I wrote this because oh god some of the stuff I’ve dragged my parents to and they did recently say that, on the one hand it’s lovely when your child still wants to spend time with you and isn’t drunk on vodka in a hedge. On the other… www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/lifesty...

A really brilliant piece by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Good piece this, by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social

Misery seems most glamorous to those who know least about it. We should respect it, certainly. But not immoderately. And we mustn’t underrate the power of the boringly well-adjusted. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... Good again by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social

“Sometimes suffering breeds empathy. Sometimes it breeds a callous determination to look after Number One.” @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

I wrote this about my increasing conviction that one of the defining facts of modern politics and culture is the trauma of living in the shadow of the peaceful and prosperous early 2000s, which we will look back on as history’s greatest golden age www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Be afraid, death as entertainment is back

“The activists who first took up social media were rather like small children playing with loaded guns… ineptly wielding weapons much more powerful and complicated than they understood, firing with naive conviction in all directions” @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

The iPhone is killing democracy Podcast with James Marriott on how the collapse of mass literacy is taking us into a new dark age

I think we want there to be more! @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social Maybe an Ong reading group, because he is quite DENSE and one needs to go over it a few times to get what he’s saying

had a great conversation last night with @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social on what our favourite philosopher of information - Walter Ong - can tell us about a historical moment when the most powerful leader in the English-speaking world is rowing with the Pope naomialderman.substack.com/p/understand...

This is good by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social though not convinced universities can or should teach character (£) www.thetimes.com/article//art... The late great John Diamond once modestly claimed (paraphrase) he got a job bcs seen to be nice guy who turned up on time. Possible to go long way with tht

Don’t overlook the power of a good chap

Have plugged this a couple of times already, but I’m guessing now’s a moment when some of you might particularly appreciate distraction from football. An excellent series (and exactly the kind of thing the BBC should be doing).

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Afternoon stroll soundtrack: more of this marvellous series @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social @bbcsounds.bsky.social

late to this from James Marriott but it’s one of the best pieces I’ve read this year because going beyond day to day politics/struggles people share in focus groups it captures something bigger we hear - that we’ve passed our prime & it’s all been down hill for years www.thetimes.com/article/d123...

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/.... Evening stroll soundtrack: this really interesting podcast about the power of reading @bbcsounds.bsky.social

NEW EPISODE OUT NOW! Today’s ep was recorded in front of a live audience: David talks to author & journalist @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social about Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan, which dissects the lives, loves & reading habits of a group of well-to-do young New Yorkers. Find us at...🎧 ppfideas.com

Things don’t look good. But a wealthy, highly technological society surely has reasons for hope as well as despair. A culture’s dynamism depends on tempering pessimism with a certain brave and even irrational faith in the future. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... By @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social

I wrote this about my increasing conviction that one of the defining facts of modern politics and culture is the trauma of living in the shadow of the peaceful and prosperous early 2000s, which we will look back on as history’s greatest golden age www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

“The fate of civilisation hangs in your hands. No pressure.” All three episodes are worth the listen. @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Me too.

Absolutely loving @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social and @naomialderman.bsky.social on James’s radio show about reading /1 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Loving this series @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I'm catching up on @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social's excellent Radio 4 series HOW READING MADE US on BBC Sounds. Picture book creators will take affirmation from cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf's explanation of the importance of reading to children from an early age (from 4:20). #KidLitUK

Splendid work @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social well played!

I implore you this weekend to listen to 'How Reading Made Us', a 3-part series by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social for BBC Radio 4 — the story of how reading made us and what might happen if we stop Part 1: How Reading Made Our Brains — did reading rewire our brains and change the way we live today?

@j-amesmarriott.bsky.social Enjoying the radio series and looking forward to the book. Although slightly disappointed the BBC hasn’t approached alternative viewpoints for balance.

I strongly recommend this BBCRadio4 series on Reading from @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social. There are imv a few Just-so(-neuro) stories in Ep 1 & a sharp swerve near the end to acknowledge the cognitive capacities of pre- or non-literate peoples. But essential listening www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

When I'm not doing other stuff I listen to an awful lot of radio. This, by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social, is one of this week's (and, indeed, the next three weeks') absolute must-listens. Really fascinating - and one for fans of @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @naomialderman.bsky.social too.

A rather gloomy read..., When I ask students whether they ever read for pleasure, the most common response is a look of total incomprehension, as if I've asked whether they play with dollies or ride a tricycle. Followed by "well, I did when I was a child". www.generationtechblog.com/p/are-books-...

Some weekend reading from me. First up, a brilliant edition of the Writer's Bookshelf with @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social. mathewlyons.substack.com/p/the-writer...

My column this week is on the insanity of feeling dogmatically certain about anything in a world that is undergoing a series of profound economic, political and technological transformations: www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Just a handful of tickets left for the first in our new season of screenings & live recordings - Metropolitan with @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social. 🎬 Regent St Cinema, London 📅 Thursday 19th March ⏰ 7pm 🎟️ Book your ticket here ⬇️ www.regentstreetcinema.com/movie/metrop...

I've started a Substack for bits and pieces. First post asks the pressing question of our times: What Would You Do Alone In A Cage With Nothing But Cocaine?

And The New Dark Ages now has a cover! Bitter years of book reviewing have taught me not to get excited and that most books are fated to be ignored. But I am finding it hard to stay entirely jaded in this instance…

One lesson of the Epstein emails is the total intellectual vacuousness of the international business elite www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Epstein and his acquaintances — whom one might have naively credited with a kind of malign genius — trade specious sub-TED talk musings on polling, quantum physics, life after death, global warming and international relations (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... Excellent @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social

“An age in which millions of people voluntarily sit through the podcasts of venture capitalists is one which has grown altogether too credulous of the idea that wealth is evidence of special insight into the human condition.”

“They will never believe it about themselves but sometimes the super-rich are as undeserving and talentless as the rest of us.”

One lesson of the Epstein emails is the total intellectual vacuousness of the international business elite www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

I was never particuly into the cool things at primary school but @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social took it to another level.

Runciman shows democratic governments reacted to existential crises with complacency, bickering and delay. Unedifying but it’s how democracy works: “lots of little failures combine to produce lasting success”. (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... Excellent & right by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social

This, from @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social, is I think the correct opinion.

A hermit who takes a newspaper is not a hermit in whom one can have complete confidence.

We are late to this piece by @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social. It is brilliant, and sobering. We have a fight on our hands, booksellers… jmarriott.substack.com/p/the-dawn-o...

As an Eastern European "frosty," I'm rarely rattled. However, after reading @j-amesmarriott.bsky.social article, "The dawn of the post-literate society and the end of civilisation," I definitely was... Check out our CONVO here 👇🏻 youtu.be/OpHIPKUWqOw

I really enjoyed this conversation about the decline of reading and the threat addictive digital devices pose to our civilisation