I bet you can think of a host of other reasons …

It’s the wife not the mother. The wife has a history of controlling her men. Ask the ‘crazy’ ex’s mother. #beckhams

In 1943, the Norwegian author Knut Hamsun travelled to Germany and met with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. After returning to Norway, he sent his Nobel medal to Goebbels as a gesture of thanks for the meeting. Goebbels was honoured by the gift.

He is going to take it and he’s going to do just what he was always going to do. Just you watch. That prize means so much more to her than it does to him.

Damn this was a good story. V well written

Somewhere a song is trying to help you and you’re arguing with a stranger instead.

Can you relate to the quiet sex wars in your home? How do you cope?

‘Women tell me they felt “on edge for no clear reason”, but there were dozens of small reasons, layered tightly on top of each other until their system reached capacity.’

In my work, I see a universal truth: the journey out of control is, first and foremost, a journey back to the body. And the body’s most sacred, non-negotiable ground is #sleep. #trauma #booksky

The calls from America this weekend to "abolish the EU" are for one simple reason: the EU is the only thing that can keep European nation-states from becoming Russian or American vassals.

On the loss of the last creative space in my corner of London. #CreativeCommunity #ThirdPlaces #IndependentOverCorporate

Ever notice this pattern? We see a gap. A need for fresh stories. We build a new platform, a new hashtag, a safe space. And then... the same loud voices rush in, center themselves, and dominate the conversation all over again.

I’m watching the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light about the poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley. Firstly, II adore their creative nest. Second, I love how analog they are to support that nest.

This #Christmas, a quiet book is outselling polemics & thrillers. It's not a children's fable. It's a precise psychological antidote for modern adults. Read the full diagnosis & find your part (Boy, Mole, Fox, or Horse?):

Watched Nuremberg. Until we come to terms with who we are and what we’re capable of, we repeat what we always have done and call it fate.

I’m pretty sure to have a book with me. This morning it fell out my pocket into the mud. The dog came running to console me but the fucked off I go the meadow with her friends. Now I must read Leslie Jamison’s Empathy Exams covered in mud. I think I’ll keep it.

Really useful advice for authors on how to deal with the Anthropic settlement. In my case, I'm trying to figure out whether I or my publishers are the reproduction-rights-holders, which matters for where the payouts go.

I was chatting with someone about my plans for my next book. ‘Gosh! You’re a glutton for punishment!’ They said. No. No, I’m not. I love the planning. I love the research. I love the grafting and the crafting. I love the fails and the re-writes and growing my skill with each project. I love it all.

Attention musicians & artists of all stripes: THIS is why making art matters! You have no idea how it will inspire someone: #FeelGood #MakeArt

The real question is not "Why is Bluesky so left-coded," the real question is "Why can't the right exist in a social media environment without algorithmic assistance, where people can ignore them"

True story. #writingcommunity

It’s days like this I’m glad I kept my favourite DVDs

‘Be more Steve’ is gonna be the new ‘Bye Felicia’.

Watching The Stringer the fire is fuelled to demand more from Prize organisations to right certain wrongs against race and women. Prestigious prizes are all about credit…

Dobson and the Cult of Obedience

Tube read. Especially living @zadiesmith.bsky.social essays on Didion and Mantel. Superbly clear sighted yet empathetic. Already up there with the not yet dead English writers.

RIP Tom Stoppard

One day, we will simply have to stop. Stop engaging. Stop buying. Stop looking. Stop listening. It’s the only recourse. We simply withdraw our patronage, and the product will become obsolete and wither away. Just like any other out of date objects.

Finally got to see the new Orwell 2+2=5 Documentary—it did not disappoint. I was impressed with how uncomfortably honest he was about his Burmese Days.

Just finished watching The Anniversary. The modern day 1984. V powerful.

The Hack. Just wow. And still, we deal with the fallout of unchecked power.

The snow has begun. London snow. Clean air coming soon.

How she was bullied to protect Dershowitz

As a writer, I find the word ‘like’ the most offensive word when my work is described. I toil over every sentence —for weeks even.

Absolutely loved Sarah Wainwright’s Riot Women!

Another reason how influencers had ruined our lives #324: my Mason & Pearson hairbrush was once only £25 that and served me faithfully for 20 years is in need of an upgrade. Guess how much they are now? No advancement in the technology at all! Guess!

Watched the adaptation of @zadiesmith.bsky.social’s White Teeth and it’s just brilliant! Love it. Skillful. Especially that scene the teacher stands on the school yard snake as she invites the married man to lift.

The opening statement by Cleve Jones will probably go down in history as one of the greatest: "The pronouns I use the most are the ones probably understood the least by those in the White House today. They are WE, US and OURS."

I made two reels in response to the open letter about the existential crisis for small presses in the UK. Open access from @thebookseller.bsky.social below. Starting thoughts on where your authors are in this - and how we might help. www.thebookseller.com/comment/open... @bookbrunch.bsky.social

I'm going to be doing an intense two-hour intensive later this month, and: Check it out!

George Orwell's musings on authoritarianism and state manipulation are juxtaposed against flashing cards, film clips and historical footage from the past 100 years Raoul Peck's extraordinary new doc shows at the BFI London Film Festival: dmovies.org/2025/05/18/o...

whoever did this little bit of magnificence, take a bow

RIP Diane Keaton 🖤 I loved how you showed women how to be women in spite of it all.

I would like to believe this signals the end of this unspeakable war, but I fear it is just another manoeuvre on Netanyahu’s part. Time will tell.

A superb essay, plus everyone wish @thelincoln.bsky.social a happy birthday!

Listen to Jacqueline Rose and Yasmin El-Rifae discuss Rose's book, WOMEN IN DARK TIMES on the @londonreviewbookshop.co.uk Podcast www.londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/podcasts-vid...

Attention: The U.S. is no longer rated a “full democracy” by many indexes. It is often classified as a “flawed democracy” or “electoral democracy with deficits.”

Most of the power authoritarians have is freely given. We should not comply with them in advance. Trump is far weaker than he looks. So is the GOP. We should draw them out, drain them at every opportunity, and fight for people’s wellbeing at every turn. We have been sent here to fight for people.