Life before the Clean Air Act and gas heating.

Just out of an enjoyably giddy @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social - finding something to laugh about in these strange times as ever! Out tomorrow or Friday in all the usual places.

I reviewed ITVX’s The Hack for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social - a great story that loses its nerve www.thenewworld.co.uk/ros-taylor-w...

I reviewed ITVX’s The Hack for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social - a great story that loses its nerve www.thenewworld.co.uk/ros-taylor-w...

I reviewed ITVX's The Hack for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social – a great story that didn't need to try so hard www.thenewworld.co.uk/ros-taylor-w...

Clever people are snotty about voxpops, but this is actually a good way of drawing people out. [stand back as furious Bluesky lays into the BBC and Reform] www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

I know, she absolutely acknowledges that. But the culture being unchanged, the obligation only falls on half the population's shoulders. It's a tough read because she's right. But it also doesn't address the long term consequences of care choices for women eg an impoverished late life themselves

AI companionship From the new Private Eye, out now.

As someone who failed both her parents at different times and in different ways, this is difficult to read, but worth it. "I have begun to think that one of the greatest acts of love is simply bearing witness to the vicissitudes of ageing." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What if we treated other drugs the way we treat caffeine? Really interesting piece. psyche.co/ideas/why-we...

Just as well I don’t buy conspiracies. www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/market...

Just as well I don’t buy conspiracies. www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/market...

Talking to people takes time, and time is money. Much easier just to turn out a vibes-based bit of opinion. I’ve been part of the problem in the past. I try to be less of it now.

If I throw these out there’ll be another pandemic, won’t there?

Latest suggestion for a series 5 of More Jam Tomorrow is simply 'Biscuits'. morejamtomorrow.com

Raising the state pension age assumes people can walk into new jobs in their sixties. It’s not as easy as that ✏️ @rostaylor.bsky.social

'There could scarcely be a better illustration of how difficult it has become for Britain to invest in infrastructure.' With my green policy wonk hat on, I've written about the initiative no one talks about: community energy projects.

I can stop searching now.

Perfect for when you've got a 3-year-old desperate for the loo, a baby you can't put down and a heavy period. Yeah

Delighted to help judge this award! The longlist is out and there are some cracking reads.

Some fairly shocking stuff in the report this morning! Explore the full data here: elitistbritain.suttontrust.com

Delighted to help judge this award! The longlist is out and there are some cracking reads.

Latest @suttontrust.bsky.social research today on the privately educated They make up 47% of political commentators and 45% of podcasters The research (which I took part in) didn't ask where these professions sent their own kids – which would be interesting. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

'There could scarcely be a better illustration of how difficult it has become for Britain to invest in infrastructure.' With my green policy wonk hat on, I've written about the initiative no one talks about: community energy projects.

Yes – in this instance, Waterland by Graham Swift. But I've found this to be true of Flaubert and George Eliot too.

🗞️ Our latest issue is on sale - Whose Britain? Featuring @paulmason.bsky.social, @jamesrball.com, Olive Pometsey, Matthew d'Ancona, @rostaylor.bsky.social, @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social and more Subscribe: buff.ly/53JCffV

This is a brilliantly nuanced piece by @rostaylor.bsky.social - hard recommend for your commute reading this evening

See me live on tour! I’m going to Leicester, Northampton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Taunton, Southend-on-sea, Cambridge, Southampton, Leeds, Liverpool, Guildford and Brighton. www.livenation.co.uk/matt-green-t...

There is a case for sending your kids to a state school, but you’ll barely hear it - because having the option is a privilege in itself.

Ha, this is familar. “Also, ‘I listen to you to get to sleep,’” adds Holland, in his instantly recognisable hushed tone, forever sounding as though he’s letting you in on a secret. “It’s always meant as a compliment." www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Every now and again we need to remind ourselves that normal service in the economy stopped around 15 years ago, and it’s little wonder people are stressed and looking for scapegoats ifs.org.uk/data-items/r...

What does it mean to be a party member these days? Is it a badge of identity, a fan club or a thing you can actually influence? Good chat with @rafaelbehr.bsky.social and @jonnelledge.bsky.social

In the latest @ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social we came up with a range of names for Your Party. You’re welcome. (It’ll be an abstract noun, probably suggesting movement)

I am (self-evidently) very interested in language. And also in technology. From that perspective, the rise of LLMs has created many new things for me to think about. One is: why is it that certain very small clusters of words are *clearly written by an LLM*? What is the quality of that writing?

Back in April I wrote about how Reform differed from other far-right parties in Europe. A lot has changed in five months. Talk of deportation is no longer verboten. Anti-abortion and pro-natalist campaigners are more prominent. eu.boell.org/en/2025/04/3...

⏰START YOUR WEEK⏰ Far right protestors caused chaos over the weekend – what do they mean for Britain and can Starmer rise to meet the moment? Plus, Trump is visiting – how will that go down? @gavinesler.bsky.social and @rostaylor.bsky.social discuss all this and more ➡️ linktr.ee/bunker_pod

Just finished this (first read it as a teenager) and I reckon it’s the best British novel of the 1980s. Terrible and beautiful. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterla...

Now would be the ideal time for Starmer to go out and say: Immigration was too high under Johnson. We’ve already brought it down, here are the figures. We’re doing everything we can to stop small boats, here’s how. We’re processing claims fast. Yesterday’s violence was appalling and I want (1/2)

Wrote recently about the shock people in their 50s experience when they can’t get a job. Many years off pensionable age and society doesn’t want them. www.thenewworld.co.uk/ros-taylor-r...

“Ageism is just as prevalent as it’s ever been. Often employers don’t realise they’re doing it.” www.thenewworld.co.uk/ros-taylor-r...

An ‘objective’ problem for political analysis is that internet subcultures aren’t a displaced form of politics/ideology as (we imagine?) were modernist music/fashion/subcultures. Internet subcultures subsume politics & ideology, subordinating them to the logics of the platforms on which they grow.

I love these ramblings, they’re the antidote to those ghastly over-edited Instagrams where women waggle their fingers at you

Conor Gearty was always a pleasure to commission. He wrote this in 2019: 'the hatred that Brexit has unleashed, not to mention the deadbeat, failed politicians to whom it has given renewed energy, moths released from what had been a deserved political oblivion.' eprints.lse.ac.uk/105857/1/Gea...

Leaving this here without further comment

Go on, surprise me

Sorry everyone, but ... Does anyone know *anyone* in the press office at ITVX? Complete failure to respond to emails, refusal to put through a call.

This is a metaphor, right? Right? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

On yum yum Mandelson.

Would it not be a good idea for AI chatbots to be banned from using the first person? No more 'I deeply regret' or 'I love' and similar rot. You do not do those things.

Would it not be a good idea for AI chatbots to be banned from using the first person? No more 'I deeply regret' or 'I love' and similar rot. You do not do those things.