Miles Davis was born 100 years ago today. So here's @benfinlay74.bsky.social on the great man's first visit to the UK in 1960. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/05/23/a...

Kitchen porter, pastry chef, flight attendant, spy novelist: Deighton was not only funnier than le Carré, but also had the good sense not to try writing about the world after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Wrote a short piece pondering our obsession with ultras: www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ap...

You can order ‘Thin Places in Hard Concrete‘ now, with 10 brand new stories of everyday worlds weirdly out of whack: cults, ghosts, impossible infrastructure, haunted Mellotrons... eBook (pre-order, available from 30 April) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DC5PL7T4 Paperback www.amazon.co.uk/Thin-Places-...

567 years ago, on the 24th of April 1459, Fra Mauro completed his world map. It was the most detailed and accurate world map at the time. The map is 2.4 by 2.4 metres (8 by 8 feet). It includes a lot of text and illustrations. (Note that the map depicts the South on top.) #otd #history 🗃️

Tickets on sale now Go get ‘em dice.fm/event/pydvly...

My new collection ‘Thin Places in Hard Concrete‘ is out on 30 April as an eBook and paperback with 10 brand new weird stories. Pre-order the eBook here 👉 www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DC5PL7T4

Tickets on sale Wednesday (April 15th) at 10am See you there

Andrew Perry was a true star of the old Select mag gang, an incorrigible enthusiast who loved Lee Perry, Iggy Pop, the Stones and mind-melting acid house alike. He was brilliantly talented and THE best company. He deserved many more years and I will miss him. RIP www.musicweek.com/talent/read/...

So sad to hear of Andy Perry’s passing over the weekend. I sat next to Andy in my very first music journalism job, in the last days of Select. If ever there was a force of nature to prepare me for what was to come, it was him. A great comrade ever since. Go easy AP.

Len Deighton, spy writer and also a chronicler of a certain British class claustrophobia. One of the greats has gone. 📷Ronald Grant

The ‘de Brecy Tondo’, once hailed by AI as an undoubted Raphael, has been quietly (and correctly) sold at auction as a later copy for £13k.

I thought Gwendoline Christie spoke very well at the @sleafordmods.bsky.social gig. 🐐

Love a Jamie Mackie smile... here's a big grin versus Middlesbrough in 2010. To see a few more smiles in real life, come to our Q&A on 25 March at The George IV in Chiswick, as Jamie & Shaun Derry will be sharing plenty of #QPR stories & memories. Get tickets: www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo...

One month to go... Jamie Mackie & Shaun Derry The George IV pub in Chiswick 25 March 26 www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo...

Review of QPR's financial results for the 2024/25 season, when they finished 15th in the Championship #QPR

Daniel Bennie 🚀 #QPR #HULQPR

This week on the podcast; what made John Constable great? I discuss with Susan Owens, author of the excellent new book, ‘Constable’s Seasons’. *(Waldy and Bendy’s Adventures in Art, on all the usual platforms.)

NEW!! JOIN ME ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/cw/TomRobins... Free monthly newsletters and two cheap optional tiers of stuff we can make up together as we go along if you fancy joining me...

Fancy an audience with Jamie Mackie & Shaun Derry… AND a signed poster? We now have just a handful of limited edition posters left with early bird tickets for our Q&A on 25 March at The George IV in Chiswick, so grab yours now. www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo... #QPR

subscriptions >>> shop.viz.co.uk/viz353bs

This week's podcast is on the Wilton Diptych; what it's all about and who may have painted it. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

Possibly the greatest recorded conversation about varnish… ever.

Who needs Disney when you can watch some #QPR heroes in real life? 25/03/25 The GeorgeIV, Chiswick. Get tickets here: www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo...

Happy 20th birthday to Arctic Monkeys’ Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. Here is one of Dean Chalkley’s great shots from when us at NME and the band were first getting to know each other back in 2006.

Jamie Mackie & Shaun Derry taking part in an enjoyable afternoon for #QPR against Stoke in 2012. Join them at our Q&A as they discuss surviving the Premier League & more about their time at Loftus Road. 25 March. The George IV, Chiswick. Tickets available now: www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo...

