Had insomnia Tuesday night and only managed a few hours sleep. Pushed through yesterday, fell asleep quickly, and was then woken at 3am by neighbour's car alarm which went off for an hour. After that, couldn't drop back off. Today I'm at work but barely functioning.

People seem to spend longer on the toilet if they use a smartphone while sitting there – and all that scrolling may be boosting their likelihood of getting haemorrhoids

St. George was Palestinian. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (And an immigrant) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

A truly great ‘Today I learned…’ to send you to bed x

An exhausting thing about this alt right stuff is how insincere it all is. These people aren’t ideologues. They’re morons. They’re internet trolls. They call for things they know will stir outrage - for fun. We give them too much credit. And it has warped our sense of humanity.

Letter of the day (in the Times)

Ozzy Osbourne at the dentist. youtu.be/bQjmVvP7LFM

Fantastic series Love Adam Curtis’ work. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Tig Notaro is very good youtu.be/9kxO2Xes31A

All of this.

Whoever put the b in to subtle really knew what they were doing

If you see this, quote with a robot that isn't from "Star Trek," "Star Wars," "Dr Who," or "Transformers."

Saw this image on an article about the 7/7 anniversary, which I think neatly sums it up - even 20 years ago news was still travelling so slowly compared with now.

“One in 10 men and boys and one in four women and girls with ADHD will at some point try to take their own life”. Meanwhile, it’s now impossible for over-25s to get an ADHD assessment on the NHS in some areas www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

It appears people are reading the Mediacore manifesto again: betarish.medium.com/mediacore-an...

A small earthquake in Germany, six years ago, proved to be the spontaneous detonation of a #WW2 bomb. (Apparently happens once a year.)

Beautiful

On his 99th birthday, an op-ed from Sir David Attenborough. alearningaday.blog/2025/06/15/9...

What a time to be a teen! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/a...

Really liking this right now. youtu.be/c_xnLmRz6XM

I'm two hours into an audiobook of a novel and I have no idea what it's about or what’s happening. I bought it as it seemed to be set on an American road journey, and the narrator's voice seemed perfect for dropping off to. It's worked a treat.

The Escley Oak - Michaelchurch Escley, Herefordshire 🌳 One of the largest and oldest oaks in England. It looks as though it has two separate trunks. However this massive tree is hollow, thus creating this illusion. Photo: Aljos Farjon

In the era of restoration theatre, many of Shakespeare’s tragedies were indeed rewritten with happy endings!

The worst leaders are afraid of talent. They fear having highly skilled people around, they fear they might be shown up or replaced or exposed and that fear drives the worst of recruitment decisions. Don’t fear talent, embrace it. Surround yourself with the exceptional, the stand-outs, 1/

Calling it now: at this rate, Labour’s support in the creative industries will totally collapse at the next election. You can’t repeatedly vote to give away people’s work to AI companies and expect those people to keep voting for you.

Fantastic ending to Baroness Kidron's speech in the House of Lords yesterday, which led to the government's defeat on AI & copyright. Speaking the UK's creators: "Their property, their labour, is worthy of your protection - because apart from anything else, it is not ours to give away."

Have advertising agencies ever made a radio commercial that’s not bafflingly bad?

A brilliant article.

I wrote this last June. I fear, so far, it's bearing up: www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-...

Please sign this open letter to Bridget Phillipson and Lisa Nandy...calling for the government to make space for arts in education so that all children can learn creative subjects throughout their school life. It will take 10 seconds - please sign. actionnetwork.org/forms/open-l...

Same cunts who voted brexit now voting for Reform, having learned absolutely nothing.

Post-show audience voxpop videos have to be one of the most consistently inane bits of theatre promo content. It's up there with "Choose three words to describe..."

Painting by John Northcote Nash ‘The Viaduct’ 1916 Oil on canvas Dimensions 89 x 66 cm.

Deer oh deer oh deer

Men should stop being afraid of losing their "man card". I have a beard, wear flannel, love leading, and love football. I also love Taylor, enjoy cheesy Christmas films, and I'm a harlot for a good autumn candle. We all contain multitudes, as Whitman once said. We mustn't be afraid to embrace them.

How have I only just discovered John Cale?

"It's not a war - it is a genocide camouflaged by war, with Palestinians - regardless of age, profession, religion - being destroyed "as such", with XXI century means of warfare/extermination. Calling it "a war" just normalises it..."(Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur).

Unless their ability to develop speech, language and communication skills is prioritised, children from areas of disadvantage or with special needs are being set up to fail - our letter in today's Daily Mail:

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed's three rules to live by. Possibly quite useful just now

@phil.gyford.com x.com/webdesignmus...

Every time you see someone powerful acting like a craven coward in the face of this authoritarian menace, let it stiffen your own spine. We are all we've got.

When you buy a Tesla, you are funding far-right fascism.

someone has to write the present bc they are deleting it in real time

“And this week on Blue Peter we’ll be showing you how to make your very own computer.”

Is Google NotebookLM down? I can access it but can’t add any sources or use chat functionality.