Typically good piece @edwardluce.bsky.social The small, but crucial, word that appears more than once is ‘how’. Doubt if Trump has a clue.

Not going to pretend to bring in a legitimate leader. At least not today

How? www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Billionaires unhappy about billionaire tax, oh noes

36 years of research focused on the Front National, the Le Pen family, & their voters #farright #France #tbp

Tariffs on furniture and kitchen cabinets that President Trump had slated to begin yesterday were delayed for a year. The US also sharply lowered planned tariffs on Italian pasta.

Center of Kharkiv, my native town. In the past 4 years, our house got hit, my school got destroyed, family graveyard, most importantly, people.

Wishing all a #HappyNewYear, and a music-filled 2026! 🎆

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... I cannot recommend this programme too highly. For me the show stopper was the Riga concert at 4 hours in. Sublime.

The Jolly Toper or The Jolly Drinker, 1629, by #JudithLeyster (Dutch, 1609–1660). Held by the @rijksmuseum.bsky.social, www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collectio... #womenartists #artherstory #NewYearsEve

Sky News: Finnish police say they have apprehended a ship suspected of damaging a critical undersea telecommunications cable connecting Finland to Estonia.

New Year’s message from President Zelenskyy 🇺🇦

We have already lost “refuted” and “disinterested”. We must not lose “vinyl” as an uncountable noun.

The rhythm of art: Henri Matisse, French artist, pioneer of modern art, leader of fauvism, born #OTD 1869; used colour & fluidity of line to express ‘balance, purity & serenity.’ Tate London

”Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?” Auld Lang Syne, poem by Robert Burns (1788) sung at #Hogmanay #ScottishDiaspora #OTD A Highland Dance, by Scottish artist David Allan, c. 1780; watercolour on paper. National Galleries of Scotland

In this episode of BBC Radio 3's Record Review Podcast from July of this year, Kate Kennedy picks her favourite recordings of Vaugh Williams' Symphony No. 5. Listen here ⬇️

River Landscape with the finding of Moses, painted in 1768 by Francesco Zuccarelli, Italian artist known for decorative Arcadian landscapes; worked in Italy and England, influenced Welsh landscape artist Richard Wilson. He died in Florence #OTD 1788. Windsor Castle, Royal Collection

“Who shall deliver me from this turbulent priest?” Feast of St Thomas Becket, slain at Canterbury Cathedral #OTD 1170. His martyrdom inspired TS Eliot’s verse drama Murder in the Cathedral (1935) and Jean Anouilh’s play Becket (1959). Huth Psalter, c.1280-1300, British Library, Add MS 38116, f. 13r

Madame de Pompadour, maîtresse en titre of Louis XV, born #OTD 1721; collector, bibliophile, patron of arts, promoted Rococo style & Sèvres porcelain factory; championed the Encyclopédie. Portrait 1756 by François Boucher, in intimate, richly decorated Louis XV interior. Alte Pinakothek München

#SaintJohn the Evangelist, 1866, by #VictorineNordenswan (Finnish, 1838-72). Held at Kansallisgalleria / the Finnish National Gallery, www.kansallisgalleria.fi/en/object/62... #artherstory #womenartists #FeastofStJohntheEvangelist #StJohntheEvangelist #StJohntheApostle

The words of The Sussex Carol date back to 1684 when Irish bishop Luke Wadding published A Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs. In the early 1900s, Vaughan Williams heard a tune on a visit to the hamlet of Monk's Gate, which he matched to Wadding's text, creating the carol.

The Martyrdom of #SaintStephen, 1607-11, engraved by Jacques Callot after #LaviniaFontana (Italian, 1552-1614). Held by @metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti... #StStephensDay #artherstory #womenartists #FeastofStStephen

Gold snuff box, 1767, with miniature views of Château de Chanteloup, gouache on vellum; commissioned by duc de Choiseul (1719-1785), statesman, Minister of Foreign Affairs to Louis XV & patron of arts; after 1764, he fell from favour & retired to his Château de Chanteloup, near Amboise. Met Museum

Young Man seated under a Tree, c. 1595, watercolour on vellum, miniature by Isaac Oliver, Huguenot artist born in Rouen 1565, pupil of Nicholas Hilliard; formal garden in background inspired by Dutch Renaissance architectural pattern book by Vredeman de Vries 1568. Royal Collections Trust

”Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife...” Thomas Gray, poet, scholar, born #OTD 1716; author of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, published 1751, later illustrated by William Blake. Portrait by John Giles Eccardt, c. 1748, National Portrait Gallery Blake illustration, Yale British Art

From hearts to parts, I’ve made a bold career move. Read on as I do something completely different #tbp

When the history of this cruel era is written, the shame should be no less than the shame we now feel about the roundups and detention of Japanese Americans in World War II. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/the-brazen-cruelty-of-the-trump-regime

Perhaps I can help this research effort. 1. Origins of TDS lie in revulsion at a dangerous bigot coming to power. 2. Manifestations of TDS include joining others to resist Trump’s authoritarian efforts. 3. Effects of TDS are an enlivening of the intellect snd a sharpening of the conscience.

