Doing a slow read of Les Miserables. Wow... Waterloo, couldn't escape if I wanted to.

They want to police our genitalia and run tests on our bodies to “prove” we are women, at which point they will still deny it. This is why the only feminism is trans-inclusive and why transphobia and anti-trans discrimination should be a top political priority.

I say this as someone who writes 15,000 to 20,000 words a week: skill issue. It takes practice to write! You need to write more! Writing make you think better! More word do better thought! Then think more good thought and word better!

Everyone should have a home Yet 17,308 human beings are now in emergency accommodation Yet the CSO announced this week there were over 70,000 homes vacant which could be compulsory rented This is a broken social contract This is down to government policy This is #DerelictIreland #speirghorm

Things you find out when researching for college: Ireland: Seamus was ranked 55 in the 1966 and 402 in 2025 Germany: Jörg was ranked 2 in 1960 and 5,840 in 2024

Vodafone - brought to you by Kafka.

UK's biggest energy firm has seen a 50% rise in solar panel sales after the US-Israel war with Iran pushed oil and gas prices up www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

57 of my fellow students were arrested, academically disciplined, and barred from campus 2 weeks before finals. And then the visas of some of those students were quietly revoked. And then the DEI office was killed. And then we watched our mentors’ grants evaporate over “woke”.

This by @aubreyhirsch.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/aubreyhi...

Hello world, I'm looking for examples of translations of children's literature where either: the story is changed a lot and adapted to the target culture or: It's not changed a lot, keeps its source culture, names etc. Bonus: they featured bullying [Not doing the wizard ones]

Longform baby! In this video essay I ask: Why are bisexuals obsessed with The Mummy? Thank you to all Blueskyers who helped me with my research! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7lv...

Strange situation where we await a statement from Iran to check whether there's any truth to what US president is saying.

We're thrilled to have Farhana Shaikh, editor of Dahlia Books, joining us in the Salon tonight, 5:30-7pm via Zoom!

*more than 84 countries combined* www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Happy St Cuthbert's Day.

Quick postscript. I sent this to my friend Jim after reading @andrewmale.bsky.social's review: "Wow. Not what I was expecting! It's like Charles Ives wrote rock music."

A thread -- which world leaders are calling for a shift to clean energy as a security investment in light of Iran War? First up, French President Macron: "...everything we do to more toward the transition is also about reducing our dependence.." (1/x) #cleanenergyisnationalsecurity

If we look at how the American as well as Iranian leaderships are responding to escalation around the Gulf the likely outcomes this spring boil down to: A. War B. More War C. Lots More War D. All Of The Above

Any experts on Czech animation here?

Going to a seminar on Czech film today and remembering that RTE used to show Czech animation as a filler back in 70s and 80s, and then remembering that ...actually...it was my mum (as head of scheduling) who was responsible! www.youtube.com/watch?v=puzC...

This is a great book and it's good to see it translated into English! 👇

AI writes your paper, then AI reviews your paper, then AI ingests your paper.

Remember when DOGE was destroying foreign aid because it was supposedly too expensive? The entire US foreign aid budget in 2024 was $62 billion. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

The cost of fresh vegetables is up a stunning FORTY EIGHT PERCENT from February 2025: www.bls.gov/news.release...

This Life is 30 years old.. (Yikes) BBC are showing it again from tonight. www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...

Joe Kent? Never heard of him.

We compiled our favorite moments of dogs enjoying snow this winter for you! We hope you love it ❤️ 14/10 for all

So many thoughts about this. It’s a damn good piece of political communication, using historical references to make its arguments.

In 1946, Maureen O'Hara was the 1st Irish person seeking American citizenship to be officially documented as "Irish" and not English. m.facebook.com/watch/?v=115...

Suckin' diesel www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...

For the day that's in it: Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (available for free until tomorrow). www.youtube.com/watch?v=obX-... #speirgorm

All Oscars are local. Best Actress Jesse Buckley’s relations in Killarney celebrate her win. www.radiokerry.ie/news/jessie-...

I'm doing an event in Berlin on Wednesday evening with a coddle (new collective noun) of Irish writers: Christine Dwyer Hickey, Paul Lynch, Martin Doyle, and Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin. It's free but you need to register – also available online! Dö cöme! www.literatureireland.com/latest/writi...

Spoke to the Guardian about the idea of quitting LLMs for climate: -“I see this all as very much part of the tactic of trying to embed these systems into society and instil dependency in a fashion similar to the growth of single-use plastics in the 1970s.” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Everything is fine

There’s petty and then there’s ✨opera petty✨ 😂

Big shout out to all the single mums today who still have to decide what to make for the bleedin' dinner. #speirgorm

The Wall Street Journal just illustrated the core argument of my book: a system rigged to reward capital over labor is one in which even full-time work no longer secures the most basic material needs. This is the economic order that produces the "working homeless." www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Frustrating to think that governments could have done the green transition practically for free in the 2010s and now here we are, worrying about oil prices again

Switzerland has said that it refused two US requests to fly over its territory yesterday in operations linked to the current war on Iran, citing its neutrality under international law jrnl.ie/6985831

Well... I guess she's forgotten now but I personally will never ever forget what Mo Mowlam did. She's saved a lot of Irish lives and a lot of pain.

The billionaires are not coming to save us. We're building a new news organisation from scratch supported by reader funding. We'd love you to be part of it. Your membership subscriptions enable us to do this kind of reporting. 🙏 www.thenerve.news/membership

President Connolly’s St Patrick’s Day card invokes UN charter on ‘scourge of war’

Let there be as much outrage from politicians in Washington when kids go hungry as there is when I break bread with New Yorkers.

One $16k NEH grant at a research library can change the life of a scholar forever while adding to our shared knowledge of history and culture. These depositions will drive me mad

Literary translator pals: a new competition, in honour of the late, great David Bellos. For unpublished samples. More details here: janklowandnesbit.co.uk/prize #xl8 #literarytranslation 🌐

“What I think is actually important for everybody to understand is that the US has been very clear that they want to divide Europe. They don’t like the European Union” @kajakallas.bsky.social told @financialtimes.com. “This is a very complicated relationship we are having" as.ft.com/r/a418af29-b...