An extra special episode of Waldy & Bendy’s Adventures in Art this week, as we take a deep dive on Holbein’s Ambassadors. Available now on all the usual platforms. (Who needs Holbein when you’ve got ChatGPT?)

🏆 Que Será, Será, Whatever Will Be, Will Be... we're hosting a Q&A with Jamie Mackie & Shaun Derry 🏆 Avoid 'penalties' and grab yourself tickets for an evening with two #QPR icons on 25 March at The George IV in Chiswick now. www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo...

Today is Epiphany, when Western Christianity celebrates the three kings' visit to the infant Christ. Peter Bruegel the Elder's 'Adoration of the Kings' [National Gallery] is one of my favourite imaginings of that moment. It's also full of mystery. Quick Epiphany 🧵

If you like playlists by people called Paul (+ an extra Roy) this is for you: open.substack.com/pub/thenewcu... Picked a 25 4 25 alongside @paulheatonsolo.bsky.social for @thenewcue.bsky.social Mine feats Nada, St Et, Rainy Miller, Tony Njoku, some great vault discoveries by Four Flies & more.

🎄Need a last-minute Christmas present for a #QPR fan? Tickets for our Shaun Derry & Jamie Mackie live Q&A are on sale now: tickettailor.com/events/newgo... 25/03/26 at The George in Chiswick 🎟️

Our Christmas special is now up. Waldemar explains how art invented Santa Claus. And I look into Peter Bruegel the Elder's mysterious and brilliant Adoration of the Magi. Waldy & Bendy's Adventures in Art, on all the usual platforms.

Always a suave way to see out the year... Rome label Four Flies have just posted their annual playlist rounding up their best from the last 12 months. fourfliesrecords.bandcamp.com/album/best-o...

New event! Jamie Mackie & Shaun Derry live Q&A on 25 March 2026 at The George IV in Chiswick Tickets on sale now: www.tickettailor.com/events/newgo...

@tobiasjones.bsky.social I see next year’s Giro is going through Cosenza, a pink dust jacket for Ultra to celebrate?

I shared this photo a week or so ago on Mani’s birthday - It never failed to bring a smile to my face - and that was exactly the same for the man himself. One of the absolute best in every way - such a beautiful friend Love you Mani x x Never to be forgotten

Godspeed Mani.

Asked Sleaford Mods some questions while lurking behind a camera... mercifully, here are their answers only.

This week on the podcast, we interview Andrew Graham-Dixon about Vermeer, lay into the BBC's arts coverage, and ask why royal portraits are so bad. www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_wU...

Latest pod podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...

New episode of the podcast out today. We ask if art is good for your health; interview Katy Hessel about her new book; and try and work out if the bird lives or dies in Wright of Derby's epic 'Airpump'.

Wrote about brain fog - a common side effect of chemo treatment that ends up feeling like scrolling social media for hours with no end in sight. Written last week - today feels more optimistic thanks to Zohran Mamdani and his brilliant speech. Thanks for reading! open.substack.com/pub/acloudab...

#OnThisDay 1083 Matilda of Flanders, queen of William the Conqueror, died in Normandy. Contrary to popular myth, she was not 4’2” tall. A (short) thread:

Closed around 30 tabs this morning, some open for years. Now ready to option the experience as a make-over TV format.

30 years of Difference Class courtesy of Pulp.

Paging all the actors who missed out on The Thursday Murder Club…

Baxter Dury released Prince Of Tears on this day in 2017 (27 October 2017). You can replay the listening party (no_345) here:

I was intrigued to see which two of the Vatican’s ten Raphael tapestries were chosen for today’s unprecedented service in the Sistine Chapel. The tapestries are very rarely shown - was Pope Leo XIV conveying any message in the choice? 🧵

Happy 25th to PJHarvey's Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea... and also happy birthday to the easiest 'Where It's At' (cover location feature) I did for Q, though it was very nice to speak to Maria Mochnacz about her evening wandering around Times Square with Polly.

Splashdown 🌧️🤞🦢