The new Four Tet album is VERY hard to search for.
Charles Ubaghs
@charlesubaghs.bsky.social
Managing Editor @GlobalPlayer & Director of Digital Content @Global (LBC, Capital, Classic FM etc). Co-founder @PopBuzz + digital content for podcasts like @TheNewsAgents
This is a positive move. I’m curious to see how this might extend to music streaming platforms.
AI labels to be compulsory on authentic-looking content under EU rules
Companies must ensure people know when they are interacting with artificially generated images, audio and text designed to look real
theguardian.com
Apologies for the what-about-ism… but what about Ben Lerner’s Transcription? I would have long listed it. thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...
The Booker Prize 2026 | The Booker Prizes
The longlist for the Booker Prize 2026 has been announced, featuring two previous winners and three debut novelists
thebookerprizes.com
All hail the Ventnor Book Bus. An annual book pop-up on a 1930s Parisian bus. Bagged all of these editions for a total of £20.
Listened to @luketurner.bsky.social and @jahduran.bsky.social discuss the ploughman's lunch on their latest Low Culture podcast. Can't recall the last time I was so captivated by talk of British food. The splash of serendipity is well-worth the subscription price. thequietus.com/subscriber-a...
Low Culture Podcast: The Ploughman's Lunch | The Quietus
Back in the stressful early days of The Quietus John and Luke would often cheer themselves up by heading to the shops to purchase the constituent parts of a ploughman’s lunch – the traditional trio of...
thequietus.com
Just finished watching Widow’s Bay. I was also a huge fan of The Americans. Matthew Rhys is an incredible actor but no matter how many times I’ve watched clips of him speaking in that Richard Burton Welsh accent of his, I’m always surprised that that’s his real voice. youtube.com/shorts/c4eMc...
Matthew Rhys shares how his relationship with Keri Russell was revealed on the set of The Americans
YouTube video by Late Night with Seth Meyers
youtube.com
@lbc.co.uk asked for my thoughts on the Belgian win. Come for the cultural cliches, stay for the camaraderie...and fine beer. www.lbc.co.uk/article/grea...
It's a great day to be Belgian | LBC
When corruption and interference attempt to insert their hand into this beautiful moment, that is a line too far for Belgians, writes Charles Ubaghs
lbc.co.uk
As a Belgian I endorse this message
Paul McNamara@mpaulmcnamara.bsky.social · last mo.BlueSky tonight
“They’ve silenced her. “This is an attempt to punish someone who spoke the truth.” The "bizarre" moment @maitlis.bsky.social is forced to ask Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn-Williams to leave the studio.
Brilliant work by @maitlis.bsky.social and @thenewsagents.co.uk on today’s episode with Sara Wynn-Williams. youtu.be/BgkClZU_Urg?...
Exclusive: The whistleblower silenced by Facebook hits back | The News Agents
YouTube video by The News Agents
youtu.be
Was thinking about this film again this morning. A story of Swiss bankers visiting the military dictatorship in 1980s Argentina. Eerily relevant to today. Beautifully (and terrifyingly) told. Weirdly unknown but hands down one of the best films of the decade. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nka...
Azor | Official Trailer | Berlinale 2021
YouTube video by Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival
youtube.com
I second Ian. Persepolis is an amazing book.
Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social · 2mo agoThis was a groundbreaking piece of work. A work so good it means a life well spent. Millions of people understand Iran, the diaspora and the weird bittersweet details of the immigrant experience through the work she did.
Letterboxd really has been one of those rare examples of a positive online force in recent years.
The Rise and (Potential) Fall of Letterboxd
How Letterboxd reshaped film culture—and why its future is at risk.
open.substack.com
Just finished reading this beast. There's not a single full stop for 823 pages — the longest sentence I'm ever likely to read, but also a beautiful exploration of God and human existence. Not a casual beach read, and it's all done in a stream-of-consciousness style, but amazing.
