RIP Carlo Ginzburg. The Cheese and the Worms was a revelation and changed the way my brain understand the study of History.

In a way - it's good that these Trump sponsored events are taking place - it's now a quick and easy job to identify and ban dirty cheaters. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articl...

Polanski's habit of complaining about aggressive interviewers uncomfortably parallel Trump's. I'm MUCH more aligned with the Greens than MAGA - but grumbling rather than focusing on turning the difficult questions into positive answers is a bad look. uk.yahoo.com/news/trump-e...

The Garden of Earthly Delights (detail), by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480-1505, 📸 by @alexbrandon

The Daleks' Master Plan is back! (Well, 5/12s of it now at least.) But is it any good, how delighted were we to hear the news, and what are the chances of more episodes in the future? jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/the-daleks...

In which we watch the Myth Makers interview with Ian Levine, so you don't have to jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/ian-levine...

The results of our poll to determine the best first Doctor stories will be out on our audio feed in a week or so - but if you can't wait that long you can watch them now on YouTube youtu.be/UjucntvZSNQ

Another niche post - but I’m pretty sure the Chorus in the 2017 RSC Henry V is cosplaying John Barton.

RIP Frederick Wiseman. Titicut Follies and High School were groundbreaking documentaries - but for my money, Ex Libris and National Gallery are his masterpieces. Two epic films that dissect, with surgical precision, the value of public funded art and knowledge.

Niche post - but I’ve just realised that PD James’s The Black Tower is a pastiche of Trollope. It’s The Warden with murders.

I love that Prince Andrew had a codename email address to avoid suspicion and all the emails are like 'Had to spend the weekend at Balmoral, Mother wants me to look after the corgis, my brother's here too - not Edward, but Charles, you know the heir apparent.'

This - but also Lab should look to the Libs in Canada as a template for tackling the right AND boosting popularity. The more Trump tries to blackmail us, the more Reform and the Tories will come across as Quisling appeasers who, if given power, will simply cave to all of Trump's desires.

What better way for the randomiser to inaugurate Blakes 7 into the Who Review Extra canon than by choosing the story where Paul Darrow meets the Doctor? Our thoughts on City at the Edge of the World: jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/blakes-7-c...

It's going to be another busy week on the Strangers feed this week as we make our way through the back end of the seasonal break - but here's a taster of what's coming up in January and beyond...

The complete Bayeux Tapestry has finally been released and proves that Bishop Odo had absolutely nothing to do with the illegal Norman invasion of England.

We couldn't let Christmas pass without checking in on the latest Knives Out Mystery from Rian Johnson, Wake Up Dead Man: jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/film-club-...

Traditional nativity scene with extra Bok this year…

Next week on Strangers in Space... It's Week 2 of The War Between the Land and the Sea, there's a new Knives Out Mystery to talk about, there will be two volumes of Hammer retrospective and we'll be choosing our first Blakes 7 review Find all our links here: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

Did week one of the latest Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, run aground, take flight, or sink without trace? jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/who-review...

Barry Lyndon turns fifty this week. We thought we'd mark the occasion by taking another look. jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/film-club-... Download here: mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/xnwqx... Find the rest of our back catalogue via the links here: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

Did the first RTD era ever go too far and forget it was family entertainment? Join JR, @jonarnold.bsky.social, @mattbarberuk.bsky.social and @stephenhatcher.bsky.social to find out... jrsouthall.podbean.com/e/blue-box-1... Find our episodes in these places: strangersinspace.weebly.com/links.html

“Is there anyone in Rome who has not emailed Jeffrey Epstein!?”

#CineHistorians host @ckjsweeney.bsky.social on the similarities between Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) and Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975) #filmsky

Good. Maybe they should apologise as well? www.screendaily.com/news/the-los...

