They ought to cast Celebrity Gladiators like I’m A Celebrity and get at least one person who us political weirdos have heard of. Why can’t Chris Whitty take on Gauntlet and Duel?

Spare a thought for Priti Patel this Christmas, who is no longer able to participate in her favourite festive tradition.

The Snowman and Father Christmas take place in the same universe. In Father Christmas, Jim and Hilda Bloggs from When the Wind Blows are shown in the pub. This therefore suggests that, canonically speaking, the real ending of The Snowman is a massive nuclear war.

Spare a thought for Priti Patel this Christmas, who is no longer able to participate in her favourite festive tradition.

The Snowman and Father Christmas take place in the same universe. In Father Christmas, Jim and Hilda Bloggs from When the Wind Blows are shown in the pub. This therefore suggests that, canonically speaking, the real ending of The Snowman is a massive nuclear war.

Spouse: Good day at work? Chaser: Yes, I stopped the celebrity contestants from winning enough money for their chosen charity to buy a dialysis machine.

Escape your family and have a listen to this. Or better still, subject them to it.

NEW: It's time to reboot Back to the Future <-- This really is my actual, sincere opinion, and here I explain how to do it successfully. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/back-to-ba...

[Quietly opens briefcase] I’ve just got a fresh shipment of YouGov trackers, or if you want something a little stronger, I can get you an MRP if the price is right.

Farage says it confidently, Davey, Polanski and Swinney refuse to say it. Starmer tries to avoid saying it by muttering in such a way that the left thinks he said it and the right think he refused wokely. Badenoch sings the wrong word by mistake then makes sure to say the slur on telly the day after

Ok James, I started out looking my pitchfork for this heresy, but you've actually sold me here this would work.

I nominate "do better" as the year's most irritating phrase. It's just so bloody entitled. Twats sitting around open jawed expecting content to be spoon-fed into their mouth, and then it's not exactly conforming to what they want, they complain from a psuedo position of higher morality. Fuck off.

Come on Ed, at least put on a Santa costume. You've got a reputation to maintain!

ICYMI:

[Quietly opens briefcase] I’ve just got a fresh shipment of YouGov trackers, or if you want something a little stronger, I can get you an MRP if the price is right.

My tech-optimist priors were reinforced earlier when what should have been a horrifying pre-Christmas trip to the supermarket was completely painless thanks to ‘Smart Shop’ technology, where everything is bagged and scanned in real time, reducing checkout to seconds.

Yet another episode of Only Connect where I know at least one of the contestants.

We’re all thinking it.

Maugham is such a crank. Surely even he has a basic knowledge of UK libel law?

I actually really like this, but then I'm about the same age and Back to the Future was nothing like as big a thing for me so I'm not particularly precious about it

Yep, the AI boom is massive, but if you think all recent US economic growth is downstream of data centers, think again—total investment in computers & software contributed roughly 0.3% to the 4.3% GDP growth in Q3

The worst part about this is that you read it wanting me to be wrong, but no, it turns out it is actually a brilliant idea.

NEW: It's time to reboot Back to the Future <-- This really is my actual, sincere opinion, and here I explain how to do it successfully. takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/back-to-ba...

Just making something up to get mad about.

Someone should do a rapid turnaround of a video critique and analysis of the CECOT 60 Minutes segment, publishing clips appropriate for review/analysis/critique under fair use, and then seeing how the YouTube process goes… Could be a great censorship cause for, say, The Free Press to pick up?

Yes, Jake Wallis Simons... imagine opening Twitter and seeing someone with extreme views sharing wildly provocative clips... must be infuriating.

After #onlyconnect why not listen to this transit-oriented quiz from Only Connect question writer @stejormur.bsky.social?!

Like trains and infrastructure? Then you'll enjoy our festive quiz episode, with @stejormur.bsky.social @andrewhunterm.bsky.social and YouTuber CityEd!

This was so much fun. Listen now for the most Abundant quizzing hour of your life!

Christmas pod!

Can't believe @mjrobbins.com's Bedfordshire supremacist views have cost us a listener.

It’s a sign of the health of our democracy that like slamming the door in the face of Black Rod, the royals are forced each year to choose a member of the family who must endure the performance.

If you ever want to understand how unrepresentative your opinions and values are of the wider public, try and put yourself in the mind of someone who would willingly buy tickets to the Royal Variety Performance.

Whichever side of this endless, torturous issue you’re on, you should want accurate data to be collected as that is how we learn things! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

No rush guys! ffs.

It’s here! We were joined by @andrewhunterm.bsky.social, @stejormur.bsky.social and YouTuber CityEd for The Abundance Agenda Christmas Quiz! Go have a listen as it is super fun! www.abundancepod.com/p/the-abunda...

It’s here! We were joined by @andrewhunterm.bsky.social, @stejormur.bsky.social and YouTuber CityEd for The Abundance Agenda Christmas Quiz! Go have a listen as it is super fun! www.abundancepod.com/p/the-abunda...

This is so ridiculously niche. I love it

[preparing to get screamed at] I think I officially don’t need to know if you’re mad that an article is paywalled. Perhaps that can be an Inside Thought

Dropping at 7am tomorrow... it's going to be a fun one!

If you ever want to understand how unrepresentative your opinions and values are of the wider public, try and put yourself in the mind of someone who would willingly buy tickets to the Royal Variety Performance.

If we hadn't Brexited, they could have put passport scanning kiosks around the station for ~90% of passengers, have it take a photo for face recognition (sharing data with both France and UK authorities), and then had passport control at the entry point take about five seconds.

All of these skills built up on the project will be scattered to the winds because we have cancelled a chunk of the project and we're not building any more high speed rail.

If this is the case, ministers could jointly make a policy decision that this is a tram - and thus help speed up its delivery again. There is no law that I am aware of which says alternative modes of transport must be considered. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/politic...

This sounds like something a hijacker would say.

I mean, it’s not that I disagree with the cause per se but isn’t it a little jarring and off to be posting domestic British politics stuff on a ruined building in a warzone? Surely pictures of a ruined building in Ukraine posted onto Nigel Farage’s house would be a bit less…crass?

Canceling the northern leg of HS2 was an act of insane self-harm