This is counter-productive, authoritarian and chilling. The British state should not be in the business of banning commentators and journalists from entering the country, without compelling reason. Finding their views objectionable is nowhere near enough. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...
Two US political commentators banned from entering UK
Home Office says presence of Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker in UK ‘may not be conducive to the public good’
theguardian.com
There are lot of big evangelical claims made about AI. What we don’t do- nearly as much as we should- is treat them as the deeply political actors they are. That’s why Karen Hao’s book, Empire of AI is so vital. This is our @thenewsagents.co.uk conversation. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
How the tech bros of AI are breaking our democracy
Podcast Episode · The News Agents · 29 May · 51min
podcasts.apple.com
This is going to hit a lot of already weakened news sites very hard. The big ones will survive and the strategy will flip from clicks to mentions/citations in summaries. Individual newsletters aren’t really reliant on it for traffic. But that middle tier of sites will collapse even more
TechCrunch@techcrunch.com · 3mo agoGoogle is transforming Search from a list of links into an AI-powered experience filled with conversational answers, autonomous agents, and interactive interfaces — a shift that could further reduce traffic to publishers across the web.
The Quietus is 90% funded by subscribers, and we need another 500 this spring to help us fight the AI-pocalypse – with this in mind, there's a huge sale on our top tier subscriptions. If you like what we do, here's how you can help: thequietus.com/opinion-and-...
The Quietus Spring Sale is Here! Help us Fight the AI-pocalypse | The Quietus
There’s something appallingly physical about the language that’s used to describe the radical changes that are affecting every aspect of our culture. AI slop. Enshittification. It’s all rather revolti...
thequietus.com
In 2024, before becoming an MP, Nigel Farage was given a £5m gift by a crypto billionaire, which he says was to pay for private security. With Reform victories across the UK in local elections, will there now be more scrutiny on how the party is funded? www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/whos...
Who's funding Nigel Farage? | The News Agents
In 2024, Nigel Farage was given £5 million by a crypto billionaire as a gift from a donor who went on to give millions more to Reform UK. Will his finances now face more scrutiny?
thenewsagents.co.uk
Several things true at once 1) Labour losing to everyone in every direction. Reform (with Green assistance eating into Lab vote) wiping Labour out in places Lab has always dominated 2) They’re often doing so on small %es of vote, rewarded by highly fragmented electorate. FPTPdoing the rest…
“You think you’ll be able to catch me out? I’ve run rings around protestors and judges, mate. “You’d never be able to catch me out” Lewis gets barred from cafe after an interview with controversial Birmingham campaigner, Akhmed Yakoob, descends into chaos.
"Mainstream politicians – from Starmer down – have little to say, and in that vacuum, we see Akhmed Yaqoob." Lewis Goodall clashes with a controversial Birmingham campaigner. Is the city a 'microcosm' for the state of UK politics? www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/bann...
Banned in Birmingham: What happened when Lewis clashed with ‘Gaza independent’ | The News Agents
Lewis Goodall returns to his hometown of Birmingham, seen as a microcosm of politics, to explore how local elections reflect what’s happening at a national level in the UK.
thenewsagents.co.uk
Very excited to say I’ll be hosting @lbc.co.uk election night coverage from 10pm on Thursday. Streamed live on @globalplayer.com, YouTube and of course on the 📻 Join us for what could be a very important night in British politics!
Just hours after chairing Olly Robbins’ testimony, Emily Thornberry says she believes the former Foreign Office boss was "bullied". “The pressure was coming from Morgan McSweeney. He was a protege of Mandelson, he was trying to deliver him the job”.
My daughter made me a phone you can use to call animals. The back includes a box to store chocolates. I wish all phones were like this.
March another record breaking month for @thenewsagents.co.uk. More downloads and YouTube views than ever before. Over *fifty million* views on social platforms. Testament to a truly incredible production team. Thanks so much to so many of you for watching/listening! Happy Easter
Went into KFC UK to try the pickle mania menu. Reader, it was at best a pickle melancholy.
I would really like to discuss latest Industry. Where is the TV sky?