Lion & Unicorn
@lionunicorn.bsky.social
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Culture | History | Politics thelionandunicorn.com
"I understand that Hitler regards the Lambeth Walk as too democratic a dance for Germany," said Clement Attlee. "All they can do there is the goose step."
thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/01/t...
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Top 10: British Dance Bands
ALWYN TURNER shares some of the best of interwar British dance music, from The Teddy Bearsâ Picnic to My Girlâs Pussy.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/01/top-10-british-dance-bands/
9 minutes ago
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"I stroke it every chance I get..." Harry Roy's "My Girl's Pussy" (1931) and other classics by British Dance Bands.
thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/01/t...
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Top 10: British Dance Bands
ALWYN TURNER shares some of the best of interwar British dance music, from The Teddy Bearsâ Picnic to My Girlâs Pussy.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/01/top-10-british-dance-bands/
1 day ago
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"I didnât march halfway across the world to put Jerry back in his box for jumped-up spivs to end up running the show at home." The first episode of Endeavour was broadcast 2 January 2012.
thelionandunicorn.com/2023/01/22/e...
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History cops: Endeavour
So what do we learn of British history from watching the period cop show Endeavour? ALWYN TURNER is our guide.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2023/01/22/endeavouring-to-learn/
1 day ago
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A happy 65th birthday to film director Todd Haynes, who made glam-rock drama Velvet Goldmine.
thelionandunicorn.com/2024/04/29/f...
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Final Cut: Velvet Goldmine (1998)
SIMON MATTHEWS re-watches a glam-rock revival movie.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2024/04/29/final-cut-velvet-goldmine-1998/
1 day ago
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"âJack Hylton lived like Nero,â noted his friend, comedian Arthur Askey, âand was, naturally, a good socialist!â"
@alwynturner.bsky.social
celebrates the best of interwar British dance bands.
thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/01/t...
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Top 10: British Dance Bands
ALWYN TURNER shares some of the best of interwar British dance music, from The Teddy Bearsâ Picnic to My Girlâs Pussy.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/01/top-10-british-dance-bands/
2 days ago
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COMING SOON from Lion & Unicorn...
3 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Sam
3 days ago
Goodbye 2025! No vintage year, but kind to L&U. Thanks to
@lordbonkers.bsky.social
, Simon Matthews, Dan Atkinson,
@finlay24.bsky.social
,
@hellothisisivan.bsky.social
,
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
,
@paulsaffer.bsky.social
,
@alantyler.bsky.social
&
@alwynturner.bsky.social
. Splendid chap, all of them.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Sam
4 days ago
2025 hasn't just been L&U's 10th anniversary year, it's also been our most successful, with a record readership and four wonderful new contributors. Below I pick my Top Ten posts of 2025, in calendar order. But first, the story of how we got here.đ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/08/02/n...
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Now we are ten
Weâre celebrating the tenth anniversary of Lion & Unicorn. Come and join usâŠ
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/08/02/now-we-are-10/
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"There was something terribly trivial about Y2K. The idea that humanity could destroy itself because it used six, not eight, digits for the date was culturally implausible, a far cry from the Book of Revelation" Our
@alwynturner.bsky.social
back in the NSđ
www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
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The dead dream of the millennium
Our century started as it meant to go on: with broken promises
https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/12/the-dead-dream-of-the-millennium
4 days ago
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"John Curtice told Tories that the Lib Dems would âalmost undoubtedlyâ win more seats than them at the next election. If any party is going to be killed in the near future it is the Conservatives, though the verdict will probably be suicide."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/1...
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10 years in the life of the LibDems
JONATHAN CALDER on the fall and rise of the Liberal Democrats over the last decade.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/10-years-in-the-life-of-the-libdems/
4 days ago
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"Mr Prout could never tell when the soft and smiling Stalky was laughing at him." Today we shall be reading Rudyard Kipling, born 160 years ago, on 30 December 1865.
thelionandunicorn.com/2018/11/04/i...
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Imperial fiction: Stalky & Co.
