Tourism at an all-time high here in Seville. And...

Asked to go on GB News today to talk about reparations for transatlantic enslavement. Said no (again) and the producer offered me... £40! www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...

Great conversation with Dr Naomi Murphy and David Jones - we covered boarding schools, the legacies of transatlantic slavery, and keeping children happy and safe from abuse today. podcasts.apple.com/hn/podcast/a...

'No a la guerra!' Nice to be in Spain, a country with a coherent approach to international law and illegal war.

By the same argument quit Facebook, Insta, WhatsApp and Amazon... Which is no bad idea. (tks @davidveevers.bsky.social) www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

'Lack of fibre' - exactly the problem. Good old Daily Mail.

This stands with the finest political/historical reporting I have ever read. So vivid, so important, so sad. #cuba www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

AI slacking again. @anthropic.com

Oh, err - Palestine Action!

UK ban on Palestine Action ruled unlawful ft.trib.al/TKbvf6A

'The right wing objections are really political rather than historical.' The verdict.

The racist right are on the rise in Spain. Great piece today by @abbas-asaria.bsky.social on the politics of... jamón. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The old right venting at @drbrookenewman... Racist, vicious, but in the end just plain silly.

Great work by @brookenewman.bsky.social, can't wait to see the book and the reaction from the Caribbean nations still with King Charles as head of state. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Here's a helpful idea - let's get some cool liberal thinkers to write what they think about the USA, bit of flattery, gentle mockery, dash of wry Old World wisdom, nothing too complex... Granta, Spring 2002.

OMG - Starmer takes a stand. Or does he... www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Golden days of long form... This story went from Victorian Britain via Brian Sewell's anti-the cut pressure group to the Luo people of western Kenya (who photographer Caro Irby and I visited). All for decent money from the old @theobserveruk.bsky.social

Seduced by The Times's £1 a month sub offer, my wife now starts every day in a rage about how awful - right-wing, biased, royal-obsessed, wealth worshipping - it is. Xmas present - a sub to the Telegraph. www.thetimes.com/life-style/h...

Hanya Aljamal's audio journal, Beautiful and moving. So hard to listen to such stories, impotent anger rising, but glad I did... www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

this shit is just beyond parody, man

Gerontophobic fact of the day: Japan now produces more nappies for the incontinent elderly than it does for babies. LRB, 20 Nov.

Dubious take on British slavery abolition in today's BBC Reith lecture - the Royal Navy freed 200,000 Africans from other nations' slave ships? They didn't take them home: they went to British colonies as exploited labour. @anitaanand.bsky.social @alanlester.bsky.social

Oh great! I'll forgive Amazon for selling my books for less than enough to pay me living wage for writing them.

The rise and messy fall of Podemos + lessons. Your Party supporters please read. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

I don't know why immigrants don't just go on strike. See how long the racists can cope without GP surgeries, nursing, deliveries, food being picked, clothes being made, warehouses being staffed, software being maintained, houses being built...

Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the CARICOM reparations commission - "Here we are again, still at it, 190 years on, asking for compensation for the crimes and suffering that continue to this very day". Just now, speaking to @icws-sas.bsky.social #reparations

Hedge fund billionaire Sir Paul Marshall funds History Reclaimed, Pharos Trust, the Institute of Economic Affairs, Legatum, Nigel Biggar, Robbie Gibb and GB News. Join the dots.

🚨 #CSA @axrenton.bsky.social #ICYMI

Elon’s Grokipedia has 5,000 words on me. (Wikipedia has five paras.) 94 footnotes. It’s not objectionable or inaccurate but definitely TMl. And boring. Sample…

Jamaican government official appeal site for the Hurricane Melissa recovery - 400,000 in need, as of this morning. supportjamaica.gov.jm

Must read interview with writers of Netflix’s A House of Dynamite. The true horror is not who controls the nuclear weapons (dodgy presidents, unstable states, AI) but the nuclear weapons themselves. Obviously. #AHouseOfDynamite @cnduk.bsky.social

Hope everyone in the States watches it…

Great 12-month opportunity for an historian. Salary: £36,799 (Grade 5: Development Worker grade). Edinburgh/hybrid. Closing date 21 October.

America: No Kings Britain: No Dukes of York

Why not?

No question, best drama series since Succession www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Eton College has had a lot of these recently: still failing to vet the teachers? Almost 2 years after he was charged with 14 offences against his pupils, Jacob Leland found guilty today on three counts of sexual assault. Brave survivors - a tough thing, breaking the silence. @mandatenow.bsky.social

Obviously the nations that colluded in the destruction will be paying, right? www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/...

St Giles Cathedral just now, the celebration service for a great (and lovely) man, Sir Geoff Palmer.

Funny… no. 1 story in the Guardian’s top ten most read.

Thank you @alanlester.bsky.social for keeping eye on the mad, racist right-wing media so we don't have to.

Supporting the liberation of Palestine, while loathing antisemitism. As ever.

London, ordinary cafe, modest breakfast for two - £57.12. Two blinking cups of rosy cost nine quid, cor blimey, ows-yer-farver etc...

Nazis ban comedians shock.. NYT, 4 Feb 1939

'Trump is the enemy.' Max Hastings shines on BBC R4 Today this morning, saying what the real lessons of the Trump visit are: every cavilling, cowardly, appeasing politician take note. From 2hrs 52. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

1st October, St Pancras New Church, Euston, London at 7pm - free, but register below. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-rivers...

President Trump - why stop with Department of War? Department of Ill-Health. Failed State Department. Department of Homeland Insecurity. I've got more ideas. Sir.