I present to you the first portable music player, the Belmont Boulevard. It looks like a freaking flask, it uses vacuum tubes, and there is no way to listen to it using traditional speakers (because the tubes aren’t powerful enough for anything other than earbuds). More in the piece:

Manchester Council of Mosques have issued this statement in sadness, shock and solidarity with the Jewish community about this attack at the synagogue in Manchester

#OtD 3 Oct 1937 almost a year after their defeat at Cable St, Mosley's Blackshirts attempted to march through Bermondsey, South London. Met with strong local opposition and barricades in the streets, the march never arrived at its intended destination workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e35-...

"Neither the Community Council nor villagers say they were formally consulted before the abbey was placed on the market. For a community that has lived with and cared for this building across centuries, the lack of dialogue feels like an erasure." Marissa MacWhirter talks to Culross residents (1/2)

But I was told that Keir Starmer’s conference speech marked a pivot away from imitating Reform and towards a bold new liberal something! I WAS PROMISED! on.ft.com/4mGqFPF

In other news, Kemi Badenoch's party has taken at least £7 million in donations from funders and directors of climate change denial lobby groups bylinetimes.com/2025/03/18/k...

I’m a sewage system. I also have a great personality.

To mark the passing of Terry Farrell, who designed the iconic MI6 HQ, 'This Month In Bond' dives into the real-world architecture featured in the films mi6hq.substack.com/p/this-month...

BIG NEWS!! The second BillableHour Summer Tee is now available with all profits going to @savechildrenUK. It is a banger from design superstar @gailmyerscough.co.uk and a must have for any lawyer (link to shop in reply). As you'd expect from a tee this reasonable, it comes in many colours. BEHOLD!!

The bees have discovered Brutalism

RIP Terry Farrell. In addition to his architecture he wrote 'Shaping London', a brilliant analysis of London's development. His explanation of how the flow of the river shaped different patterns of building on its steep and shallow banks has really stuck with me.

RIP Sir Terry Farrell Here is his 'Manifesto for London' originally published in the Architectural Review Sadly too many of his achievable ideas like opening up Park Square and Park Circus as a pedestrian route were defeated by vested interests of Crown Estate. share.google/CUG51Og2ewX1...

So Sir Terry Farrell has died, aged 87, a fortnight after his one-time architectural partner Sir Nicholas Grimshaw. Farrell was a particularly talented large-scale urbanist. An era ends.

Interesting to see that Jack Anderton, who set Farage up on TikTok and is now an adviser to Hull mayor Luke Campbell, and who (as we reported) suggested Britain would be better off had it stayed neutral in the second world war, is now doing articles for the Mail. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Nothing to see here. Just a U.S. Congressman equating criticism of the administration with “terrorism” and calling for the arrest of a Governor. Authoritarian logic.

The very first episode of 'Joe 90' was released 57 years ago today. Your week won't get any better than this, trust me.

Come on, Wes.

The AfD qualified for three mayoral run-offs in cities in North Rhine-Westphalia today, and lost all by big margins. The lesson is not that we have overdone the AfD's rise, but that we do perhaps sometimes underestimate the counter-mobilisation effects - including in east Germany, incidentally.

This is a delightful diversion - it turns out that one of my regular walks used to be an enclave. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countie...

This tweet has been doing the rounds on Twitter now that Nathan Gill has pleaded guilty. If only someone had tried to investigate UKIP & Russian interference 🧐 There’s another timeline where the Guardian supported me, doubled down on the investigation & I look 5 years younger ..

Quite impressive to start making that Liz Truss data point look like it isn't the wild outlier.

"How many traitors are in Farage's new party?" would, I suggest be a better line than Digital ID. To beat Reform, make wavering voters ashamed to back them.

🔴 Reform UK’s Crypto Donations Put Under Spotlight as Experts Warn It’s ‘Impossible to Trace’ Foreign Cash Anti-corruption campaigners raise the alarm over loopholes that could allow large sums of untraceable money to slip past checks bylinetimes.com/2025/09/26/r...

