'Enroute from the Thames to West Africa loaded with whiskey, brandy, and rum, Glenbervie ran ashore in Cornwall in 1901. A photographer from the Gibson family was among the crowd that gathered to see the shipwreck' www.atlasobscura.com/articles/gib...

'Otho Cushing imagines the fashion of a future 1950 in issue #1950 of Life Magazine, 1914'

It has been brought to my attention that a wide-leg corduroy pant is now the height of fashion. John, as always, was ahead of the curve, a big fan of what my mother, sister & I all called his "elephant trousers". They made his legs look like trunkish elephant legs. 😆

“There was nothing but land; not a country at all, but the material out of which countries are made.” ~Willa Cather, “My Antonia.” Willa Cather was born on this day 152 years ago: 12/7/1873. She wrote extensively about her adopted home state of Nebraska. Image: The New York Times/Getty Images.

Alex is wise for this reason, and other reasons.

This is your regular reminder that catastrophic illness and disability is often financially devastating. It’s not a moral failing. It can happen to anyone at anytime. Too many people don’t care about healthcare access because they’re sure it’ll “never happen to them”

The remains of Gresham castle photographed with a regular camera and how it looks with a LiDar drone camera.

My dad abhors any negative comments about immigrants. Asked him recently why he’s so strong on it: ‘Because we’re always happy to take the rich and clever ones. Which means it’s not about disliking immigrants. It’s about disliking the poor and vulnerable. And that’s a bad human instinct.’

Today I am trying to cheer myself up by making pierogi, and singing "I would like a puffer fish for Christmas" to the tune of "Have yourself a merry little Christmas"... D is doing a good job of pretending he can't hear me... He knows the mango princess fish that I'm thinking about. He knows.

Brachiopods may look like clams, but have a different axis of symmetry and very different internal structures called lophophores. There are still brachiopods alive today, but they are rare. This Paraspirifer bownockeri is from the Devonian Silica Shale of Sylvania, Ohio. #FossilFriday

I... One of my parents is an immigrant, but I was born in the UK. Am I supposed to be leaving? They want me to leave?

We just accept it because it’s always been this way but ‘Ringo Starr’ is a bonkers thing to call yourself when the other guys are John, Paul, and George. It’s like having a band where everyone else uses their real name and then the drummer goes yes please call me Crackers Creamsworth

I do love a Christmas ritual , and making these Edible Christmas Tree Decorations, which are #RecipeOfTheDay – is one of them. I say edible, but when my kids were little, I cruelly mixed in a load of pepper so that they wouldn’t pull them off the tree to eat them all! www.nigella.com/recipes/edib...

Starting to suspect FIFA might not be an entirely reputable organisation.

Tarantino is clearly a sick misogynist who gets off on hurting women. There's numerous stories of him stepping in to perform violent acts on women in his films whenever he can (face won't be seen) These moments in Kill Bill, Diane Kruger in Inglorious Bastards slate.com/culture/2025...

Nice.

Sorry for going on about it. I mean, I'm not, really. But it's tedious that we still have to advocate for ourselves because people who are tasked with managing our healthcare provision are either avoidant or incompetent.

Really looking forward to Streeting's inquiry ensuring that neuroduvegent-adjacent conditions including long covid and women's hormonal health finally get proper attention and funding. Good job, hen.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 926: Some authors can pin down the perfect word in a first draft. Most can't. If that's you, don't worry about it. Make the structure sound before you start going over the detailing.

I can't help but feel that Streeting would have benefitted from talking to a neurodivergent person before announcing this inquiry. I'm also interested in how he came up with the term "overdiagnosis". On what basis is he using this assumption? Where is the data? Which studies is he citing?

Why juries matter Jury trials should not be deleted without properly funding other parts of the criminal justice system By me, at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...

while making some tea i remembered a substitute Physics teacher we had at school for a bit who'd end every lesson with a general "do you have any questions?" segment and one person asked why when you forget to boil a kettle you can tell by the sound because hot and cold water sound different

I really want to scoop out the part of my taxes that cover health care, and put them towards actually covering my healthcare. I'm so tired of the number of times I have been told "You can chat with this person but they aren't a mental health professional, so aren't qualified to offer advice."

