecan pie skit. There’s a moment where Meg Ryan’s eyes dart to her right (at Rob Reiner) & he signals for her to keep going. She does. It’s magic. That scene is “it” for me, the purest comedy there is.

At a recent event involving the screening of Clash footage, @gemma-i-obrien.bsky.social turned to me and whispered: "I always find there's never enough Paul Simonon."

"I have no interest in first-person investigation. Personally, I have never found myself an interesting person."

Bob Dylan meets the drum machine circa 1985 (via Mike Campbell’s recent memoir)

"Happy Christmas. Please continue feeding us."

every post is like i bet you didn’t know this absolutely wonderful thing about rob reiner and each one is different

Christmas with Alvar and Aino Aalto, 1930s. I love everything about this, especially the double exposure of the guy pouring the wine.

As some of you will know, I've been working on book about punk - part teenage diary, part serious reflections on the times, from the NF to Peter Sutcliffe. Here's a podcast interview about it, which you may like to listen to / like / share / whatever... CC x open.spotify.com/episode/3LpY...

My entire Insta feed is people cutting up tubes of Mutti.