The centrist who sneers "populist" is inviting you to believe that there is no difference between "you are worse off because of the swarming hordes of islamic transgenders" and "you are worse off because the rich have used their wealth and power to amass more wealth and power."

Diptych: "Populism" (2026)

Interesting one here, asking about the extent to which politics is meaningfully about debate, the free exchange of ideas and compromise on the best, most beneficial public policies. It is IMO difficult to look at the world and conclude these things are a major factor, let alone a core aspect.

You're an adult. Here's what to read instead of watching that transphobic trash. First up, NK Jemisin's triple-Hugo award winning Broken Earth trilogy. Gorgeous world-building. Brand-new magic. Actual themes of oppression and liberation.

My Giants? They might be

Philip Schaefer @uofupress.bsky.social

Everything is plundered, betrayed, sold, Death's great black wing scrapes the air, Misery gnaws to the bone. Why then do we not despair? Anna #Akhmatova might have the answers… transl by Stanley Kunitz

There's a broken cuneiform tablet from the Old Babylonian period, nearly 4,000 years ago, which preserves a tiny portion of a dialogue between two friends. It feels a bit like the conversations I've been having for the past week, so I wanted to share it.

The referee has just sent two players off from each team and then dropped his shorts and shat in the centre circle, but both sets of fans are booing him so that can only mean he's doing a great job

True and for real, I don’t blame anyone for this: it has just been one horror atop another for the whole of the 21st century so far and every effort the public has made to mitigate it has been ruthlessly beaten into the dirt. It’s amazing anyone has energy and idealism left to e.g. oppose ICE.

firstly, I'd like to congratulate the Greens on a hopeful, positive campaign, and a hopeful positive result, free of smears and division and personal insults. secondly I'd like to say fuck Matt Goodwin, fuck Reform, fuck the Labour Party, fuck all the toads in UK politics and media, have a shite day

Hey, let’s turn to the anti-racist movement to beat back the fascist surge... What’s that? “To shreds”, you say? In terrifyingly intense campaigns of fear and hatred. By our hateful newspapers and MPs, working hand in hand? Well, it sure is a mystery who is responsible for the rise of the far right!

iambic tetrameter ass stick

The BBC are your enemy. This is the BBC people defend.

Okay, but somebody decided that the big messy coalition of leftists, libs and Sensible Moderate Centrists needed to be broken and replaced with a crushing, nation-straddling bloc of Sensible Moderate Centrists, Libs, Reasonable Tories and Racist Pensioners. Can anyone remember whose idea that was?

Considering how power is distributed in tech, where much of it is now held in the hands of a few reactionary oligarchs, I'm amazed some still have hope that something progressive can come from their technological advances... This is not about AI in and of itself but about AI as it really exists

Lord Walney aka John Woodcock has Something Important to say about free speech, so if you were wondering whether it's now ok to display text that expresses support for a proscribed group you should Google "John Woodcock inappropriate texts" for more information

When things are going so well that you have to turn the replies off to just to avoid the avalanche of public support

And that is in truth what I never quite say: Those trashed slopes are home to the foxglove An ancient restorer of the heart’s beat, my love. (My only Valentine’s poem is here for anyone who prefers them unsweetened) poets.org/poem/valenti...

Mahmoud Darwish T. by Catherine Cobham.

@jeremycorbyn.bsky.social : "I can just confirm to the House, under my leadership [of Labour] Mandelson had no role, no influence & no part to play" It was precisely because Corbyn didn't represent the interests of the ruling class (like Mandelson did), that his leadership had to be destroyed

This is like Sooty saying he shouldn’t have hired Matthew www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

When they say Me Too "went too far," they mean "got too close."

That’s what everything from Maga rallies to burning migrant hotels is: turning the ignorant, spiteful and easily manipulated into a both a shield and a weapon. Give em the right motivation, and the poor will enthusiastically protect the wealthy. Always have.

Treat yourself to a little break to read this gem of a poem today.

Liz Truss waiting patiently by her phone for Reform to ring, not realising it's actually a penguin biscuit

I like this mysterious piece by @ianseedauthor.bsky.social from his excellent new @shearsmanbooks.bsky.social collection Forgetfulness.

A small poem in The Rialto which I received today. Cool cover as always, packed with writers I admire as always

The entire practice of politics and news media since the financial crisis has been frantically propping up one gang of frauds after another to shore up the teetering Thatcherite Consensus, and to maintain the post Cold War order at any cost. If push comes to shove, Reform will get their turn.

“ICE agents, get out now because historically, this ends with you hanging from a lamppost and your body paraded through the streets.” - the …we rate dogs guy

BLAKETY BLAKE! Wed 21 Jan, 19:30 (UK) on zoom. A new heaven is begun: the Eternal Hell revives! It must be the return of the world’s greatest (and only?) William Blake online quiz! This free event will emphasise fun and enthusiasm over academic prowess. Join us! blakesociety.org/product/the-...

Really, really happy to have a new poem in one of the first literary journals I ever read as a teen trying to find poems in the world. Here’s “After A Few Beers, My Uncle Asks Me How” in The Southern Review.

‘You Who Wronged’ by Czesław Milosz. For some reason or other this poem came to mind this morning. Written in a time of tyrants: #Poetry

Express your anger like a swan. Alicia Suskin Ostriker

Solidarity with the latest spurious target of the UK's worst prominent racists. What a great book @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social

There has been a relentless, cacophonous campaign to stigmatise pro-Palestinian activists. But the inconvenient truth is that these are just ordinary people of good conscience who see the horrors of Gaza and simply cannot bear to stand by and do nothing. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘i look like my brother’ by Aishvarya Arora, published in Issue Eight of And Other Poems. Read the rest of the issue on our website! #poem #poetry

Just printed off something for Kolleague, you might enjoy this if you've not seen it before (one for @strongmisgiving.bsky.social who will know it well) www.jessamyn.com/barth/baby.h...

Which piece of music have you listened to the most in your life? ‘The song “From Her To Eternity” by Nick Cave.’ Twenty Questions with Mariana Enriquez

Like I say: the bottom line is that the genocide is not negotiable and cannot even be debated, and that everything else in Britain will have to warp and buckle to accommodate it and our complicity in it, forever, because this is what the Americans want. And we are Atlanticists.

YES I love Bryony Littlefair's poems

it’s St Lucy’s day, so you know what that means — time for the best John Donne poem