@adamrutherford.bsky.social I know you know how valuable the humanities are. At Exeter, 500 of us are in scope for compulsory redundancy. Please could you share our petition, if you feel able? Thank you x

Watching Germany lose on penalties may be the very definition of Schadenfreude

Can we just fast forward to penalties now, please? #RSACAN

Bishop Sarah says some good things here, but the headline is deeply dis-spiriting. There has been no lack of energy, faith, hope or prayer over the last 50 years, and the suggestion that we just need more of the same for the church to grow is unhelpful. #CofEPeeps

Last night, most Scotland fans were (quite rightly) cheering for Ghana. So, in the same spirit, tonight I shall give Scotland the proper respect by cheering for Brazil.

Guess what? I’m at risk of redundancy. My job - and those of my colleagues in my department and across our wider faculty of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences - is one of those currently targeted for cuts. I received a personal letter today. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Exeter University in talks to cut about 150 staff. This is Not Good. And yes, this does affect our department of Theology and Religion. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Football clubs are rarely successful if they get in the habit of sacking the manager whenever there's a bad run of results. This observation may not apply only to football.

In a world of uncertainty, it is reassuring to have the predictability of the narrative arc of Scotland at a World Cup finals. Act 1: Blithe optimism. Act 2: Collision with harsh reality. Ready now for Act 3 and the glorious failure of being plucky losers to Brazil.

Has Chris Mason said anything about what Reform's crushing defeat in the Makerfield by-election means for Farage's leadership yet? What, nothing? #BBCnews

This is the key point in all fines against companies, especially water companies. It should be mandatory for those fines to be paid from bonuses and salaries of those at the top of the organisation, and against dividends made by shareholders.

It's time for the BBC to compromise. Give Farage his interview with Lauren Laverne, on condition that he then actually IS sent to a desert island with no means of escape or communicating with the outside world, and just his 8 records, the Bible and Mein Kampf, and luxury of £5m in cryptocurrency.

Come on Everton. Make it exciting.

Reform is a party that is transphobic out of conviction. That is bad, but Labour appear to be a party that has become transphobic out of cowardice and somehow that feels worse.

Has Andy Burnham commented on this yet? If he becomes Labour leader, will there be any change of stance, or is transphobia now hardwired into the party?

The list does raise the question of what makes a book one of the "best". Is it different from a book being one of your favourites? What books would you have on your personal list of best and/or favourite?

Okay, so this kind of list is just sophisticated click bait designed to inspire disagreement and outrage. But it's quite fun (unlike most of the books on the list, which is skewed towards the books you are told you ought to have read, not those you will enjoy). www.theguardian.com/p/x4f9v5

Why do restaurants always offer a cheeseboard as a dessert option. Who wants cheese and biscuits after a main course? Surely it makes far more sense as a starter?

I can see why some Labour MPs want to replace Keir Starmer. But why on earth would anyone think Wes Streeting would be an improvement? Surely Streeting just embodies everything that's wrong with Starmer, only more so. Would any voter return to Labour if Streeting was leader?

Why on earth are the BBC showing News at Six on both BBC1 and BBC2? Don't they know many of us choose to watch House of Games to get away from their Reform obsessed news reporting?

A useful reminder that if you do have local elections in your area, and you vote Reform, you will not oust the Labour government. You will not change immigration policy. You will just be left with an incompetent rabble running your local council.

I know these things are subjective, but Mojo has published a list of the 50 greatest Joni Mitchell songs and "The Last Time I Saw Richard" does not make the cut. I am bemused and fuming.

Going after Parkrun – a non-competitive event which has no changing rooms – perfectly illustrates that it's never been about fairness in sport, women's safety or anything else. It's about bullying and demonising trans people, hounding them out of public life in every space possible. It's disgusting.

I'm the daughter of an Army paratrooper who refused orders during our illegal invasion of Vietnam back in the day. He went to LBJ military jail. Dad taught his girls this: "Just following orders" is NEVER any excuse for anyone who's complicit in war crimes. You MUST refuse heinous orders.

