Sam Leith
@questingvole.bsky.social
📤 7091
📥 1550
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@spectator lit ed. “Clock-white, still friendly to the earth.”
https://bit.ly/TheHauntedWood
pinned post!
My book is out in paperback TODAY. All about children’s books, which are the best and most important sort.
bit.ly/4pdXMNt
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The Haunted Wood | Oneworld
'A MARVEL' PHILIP PULLMAN Do you remember the first time you fell in love with a book? The stories we read as children extend far beyond our childhoods; they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys ...
http://bit.ly/4pdXMNt
9 months ago
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Emma Darwin
1 day ago
A study has shown that the more receptive someone is to corporate jargon, the worse they are at their job - but the more likely they are to be promoted.
@questingvole.bsky.social
unpacks how, and why, that's the case.
substack.com/inbox/post/1...
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Bollocks and Belonging
Rhetoric and writing: LinkedIn cobblers, vertical silos, liminal identities
https://substack.com/inbox/post/199572135
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Sturgeon is fishy
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Nicola Sturgeon is no victim
Nicola Sturgeon’s ex-husband is not only a crook of shameless proportions. How did Nicola Sturgeon not notice?
https://spectator.com/article/nicola-sturgeon-is-no-victim/
1 day ago
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Moisés Jauregui-Sanchez
4 days ago
Ocultar procesos inacabados bajo el mito del éxito ignora que la curación real y la biología no son lineales. Como el fenaquistiscopio del siglo XIX, que simula movimiento continuo uniendo fotogramas fijos, el cerebro crea una ilusión de estabilidad que reprime el cansancio y deforma la realidad.
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Why, alas, it's impossible to mock business bollocks out of existence
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Bollocks and Belonging
Rhetoric and writing: LinkedIn cobblers, vertical silos, liminal identities
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/bollocks-and-belonging?r=7xzwu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
5 days ago
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On Ben Rhodes’s new book
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The speeches that changed America
Ben Rhodes, who wrote for Obama, analyses the US’s constant identity crisis through its history of speech making. Here are our favourites
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/non-fiction/all-we-say-ben-rhodes-review-american-speeches/
6 days ago
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Ola Wikander
9 days ago
"Ancient Tongues and Ideas about Truth" –
@questingvole.bsky.social
(Sam Leith) interviewing yours truly on Axess Television, on Kabbalah, Nāgārjuna and other such interesting stuff! :
youtu.be/ZUucCE7MXZ0?...
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Ola Wikander: Ancient Tongues and Ideas about Truth
YouTube video by Axess Television
https://youtu.be/ZUucCE7MXZ0?si=zyv36yUjHnDEAxcB
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Andrew and the cops
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The Andrew investigation is looking increasingly desperate
‘Show me the man, and I’ll find you the crime’ is the can-do attitude attributed to Stalin’s chief of the secret police, Lavrentiy Beria. There’s more than a flavour of that attitude, I think, in Tha...
https://spectator.com/article/the-andrew-investigation-is-looking-increasingly-desperate/
9 days ago
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Six Times Robert Lowell Was Funny
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/six-times-robert-lowell-was-funny?r=7xzwu&selection=65dc82dd-4282-41e1-97ba-26b4706ac1ee&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&textColor=%23ffffff&bgImage=true
13 days ago
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On the Commonwealth Prize AI stooshie
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AI paranoia has come for fiction
‘Polished and confident, with a melodic voice that lingers long after the final line, Jamir Nazir’s prose pulses with a voice of restraint and quiet authority.’ So said Sharma Taylor, regional judge f...
https://spectator.com/article/ai-paranoia-has-come-for-fiction/
14 days ago
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What's Wrong With Democracy
Enraging stuff about why rich people are getting so much richer and votin' don't seem to help
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/whats-wrong-with-democracy?r=7xzwu&selection=ce12e958-08fa-457b-bba1-1310180c6041&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&textColor=%23ffffff&bgImage=true
19 days ago
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I reviewed a really fun slice of weird fiction
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Solace House by Will Maclean review – immensely fun gothic horror with a psychedelic twist
A dead poet’s cluttered mansion is the setting for a heady brew of magic, mystery and mushrooms
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/may/07/solace-house-by-will-maclean-review-immensely-fun-gothic-horror-with-a-psychedelic-twist
26 days ago
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It's Sylvia Plath! With the editors of the new complete, featuring pomes about skipping and singing and stuff.
