I’ve written about the creative process and the experience of being edited over on my substack -> murmuration.substack.com/p/what-is-a-...

Opinion from the FT's Editorial Board: 'The US and European countries that tout Israel as an ally that shares their values have issued barely a word of condemnation. They should be ashamed of their silence, and stop enabling Netanyahu to act with impunity.' www.ft.com/content/f5fd...

I’m sorry, but this woman is absolutely poisonous and cruel and I cannot *stand* her or her attacks on trans people. You should feel about her IP like you do about Tesla. This is appalling.

Supporting a ceasefire, justice & self-determination for Palestinians is - as Daniel Kebede said - a totally mainstream opinion in the UK Yet anyone standing up for that position is accused of sympathising with terrorism in demonstrations of obvious, desperate & unrepresentative media bias #r4today

Awful interview with Daniel Kebede from the Education Union about accusations from bigot-baiter Farage about attending Palestine demos Truly horrific how normal it has become for people to be interrogated like this for showing support for a people facing annihilation & erasure. #r4today

The creative industries generate £126bn for the UK economy. Creative workers deserve to be paid like all other workers. AI industry should pay them. Anything else is theft.

Arresting Quaker women for non-violent protest and breaking into a meeting house to do so. The first time anyone has been arrested in a meeting house in living memory. Despicable behaviour from a Labour government’s Home Office/the Met Police.

On Monday our instagram account was hacked and then deleted. We received a ransom note to recover it; obviously we couldn't and wouldn't pay, and therefore lost thousands of followers. Meta support was useless. But we're BACK with a new account: @littletollerbooks. Can you follow us there and share?

Protestors met JD Vance in Vermont when he went to vacation there today. This is a good one:

A timely moment to remember that Donald Trump dodged the draft & JD Vance wondered a few short years ago whether he would turn out to be 'America's Hitler'...

I think this is the closest many of us have ever got to seeing the real Trump. The only consistent thread in his entire unhinged rant was the love & praise for Vladimir Putin. Zelensky has more courage & dignity in his little finger than every member of Trump's regime & fan club combined.

A guy who used to be a comedian & is good at improv and dealing with hecklers and who has also spent the last 3 years in a war zone turns out to be a guy you can’t out-alpha, imagine that

We can still show we stand with Ukraine stoptrump.org.uk/petition-can...

Kamala Harris told us exactly what was going to happen. The Lincoln Project.

Very strange to see Trump slashing USAID — which everyone pointed out was explicitly destroying America’s soft power structures globally — and to respond by… slashing the British aid budget.

I like the closing line, "The paradise of fools is coming to an end. I do not hope for an apology or recantation. I just hope they do not take the rest of us down with them."

Radical publishing notion, right here: if your publishers are making a living from publishing and selling your books, then you, the author, should be making a living from writing them.

I gave birth to a 9.5lb baby in my living room! How did I do it? Read today’s Murmuration to find out -> murmuration.substack.com/p/the-living...

Good morning

So, to recap: the suggestion is: the UK creative industries grant open access to all their historic and future work and IP, without payment, to the brains behind a nascent industry that just tanked $1tn in a couple of hours. Sure. Seems great.

One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this - Omar El Akkad Order yours now! Coming soon with @canongate.co.uk

off for my monthly therapy sesh aka getting the car cleaned inside and out by the lovely turkish men

The reason A.I. is being shoved down our throats is shareholders want a return on their investment. Every company that integrates this crappy tech into their products knows you don't want it, but they've sunk too much money into it and don't care. Turn it off, don't use it, don't look back.

happy birthday to me 🙃

Wrote about the sense of unease I feel about everything around me feeling fake. It’s over on my Substack now open.substack.com/pub/murmurat...

I’ve experienced an existential Fomo over the past year. I’m not scrolling Instagram wondering why I haven’t been invited to some party or other (OK, I am also doing that). No, this Fomo is a free-floating unease that I am not spending enough time with friends. on.ft.com/4h1Yb0p

Morning coffee to get our brains in gear!

home for christmas

My last Murmuration of 2024 just landed in inboxes, it’s about everything that’s going wrong and everything that’s going right. murmuration.substack.com/p/when-thing...

Despite ICC arrest warrants & the ICJ's interim ruling, the UK continues to export components for F-35 jets, facilitates arms deliveries via RAF Akrotiri & conducts daily surveillance flights over Gaza. The UK is not a passive bystander to genocide. It is an active participant.

It appears the third week of December is a good time to wash all the hand-knitted items in our house. #knitting #handknit #mad

Mourning morning’s with Mishal Husain’s incomparable journalism already. @bbcradio4.bsky.social why why why?

Anyone else got the festive equivalent of whiplash already? My neck hurts.

@marigoldatkey.bsky.social Marigold how does it work here? How do I find people? sending you much love as always x

Pumping breast milk on the train to London makes me feel like a breast feeding ninja.

A friend recently said that #wolfhall alone justifies the TV licence fee. Couldn’t agree more - utterly gripping TV.

Ah, my favourite part of YOU'VE GOT MAIL when her privately-run bookstore is crushed and she bonds with her capitalist oppressor.

Book people - my SIL is opening a bookshop! Which of course makes me feel like *I* am opening a bookshop. I’m putting together a list of indie published books for her to stock - any suggestions? #books #bookshop #publishing #indiepress

sheesh nobody tells you about how knackering weekends are when you have kids.

Hello to what I imagine will be yet another echo-chamber! Is anyone there?