ALWYN TURNER on Kiplingâs classic tales of schoolboys and soldiers.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2018/11/04/imperial-fiction-stalky-co/
4 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Jonathan Calder
5 days ago
I've written another post for Lion & Unicorn. To celebrate its 10th year, the blog asked me to write about what the last decade has been like for the Liberal Democrats.
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For Lion & Unicorn: 10 years in the life of the Lib Dems
I've written another post for Lion & Unicorn . To celebrate its 10th year, the blog asked me to write about what the last decade has been li...
https://liberalengland.blogspot.com/2025/12/for-lion-unicorn-10-years-in-life-of.html
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Lion & Unicorn
"âI think Iâve just killed the Liberal Democrats,â William Hague told his wife Ffion, after the Conservatives and Lib Dems reached their coalition agreement in June 2010."
@lordbonkers.bsky.social
on the fall and rise of the Lib Dems.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/1...
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10 years in the life of the LibDems
JONATHAN CALDER on the fall and rise of the Liberal Democrats over the last decade.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/10-years-in-the-life-of-the-libdems/
5 days ago
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Lion & Unicorn
"The boiling fat warmth of Parkerâs chip shop spilled into the streets. Glowing shop-front tellies were tuned to the wrestling, and outside the Salford Hippodrome a sign announced, âStrip, strip, hooray â weâve nothing on tonightâ" From
@finlay24.bsky.social
đ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...
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Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street
FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighboursâŠ
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/last-night-on-youtube-coronation-street/
8 days ago
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Lion & Unicorn
"1965 was the peak year of the Daleks: they appeared in a record fourteen episodes of Doctor Who that year, as well as in the cinema, on stage, in comics and in two books."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
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The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
7 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Sam
5 days ago
"Their opposition to the âFamily Farm Taxâ appears in practice to mean opposition to any inheritance tax on land, and the Lib Dems have also taken the part of parents who pay for private education & owners of ÂŁ2m houses"
@lordbonkers.bsky.social
on the Lib Dems
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/1...
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10 years in the life of the LibDems
JONATHAN CALDER on the fall and rise of the Liberal Democrats over the last decade.
http://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/10-years-in-the-life-of-the-libdems/
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Happy birthday to Mike "Porky" Parry, "a licensed buffoon whose tongue and brain were in a perpetual state of civil war. âI think cathedrals are cathedrals,â heâd declare, or heâd make reference to âBordeaux â as in the tapestryâ."
thelionandunicorn.com/2024/07/14/c...
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âCathedrals are cathedralsâ: the first 25 years of Talk Sport
From Caesar the Geezer to Covid, via the Two Mikes and the mighty H&J, ALWYN TURNER celebrates TalkSport radio.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2024/07/14/cathedrals-are-cathedrals-the-first-25-years-of-talk-sport/
5 days ago
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"âI think Iâve just killed the Liberal Democrats,â William Hague told his wife Ffion, after the Conservatives and Lib Dems reached their coalition agreement in June 2010."
@lordbonkers.bsky.social
on the fall and rise of the Lib Dems.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/1...
loading . . .
10 years in the life of the LibDems
JONATHAN CALDER on the fall and rise of the Liberal Democrats over the last decade.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/29/10-years-in-the-life-of-the-libdems/
5 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Ray Newman
6 days ago
Top tip: remember that celebrities are also human beings, with all the expected flaws; and that you don't actually know them. You can like the odd thing they did without needing to apologise for the bad things they've said or done. You also don't need to issue a statement upon their death.
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Jonathan Calder
6 days ago
Share a great female villain đŹ
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"Detective Sergeant Pierce has a Victorian-type dislike for drug dealers, and taps up rock musician Charley Small, who fingers an Indian guru, travelling to and from the Battersea Heliport as the likely source." It's the death of the Swinging 60s.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/f...
