we need to talk about that Ring Super Bowl ad

Successive UK governments have created a student loan system which *actively* embeds unfairness and inequality between and within generations. Finally, (some) politicians are waking up to it. It needs complete and urgent reform. Special News Agents report. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwRq...

This is absolutely insane. The sort of Kafka-esque nightmare you would find in a Philip K Dick book set far in the dystopian future. A window on America tumbling into autocracy. www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

Yep,,,it was the woman's fault

I'm no criminal mastermind but, if I wanted to shoplift something and then slip quietly into the crowd without detection, I probably wouldn't pick '29 things with bells on' www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It’s not a classic historical anniversary, I grant you, but Facebook memories tells me it’s exactly 11 years since The Younger Child (then 6) handed me a folded piece of paper and said “Here’s an email for you”

At about 22m in, Ian McKellan brings the Colbert studio to a total, rapt standstill with this speech, written by Shakespeare 400 years ago, of Thomas More to Londoners rioting over recent immigrants to remember themselves and welcome others. youtu.be/2l2RqzVG4ag?...

Oh my goodness so the igloo was completed and someone decided to go one better and build a church in the snow. It's incredible.

Liv Nervo speaks out against the man who tricked her into pregnancy. She’s fighting back for herself, and for every woman the legal system has tried to silence to protect poweful men. Join her 👇 goodlawproject.org/liv-nervo-sp...

X is hiring a creative writing specialist at $40 an hour to make Grok better at writing and a true LOL at the qualifications

Alison Luchs, who has worked at the National Gallery of Art for 47 years, agreed to learn Gen Z slang and make videos because she wanted to raise interest in the museum’s art. She never expected to slay. https://wapo.st/45BXc3S

Germany foreign ministry playing a blinder on Insta www.instagram.com/reel/DUGW47K...

Question Time would be immeasurably better if people worked hard behind the scenes to put together juxtapositions like this, and the last 5 minutes of the programme consisted of the then-and-now clips being played to the audience to demonstrate the lies. A few weeks of that would change everything.

I’m sure Indian billionaire, Sunny Varkey, wants to give Farage a ton of cash to improve the lives of the people of Clacton. And definitely not to lobby for crypto or fossil fuels or to have first dibs on the firesale of British assets (eg the NHS) that Farage is bartering for power. FFS wake up UK.

Spoke to Shleagh Fogarty yesterday sbout why the Chancellor is wrong: our “student loan” system is not remotely fair. It’s regressive and embedding inter and intra generational wealth inequality. It’s not a loan system, it’s a bad grad tax in all but name. youtu.be/uOC6Arrf2us?...

UK institutions suffered a record fall in international student numbers last year, with significant drops in enrolments from India, China and Nigeria at some universities #highered #Edusky https://ow.ly/aesG50Y4hh0

Winners of the 2025 Amsterdam Photography Awards #TuesdayMorning

I realised over Christmas that I’d never gotten my second MMR jab on account of childhood moves and policy changes. I emailed my GP and I just got it this morning, free on the NHS. It’s never too late and you can’t overdo it. Please get vaccinated. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Huge news for the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal, if true

From Viz, three years ago: The Brexit Opportunity Detector. Still looking.

There's a lot of anti-health, anti-vaccination rhetoric and policy in the US. Some of this misinformation and disinformation influences what happens in the UK. And that affects us all. Get vaccinated.

Two poems I’ve seen about Pretti. One by the inestimable Amanda Gorman. The other - I don’t know the author. Both excellent. Perhaps poetry is one of the best ways to express what’s happening in this moment. Essays and articles seem insufficient.

Being a journalist is sick: I just contacted a pre-eminent jaguar conservationist in Argentine with a question that has been weighing on me for ages and he wrote back right away with an informed answer.

Today's Poem brought to you by the great and wise Octavia Butler:

For the nurses. Thank you to the sleepless guardians who keep watch on my son in the night. These past few months living with my son’s cancer have had a profound impact on me. Now, whether at the hospital or at home, at night, I think of them.

With alt text. The entire fucking point, supposedly, was the app spying on US citizens and they make it even MORE invasive. Get the fuck off TikTok.

A National Security Assessment highlighted nature as a national security risk earlier this week. Yet yesterday’s Habitats Regulations report shows many of England’s most important habitats are rapidly declining. Just 3% are in good condition. And half are in an unfavourable and worsening state 🧵

Omg

Annual reminder of how many days there are in each month.

“You are more a Prosecco person, I think” may just very well be the most devastatingly middle-class insult ever committed to text. All of this happened under a Waitrose champagne listing. The internet in Britain remains completely undefeated.

Who'd think a review of Pol Roger could elicit such a put down? H/tip to @bearlypolitics.co.uk for their article on class war in the Waitrose Cellar comments!

Sadly suppressing such a devastating report doesn’t make the risks go away - it just makes them even harder to deal with. Facing up to the truth is the first step to coping with it - it’s beyond scandalous that ministers tried to prevent this. They need to act - and fast

Ralph Finnes definitely living his best life in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. A great watch - though one scene too gruesome for me! 🫣

Student loans are almost the archetype for bad policy making. It feels justifiable - the service user pays, it will encourage a provider focus on students, no cap on numbers means more funding, any pain will only occur long after we’re gone. An easy win. And so the nightmare begins…

Single? Oh I hope they meet someone nice

She was running the #spinerace for Afghan women and girls. She was pulled out because of death threats. I’ll put her fundraiser page in the next post. Let’s support if we can. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

The interview with Legend in the Radio Times is absolutely brilliant

Macclesfield defender Sam Heathcote is a teacher and was back in school on Monday, just two days after beating Crystal Palace in the FA Cup's greatest upset 😲 He quite rightly received a hero's reception 👏

I've been into IKEA 3 times in 40 years.

This is lovely.

Private equity firms launch delayed recruiting drive after summer outcry ft.trib.al/KZsNENi

London Zoo are doing their annual stock take and it is a thing of joy (pics from Getty Images) www.gettyimages.co.uk/editorial-im...

Here to fix/explode the boiler. 📸 PitaFdezPita

A picture is worth 1000 words... This appeared on the BBC News today, showing the increase in solar electric generation in the UK. Not sure who produced it, but genuinely think this is a genius piece of scientific communication - the construct and choice of colour scale is near-perfect. Chapeau!

Don’t forget to leave a brick out for Ben Folds this morning

Come on Botswana 🇧🇼 Pula!