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The Poems of Sylvia Plath
My guests on this week’s Book Club podcast are Amanda Golden and Karen V. Kukil, editors of the new The Poems of Sylvia Plath, a variorum collection of every poem Plath wrote. They tell me what light ...
https://spectator.com/podcast/the-poems-of-sylvia-plath/
27 days ago
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On the moral courage of Reform
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Potholes could pave the way to victory for Reform
Reform has found its white whale, its True Cross, the transformative technology that, could transform Broken Britain
https://spectator.com/article/potholes-could-pave-the-way-to-victory-for-reform/
30 days ago
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Everyone’s a critic
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Man charged over bomb hoax after Peter Kay show evacuated
Arena in Birmingham cleared after report of suspicious bag, with comedian pulled from stage mid-performance
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/may/02/peter-kay-bomb-hoax-birmingham-man-charged?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
about 1 month ago
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On libraries and censorship for the Toronto Globe & Mail
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Opinion: The free exploration of library shelves is the essence of childhood reading
To read is to experience imaginative freedom: freedom beyond the prescriptions of your parents, freedom to encounter the unexpected
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-free-exploration-of-library-shelves-is-the-essence-of-childhood/
about 1 month ago
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On the joy of Nicholson Baker, and the good old days Of presidential assassination fantasies
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Three Books: An old one and two new ones
Rereading, feat: Nicholson Baker, Anthony McGowan and Nicholas Binge
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/three-books-an-old-one-and-two-new?r=7xzwu&utm_medium=ios
about 1 month ago
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On the glories of Wallace Stevens, via Stephen King
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Downward to darkness
Rereading, feat Wallace Stevens, Stephen King and J G Ballard, with a cameo from Germaine Greer
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/downward-to-darkness?r=7xzwu&selection=6958dae9-fe58-48e2-b935-cbf7bb910f89&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&textColor=%23ffffff&bgImage=true
about 1 month ago
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On Andrew Lloyd Webber and the bottle
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Andrew Lloyd Webber and the dangerous truth about alcohol
There’s something, I think, very heartening and touching in reading Andrew Lloyd Webber talk about joining Alcoholics Anonymous
https://spectator.com/article/andrew-lloyd-webber-and-the-dangerous-truth-about-alcohol/
about 1 month ago
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Is funny.
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Opinion | Don’t Use A.I. to Do This
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/opinion/art-artificial-intelligence.html?smid=bs-share
about 2 months ago
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New podcast, with Joe Sacco
spectator.com/podcast/joe-...
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Joe Sacco: The Once and Future Riot
My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the reporter – cartoonist Joe Sacco, talking about his most recent book The Once and Future Riot, about Hindu/Muslim violence in rural India. He tells me h...
https://spectator.com/podcast/joe-sacco-the-once-and-future-riot/
about 2 months ago
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New substack, on choosing winners and publishing losers, plus Viktor Orban's tram ticket
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A Busy Week
Reading and Writing, feat: Listicles, Tucker's Luck, Orban's Tram Ticket, Joe Sacco and more
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/a-busy-week?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
about 2 months ago
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Will he have to take an actual dump on the White House lawn before the GOP decides all might not be right with the President?
about 2 months ago
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In other news, very excited to be on this year’s Baillie Gifford panel
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2026 The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction
The Baillie Gifford Prize rewards excellence in non-fiction writing, bringing the best in intelligent reflection on the world to new readers.
https://www.thebailliegiffordprize.co.uk/year-by-year/2026
about 2 months ago
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On London, the sharia law hellhole
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London hasn’t fallen
In this line of thinking, London serves as a warning of the sort of hellhole the English-speaking cities of the United States could turn into
https://spectator.com/article/london-hasnt-fallen/?edition=us
about 2 months ago
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Sam Leith
about 2 months ago
Had a similar teenage horror reading arc, so this was pleasantly nostalgic. As always, this Substack is a great source for finding out about upcoming/recent books that had somehow passed me by and now need to be acquired instantly!
add a skeleton here at some point
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The horror! The horror!
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The Horror! The Horror!
Rereading, reading, writing, and more on the scourge of AI: feat. James Herbert, Walter Benjamin, Guy N Smith, J M Synge and more
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/the-horror-the-horror?r=7xzwu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
about 2 months ago
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Sam Leith
City of Magpies
2 months ago
If you could not attend nor watch the "Haunted Woods and Grimm Tales" event from March 27, with Philip Pullman and Sam Leith discussing various topics (including some rose or field considerations... but not only) with Julia Eccleshar, it is here for you to watch...
add a skeleton here at some point
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James Barr
2 months ago
This gets to the fundamental reason why I won't use AI: if you have to check everything it says, is its value greater than your reputation?
