Yes. Remember the unbearable smugness of those remainers who were absolutely sure that they'd be in the majority at the Brexit vote? We might not be so far down this road now if they had been a little less smug and sure that we would win because we were right.

The immigrant experience, even the second or third generation immigrant experience, so often adds up to keeping the suitcases handy.

'Bilingualism should not be reduced to a talking point about brain training ... it’s about helping children stay connected to their families, their heritage'. Yes. But brain training is an easier sell than helping children and communities keep their culture. www.psychologytoday.com/sg/blog/empo...

'Are you writing in Polish?' No, Bluesky, I'm trying to reply to a post in English by @benstanley.eu , why do you ask? now let me get back to complaining about ios26 pls

A siren on the audio tracks and Cuyahoga playing in my head as I edited this #R.E.M.

Splendid reconstruction at Tustan Fortress in the #Ukrainian #Carpathians – not of the fort, but of the camp made by the archaeologists who investigated it in 1970. Material culture and way of life authentically represented; Volga in surprisingly good nick #HillfortWednesday

The sounds of war just reached deep into the Polish countryside too. Surreal experiences are often previews of a new reality. #Poland #Ukraine

'I heard the air siren from the nearby village, and that was a really surreal experience, because you know that place where you grew up, running with friends, swimming in the river, herding cows, going for walks, and then that surreal sound …' youtu.be/oB_HOjDeUyQ

also on Spotify audio-only: Apple, Amazon podcasts YouTube has English subtitle option

We travelled to the Ukrainian village that is the deep inspiration for our project, and talked on the edge of its wetlands: about nature, childhood, imagination, the sounds of war in the air, and why places must not be stolen from people. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx_X...

The flag of St George tops the Bhangra Fusion outfit off perfectly, don't you think? Well done and thanks @bestfootmusic.bsky.social for yesterday's Summer Fusion Festival in Brighton yesterday ☀️

I bought some dried mushrooms in the Ukrainian Carpathians, but not the ones in the tub on the right, this isn't a fairy tale 🍄

If you're in the UK and your phone sounds a strident alarm this Sunday 7 at 3pm, don't panic. This is just the alert from Penguin Random House signalling one month till the publication of the new Pynchon novel

All these brilliant performers, and we'll be there too! Looking forward hugely to the Summer Fusion Festival at the Jubilee Library in Brighton, Sun 7 Sept, 11 – 3, free, all welcome! bestfootmusic.net/2025/07/10/s...

"The rise of the city's #underground nightlife." Today's book pick from Damn History, a free monthly newsletter for readers/writers of #popularhistory. Congrats to author @marekkohn.bsky.social & @grantabooks.bsky.social! Read/subscribe to Damn History: damn-history-16d93f.beehiiv.com/subscribe

A week ago I was eating grapes from a Ukrainian kitchen garden (= small farm in UK city terms) and thinking I should follow the example in my own small way back home so ... rose hip syrup (too early, but best I can do) soundtrack: The Ukrainian Shelf 5: Food www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOD...

'These are not images of this reconstruction': renovation work in Lviv's old town confronts passers-by with a street screen showing the aggressor's destruction of #Ukrainian built heritage.

We made it, 2700km from Brighton to the birthplace of Kupala in the middle of Ukraine! We’ll tell you all about it when we’re back in the UK

The vogue for reconstructing imagined European glories. Includes some comments from me.

Science podcasts hosted by Vania from Ukraine 🇺🇦 - worth a look, and worth supporting www.youtube.com/@Conversatio...

That Co-op has a poster in the window about how its members own it, but it's a faceless corporate that won't respond to members questioning why it wants to evict its neighbours, destroy buildings that have been part of the place's character since the 1840s, and make itself a local monopoly #brighton

'Every Motanka I make is a quiet storyteller of our homeland and our hopes for the future.' Hanna Mariienko on what making traditional #Ukrainian motanka dolls in Sussex means to her and her community. kupalabrighton.org/motanka.html

#STANDBY for an #ANNOUNCEMENT which will #TRANSFORM #UK #politics #FOREVER

We found a new place to celebrate Kupala this midsummer, and wrote a new piece to accompany it as well 🌿 kupalabrighton.org/kupala25.html

Head to our website to read our latest guest blog. This time we hear from @kupalabrighton.bsky.social to learn how this Ukrainian midsummer festival has got underway in Brighton since refugees began arriving in 2022. www.nationalfolkloresurvey.co.uk/news/kupala-...

