the SWP building solidarity like a ferret in a filing cabinet. 🤦‍♂️

imagine a flurry of (overly)heightened concern about how new types of media damage the nation’s youth. imagine moral entrepreneurs manning the barricades demanding an end to this filth. imagine new legislation being written off the back of it.

the bbc world service has a breakfast show simul-broadcast between nairobi and london. it is MUCH better than the R4 one with the westminster psychodrama fetishists

ethnographers often get their best work done in a sauna.

who is that sharon osbourne / kris jenner svengali character who seems to have her mitts over half of the figure skating couples? i’m assuming they all train in the underground ice rink at her mansion. and that she engineers their relationships.

a hill i’d be willing to at least receive a flesh wound over: braudel explains 21st century capitalism better than marx.

thrilled to announce, humbled to share, glad to inform you, that i am very much looking forward to giving a lecture today @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social as part of their ‘associate of kings college london’ series. it’ll be on-line eventually. 👋

british rhythm dancing figure skating team dressed as the interior of a 1970s ford capri 😙

snoop is all over the olympics again. given meloni’s reversal of drug decriminalisation, we’ve got to assume that he’s smuggled edibles in a bag of haribo tangfastic haven’t we?

you're all getting into curling again. you'll want to check this out: an earnest curling rom-com with leslie nielson as a curling guru who uses magic mushrooms as performance enhancing drugs. honestly, the film is confused. but i know you know you want to watch it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMTq...

while i was looking the other way, digital transcription has improved a bit.

anyone know of a sugarbabes song that features an old cockney sounding fella either doing a voiceover or singing with them? search engines failing me. it exists. but what’s the song (research related obvs)

finally ready with my big prediction of 2026: liberal municipal city leaders vs. national governments is going to be huge this year. bet your trousers on it.

no coronation for wes then

fukuyama is on the radio. predicting the future again. it’s like interviewing the trainer of a losing horse.

this very early adam curtis-directed documentary on house building policies in the 60s and 70s is excellent. youtu.be/FPx-UwzLcQ4?...

starting a new little bit of research today. three projects on the go. desperate to share more about this one but want to keep a lid on it while it simmers. 等着瞧

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026... I want to ride my bicycle and hope our local politicians and community leaders can also build bridges.

just taught a class on subcultural studies with a group of 18-21 year olds. the question emerged: potentially without social media, and without either magazines or MTV, where would todays young people ‘get culture’ from? it’s a bleak landscape.

house of lords currently debating under 16 social media ban. feels akin to asking 16 year olds to debate the utility of preventative lockdown measures.

www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j... is there a letter i can sign against a ban?

shout out to the guy who left his apartment, walked 5 meters to let his gorgeous dog piss on urban outfitters, and then went inside again.

2027, a bunch of 15 year olds outside the cornershop accost me as i’m about to go in “‘scuse me mate, could you post something on this whatsapp for me?” “er… no. i could buy you some cider though.” “fuck off mate. no. i just want you to post my support for the latest local green party campaign.”

if your online order comes with free sample sachets of a mysterious powdered swedish energy drink, my advice is think carefully before drinking it 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬

always a few months/years late with media commentary. one of the interesting (maybe the most interesting) things about ‘slow horses’ is that is moves between different representations of london

we’re not in The Age of Aquarius anymore, are we?

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis... the holidays were a chance to catch up on things i’d been meaning to watch. the best of which was this: a beautiful film about a former soviet wellness resort in odesa. 🇺🇦 ❤️ so much hope and care. which makes it all the more tragic.

www.theguardian.com/society/2026... ““I can’t comprehend how any community leader can say regenerating one of the most deprived areas of the country is a bad thing.” Because displacement destroys neighbourhood communities and everything they offer.

just got introduced to an imaginary friend called “fiasco”. given the insane affective atmosphere that this lad has brought with him, you might conclude that his name has distinctly performative quality.

“please suffer with us”. i’m on it.

the age of innocence (about to leave prime) is really good. one of the few films from 1993 i hadn’t seen (iykyk) until last night. it’s an excellent illustration of a point i often try to teach. it is shame, much more than money or love, that makes the world go round. at least until very recently.

i’m sure one day i’ll look back fondly on this year’s personal music replay top 5 featuring bowser (jack black) singing ‘peaches’, k-pop dh’s ‘golden’, and kate nash singing ‘boudicca’ from horrible histories movie. not today. but someday.

submitted an article on the last day of term. happy with it. see you in march reviewer number 2 🤼

On International Migrants Day, let’s celebrate the generations of migrants who’ve helped make London what it is today - the greatest city in the world.

interesting clip of the black panther's bobby seale explaining how he got a load of maos little red books ("never read the thing") to sell as UC campus gates, by way of an SF Chinatown import/export connection youtu.be/jw6c9kkMqW4?...

may or may not have just written a sentence that contains the phrase “piss and pickles”.

apple music should ask for a refund from whoever taught it to beatmatch 🫨

another snooker club about to bite the dust. it can be saved: c.org/zncYhXcpx9

the cleanup of the yellow brick road #bricklane x #wicked collab has damaged the road surface of brick lane. dearly hoping that @universalfilms pick up the tab and not @towerhamletsnow.bsky.social taxpayers

enya’s trending.

solidarity to everybody leaving the house before sunrise. we’re nearly there.

Liverpool Street 🙌 The centre of my world. And it doesn’t need redeveloping… it’s doing FINE!

www.bbc.com/news/article... imho this is really good and solves both: what to do with a huge piece of infrastructural investment around the albert docks, that hasn’t proved to be as attractive as planned. and retaining these essential marketplaces. 👏 ⭐️

how to describe the uk.gov treatment of higher ed other than deeeeeply uncomfortable.

the state of the nation, the void in progressive imaginations and cultural innovation is captured perfectly in EVERY CHRISTMAS ADVERT

this fresh hell

“sentenced to death for crimes against humanity” is a bit of a discursive mess.

how is anybody supposed develop a sense of home and belonging, when it can all be taken away with the click of a button in 20 years’ time? that’s not asylum.

underwhelming experience at the fragrance counter of a well known cooperatively owned department store. “i don’t know really. it’s all just a matter of personal taste isn’t it?”

earlier this year, meloni’s italy held a referendum on halving the length of time required for settled status from 10 to 5 years. turnout was poor, so no change, despite a majority of votes for the change. but you see the direction the referendum was nudging towards. and yet 🇬🇧 🤦‍♂️.