An “inkvent” calendar! Best advent calendar idea ever.

𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘀. Not enough people, she says 🙄 Just my style 🤷‍♂️ My wife & I had the joyful privilege of spending 7 days in & around Copenhagen. Here are my Copenhagen Visual Highlights in 30 photos. What do you think? #Photography #TravelPhotography #Copenhagen #Denmark

The Nerve, from the OG team behind The Observer New Review, is already shaping up into something brilliant. And, unusual for a newsletter format, so creatively designed.

GRASS ROOTS AGITATION IS THE ONLY HOPE

Nails it

Despite my frustration with the BBC, it’s great to see so many voices celebrating all that’s good about it. I loved this new radio documentary about the politics of collage. Also in the series, an episode devoted to my childhood literary heroine Joan Lingard. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I present the UK’s one and only TV show about books. We feature readers & writers from across Scotland, around the UK and all over the world. It’s commissioned by BBC Scotland & made by IWC. Public broadcasting is a shared space for sharing stories & building bridges. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Lost #AlphabetChallenge #WeekTforTelevision

When I grow up I want to be Bridget Riley (94). Her lunch with the FT is delicious in all ways.

How do they consistently manage to pick the stupidest fucking option that is available to them, every single fucking time?

Wow. The new mayor of NYC is in fact Mira Nair’s son. As in the director of the incredible Salaam Bombay. I did not know this.

And the prize for the first Xmas tree sighting of 2025 goes to… the Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury.

Well, this is bloody depressing. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Fantastic music, and fantastic writing about music. Check out the latest offering from The Glasgow School series @monorailmusic.bsky.social

Reasons to be cheerful - Snoopy comes to Fleet Street this Xmas. secretldn.com/snoopy-art-t...

In the course of my job, I must have read (ok, skimmed) about 8,543 self help books. I’ve heard all the life hacks. And I can confidently say that buying a soup maker is a way more reliable recipe for happiness than any of them. #yourewelcome #soupology

Brilliant explanation from @sathnam.bsky.social about the many varieties of aunties (and uncles) that exist if your family hails from the subcontinent. I may have to print and hand out the next time anyone asks “wait, how is she related to you again?”

What’s it like in your head?

Fab.

Can’t beat a wee burst of brutalist autumn.

Chilling. “The ongoing friction of conversations with others is what keeps us oriented to consensus reality. ChatGPT is not a human. It is not a friend. A conversation with it is not a conversation at all, but a feedback loop in which much of what we say is cheerfully reinforced.”

The island of Gigha, looking towards Jura. #alphabetchallenge #weekrforrock #eastcoastkin #scotland

fucking hell, that's it, nothing more, fucking hell, what a disgrace

Not something I buy often but whaaat? #talkingmince

Policymakers take note - AI increases social isolation, through decimation of jobs and increased screen time over human interactions.

Regent’s Park really is showing off this autumn #AlphabetChallenge #WeekQforQuiet #photography #EastCoastKin

Stellar Patti Smith show in London last night celebrating the 50th anniversary of Horses. Slightly random appearance by Johnny Depp for the encore. Yes they are longstanding pals but not sure he was there for his guitar chops.

This madness must be stopped.

Remembering Jacques Tati on his birthday 🎂 📷 Sam Lévin "He sees problems where there are none, and finds them." - Jean-Luc Godard

Only just caught up with Peter Ross’s beautiful review. Going by last night’s London gig, 100% true: “His concerts have become acts of thanksgiving for his life and work. Now, as he plays these songs for the last few times, that feeling is ever deeper. People had come to let him know he is loved.”

Simply thrilling evening.

Pretty incredible Sigur Ros gig last night at Royal Albert Hall. I’ve seen them live five times now in wildly different venues. The guy beside us had tears streaming the whole time. For sure he wasn’t the only one. youtu.be/LuEI1m65dZI

What are you up to today❓Why not book for the St Andrew’s Book Festival, London Nov 27–30! Hear from @nicolasturgeon.bsky.social @valmcdermid.bsky.social @irvinewelsh.bsky.social Justin Currie of @delamitri.bsky.social Sally Magnusson. 🌟 🎟️ Get tickets now: standrewsbookfestival.org/events

Sliver of silvery moon over Gigha at sunset. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekNforNights #scotland

So, now we have the data to prove Reform is getting undue prominence in news coverage. Great research from my old journalism school at Cardiff University. 22.7% of TV bulletins referenced Reform whereas only 12.6% featured the Liberal Democrats www.enhancingimpartiality.com/blog/party-p...

It’s gone so quickly from ‘boat people’ to all immigrants. So quickly from ‘I don’t mind if they come here legally and pay taxes’ to ‘actually it’s anyone foreign’. We are living in the ‘first they came for’ poem. All to give the population a scapegoat so the super rich can hoard yet more wealth.

This time of year, with the first bursts of autumn gold, always provokes melancholy. It was a cruelly exquisite autumn day that I lost my beloved dad. #WeekMForMemories #AlphabetChallenge #autumn

Our collaborator, our friend and source of light, Keith McIvor / JD Twitch has left the building. We loved his ears and he loved ours back Rest In Power

Nails it. I’ve never in my life contemplated ditching the TV licence but I’m pretty close to it now.

He's a journalist like I'm a part-time lettuce farmer from Utrecht called Volslagen Onzin

There are glorious signs of autumn though

I wasn’t expecting to see so many roses still blooming in Regent’s Park.

Not that I begrudge Tate going for the gimmicky. Membership is one of the best value things about living in London. £7 a month gets you unlimited entry to all exhibitions without pre-booking, access to two members lounges, members-only hours and 10% off in the shop. Plus an excellent print magazine.

Laura Cumming nails it as always, amidst a sea of idiotically gushy reviews. observer.co.uk/culture/art/...

Opinium asked 500 ethnic minority respondents about racism and flags for ITV Good Morning Britain www.opinium.com/resource-cen...

“Not in front of ME, please!” a French woman exclaimed to me at the super-mobbed, very dark Picasso opening day at the Tate yesterday. Maybe I will adopt this tactic myself from now on.

Such an incredible exhibition - Do Ho Suh, South Korean artist, at Tate Modern. Explores the psychology of home in wildly experimental, beautiful ways. Go!

I’m crossing London on the overground and there’s a group of students next to me who have literally just discovered the word literally. #literally