Pagans set wheels on fire and rolled them down hills at midsummer in 4th-century France. More recently Ukrainians did the same with car tyres 🔥☀️🔥

As it's Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka spirits come out of water, and sea-themed #FolkloreThursday, we'd like to point out it's a myth that rusalky are #mermaids. Key differences: Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎ Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎ More: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html

Since it's Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka spirits come out of water, we'd just like to point out that rusalky are❗️not #mermaids❗️Key differences: Fish-tails: mermaids✅ rusalky❎ Complex, tragic backstories: rusalky✅ mermaids ❎ More info: kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html #MythologyMonday

Dangerous spirit alert ⚠️ Today is the start of Rusalnyi Week, when #rusalka water spirits emerge onto dry land. They can be deadly, so ⚠️ Keep away from rivers, pools etc ⚠️ Also fields ⚠️ Put bread, milk, shirts out for them Stay Rusalka-Safe! #folklore kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html

It's Trinity Sunday, and here's a priest in #Ukraine blessing people who have brought greenery to the church. They'll also put branches around their homes, to protect against spirits from before Christianity arrived. kupalabrighton.org/rusalnyi.html #folklore

Deeply unsettling, indeed. But are we so sure human agents and editors read the stuff we send them? At least this thing owns up. #AI #publishing open.substack.com/pub/amandagu...

This is compelling for many reasons, not least for its powerful insights into the relationship between #language choice and emotion.

At the Victory Day rally in Warsaw, 9.5.45, a Red Army general hails the ‘older brother’ leading the ‘Slavic’ nations: imperialism masked as a pseudo-family. Today the communist slogans are long gone, but the imperialist narrative is louder than ever. yalebooks.co.uk/meanwhile-in...

At the Victory Day rally in Warsaw, 9.5.45, a Red Army general hails the ‘older brother’ leading the ‘Slavic’ nations: imperialism masked as a pseudo-family. Today the communist slogans are long gone, but the imperialist narrative is louder than ever. yalebooks.co.uk/meanwhile-in...

Even the police

Meanwhile, in the Other Half of Europe... To commemorate #VEDay80, @marekkohn.bsky.social writes an exclusive about the differences in experiences across Europe on and around 8th May 1945. yalebooks.co.uk/meanwhile-in... #WW2 #VEDay #Skystorians

Brains on speed. Deconstructing dopamine. A racing driver watches himself win a race, sitting on his own shoulders 👀 magazine.goodwood.com/issues/gwood...

Then flowers and fire at Midsummer, Kupala, and water too ☀️🔥🌿🌼

Happy Beltane! Rise to meet the sun wherever you are, then don't stop rising. Remember to say it with flowers and fire. 🔥🪻🔥🌷🔥🌸🔥🌹🔥🌺🔥

Old-time NATO spirit lives on at the Titan (nuclear) Missile Museum in Arizona – US Air Force roundel t-shirt, Made in #Canada 🇨🇦 🤣

Flags in Flagstaff, Arizona, making a statement about US foreign relations – Stars and Stripes 🇺🇸 flanked by Greenland 🇬🇱, Canada 🇨🇦, Mexico 🇲🇽 and Ukraine 🇺🇦 – outside the Weatherford Hotel

thank you, my sermon today will be on 'What Would Jesus Drive?'

Down in southern Arizona, indie bookstore Bisbee Books & Music has put #Ukraine right at the front of the shop 🤍💙 #BookstoreDay

Me in Q/A mode on the stories old European towns tell, the moral of the stories, and also how that relates to the ways in which many Ukrainians are thinking about their national identity. aspectsofhistory.com/author_inter...

US bombers destroyed 40%+ of Rothenburg ob der Tauber #OTD 80 years ago. Most of these houses are post-war, but visitors to the 'fairy-tale' old town don't know or care – and the rebuild covers up the town's darker history. Learn more: tinyurl.com/5n7bx9yh

Charmed to see these appear – but why do they immediately get recruited into the long unhappy search for ethical English patriotism? Couldn't people see them as opportunities to discover and enrich a culture shared with Europe as a whole? I mean, I know we're on an island, but we don't have to be.

Ukrainians have to wait until their 3 year visa is in its final 28 days to ask for an 18 month extension, which impedes jobs & renting when there are two or three months left on it www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just a few days left to get 30% off this collection of books on the history of Europe's cities ⬇️

I said a few words – some of them in Ukrainian 😁 – at the Rose Hill about what our Razom gatherings mean to us. Thanks @bestfootmusic.bsky.social for including them in this post about last Sunday's wonderful Razom 💛 bestfootmusic.net/2025/03/16/r...

Some of the most powerful stories Old Towns tell are about Europe’s recent history: about its greatest war, its greatest peace, and the great uncertainty about what lies ahead. aspectsofhistory.com/firelighters...