URGENT: Trump has lost it, and we need to stop him NOW. He threatened to erase Iran's entire civilization tonight. That's genocide, plain and simple. We only have a couple hours to act before it's too late: action.eko.org/a/impeach-tr...

I used to think that "doom scrolling" was a metaphor. Apparently not.

The fact that you cannot melt a Cadbury's Flake was not the mind-blowing revelation that I expected to receive this Easter morning. Thank you, to Radcliffe and Maconie on #bbcradio6music

Feeling very pleased with myself. I just got maximum points in the Highbrow Lowbrow round of Richard Osman's House of Games. My greatest quizzing achievement since getting five points for a sequences question on Only Connect.

"No, Mr President, that wasn't Iran. That was Alderaan."

I usually look forward to the Oscars. This year, I don't think I've seen, or want to see, any of the films up for the big awards. Is there a gem that I'm missing? #AcademyAwards

I get that the economic consequences of war are important, but for the BBC News to be focusing so much on the price of oil rather than the death and destruction being rained upon people throughout the Middle East does seem a questionable sense of priorities.

It's interesting that the same people who said that the UK should leave the EU in order to regain our national sovereignty are now wanting the UK to act as a vassal state of the USA. It's almost as if "taking back control" was a fraudulent and vacuous soundbite all along.

Taking the Lord's name in vain is less about saying "OMG" and more about claiming He ordained you to bomb a nation, including a girl's school, with "maximum lethality"

Okay, I know there are worse things going on in the world at the moment, but this is distressing news.

I'm not entirely sure what is meant by "sectarian voting", but I think it may have something to do with people being reluctant to vote for a party that wants to deport them.

Hopefully Labour will learn a key lesson from the Green's stunning and decisive victory. The way to beat Reform is to oppose them, not appease them.

Five women authors by whom I've read at least five books: Barbara Kingsolver Sarah Waters Jane Austen Barbara Pym Hilary Mantel

How do others view the oath of allegiance to the sovereign and their successors required of C of E ministers? Does that preclude us from advocating the abolition of the monarchy? And does the oath still apply after we have left licensed ministry? #CofEPeeps

I know this is petty and unkind, but the fact that today is A M-W's birthday only adds to the Schadenfreude.

Meanwhile...

VAR is ruining football and it's great to see FA Cup games without it. On the other hand, with VAR Newcastle would be winning this game and Villa would be down to nine men. So it's swings and roundabouts. #AVLNEW

time to rejoin the EU

Not convinced reconciliation will happen in @churchofengland.org. Each time it moves towards inclusivity, conservatives threaten to withhold money and to take legal action. Equality gets kicked into the long grass and #LGBT+ people continue to suffer and hurt. Why stay in a church like that? #synod

I am sure that Linehan and Rowling et al weren't always like this. Transphobia appears akin to a parasitic infection. However innocuous it appears at first, it worms its way into the brain, where it feeds on the residual goodness, until the host is thoroughly corrupted and consumed, mind and soul.

After Sir Jim Radcliffe's comments about the UK being colonised by immigrants, I look forward to him announcing that Manchester United will be selling all their players who were not born in Britain.

On balance, I think Keir Starmer is right to stay on, but his "Every fight I've been in, I've won" line sounds dangerously similar to Ange Postocoglou's "I always win a trophy in my second season."

'Detectorists' was the finest sitcom of the 21st century, so I was a bit worried that 'Small Prophets' wouldn't live up to expectations. On the basis of that first episode I needn't have worried. Thank you and congratulations to Mackenzie Crook for another gem.

Hurray! I do believe I've got it. (Better wait till 6pm to find out for sure).

Just back from the cinema, seeing 'H is for Hawk'. A really fine adaptation of Helen MacDonald's book, with superb performances (as ever) from Claire Foy and Brendan Gleeson. Do go and see it if you can.

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free