Some geographical perspective on the war in Ukraine for Americans who do not understand why Europe feels threatened. If Los Angeles was Paris, the front would be in Tennessee.

In short, there has never been a better time to visit The Museum of English Rural Life. Plan today: merl.reading.ac.uk/visit/

"More evening buses please to support pubs & hospitality businesses."

"We know she’s 15 because her name wasn’t redacted (I’ve chopped it off the screenshot). But then, that’s par for the course for these documents: only the men’s identities have been diligently obscured"

A plea to my fellow professionals in the media. Please put Trump’s racism on the top of your news agendas? Where is it? The leader of the “free world” is using his racism to make all of our lives worse instead of better. A racist is a threat to us all. Whatever else he is doing, holds no worth.

Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.

🚨Jeff Bezos' wedding last summer cost about $50M. That, alone, could have saved all 300 positions cut today at The Washington Post for a year. Actually, he could have ensured there were no staff cuts for the next decade and he'd still have net worth of 249B. Thank you Lizzie Johnson.

It can be done: after illegal demolition, developers were ordered to rebuild the Carlton Tavern #brickbybrick. The #CrookedHousePub however is rubble. Burned down after purchase, bulldozed without planning, inquiry delayed, stalled, lawyers' fire power #RisingfromtheRubble #SavePubs

Did you forget to 'Open Channel D' on Sunday? Then take the mission tonight at 6:55pm and catch-up! THE MAN FROM UNCLE (1964) #TPTVsubtitles

Kyiv is in total blackout, as are many parts of Ukraine. No water, no heating, no electricity. Severe frost outside. This is the result of constant russian attacks. Thank you to those few who still care.

Another fantastic day checking out the pubs of Bristol. Undoubtedly one of the best British beer cities, if not the best.

Getting stuck into: It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis. Written in 1935: a vulgar elected American President appeals to nationalism, anti-elite rhetoric, descends into fascism. Well done Penguin for republishing! Pairing with Fuller's Red Fox, to #AntiTrump, his red states & state media Fox News

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

Auschwitz was at the end of a process. We must remember that it did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed: from ideas, words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence... to systematic and industrial murder. Auschwitz took time.

Brewers/importers: just a reminder that if you'd like me to take a look at any new beers this year for my reviews page in Drinks Retailing magazine, please send me a note via my website, jeffevans.co.uk. Thanks.

Everyone freezing on the East Coast or in the Midwest remember: Kyiv has the same weather, except that hundreds of thousands of people don't have electricity, heating or running water

Tomorrow’s treat at BFI Southbank

Great British Drinks Company buys up Keystone’s breweries @teamdb.bsky.social

Your annual reminder that “Blue Monday” is a complete fiction invented by a company that wanted to sell you more holidays. Enjoy January! It’s quiet and cosy and time for semi-hibernation, reflection and being kind to yourself!

Can you believe @uniofreading.bsky.social is 100 years old this year? And as part of their celebrations, they're running a series of guided walks in and around Whiteknights and London Road campuses, each telling different aspects of their history. whatsonreading.com/venues/unive...

Britain is one of the best places in recorded history to be born, live, work and grow old. Lots of room for improvement obviously but combat the pessimism, it’s the forerunner of fascism.

Tyneside Lambic Trail is back, weekend of 24th & 25th January. Some great venues below & world-class beers. See @craftbeerncl.bsky.social for FB link.

St Mary's church in Aldworth. Home to the Aldworth Giants (the De La Beche family), a 1000 year old yew and the final resting place of Laurence Binyon and Marianne Faithful. Oh and near the best pub in England!

Rock ’n’ roll–themed Shindig!, which showcased many of the era’s top musical acts, wrapped up its two-and-a-half-season run on ABC in 1966.

Magic Rays of Light at BFI Southbank kicks off tomorrow, Thurs 8, with four documentaries from the early television service. On publication day for the book, I am introducing the programme and have written accompanying notes, which I reproduce here. www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/magic-rays-a...

We are very pleased to announce that 'Brewery History' will be publishing a special issue later this year containing a selection of Martyn Cornell’s work.

One plus of bad weather is listening to local radio. BBC Tees is excellent. The presenters are enthusiastic, fun and know the area. Listeners are treated with respect.

Repeated on BBC2 this Wednesday (but, of course, the whole series is already on iPlayer).

We are screening a number of pre-war documentaries made for the Alexandra Palace service, a Jack Rosenthal drama about the service from there, and rarely-seen feature films from the early 1930s that in different ways imagine how television will be realised (including High Treason, 1929, pictured).

Happy New Year, all. Please keep supporting pubs and breweries this January. None of us would be happy if most of our income dried up for a month.

It would have been Bernard Cribbins' 97th birthday today. My class made a video to go with his 'Right, Said Fred' and I gave him a copy. He asked for the names of every child involved. A couple.of weeks later, the school received a box of goodies and handwritten notes for every child. A legend.

NYE and en route to the Diff so a good time as any to listen again to this three-part series looking back at Red Dragon Radio (with a bit of the backstory behind ILR’s early years in south east Wales, too) Produced by @theliveluke.bsky.social with contributions from me. www.buzzsprout.com/2544630

The word is that I’ve a 'movie' out shortly. It's true. My 2022 theatre show The Beatles / Evolver:62 was filmed, and selections from that + new material shot in Liverpool and London comprise a feature that'll be streaming from Feb 2026. More details to follow, sample here vimeo.com/1023543808?f...

And! I’ve been looking all over for this and finally found it

Every word. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here's a photo of me turning in a blistering 33.52 at #parkrun yesterday. It's a very unflattering photo of a 55yr old man with a bit of a hangover (and a cold, it transpired) doing his best. I'm just posting this to let you know that if you're thinking about giving it a go, you really should.

I’ve used the BBC Written Archives Centre for research and I deplore the new restrictive rules and the sneaky way they were introduced. It’s unbecoming of a public institution that is supposed to be about informing people to effectively close off proper archival research.

I've signed this. I spent three years in and out of Caversham for a thesis on one particular aspect of the BBC's history. But the BBC is one of the UK's four or five most crucial institutions of the last 100 years. Impossible to write much of that history with limited access to those archives.

Some more positive news from here in Shropshire today.

The open letter is here and still open, but use the email at the top to do so. tinyurl.com/bbcwaccampaign

The BBC is trying hard to put a positive spin on its damaging policy changes at the Written Archives, which have alienated the research community. Here's our rebuttal to today's "good news" story. tinyurl.com/WACrebuttal

This Christmas 'Channel D' will open on #TPTV Channel Premiere! Classic Spy-Fiction Series begins Sunday 28th Dec at 4pm! THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (1964) #TPTVsubtitles Stars #DavidMcCallum #RobertVaughn

Checking over some notes, I’ve come up with the five new* beers I liked best this year. They all smashed it. * New to me.

Chris Rea, rock and blues singer-songwriter, dies aged 74

Celebrity #Mastermind tonight has questions on the #Beatles White Album, set by me.