106 years ago today, on May 7th, an undergraduate at Christchurch College, Oxford, drank a glass of port then left through the main gates for a walk. I've been thinking about him, & his walk, for years now. It's taken a long time for me to figure out why - why I've kept returning, near obsessed.

Extremely normal and fine for a company to put this in a public statement

Lovely @iandunt.bsky.social —you’ve been a brilliant ally to the trans+ community over the last few years. The @nionwomen.bsky.social open letter is now just a few hundred signatures away from a MASSIVE milestone. Would you re-share to help us get there? 🙏🙏🙏 Thank you! 🩵🩶💛💗 notinourname.org.uk

Oh: A 2022 study found that children in households that used voice commands with tools like Siri and Alexa became curt when speaking with humans, often calling out “Hey, do X” and expecting obedience, especially from anyone whose voice resembled the default-female electronic voices.

I personally think not safe to remain in any personal relationship with anyone who is using LLMs to analyze your relationship, make conclusions about your motives, or determine how to treat you. I think this is beyond red flag—it should be an immediate dealbreaker.

a just and loving god would have let Hilary Mantel live to hear “the pope is weak on crime”

I do not think it is right to make publicity requirements mandatory in order for authors to receive prize money, full stop. The prize is for the writing, not for their PR skills - or should be. Reading Helen DeWitt's blog on this is upsetting as her mental state was clearly so fragile.

Helen DeWitt on turning down a $175k Windham-Campbell Prize because she wasn't able to handle the prize's mandatory publicity requirements. Imo a moving, deeply relatable, and darkly funny story about money, obligation, mental health, & executive dysfunction paperpools.blogspot.com/2026/04/we-l...

A study from Finland has been used to cast doubt on gender affirming care for youth. But Finland never offered gender affirming care. Perhaps invasive, adversarial, fruitless years of assessment harm trans youth? New opinion by @evanurquhart.bsky.social: www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

Muriel Rukeyser, always but especially today. Full text at www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47657/...

OK comrades, I am doing a last fundraising push to support Sahar in paying for surgery for her son Odai who was injured a couple of years ago in Gaza. They need $4000 for this surgery. Our giving circle will commit $500 towards this goal. chuffed.org/project/1656... - can you help?

By no means the end of the astonishing inequity in English land ownership, but a big old step change in transparency (and let’s hope, accountability) and the toppling of a significant obstacle to nature protection and restoration. Simply incredible work by @guyshrubsole.bsky.social

What To Know About ‘Sinners’ https://theonion.com/what-to-know-about-sinners/

ICE has arrested and detained a Nashville journalist who reported stories critical of ICE. She’s married to a U.S. citizen and has been seeking asylum here after fleeing death threats in Colombia because of her journalism there. They’ve already sent her to Louisiana.

Reuters Exclusive "U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school." "The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the ​Middle East."

Government to further curtail rights of asylum seekers The legal changes to be announced today will revoke the UK’s statutory legal duty under EU law to provide asylum seekers with support and accommodation www.ft.com/content/cac2...

@sarahkendzior.bsky.social is your go-to source for finding out how long everything we are seeing now has been “Hiding In Pain Sight.” out in “Flyover County,” because she knew what “They Knew.” open.substack.com/pub/sarahken...

Scholar, seductress, alchemist: who was the real Cleopatra? Excellent piece from Saara El-Arifi, who’ll be speaking at #HistFest2026 on 18 April. www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

LOVED Red Dwarf. Loved it. Series, books and all. Giving a double Rimmer Salute to the legend Rob Grant ❤️

The timing of the initial strikes is unusual. Often you see these types of operations launched in the pre-dawn hours at the target site partly to limit civilian casualties. This operation began at the beginning of a work and school day, with millions of adult civilians and children in harms way.

I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.

-small town romance -second chance (love after loss) -enemies (ish) to lovers -looking after a teenager when there's no phone signal! -family loyalty is complicated Belonging - a ##romance ##novella ##britishromance www.books2read.com/u/bzPAZq

It shows that the criticial Goodreads review had gone largely unnoticed, that many couldn't stomach the book privately, but didn't feel able to speak up (how right they were), until Clanchy poured petrol on the review, set it alight for everyone to see, and then blamed everyone else for the fire.

Reminder this all started off when someone quoted her book on Goodreads and she threatened to sue them. For quoting words that she wrote. In her book. That she wrote.

Tried to write a thread on this as Kate Clanchy is back in the news but it won't post. This is a good article on the whole shameful affair, by @michaeljarvie.bsky.social

www.culturematters.org.uk/kate-clanchy... my review.

As the latest rehabilitation tour revs up its engines, here’s something more honest to read. www.theguardian.com/books/2021/a...

57, 100 words now god help me

Sharing again in case anyone is able to help support #LGBTQ+ refugees in the Kakuma camp in Kenya, who are facing extreme hardship & threats to their safety. Donations can help with security, basic needs, education & healthcare: www.gofundme.com/f/the-lgbtq-...

Sharing again in case anyone is able to help support #LGBTQ+ refugees in the Kakuma camp in Kenya, who are facing extreme hardship & threats to their safety. Donations can help with security, basic needs, education & healthcare: www.gofundme.com/f/the-lgbtq-...

It looks like I put the book next to the cat but in fact the cat put herself next to the book. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ For the whole Her Majesty's Royal Coven trilogy by @junodawson.bsky.social, I've not quite finished this final book (Human Rites) but I love this whole coven of witches ✨

Watched the waning gibbous moon rise up on Glastonbury Tor earlier this week ( actual moon not shown due to crapness of photo)

I wrote to M&S about the stupid lingerie department story - confirms nobody offered a bra fitting to a teenage girl. The Telegraph and JK can (always) do one.

Dazzling by @chikodili.bsky.social That's it that's the best book

Another incredible resource is lifeline4gaza.com, which currently includes 400+ funding appeals from people in Gaza and displays the amount donated over the last 5 days. Open the link and you will see the appeals ordered from least to most donations so the most neglected campaigns are at the top.

““As outsiders, we built everything from scratch. There’s still too little support for truly independent, diverse-led publishing – and the playing field isn’t level.” We’re so sad to hear that Tiny Owl Publishing is closing after 10 years. www.thebookseller.com/news/inclusi...

In the latest free post on ‘All Old Strange Things’ I enter the fairy toot… open.substack.com/pub/drfranci...

I have written 45,000 words of my new book and if I write another 45,000 I'll have 90,000 and that's a book

Soad in Gaza has had her bluesky account closed again. She's really scared she's going to lose her son Omar. He's getting weaker and thinner and keeps falling over. Can you help with some ££ for vitamins and food? It would mean a lot. www.gofundme.com/f/providing-... #FreePalestine

Remembering Sir William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, Queen Elizabeth I's Lord High Treasurer and most influential minister, who died #onthisday August 4, 1598 at Cecil House in Westminster, London, at the age of 77. #Elizabethan #Tudors

Can you donate to this project supporting LGBTQ refugees? Their current aim is to set up a poultry project in the camp: 👇

This is the end result of anti-trans bigotry: more harassment of girls and women, more policing of gender roles, more gender McCarthyism.

Its the last week of excavations by @wtm.uk @nattrustarch.bsky.social and Worthing Arch Soc on Highdown Hill above Worthing They've found lots of exciting prehistoric, Roman and sub Roman material Great to see the later life of this early hillfort being explored 📷 yesterday #HillfortsWednesday