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Final cut: The Strange Affair (1968)
SIMON MATTHEWS watches the evaporation of optimism in the Swinging Sixties.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/final-cut-the-strange-affair-1968/
10 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"If I ever make a Christmas album, shoot me," said Eliza Carthy in 2021, just two years before she released the album "Glad Christmas Comes".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
10 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"If the Daleks are derived from the Nazis, then Mavic Chen is clearly modelled on Stalin, his first appearance including a reference to a Non-Aggression Pact, which can hardly fail to bring to mind the MolotovâRibbentrop Pact" From
@alwynturner.bsky.social
đ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
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The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
http://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
8 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"If you go down to the Street today, youâre sure of a big surprise..."
@finlay24.bsky.social
on Coronation Street.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...
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Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street
FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighboursâŠ
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/last-night-on-youtube-coronation-street/
8 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"The Bloomsbury highbrow, with his mechanical snigger, is as out of date as the cavalry colonel. A modern nation cannot afford either of them. Patriotism & intelligence will have to come together again" â Orwell
@alantyler.bsky.social
on The Lion & the Unicornđ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/17/o...
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Orwell belongs to us!
ALAN TYLER on The Lion & The Unicorn, Big Brother and Auntie.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/17/orwell-belongs-to-us/
16 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"Detective Sergeant Pierce has a Victorian-type dislike for drug dealers, and taps up rock musician Charley Small, who fingers an Indian guru, travelling to and from the Battersea Heliport as the likely source." It's the death of the Swinging 60s.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/f...
loading . . .
Final cut: The Strange Affair (1968)
SIMON MATTHEWS watches the evaporation of optimism in the Swinging Sixties.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/final-cut-the-strange-affair-1968/
13 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"Superb, dark & melancholic... a complete piece, sequenced without gaps and plays like a contemporary folk/prog epic... Best of all is the brooding âDark Decemberâ which simply ascends with the advent of the horn solo"
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
on The Unthanksđ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
11 days ago
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"1965 was the peak year of the Daleks: they appeared in a record fourteen episodes of Doctor Who that year, as well as in the cinema, on stage, in comics and in two books."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
loading . . .
The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
7 days ago
0
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"The boiling fat warmth of Parkerâs chip shop spilled into the streets. Glowing shop-front tellies were tuned to the wrestling, and outside the Salford Hippodrome a sign announced, âStrip, strip, hooray â weâve nothing on tonightâ" From
@finlay24.bsky.social
đ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...
loading . . .
Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street
FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighboursâŠ
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/last-night-on-youtube-coronation-street/
8 days ago
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"If the Daleks are derived from the Nazis, then Mavic Chen is clearly modelled on Stalin, his first appearance including a reference to a Non-Aggression Pact, which can hardly fail to bring to mind the MolotovâRibbentrop Pact" From
@alwynturner.bsky.social
đ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
loading . . .
The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
http://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
8 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Finlay McLaren
8 days ago
Here's me on Coronation Street and the disappearance of working class Britain from TV
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"âIf I was a producer on a show like that,â Terry Nation reflected later, âI donât think I would ever commit myself to a three-month Dalek story without a lot of other stuff in it as well.â" Our
@alwynturner.bsky.social
's Christmas present for Dalek fansđ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
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The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
http://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
9 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
Sam
8 days ago
"Its drama came from small domestic tensions & minor community frictions. A love triangle between a schoolteacher, a shop assistant & a factory owner. Three old dears supping milk stout. A widow crying over an old pair of glasses"
@finlay24.bsky.social
on Corrie
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...
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Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street
FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighboursâŠ
http://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/last-night-on-youtube-coronation-street/
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"If you go down to the Street today, youâre sure of a big surprise..."
@finlay24.bsky.social
on Coronation Street.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/l...
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Last night on YouTube: Coronation Street
FINLAY McLAREN meets the neighboursâŠ
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/26/last-night-on-youtube-coronation-street/
8 days ago
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"Incidentally a happy Christmas to all of you at home."
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
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The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
9 days ago
0
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2
"âIf I was a producer on a show like that,â Terry Nation reflected later, âI donât think I would ever commit myself to a three-month Dalek story without a lot of other stuff in it as well.â" Our
@alwynturner.bsky.social
's Christmas present for Dalek fansđ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/t...
loading . . .
