The best loud, offensive, foul-mouthed drunk I was ever on a train with: Scottish. A ziggurat of empty beer cans by Wigan. The best thing was his geo/racial theory. Scots live in the youngest country on Earth because the tecto-crunch underneath Britain is raising it up. So Scots are 'optimistic'.

I'm on a standing-room only train between Leeds and Sheffield. There's an elderly, slightly drunk man behind me playing 'Long Tall Sally' loudly on his phone, and shouting 'BABY!' and 'HAVE SOME FUN!' occasionally. Other passengers stoic.

Very good, The Mirror.

Why local journalism matters and why you should subscribe to @manchestermill.bsky.social

The untold story that is told constantly and isn’t really true

"Emily Brontë's tremendous story of hate" - unimprovable.

Pentangle released Light Flight (aka the theme from Take Three Girls) on this day in 1970. Here’s a great live performance from the BBC youtu.be/2tyVezuUtCA

the FT had by Saturday night broken two stories showing that the Mandelsons had taken over $100,000 from the world’s most famous paedophile by Monday we were all writing various stories about him leaking sensitive state secrets to Epstein they could have easily pulled this puff piece in time

Feel like I'm going mad.

The Spectator’s 2026 no-CV internship scheme is now open! We run the UK’s only double-blind internship scheme. We don’t ask for a CV, we don’t use your name. We don’t care where (or whether) you went to university, we anonymise your application. spectator.com/article/the-...

'Looking back shows you that freedom, life and democracy are never guaranteed, and that we must fight every day to preserve them.' An English translation of the final, posthumous column by the Spanish journalist and writer Carlos Hernández, who died this week. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Continuing to read a little of this each day and jotting down a horror-adjacent line or two from almost every page. 🧵

Always amazed miners in mid-20th century Wales got any mining done, what with all the posing for photo essays.

“I cry every day,” Judeson said in a shelter 2 days after his release, clutching head in hands and gazed at the ground. “It’s a really bad situation right now.” ICE sweeps people off the streets of Minneapolis, flies them to El Paso, then they're on their own. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/u...

My all-time favourite house is for sale. Absolutely sickening. themodernhouse.com/sales-list/s...

Abandoned Soviet radio telescope facility in Armenia 🇦🇲

The alt-text 👌

The college's 'nothing to see here' response to this story is laughable. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...

Hey, BBC - me, you and Raymond Williams are gonna have to have a chat about the meaning of the word “culture”

It is worth noting the Post slashed the bulk of its arts coverage, including most of the critics, ending a great tradition in journalism.

I'm sorry, the Washington Post hopes *I* will reconsider the value of their journalists?

The most Brighton news headline ever.

See a Rare Short Film Inspired by the Beatles' 'Penny Lane'

We're looking to capture experiences of what it means to be queer in the UK today! To do that we're collecting day diaries for 12th February. It doesn't matter what you get up to, or how you record it, we'd love to have it!🧵 (1/4) #LGBTplusHM #lgbthm26

‘Star of Stage and Screen’ - #RSThomas (Poetry Wales 12.1, 1976) #Bardd #Barddoniaeth #Cerdd #Poet #Poetry #Poem

Just re-read this. Every paragraph is extraordinary. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/m...

Pro tip: when writing headlines, pick a lane.

Gordon gets to throw one last stapler

If you're looking for a reason to delay starting work, there's a new online directory of Finnish architecture here: www.finnisharchitecture.fi

I love these Chris Calkins photos of the late, great Elaine Stritch with Bebe Neuwirth. @bebeneuwirth.bsky.social

Much as I admire and indeed love Private Eye, I am inclined to think that it being named in the Epstein Files is not the most significant element of this extraordinary letter.

Nice to be reminded that it's almost a year to the day since Peter Mandelson texted me to tell me to "stop bothering" him with "ridiculous nonsense"

Blood oranges FOUND in SE London:

Boring question, sorry. Has anyone seen Sicilian blood oranges for sale in London? Other than those anaemic 'blush' oranges. It's blood orange season yet they seem to have vanished.

The photo is alarming, but the FT's caption is 👌

HYDRA AT A JOB INTERVIEWE "One of my special skilles ys wearinge manye hattes."

Back Square Street, Ramsbottom, painting by Vera Lowe (1917-98).

Nick Lowe’s Lately I’ve Let Things Side is not only a classic but, I think, feels like a song that could only have been written by an over-50. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDTV...

Words for then, words for now. How he continues to guide us. Happy Birthday, Derek Jarman. The last day of the long drag of January, now time for more light:

This broken lock (I think it's a lock) looked so traumatised I could do nothing but sympathise, because same. #pareidolia #dailypareidolia

OK, but what if you're still using 'cringe' as an adjective?

‘The spaces between the letters are as standard, leading to an ugly gap between the “T” and the “h” of “The”, which any professional should have adjusted.’ Zoe Guttenplan analyses the new writing on the White House walls

My brief gig as a kiss-o-gram in the 90s paid more than this.

That's quite something for someone who toured in apartheid South Africa

Anyway, big day today.

Oh no. www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/m...

Things really going well at the Kennedy Center. www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...

For Scale - by far the best design newsletter around - has just launched a paid prize for design criticism. www.instagram.com/p/DTVBqSHDFE...