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Tom Freeman
2 months ago
Preston's account of his ChatGPT-plagiarism makes AI out to be a monkey's paw/evil genie, fulfilling your wish but in a way that does you far more harm than good
add a skeleton here at some point
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Anita Chaudhuri
2 months ago
Why on earth would Alex Preston, a talented and experienced literary critic, risk using Ai to write a review for the notoriously nitpicky New York Times? Excellent explainer behind baffling story by
@questingvole.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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I tend to agree
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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I wrote on AI trashing literary life, and spoke to Alex Preston about the NYT book review scandal
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Why LLMs Ruin Everything
Reading, Writing: feat. Matt Goodwin, Alex Preston and the Bookpocalypse
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/why-llms-ruin-everything?r=7xzwu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
2 months ago
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On MattGPT and the future of bookishness
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The illusion and delusion of Matt Goodwin
“MattGPT” is a nickname that will follow failed Reform candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election Matt Goodwin to his grave
https://spectator.com/article/the-illusion-and-delusion-of-matt-goodwin/
2 months ago
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Sam Leith
CJ Payling
2 months ago
Just watched a very informative discussion arranged by
@britishlibrary.bsky.social
, called Haunted Woods and Grimm Tales with
@philippullman.bsky.social
and
@questingvole.bsky.social
#ReaderSky
#WriterSky
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samleith.substack.com/p/enough
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Enough
Recovery, writing, reading: feat. Midwinter Break, Depeche Mode, Count Orsino, Robert Browning and some nearly cloned corgis
https://samleith.substack.com/p/enough
2 months ago
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Sam Leith
Graham Kings
2 months ago
In
#Aristotle’s
‘Rhetoric’, we hear of ‘Polycrates, who delivered a panegyric to the mice that gnawed through the bow strings of an invading Assyrian army.’ Sam Leith (
@questingvole.bsky.social
), ‘You Talkin’ to Me?
#Rhetoric
from Aristotle to Obama’ p. 30.
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Sam Leith
Greg Sargent
2 months ago
Trump just raged at our NATO allies for refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bail him out of the fiasco he created. He threatened to withdraw from NATO with childish insults. This is best seen as an admission of serious political weakness. 1/ (new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2080...
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Trump Erupts in Fury Over His War Failures—and Exposes a Big Weakness
His rage at NATO is actually an admission that he needs our allies’ help—and that he wants somebody to blame as his war goes from bad to worse.
https://newrepublic.com/article/208047/trump-war-failures-exposes-weakness
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The Atlantic
2 months ago
Kharg, a small, rocky island just off the Iranian coast, could be the Trump administration’s key to victory—or its undoing—in the Iran war,
@brynntannehill.bsky.social
argues.
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The Trouble With Seizing Kharg Island
The Trump administration is contemplating a move that could end or escalate the Iran war.
https://bit.ly/47euhnc
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Sam Leith
James Tarry
3 months ago
This is really good, on Betjeman especially, who is a good poet. Suggs carries ‘On A Portrait of a Deaf Man’ in his wallet.
add a skeleton here at some point
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Another Substack. Come for Betjeman, stay for Veruca Salt
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My Back Pages No.1
Reading, rereading, decimating: feat. John Betjeman and Donald Trump
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/my-back-pages-no1?r=7xzwu&utm_medium=ios
3 months ago
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Sam Leith
Lord Businessman II
3 months ago
Isaac Chotiner is to the American Interview what Anton Chigurh is for asset recovery
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Sam Leith
Rachael King
3 months ago
I have put my Listener review of
@questingvole.bsky.social
Sam Leith's A Haunted Wood up on my website a year later in case anyone is interested and missed it the first time.
www.rachael-king.com/review-the-h...
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Review: The Haunted Wood by Sam Leith - Rachael King
This review first appeared in the New Zealand Listener in January 2025 THE HAUNTED WOOD: A HISTORY OF CHILDHOOD READING Sam Leith “Can you remember the first time you fell...
https://www.rachael-king.com/review-the-haunted-wood-by-sam-leith/
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New newsletter, on why people write poetry but don’t read it, and some other bits and bobs
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Poems, Unread; Mary Beard's Homework; Lovely Swedes
Writing, reading, publishing
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/poems-unread-mary-beards-homework?r=7xzwu&utm_medium=ios
3 months ago
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I can barely express how much I loathed that Hegseth Iran video, but I had a bash
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Trump is heading for a hard reckoning over Iran
It isn’t a sign of Trump Derangement Syndrome to consider the Trump administration's Iran war video obscene
https://spectator.com/article/trump-is-heading-for-a-hard-reckoning-over-iran/
3 months ago
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New Substack: a print-out-and-keep guide to making quotation marks play nice with full stops and commas
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Quote Unquote
Writing; feat. Geoffrey Pullum, Philip Hensher, General Patton, and an imaginary Beastie Boy
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/quote-unquote?r=7xzwu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
3 months ago
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Pissed-off Hillary is the best Hillary. I’m going to spend the next 48 hours just watching different videos of her eye-rolling Lauren Boebert. I think I’m in love.
add a skeleton here at some point
3 months ago
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Sam Leith
paulusthewoodgnome
3 months ago
This 'correction' from
@lewisgoodall.com
regarding accusations from Reform and the Conservatives that the Greens engaged in sectarianism, deserves to be widely read.
#c4news
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New newsletter, in which I consider stinky book reviews and overlong speeches
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Dishing It Out, Taking It
Writing and Reading
https://open.substack.com/pub/samleith/p/dishing-it-out-taking-it?r=7xzwu&utm_medium=ios
3 months ago
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