Goldsmith juxtapositions. Lovely morning in the neighbourhood.

Mick Harvey and co raising the spirit of David Lynch at the Royal Festival Hall this evening! Absolutely stunning gig…

Heading out to ‘In Dreams: David Lynch Revisited’ at the Southbank and my mood is absolutely

Is Andy Burnham the answer to Labour’s woes? I’m sceptical, to be honest. He’s done great stuff in Manchester but won’t be able to do all the things that make him popular as PM… In principle though I’m obviously all for more Northerners running the show 🤘 www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...

South London sunset 👌

This is such sad news. I actually had some interactions with Conor Gearty back in the Being Human fest days and he seemed like an absolute gentleman as well as a righteous, courageous human being. What a loss… www.theguardian.com/law/2025/sep...

Don't tell Nigel! Renewables beat fossil fuels during the last year! via grid.iamkate.com #NetZero #ClimateChange

What I mean by this is: what do they see all this leading to? What is the world that they are trying to create? Do they actually, genuinely think it’s going to be better for anyone, including themselves? I find it baffling.

One thing that always puzzles me … What do the billionaires, tech barons etc who are backing the eradication of liberal democracy actually want to achieve? Does it start and end with ‘lower taxes’? Is that it? Is that really worth it in exchange for the decimation of civilisation as we know it?

3,900 Pages of Paul Klee’s Personal Notebooks Are Now Online, Highlighting His Bauhaus Teachings (1921–1931)

Another victory for the tireless champions of ‘free speech’

In the 1930s Europe slid into fascism due to postwar trauma, mass unemployment, sky rocketing inflation and economic collapse… In the 2020s Britain is slipping towards fascism due to people’s bins being collected slightly less regularly.

Let's be clear. The proposal to deport hundreds of thousands of people born in Britain to parents legally resident in Britain, just because they are black or brown, is not 'right populism'. It's the cornerstone policy of the 1970s National Front.

Good read here from @wonkhe.bsky.social. Many unis are quietly scaling back their climate commitments as they grapple with cash flow issues. This is strong on explaining why that’s, frankly, an insane thing to do: wonkhe.com/blogs/despit...

Worth reading: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I hate this. Switching party at your own caprice when you’ve been elected to represent a different one is massively arrogant and insulting to the people who elected you. It’s becoming more common and is one of the reasons people are losing faith in politics.

Ah, defection. Is there any clearer sign of complete contempt for democratic process and the people who elected you? ‘Conservative MP Danny Kruger defects to Reform UK’ www.bbc.com/news/article...

The fact that Tommy Robinson’s named is being mentioned in relation to ‘free speech’ makes me want to puke… A right wing thug with a long history of violence and off intimidating journalists and anyone who crosses him. Disgusting to see this creep being platformed and given a place in public life.

Silence from our Prime Minister and our government on yesterday’s march, violence and interventions from tech billionaires is absolutely shameful. There’s never been a better time to say clearly what you believe in. If that’s inclusivity, multiculturalism and liberal democracy SAY IT.

Back in London and back to the things I love: art, engagement, urban nature… Lovely to be at the launch of ‘Street Waders’ by Anna Reading this morning. New public artwork in Lewisham celebrating urban rivers. A legacy output from Goldsmiths’ bit of Lewisham’s Borough of Culture year back in 2022!

Innsbruck you absolute beauty! After a full day of rain the city switching it ON for our last evening here

Worth noting that I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anyone who has either studied or worked at a ‘mega university’ (and there’s a few around over the 50, 000 student mark) who have had a good experience. Massive institutions might be more cost effective but they are rarely, if ever, more efficient.

Big universities news here, in every sense. Expect to see much more of this sort of thing… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Did some quite extreme hiking today in the alps. Pictures look impressive but I think I was literally whimpering at this point…

In the mountains, there you feel free..

Up in the mountains and not missing London even slightly…

Having a lovely time. Wish you were here…

On the trail of Stefan Zweig in Salzburg (literally, in fact, as there’s a trail named after him). A writer who believed fiercely in pluralism and cosmopolitanism and who was hounded across Europe by book burning, racist, anti intellectual Nazis. Contemporary resonances here absolutely chilling…

Time for a holiday…

Brilliant stuff here from @pollyrowena.bsky.social. The Salt Path controversy has shone a spotlight on some endemic issues in a literary/ publishing world that overamplies normative & problematic values, narratives, voices. Alternatives exist. Now’s the time to support! lithub.com/nature-is-no...

I’ve had some deeply sobering conversations recently about how arts and education organisations across the country are actively preparing for how they’ll navigate life under a Reform MP/ Council/ Govt. This story from Notts feels like a harbinger of things to come www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Quietly cultivating a space of suburban ecological psychedelia…

Take note, take note, take note….

Top job going here with a lovely team…

Only in Bloomsbury…

Right on the money, sadly…

There’s going to be a lot of soul searching in the UK media if we end up with a Reform government in 2029. Not least because they will move swiftly to curb media freedom… Instead, can we do the ‘lessons learned’ bit now instead and actually try to avoid this looming catastrophe?

This is brilliant. Essential reading…

Brilliant evening at the Class Festival Nature Prize ceremony, celebrating working class nature writing in a VERY swanky central London location. Congrats to all shortlisted writers and cudos to Natasha Carthew for setting up this important prize (and for making literary culture a lot less boring!)

London Orbital…

Hottest day of the year and somehow I’ve managed to volunteer myself to help out with Open Day on campus… Pray for me…

Private view evening for Goldsmiths degree shows. Always a magical time, especially in the Berlin-like summer sunshine. Makes me feel really lucky to work here…

Can anyone remember when exactly it was that we decided it is so important that we shock and offend young people? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

My goodness. What are the odds of Sly Stone and Brian Wilson dying within two days of one another? Two absolutely peerless, mercurial musical geniuses. Sad news..

Up in the Lake District last week, I went for a walk up Dow Crag. From the top, you can see BOTH the disused, crumbling, deeply toxic hulk of Sellafield Nuclear Power Station and the clean, graceful offshore wind farm at Morecambe Bay… I know which form of power I’d rather see future investment in.

Arts Emergency do AMAZING work… Please support them if you can.

Don’t go chasing…

Call out for writers with lived experience of homelessness or poverty to submit monologues for a new anthology to highlight the complexity of the experiences of homelessness and poverty – struggles, resilience, hope, humour. Please share :) mtos.cardboardcitizens.org.uk/anthology/

Spot on… Also: ‘I am completely fine with some universities collapsing’ = ‘I am completely fine with a radical reduction of life choices and opportunities for a huge cross-section of the population.

Darkly hilarious to see Reform promising to scrap the two child benefit cap. Shameless vote grabbing from Farage, who has always and still does advocate tax cuts, benefit cuts, welfare state cuts and social cuts of every description… Are people really falling for this nonsense?