It just straightforwardly *insane* how much political chatter in the United Kingdom is about the next general election, an event that is a long way in the future, and how basically none of it is about 'uh, this policy agenda doesn't look adequate to the scale of the inherited problem'.

Reform are now coming after people with permanent residency. It'll be citizens next. No one is safe from authoritarian governments.

The annoying thing here is that the Lib Dems talk policy quite a lot and get ignored by the media, which is what Davey's stunts were a response to in the first place. I don't think he's addicted to stunts. I'm sure he'd love it if his policies got covered www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The orange felon is now sending threats to Afghanistan regarding an Airbase when he’s the one who helped the terrorist Taliban take full control of the country. I despise the unhinged asshole.

Reviewed Nick Clegg’s book. Didn’t think much of it, except for: “Nadine Dorries, while secretary of state for the department overseeing the internet, ‘once called me in high dudgeon, demanding to know why I hadn’t taken down tweets … I had to explain to her that Twitter was a different company’.”

The PM is right to recognise the state of Palestine. The two state solution has been the policy of successive Governments. Making this statement won’t of course stop the killing in Gaza or bring the hostages home. Only a ceasefire will do that. However this is significant www.gov.uk/government/s...

So as a bit of an FCDO website nerd, I can confirm Palestine has been added to the list of countries. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Then there's this beauty...

A suggestion for UK Parliament. Before passing any new law, consider plausible worst case scenario for how a future Reform government would use it. Then start to review existing laws. And if you don’t, don’t complain when it all goes wrong (assuming that government hasn’t locked you all up)

This is funniest possible headline for a song literally called "Song for Bob Dylan"

Dutch late night TV has its take

Michael Eisner, who served as CEO of Disney for 21 years and acquired ABC while he was in charge, slams his successor Bob Iger for bending the knee.

The Clink Charity provides a route to rehabilitation while in prison & their work is cutting reoffending rates by 64%. It's vital their work is able to continue & I'm pleased the Minister agreed, committing to reviewing barriers to the charity's future operations.

Still a few places left to book on @grindrod.bsky.social walk around postwar Croydon this Sunday. Infuriatingly, I am running a rival transpontine walk at the same time so I will miss it, again! programme.openhouse.org.uk/listings/12200

Question for Victorianists

Donald Trump suggests he blocked Sadiq Khan from attending the state banquet. Source close to Khan says he made it clear weeks ago that he had no desire or intention of going to dinner with Trump

Somewhat distracted from tonight's excellent performance of 'Elijah' wondering about the logistics of how Crystal Palace Company (and railway operators of Upper and Lower CP Stations) got the audience and massed choirs at "monster" concerts home without a crowd disaster? @victorianlondon.bsky.social

Well worth a visit to Brixton Hill to see this small show.

The Heygate Estate used to be instantly recognisable from the air, but the "regenerated" Elephant could be any one of a half-dozen suburban clusters of towers. The 2010 Carbuncle Cup winning Strata Tower (with non-functioning wind turbines) is now the only distinctive building!

This Saturday - see incredible Catalan human towers in Potters Fields Park www.se1.news/whatson/#sat...

Mybe JD Vance was right Never mind I'm sure Toby Young will bail them out

JD Vance is right: Europe has a problem with freedom of speech

If there is no HS2 station at Toton to be served then surely improvements to bus services between both cities, towns of the Erewash valley and business parks are a higher priority?

I’m old enough to remember when Conservative Party leaders believed in law and order.

Both he and Newman were exactly what famous actors should be: concerned with doing good work and getting good films made, displaying an affection and love for art, having fun hobbies, giving lots of their time and money to help people and not being a complete piece of shit in their personal life RIP

It would be nice to see the Prime Minister say this – and perhaps get a bit angry – in front of TV cameras, and not just via statements and read-outs.