This is… unexpected.

Authors! Reminder to register your books for #PLR by 30 June: www.bl.uk/services/plr

Perhaps the Labour Party could take 5 minutes out of its busy infighting schedule and let this be news for a bit

They order ballot papers by drawing lots in Australia. Yet more evidence for: Australia has the best electoral system.

Impressive (observer.co.uk/news/nationa...)

Are you writing an unputdownable #thriller? Then it's time to put it down, book an #agent121 and see what a #litagent thinks! 28 Apr @katebarker.bsky.social 28 Apr @litagentfran.bsky.social 29 Apr Nicky Lovick 30 Apr Clare Coombes Book: www.iaminprint.co.uk #thrillerfiction #amwritingthriller

This week over 100,000 ALCS members will receive their share of £34m. Let's celebrate the value of human creativity, something that isn't going anywhere 💡📖🌳

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Mini thread. I have, for book research purposes, devoted quite a bit time to thinking about this sort of thing over the last few years.

Today at 16.00 on Radio 4. And then available as a podcast afterwards .

Important thread 👇

Rough rule of thumb: 10% *sustained* oil price rise adds about 0.4/0.5% to inflation and reduces GDP growth by around 0.1/0.2%

🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work. This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public. Please spread the word. 🧵 1/4

So WeTransfer, which has been my go-to large file sharing service for over a decade, has decided they now own what you upload & can use it to train AI. Anyone know of any good alternatives?

I hope HarperCollins haven't gone to print with the paperback of Andrew Lownie's book yet.

Donald Trump's birthday is 14 June. Just saying.

ALSO - if you missed out on your childhood measles vaccine and haven't had measles, you can get *free* MMR vaccination from your GP! (whether as an older child, teenager or adult). I got my MMR about 10 years ago! www.nhs.uk/vaccinations...

I thought Wuthering Heights was great. Looks incredible, good soundtrack, hot lead actors, sometimes really funny. All the drama. Who cares if it’s not like the book.

Possibly 7th richest person in the UK but I think the point still stands

Delighted to have a Blood and Treasure extract in Foreign Policy today. foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/06/b...

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free

Someone should do a daily podcast this May on the General Strike one century on. 15 min episodes 4th to 12th May. (I will happily write and present this podcast if some organisation wants to pay me).

Arguably more significant than defections, internal party politics and the Beckhams… In 2024 there were around 3,600 suspected cases of measles. We need to challenge the nonsense spread by anti vaxxers and ensure children are protected. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... news.sky.com/story/uk-los...

Wouldn’t have made it out of the VEEP writers room

THE SECOND HOME (May 28th - please pre-order🙏🏻). A second book, a body of work. I’m so grateful I can do this again and really hope people enjoy this one. P.S. it’s set during an August bank holiday heatwave — a reminder that warmer, brighter days are coming!!! ☀️ #psychologicalthriller #novel

Airport book brain! This is very good. Though I'd argue that we are suffering as much from podcast brain.

"All told, Mr. Trump has profited from his return to the presidency by an amount of money equal to 16,822 times the median U.S. household income."

Happy #PLR day, published authors! If you aren't registered, DO IT NOW for next year: plr.bl.uk/login

Fantastic news - go Harriet! #TheTraitors

There is, to my mind, no justification for the continued use by the UK Government of X as a platform for official comms. There hasn't been for some time, in fact, but if the latest developments around AI-generated image abuse and CSAM don't change the policy I really don't know what will.

X/grok creating and platforming sexually explicit material of children isn’t just a lapse, it’s criminal. Elon Musk and his companies should be held to account. It’s been over a year since I dumped X. It was the right decision then and even more so now. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

If the British government, and indeed other governments, can’t muster a fast and strong response to Twitter adding a facility enabling users to create and share AI child sexual abuse material then not sure what Musk could ever do that would actually provoke a response.

Thank you - I was way out of my comfort zone! Here you go with the sprouts image!

A few pics of @ginarippon.bsky.social ‘s highly entertaining talk on the neuroscience of Christmas with @cosmicshambles.com last night. Regret that I didn’t get a photo of the slide explaining why sprouts can be bad for the brain.

Oh HarperCollins, what took you so long. New CEO?

On ep 4 of Pluribus (which I really like). Is it about generative AI?

The shortest day of the year is nearly here... great advice on beating the winter blues from psychologist Dr Stephanie Fitzgerald. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Important thread.

Delighted for my brilliant client @ginarippon.bsky.social who has won the British Psychological Society award for Popular Science book of the year for The Lost Girls of Autism. Congratulations, Gina! www.bps.org.uk/news/congrat...

“[An] excellent, state-of-the-art account of autism in girls." "Off the Spectrum" by @ginarippon.bsky.social is a @newscientist.com Book of the Year! Read more: bit.ly/4pF8U59

I must have missed the wall-to-wall coverage of demands for an investigation into Nigel Farage's lies about being a racist Or about whether he knew Nathan Gill Or about who bought his house in Frinton

Are you writing an unputdownable #thriller? Then it's time to put it down, book an #agent121 and find out what a #litagent thinks! 9 Dec @katebarker.bsky.social 11 Dec @mariliasavvides.bsky.social 19 Dec @amandapreston.bsky.social Book: www.iaminprint.co.uk #amwriting #thrillerbooks #thrillers

You know what would be an excellent Christmas present?

Great to hear Dr Stephanie Fitzgerald talking about her new book The Gifts of Winter on BBC All In the Mind with @claudiahammond.bsky.social - 17 mins in. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

NEW A close look at Trump's $1 billion claim against the BBC The litigation letter is weak, but his underlying practical position is not weak By me: emptycity.substack.com/p/a-close-lo... (Substack) (Non-Substack link to follow.)