"While humanity seeks to become 'god' in order to dominate others, God chooses to become human in order to free us from every form of slavery." #PopeLeoXIV #MerryChristmas www.ncronline.org/vatican/turn...

This work by Pieter Buegel is probably the very first painting of a White Christmas. The pregnant, blue-cloaked Mary rides a donkey led by Joseph, but they are inconspicuous as part of the throng (The Census at Bethlehem, 1566) www.artinsociety.com/bruegelrsquo...

'Fantasia on Christmas Carols', composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, performed here in 2019 by The Cambridge Singers, conducted by John Rutter. ✨ Listen here ⬇️

Robert A. McCabe (American *1934) A caique (traditional, wooden Greek fishing boat) laden with grapes arrives at port at sunset, Katapola Amorgos, Greece, 1960s. From Robert A. McCabe’s fascinating photo book “Wooden Boats of the Aegean”

”Where shall we see a better daughter, or a kinder sister, or a truer friend?” Emma, by Jane Austen, published #OTD 1815. Hypothetical Map of Highbury by Penny Gay, ‘Jane Austen’s Emma’ in Horizon Studies of Literature 1995 | Jane Austen’s House, Chawton

Then and Now The Little Street Delft c.1658, painted by Johannes Vermeer; now identified by archival research as 40-42 Vlamingstraat, Delft, photographed (right) in 2017. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Persian Sibyl, 1647-8, by Guercino, Italian Baroque painter active in Bologna, died #OTD 1666; the pose and exotic costume of Guercino’s Sibyl inspired Mengs, Benjamin West, and Louise Élisabeth Vigée Lebrun. Musei Capitolini

The tribute money, fresco painted c. 1425 by Masaccio, early Renaissance Florentine painter, born #OTD 1401, whose naturalism and innovative use of perspective & chiaroscuro influenced Western art. Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

A Dance to the Music of Time, painted c. 1635 by preeminent French Baroque artist Nicolas Poussin; inspired cycle of 12 novels (1951-75), by Anthony Powell, born #OTD 1905. Wallace Collection London

Danish artist Peder Severin Krøyer invites us into his sunny garden, where his wife Marie sits reading in the shade, her dog sleeping at her feet, amongst a profusion of white roses (Roses, 1893)

“Regular, open and robust questioning of government is a cornerstone of democratic accountability." Or, more accurately, no accountability, no democracy. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The managing director of Teesside airport is running the publicly owned business while holding a remarkable conflict of interest: he’s also on the books of an investor who tried to buy the airport and has snaffled up a large swathe of adjacent land. Full story in the new Private Eye, out now.

Applications are now open for our postgraduate composition study scholarships! ✒️ Grants of up to £8K each will be available to selected applicants who demonstrate exceptional talent and who are planning a professional career in composition.

Busy year, 2025. At the UCL European Institute, @uclei.bsky.social, we've put together our latest Annual Review. It's colourful. And packs a bit of a punch. (Right on time for the festive season, too.) Huge thanks to our supporters, contributors, collaborators. www.ucl.ac.uk/european-ins...

Forest still life with squirrel, c. 1683-7, by #AnnaRuysch (Dutch, 1666-1741), baptized #otd, Dec 19. Held by Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, www.kunsthalle-karlsruhe.de/kunstwerke/A... #artherstory #womenartists Visit #ArtHerstory’s resource page for the artist at artherstory.net/anna-ruysch/

A Dickens Christmas ”God bless us, everyone!” A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, published #OTD 1843. British Library

Rain, Steam and Speed, The Great Western Railway, oil on canvas, 1844, by JMW Turner, great English Romantic artist, inspired Monet & other French impressionists; died #OTD 1851, buried at St Paul’s. An early GWR broad gauge locomotive crossing Brunel’s Maidenhead Bridge. National Gallery London

Merry Christmas everyone and thank you. #JoyeuxNoel The Nativity, painted by the Limbourg brothers 1412-16 Tempera on vellum Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, Musée Condé Château de Chantilly

Competent experienced career FCDO diplomat. Good. Just the person for the job. (NB quite apart from Epstein, Mandelson's clever-clever trade and tech deal with the US is falling apart. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...)