The Daleksâ Master Plan
ALWYN TURNER hides behind the sofa as the Daleks unveil their Master Plan.
http://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/25/the-daleks-master-plan/
9 days ago
0
2
2
"If I ever make a Christmas album, shoot me," said Eliza Carthy in 2021, just two years before she released the album "Glad Christmas Comes".
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
10 days ago
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2
4
"Detective Sergeant Pierce has a Victorian-type dislike for drug dealers, and taps up rock musician Charley Small, who fingers an Indian guru, travelling to and from the Battersea Heliport as the likely source." It's the death of the Swinging 60s.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/f...
loading . . .
Final cut: The Strange Affair (1968)
SIMON MATTHEWS watches the evaporation of optimism in the Swinging Sixties.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/final-cut-the-strange-affair-1968/
10 days ago
0
3
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"Superb, dark & melancholic... a complete piece, sequenced without gaps and plays like a contemporary folk/prog epic... Best of all is the brooding âDark Decemberâ which simply ascends with the advent of the horn solo"
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
on The Unthanksđ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
loading . . .
Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
11 days ago
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The Lion & Unicorn editorial board has convened to decide this year's festive Dalek special...
11 days ago
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Saxophonist Ronnie Scott died 23 December 1996. He's included in
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
's guide to the golden age of British jazz.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/05/17/c...
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Top 10: The golden age of British jazz
Ronnie Scott, Stan Tracey, Phil Collins⊠BEN FINLAY introduces the ten best British jazz albums of the 1960s and 70s.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/05/17/couriers-of-harmony-britains-best-jazz-albums/
11 days ago
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"Notable is âI Want a Hippopotamus for Christmasâ written by John Rox in 1953, a protest song commenting on the commercialism of Christmas & the disregard for the health of the natural world to feed our greed"
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
's favourite festive folkđ
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
12 days ago
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Steeleye Span's "Gaudete" is one of only two top-twenty British hits to be sung fully in Latin...
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
12 days ago
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Michael York, Susan George and Barry Fantoni in "The Strange Affair" - just as the optimism of the 1960s began to evaporate.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/f...
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Final cut: The Strange Affair (1968)
SIMON MATTHEWS watches the evaporation of optimism in the Swinging Sixties.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/final-cut-the-strange-affair-1968/
12 days ago
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Ring Out Solstice Bells! (and other Yuletide classics).
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
13 days ago
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0
"Detective Sergeant Pierce has a Victorian-type dislike for drug dealers, and taps up rock musician Charley Small, who fingers an Indian guru, travelling to and from the Battersea Heliport as the likely source." It's the death of the Swinging 60s.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/f...
loading . . .
Final cut: The Strange Affair (1968)
SIMON MATTHEWS watches the evaporation of optimism in the Swinging Sixties.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/21/final-cut-the-strange-affair-1968/
13 days ago
0
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"Notable is âI Want a Hippopotamus for Christmasâ, a protest song commenting on the commercialism of Christmas and the disregard for the health of the natural world to feed our greed." Some festive listening, selected by
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
14 days ago
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"Notable is âI Want a Hippopotamus for Christmasâ, a protest song commenting on the commercialism of Christmas and the disregard for the health of the natural world to feed our greed." Some festive listening, selected by
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
loading . . .
Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
14 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"The intellectuals who have tried to break down the insularity of the English have generally done more harm than good..."
@alantyler.bsky.social
on George Orwell.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/17/o...
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Orwell belongs to us
ALAN TYLER on The Lion & The Unicorn, Big Brother and Auntie.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/17/orwell-belongs-to-us/
17 days ago
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reposted by
Lion & Unicorn
"The creeping cold has fingers That caress without permission And mystic crystal snowdrops Only aggravate the condition." Some festive listening as recommended by
@benfinlay74.bsky.social
.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/t...
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Top 10: Yuletide
BEN FINLAY has some music to set the festive mood.
https://thelionandunicorn.com/2025/12/13/top-10-yuletide/
20 days ago
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