Kate Barker
@katebarker.bsky.social
Literary agent. Always looking for something interesting. www.katebarker.net.
The Werner Herzog test will be that an LMM can come up with something like this while staying in character. Preferably with a German accent.
Benjamin@benjaminschneider.ch · 2w agoWerner Herzog will be the last human being whose next word no language model can predict
I thought I watched a lot of TV but if we use Duncan’s definition of watching - meaning a season - I’ve only seen 35.
Duncan Weldon@duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2w agoI’ve seen 64 of the NYT’s best 100 TV shows of the 21st century. And don’t really disagree with the inclusion of any of those. That’s a good hit rate.
People, stop using AI to write your book proposals. It produces a horrible samey voice that masks your personality and individuality. Even if it fools me it won't fool all the publishing people who may end up reading it...
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
So much of the right these days have a massive patriotism problem. This guy: - is a tax exile (left long before this govt) - hates his own country while complaining he doesn’t get big enough subsidies from it - laments the manufacturing hit from a Brexit he supported www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
bbc.co.uk
Okay, seeing as he's in the news at the moment, let me share with you a short thread about the time I went round Earl Spencer's house for dinner. (GIF not remotely accurate but rather fun.)
Andrew Scott in The Pursuit of Love
Alt: Andrew Scott in The Pursuit of Love. He's in shorts and a shirt, wavering in the breeze. He's taking off sunglasses, and he's standing on the lawn in front of a massive stately home.
static.klipy.com
I’ve been OBSESSED with the Shard apartments for at least a decade. Priced at up to £50m. Visible across London. Empty since 2012. Unsellable. No pictures online. Now London Centric has found out what’s happened to them - and the first pic of the interior. www.londoncentric.media/p/the-shard-...
‘Airbnb for sheikhs’: The first look inside the Shard’s £50m apartments that won’t sell
Ten “cursed” apartments have sat empty since 2012 • The Qatari state can’t find buyers • The local council has approved plans to turn them into short-term lets at up to £18,000 per week
londoncentric.media
It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with.
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last mo.A cheery message from the new minister responsible for research funding for the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences (and the subjects that the majority of UK taught undergraduate and Masters students study).
Three senior Reform figures were involved in those Channel 4 revelations we saw last night. Two have been kicked out. The third is Nigel Farage. Farage should be suspended while this matter is investigated. He has very serious questions to answer.
A thread full of good questions for Nigel Farage
Phil Brickell MP@philbrickellmp.bsky.social · last mo.🧵1/ I worked in anti-corruption for years before becoming an MP. Nigel Farage has serious questions to answer following the undercover investigation into Reform UK's fundraising practices. This is now for the police and donations watchdog to resolve, but here is what I want to know:
The full Verbatim video also on YouTube here. youtu.be/RugPik-G1Jw?...
My Year Undercover in Reform UK
YouTube video by Verbatim Investigations
youtu.be
At what point does a British by-election get awarded to the silver medalist, à la Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis? Asking for a friend of a friend, i.e. me. #Clacton
Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
@ginarippon.bsky.social talking great good sense on the recent #ADHD documentary: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
There is nothing scientific about The Great ADHD Myth? ‘documentary’ | Gina Rippon
Channel 4’s programme wastes a chance to ask important questions about how ADHD is diagnosed and treated, instead indulging in unscientific methods and conspiracy theories, says author Gina Rippon
theguardian.com
Not to be some wild-eyed innocent, but I think it should be slightly bigger news that The Lancet have crunched the numbers and found that Musk's USAID cuts will kill 14 million people. And that's just by 2030. That's 9,600 people a day, every day, until the next world cup rolls around.
Jørgen Heszlein@heszlein.bsky.social · 2mo agoNew estimate of Elon Musk’s death toll just dropped www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
"If you have retreated to physical books because the internet is too full of AI slop, bad news - now they’re shredding the books to feed their AI slop machines."
Mint Royale@mint-royale.com · 2mo agoThis story about anthropic (and other ai companies) just bulk buying millions of books - including old rare, out of print books - then chopping the spines to make them easier to scan and then destroying them once they’re scanned is just so fucking bleak and depressing
Today experienced the 24th day of year hitting 30C in London. For perspective in whole of 1980s we had 21 days.
The Office: Woman Holding 'HOT' Sign
ALT: The Office: Woman Holding 'HOT' Sign
static.klipy.com
Very happy to see May We Feed The King on here - it’s excellent.
The Booker Prizes@thebookerprizes.com · 3mo ago‘We are confident that our longlist of books has something for everyone’ We are delighted to reveal the Booker Prize 2026 longlist. Huge congratulations to the authors who make up this year's Booker Dozen. ➡️ Discover the full list: thebookerprizes.com/bp2026
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is as awesome as everyone says, truly extraordinary. But be warned: I went to an 8pm showing and couldn’t sleep till gone 2am. Takes a while to wind down!
I genuinely cannot understand how the Labour government has now had two, genuinely cultured prime ministers who both looked at Lisa Nandy’s record there and went “I’m pleased with this. I want this to continue.”
Back into the Cabinet after two years in a silent monastery in Tibet.
David Wilcock@davidtwilcock.bsky.social · 3mo agoLisa Nandy heading into Downing Street, presumably for a promotion
Had fun chatting to Ed about the economics of artillery shells. news.sky.com/story/howitz...
Howitzer: A medieval cannon helping us prepare for modern war
<a href='https://podfollow.com/stuff-matters'>👉Listen to Stuff Matters on your podcast app👈</a>
news.sky.com
WhatsApp drives me nuts but my husband, son and daughter watched the football from hospital, the Galapagos and Suffolk respectively whilst sharing the feels so it has its moments. (I had a great night’s sleep…)
This is hilarious. I can't believe I have no memory of it whatsoever. Transitioning to decimalisation was very easy but this song makes it seem hellishly complicated. It must have baffled a lot of people.
Vintage Obscura Radio@vintageobscura.net · 3mo agoMax Bygraves - Decimalisation [UK, Pop, Novelty] (1970) A catchy tune that had the purpose of teaching the people of the UK on how to convert their old currency system to the new decimalised one https://redd.it/104w6ob https://youtu.be/ncZihiuztvg
Someone should make Thomas Heatherwick sit on one of his buses all day in a heatwave. Who needs windows, eh.
