It's a THREADS Tuesday, y'all! The newest episode is now up, on @slackcityradio.bsky.social via @totallyradio.bsky.social, and the theme is IF LOVE WAS MONEY: songs that track the connection between the wallet and the heart. (Link in reply).

If somebody hasn't set the clip of Thomas Tuchel repeating "It is pure mentality, it is pure mentality" to a rave backing by the end of today, and put a donk on it, this isn't the country I know and love.

I see that Spain's attacking line-up of Olmo, Oyarzabal and Yamal once again proved too much for the opposition.

The weird thing about Andy Burnham is the way he always looks AI-generated in photos even when he's not. This strikes me as more than a little symbolic.

Look, he wanted to, but by the time he got there, it was over.

There's a saying that cheats never prosper, but anyone with the slightest experience of life or knowledge of history knows that cheats prosper mightily. Which is what makes it all the more satisfying when they do come a cropper.

Blimey. It was good, but it wasn't *that* good.

It wasn't cheap, and I had to fight off some serious competition, but I have finally acquired my perfect evening outfit.

Think David Gilmour might be overdoing this new crash diet.

Hoopla! The latest episode of THREADS on @slackcityradio.bsky.social is up, up, up, just like the spirits of the usually downbeat artists it features, performing atypically cheerful songs - a theme which calls for the summery title GOTHS IN HOT WEATHER. Link in reply, via @totallyradio.bsky.social.

"He now saw the Great Patriotic War as a struggle between totalitarian states that crushed beneath them tens of millions of lives." My review in @jewishchron.bsky.social of From The Front Line, a superb collection of World War II reportage by the great novelist Vasily Grossman. Link in reply.

Congratulations on achieving victory in their first ever World Cup knockout tie to Canada, and their head coach, Sting.

I'd have thought Andy Burnham had enough on his plate without assisting USA head coach Mauricio Pochettino at the World Cup but doubtless it's some brilliant bit of narrative strategy I don't yet understand.

Since this heatwave began five days ago, the country has basically melted. Schools have closed, trains have halted, cats have imploded, pavements have liquefied and drained away. Meanwhile, the pears I put out to ripen in the sunshine on Monday remain impervious even to a diamond-cutting laser.

Me: "Oh, how I envy Germany its solid infrastructure and functioning public services." Germany:

Good to see a rejuvenated Melvyn Bragg enjoying Argentina's win over Austria in the company of Maxi Rodriguez yesterday.

Possibly unpopular opinion, I don't know: if you really want to benefit society, don't ban the under-16s from social media. Ban the over-16s.

Despite gloating over Turkey's early exit from the World Cup, I do feel badly for their moonlighting head coach, Bryan Ferry.

Have to admit, Andy Burnham's proposed cabinet picks do look an upgrade on the present incumbents.

Tag yourself: I'm fourth from right, in the black suit.

Also, bunch of grumpy old druids found in nearby pub talking about how much better it was than the new one.

The latest THREADS is up, on @slackcityradio.bsky.social via @totallyradio.bsky.social, and it's all about ODYSSEYS - epic, eventful and/or meaningful journeys depicted in song. Voyage to the reply for the link.

The FIFA 2026 World Cup TV replay ident - a tawdry, clunky, gilded slab of sheer ugliness representing nothing other than its own crushing self-glorification, and whirling unavoidably into your coupon like a set of brass knuckles - seems all too aptly symbolic.

"Never speak to me or my opinion-dividing son again."

June is here! It's raining! The latest THREADS is up, on @slackcityradio.bsky.social via @totallyradio.bsky.social! The theme is ICYMI: 1991, delving into the 1991 tunes that were overlooked at the time, or have been overlooked in retrospect. Link in reply, if you fancy it. Ditto if you don't.

"Common People" is the "Stairway To Heaven" of Britpop. Don't @ me.

The only way to stop a bad girl with a gun is with a Good Boy with a gun.

I see the Self-Awareness Olympics have started early again.

As somebody who has been grudgingly obliged both to acknowledge and envy the first-rate executive structure at Manchester City FC during the past decade, I can only applaud their reported plan to replace Pep Guardiola with Enzo Maresca, presumably on the basis that nobody will actually notice.

I'm in @jewishchron.bsky.social, writing about the great Paul Simon and the New York Jewish golden age that made him. Link in reply.

All former role models renounced. New role model acquired.

New THREADS who dis? This episode's theme is ANOTHER MUSIC IN A DIFFERENT KITCHEN - songs from one genre that are all about music in another genre. Hear it on @slackcityradio.bsky.social c/o @totallyradio.bsky.social via the link in the reply.

I love George Harrison, but I have to say he has gone down severely in my estimation now I know he had a coat fashioned for himself out of a whole wookiee.

What is the most underrated Bob Dylan album, and why is it this one?

The latest episode of THREADS is all about OPPOSITE SONGS. "Yesterday" vs. "Tomorrow"! "Stairway To Heaven" vs. "Highway To Hell"! "Love Will Keep Us Together" vs. "Love Will Tear Us Apart"! Spoiler: you won't hear any of those. But you'll hear lots of others. Link in reply.

When I saw this Panorama-based story about the torments inflicted upon British Jews in their home country, on the BBC News site, c. 7.15 am, it had been filed to "Middle East". Minutes later, it had been corrected to "UK". I would be interested to hear the BBC's explanation for the original error.

Want to know what I made of the whole Kanye West/Wireless Festival farrago? Of course you do. Read all about it in @jewishchron.bsky.social - link in reply.

ngl, they can name their price for me to watch this on pay-per-view.

Blasting off from the archive and splashing down on your weekend via the far side of the moon, it's a topical THREADS packed with space songs and cosmic tunes. You can voyage to infinity and beyond with the link in reply.

It's Easter Sunday, and the current edition of THREADS - on @slackcityradio.bsky.social via @totallyradio.bsky.social - covers EASTER EVERYWHERE. Hear it via the link in the reply, if you want a deep dive into Easter-related music variously sacred, secular, profane or other. And if you don't, don't.

Happy "Let my people go"/"YOU KILLED CHRIST!" weekend (delete as applicable) to all who celebrate. I'm in this week's @jewishchron.bsky.social, writing about how I still love the art of people who seemingly hate me. (Link in reply.)

I interviewed Will Self for @jewishchron.bsky.social, and found a man in some ways profoundly changed from the one who notoriously "resigned" as a Jew twenty years ago, while in others still very much at odds with mainstream Jewry - but seeking to mend fences. Link in reply.

It's Tuesday, and there's a new episode of THREADS up, on the hotly topical theme of EASTER EVERYWHERE. You can hear it on @slackcityradio.bsky.social, via @totallyradio.bsky.social, through the link in the comments. Or, if you prefer, you can not do that. Free will innit.

New THREADS is up, y'all, on @slackcityradio.bsky.social via @totallyradio.bsky.social, and this episode is about MISLEADING INTROS - when you think a song is going to be one thing, and it turns out to be quite another. Link in reply, natch.

I believe this is what is known as "failing to read the room".

10/10 conceptual gag, no notes.

I mean, technically, it probably was, but I'm not sure that's what you meant.

After it was discovered blu-tacked to the door of Mr and Mrs Rembrandt's fridge.

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?