It's illegal to be gay or lesbian in some 60-odd countries in the world, 12 of which still have the death penalty for private, consensual same-sex sexual activity. So can't we celebrate that we've just had a perfectly ordinary episode of #TheArchers in which all the characters were L, G or B?

#TheArchers Why didn't we hear from Adam and Ian this episode?! They could've chatted to Ruairi and Paul, Stella and Pip at the pub. Missed opportunity!

No confidence in the Health Secretary Wes Streeting. Involving Simon Wessely in this review is clearly a stitch-up, designed to provide cover for Streeting's right-wing talking points about disabilities and medical conditions. www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/controv...

Useful from Plymouth City Council www.plymouth.gov.uk/asylum-seekers

All perfectly normal in a democracy, right?!

I’m sad to hear the news that the wonderful Jane Goodall is no longer in the world. Her work with chimpanzees at Gombe in Tanzania taught us to look at other apes - and ourselves - differently. I was privileged to meet her later in life and tell her what an inspiration she was to me.

Eddie Grundy's one-day taxidermy course was totally worth the money. And just in time for George's homecoming. #TheArchers

Thanks James! If you value the work we do please upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription from less than £2/week 📰 It's a small investment for a very big return 🙌 exeterobserver.org/upgrade/

Southernhay

When I was a teenager there was a bus direct from my hometown in Germany to London - we had a British army base, and this direct bus connection was one of the benefits of that. One summer I went on that bus to go volunteer in an old people's home in Southend-on-Sea. I had just turned 18 and was... 🧵

my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"

Raddon Hills near Thorverton, Devon

I’ve worked in some form of IT all my adult life in Telco or Energy sectors. I’m that first generation who has sat at a monitor, mouse, keyboard since they were a child. Now in mid 50’s. Yet. I lost my shit earlier this week when my shower stopped working because it needed a firmware update.

#Caturday Sosij welcomes Sauron (front) to the family. Photo: JH

Exeter

“What makes a perfect monster?” The Borg Collective from Star Trek is my answer: “the ultimate terror they pose is that they monstrify those whom they assimilate.” Check out my essay in @reactorsff.bsky.social for #psychology, cyborgs and more. 1/3 #sff #StarTrek #TNG #AI #histsci #histmed 🗃

It's of course wonderful that this tree gives so much pleasure to local Glaswegians. It's still horrific that it's the only tree in the street. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I think people are getting better at understanding this. It's me that keeps forgetting what "I very much actually cannot do".

Morning

#TheArchers "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry, for you will be filled." JUSTIN: "This is genuinely Good News! We've been wasting social security on people who are actively accruing VIP status for heaven."

Why Keir Starmer's refusal to explicitly condemn Nigel Farage's immoral plan to tear thousands of families and communities apart will only help clear the Reform leader's path to Downing Street bylinetimes.com/2025/09/22/w...

Reform's ‘plan’ to revoke the legal status of millions of UK residents is morally abhorrent & economic madness The public believe in fairness & mutual respect, not this cruel Trumpian policy that would leave us all poorer. We are not America - we must resist this dangerous turn in British politics.

Upgrade to a paid Exeter Observer subscription to support their high quality investigative journalism.

Near Hay-on-Wye, on the edge of Bannau Brycheiniog

Thousands of Londoners have indefinite leave to remain. They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city. Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.

Yet another climate-wrecking decision from a Government intent on the pursuit of growth at all costs - but the only things that will grow as a result of this disastrous decision are pollution, noise, and climate chaos

Poor photograph, but we wondered if these were red kites? The Merlin app thinks it heard a common buzzard, but the tail looks different, there was bright orange colouring underneath (white at the tips) and there were quite a few of them. Talgarth, edge of Bannau Brycheiniog, near Hay-on-Wye.

"We fight for the day on which the pen beats the wallet." To @georgemonbiot.bsky.social's list of innovative local journalism should be added the excellent Exeter Observer @exeterobserver.org www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Looking forward to a brave new world in which insurance companies, employers, mortgage providers and fertility clinics routinely use AI to stratify our lives by health caste... 😩 www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Amen

I doubt I would have much in common with Angie Nash, who was elected as a Devon councillor for Reform in May. But she used her position to check if the Far Right was right about asylum seekers in Exeter, and, to her credit, she acted on what she found. www.bbc.com/news/article...

I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore. So I wrote a blog about ten things you can do *right now* to help defeat Farage, Musk, and rightwing populism. From scrutinising Reform councillors to demanding the UK Govt leave X - get involved: guyshrubsole.substack.com/p/ten-things...

#TheArchers Jim sounding frailer 😢

Carol Ann Duffy has written a new poem commemorating President Trump's visit to the UK

The new UK Ambassador to Washington uses typically wry British humour to welcome President Trump to London

Embarrassment all round as President Trump points out to King Charles that some of Prince Andrew's "artistic photos" have accidentally found their way into the Royal Collection. Melania hides in a Habitat lampshade.

In a gesture of confused political philosophy, President Trump expresses solidarity with the King's bling.

Yup.

#TheArchers LILY: "After the success of Charlotte Smith, are there any former Farming Today presenters we could perhaps ask to judge next year's Flower & Produce Show?" LYNDA: "Hmmm... How about Sybil Ruscoe?" LILY: "Brilliant! Perfect choice! What's she doing these days?" *Barwick Green plays*

1/ “Don’t mention the children. Don’t name the dead children. The people must not know the names of the dead children. The names of the children must be hidden. The children must be nameless. The children must leave this world having no names.” Michael Rosen youtu.be/tENn0dTF2eY?...

#TheArchers Was someone on a dare? "I'm shelving the vertical farming." "He seems very chipper." "Oh it's just a board meeting." "I always knew vertical farming was pie-in-the-sky."

Is "dry soil" the new "leaves on the line"? www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=...

Good news for cider drinkers. (Though part of me worries their storage facility is actually the Mars terraforming reactor from "Total Recall") www.bbc.com/news/article...

Dude. You're eating a bird.

There are headlines about the creation of "the UK's first super-university", with the merger of Kent & Greenwich. In fact, successive governments have created an unsustainable environment that makes universities progressively less viable the more English students they take. It's a disaster.

This is infuriating. What is the point of a Marine Protected Area if trawlers are allowed to keep ploughing it? Yet again, the government has succumbed to commercial lobbying. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Murdoch family reaches deal to resolve succession fight over media empire www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

A bath in green

Best I could do, given trees and pesky cloud! #LunarEclipse Exeter