Now. I have to nail myself to a chair and attempt to work. Thankfully, I'm at a point in the month where my concentration is at least partially functional. I learned about the dopamine-oestrogen connection from the internet, incidentally. Not my fucking doctor.

Nobody who is disabled, or neurodivergent enjoys the disabling aspect of their condition. People seek help when they are desperate. And benefits are not beneficial for most nd ppl other than that they provide the most basic building blocks for survival. We aren't stupid. We need help.

Cutting funding and denying support is not innovation. Or good policy.

And before anybody pipes up, I know plenty of neurodiverse men, too. And their suffering is equally heartbreakingly horrendous, but at least more of them have a diagnosis so can legitimately attempt running the gauntlet of seeking the scant support that is available.

Speaking frankly, the practice of sending deeply unwell people, who are at a greater risk than average of harm, down a labyrinthine signposting pathway that often ends nowhere, actually seems deliberately designed to drive those people over the edge.

Ordering an inquiry into crisis levels in the diagnosis of neurodivergence, an issue that has uncovered how massively underdiagnosed, under-supported, and ignored (predominantly) the suffering of neurodiverse women has been since... Well, forever, is fine. It's fine. But...

“Of all the stigmas that accompany not wanting children (and there are many), this is the one that upsets me the most. Just because someone doesn’t want to be a full-time parent doesn’t mean that they aren’t good with children or aren’t to be trusted with them.” inews.co.uk/opinion/sick...

I cannot wait for the day we all acknowledge that Tarantino is a nasty dude. I get such strong bad vibes from that guy.

"And the eagles, when they smelt the flesh, desired after it, and they flapped their wings... [They] could not attain unto the meat; but ever as they struggled they bore aloft with them Kay Kāvus and the throne whereon he sat." —The Shahnameh, Ferdowsi #BookologyThursday

Nice to discover something to read from Malcolm. He's such a lovely man and such an eloquent writer.

‘North America was a European melting pot long before Ellis Island, and however much dynamism was injected by diversity, tensions were inevitable. Friction between Protestants and Catholics was most bitter where religion mapped onto nationality.’ Malcolm Gaskill: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Have Tiny Desk Concerts entirely gone? If they need a cramped space in which to host them from now on, may I humbly proffer my front room? I even have a music tech on hand. Seriously.

Whenever you see public sector surveys in the news, it's fairly safe to say that whatever conclusions are drawn/problems are identified are softened massively by the fact that nothing is ever anonymous, and that the "embedded" systems they implement are laughably incoherent and unfit for purpose.

It's past midday AND technically we are in the Christmas season so it's legitimate to consume festive things RIGHT NOW. Let's go!

Ha.

Announcing for 2026 -- I need to read more books! So I'm asking for your help. Help me read more by reading along with me. I don't know what this will look like exactly. Participate however you wish. Let's dig into some of boxing's most classic literature. Let's read together.

Home Office inadvertently bans historical research about the Dunkirk evacuation.

The worst part of being a historian is not getting invited to fancy TV show series II premieres about your research subjects. The best part is gobbing off about it over DMs with descendants of the real people it's based on, then writing a book so their great great great grandads exist forever 💪😅

This is a really phenomenal database, and the article is a very clear intro to its uses. #History #DigitalHistory

ANYWAY. Potstickers.

I kind of feel like this pressure we all labour under where we collectively agree that we MUST eat a certain meal at a certain time, and watch certain movies, etc, just ends up making people incredibly stressed.

I'm not sure why we can't just watch whatever we like at Christmas. My partner often works over Christmas (if not on shift, he covers for colleagues w kids) which means I am often solitary (& not in the mood for saccharine schmaltz). So. To me, Horror, Westerns, anything can be a Christmas movie.

Last Christmas Ich gave thee myne hearte But the verye next daye ther came a wolf, Wyth sinews of whispers - quiet as frost - And the wolf stole myne hearte, fled To a tower out of tyme biyonde all the stars. Seek now myne hearte, Return it within a yeare and a daye: Thys ys thy queste

It's December 1st - which means I get to share weird and wonderful Victorian Christmas cards, starting with one that looks straight out of #StarWars. @markhamillofficial.bsky.social, is that you?

My GOD, I FORGOT THE PINEAPPLE.