If ever there's a time to acknowledge a doctorate, it's in a news article about a posthumous doctorate being awarded. This from BBC News:

Good article - as an aside: does anyone know where the Fluck and Law style puppets come from? Were they actually made for Spitting Image or were they an independent fan thing?

A rare beast - a novel length ghost story that works. Consistently frightening - packed with propulsive set pieces - 'time travels' to the textures and culture of the 1970s as well as Stephen King 'time travels' to the 1950s.

Watching Passport to Pimlico - a WWII bomb site in London conceals buried treasure that reveals the locals aren’t British after all and ultimately creates chaos in the neighbourhood. I can imagine Kneale watching it and thinking - this, but horror and Andre Morell instead of Margaret Rutherford.

Key words. I don't want to hear anyone's 'humble opinions' when it comes to medicine. I want to hear 'informed diagnoses'.

Julia-Carolin Zeng explains that Google's updates prioritize helpful content to combat AI-generated repetition, so human writers should focus on quality and relevance rather than speed or volume. maj.to/4hJe78g

This is true - but with the added note that generally, most fascist iconography is a simulacra of authoritarianism - a superficial attempt to appeal to an emotional need for order and magnify the fear of disorder.

We all know it would be…

If you've got iPlayer, Shooting the Past looks like it's a new HD transfer. Big upgrade over the old DVD release for this lyrical, thoughtful drama www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... (Excellent score too!)

Generally, only two groups of people divide DW up into good and bad stories: fans and television executives. Most of the viewers either think it’s consistently fun and watchable or consistently rubbish and watchable. There’s a very short step to get from Michael Grade to Ian Levine.

There’s an irony in demonstrating the flaws of AI - notorious for being energy guzzling - by getting it to create pointless climate change infographics.

Legal protection against AI scraping is good (if it works) but also suggests a whole new profession: people recruited to produce creative work with the intention of feeding AI - so primarily for an AI audience. Maybe even a government sponsored AI-feeding industry made up of creatives.

Bemused and lightly disturbed by @richardosman1.bsky.social’s refusal to accept there could be more than 6000 movies worth watching from a 120 year old, global catalogue - but it all became clear with his citing of The Edge as a mysteriously obscure ‘old’ film. 😩

Ok, here goes: a bit tangential to James' point, but most actual normal humans don't have the easy facility with writing that this tiny group of Extremely Online people has, and so AI is both useful and impressive for many. It helps write emails, wedding speeches etc; it puts writing tools in the ..

It’s a bit mercenary- but now would be a great time for the UK government to fling open the doors and lift all the caps for international students. UK unis are on their knees - and the international fee income would be life saving.

Reminds me of the medieval Biblical misquote of ‘halo of light’ that resulted in Moses having horns in iconography for years.

Digested this for a while - for me it falls into the positive use of AI - the course is compiled and scripted by good academics and authorised by the estate, the AI used to give it a consistent, unified 'front' that makes it more accessible.

This - but then buy four 1960s Marconi cameras, a decent set designer, hire a group of professional actors and world class digital face replacement team.

Many people are saying: where is the Conclave larp? Think of the pageantry, the intrigue, the clothes, the vape pens! Good news: there are already multiple Papal conclave larps, including @adapalmer.bsky.social's epic annual event at the University of Chicago, and Willow Parecek's 2018 game!

It's the audio edition of our Lux review, and anything I could possibly add by way of teasing the conversation could only be considered spoilers for anyone who hasn't watched it yet strangersinspace.libsyn.com/who-review-3...

On the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, we thought we'd answer a question that's often asked, "If they raised the Mary Rose, why not raise the Titanic?" Allow our scaled diagram to explain...

When the two horsewomen of the apocalypse turn up to jinx Bezos' privileged, phallic rollercoaster ride for rich people.

Catching up on this. Despite some of his questionable opinions about Doctor Who, Joe's a really good, well-prepared interviewer, Toby Hadoke is a great holder and impartor of knowledge and this makes me want to rewatch all the Quatermasses again.