The Ireland game v Israel looks like it will be going ahead with the Irish players wearing black armbands in memory of the victims. Players have also asked to be excused from any further media duties. Donations will be made. Just one player is refusing to play. The majority voted to play.

We're publishing new guidance to support trans people who do fieldwork (any work outside the office)! Now we need your help to get them seen so please share! inclusivefieldwork.leeds.ac.uk/trans/

🇮🇪 men’s ⚽️ team drawn vs 🇮🇱 in Nations League, may be deciding now whether to take field: www.theguardian.com/football/202... 🔹🇮🇪 FA wants 🇮🇱 suspended from international competition 🔹Team’s 🇮🇸 coach has said they’d be ‘playing against genocide’ 🔹Irish Sport For Palestine calling on team not to play

Israel’s match with Republic of Ireland will be an eerie occasion as political debate rages on

Despite fierce opposition to the Nations League encounters across Irish society, a boycott has not materialised

theguardian.com

Gavan Reilly@gavreilly.com · 11h ago

Moves afoot in Debrecen…

‘We’re not sending the right songs and we’re not giving young artists the chance to develop them. The small venues they ought to be performing at, where they can test out their songs on an audience, are closing down. Smaller or up and coming artists can’t afford to tour’

Gina Jones@itsginajones.bsky.social · yesterday

Why has the UK been doing badly at Eurovision? It’s safe to say I have some OPINIONS! FYI I am available if MPs wish to hear my TED Talk on this, but here’s a handy summary: escinsight.com/2026/09/25/s... #Eurovision #UK

The second attack in two weeks on an LGBT+ bookshop in Glasgow. STV posted this story on Facebook and there is an endless stream of comments underneath suggesting the answer is for them to stop using the word "queer", stop supporting trans rights, and stop being so visible. Mainstreamed hate.

Queer bookshop vandalised again two weeks after targeted attack

Category Is Books in Govanhill has been targeted twice within two weeks

news.stv.tv

Today in unexpected impacts of city-based arena events.

BISA - British International Studies Association@mybisa.bsky.social · 2d ago

📣 #BISA2027 date change - 30 June - 2 July 📣 Recently announced Oasis concerts coinciding with the original conference dates have had a significant impact on hotel availability and prices for delegates. The move will help keep the conference accessible. Read more 👉 https://ow.ly/p1Fp50ZQWPC

‘The values everyone’s referring to today are the ones the Contest accepts. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are the ones its audience believes. For that to be at the centre, there needs to be a wider conversation between those 2 sides as to what Eurovision really is, & what it could & should be’

ESC Insight@escinsight.com · 2d ago

As the Netherlands returns to the Eurovision Song Contest, it appears the era of the boycott is coming to an end. But are we really going back to normal? James Stephenson asks what comes next. escinsight.com/2026/09/24/e...

Our headmistress quoted from Penelope Lively’s autobiography about growing up among British colonial community in Egypt so often that ‘oleander, jacaranda’ became school-wide 1990s equivalent of a meme.

Andrew Male@andrewmale.bsky.social · 3d ago

Bizarre things that happened in your assembly: A neighbour of one of the teachers gave us a five-minute lecture about kwashiorkor which involved him reciting a list of his favourite words (yes, ‘kwashiorkor’ was one of them). Included the unforgettable phrase, “Diarrhoea, another beautiful word.”

‘Many readers, I suspect, will have a sense of just how dangerous the modern right has become. What I think is less understood is the enormous harm center-left elites can do when they adopt the wrong strategy for dealing with this unprecedented threat’

Toby Buckle@polphilpod.bsky.social · 3d ago

the uk has shown were backing off trans rights takes you & it's horrific my latest for new republic newrepublic.com/article/2155...

Promises more decision-making power about #Eurovision governance will shift to EBU members (broadcasters) rather than contest management seem to have persuaded 🇧🇪’s VRT to return. 🇪🇸’s RTVE, in contrast, still unconvinced enough that its president is proposing staying out again.

ESC Hayden@eschayden.bsky.social · 3d ago

Here are the responses from VRT to my 3 questions.

Announced on the same day a different 🇳🇱 public broadcaster, NPO, has taken over Dutch #Eurovision participation from AVROTROS.

ESC Discord@escdiscord.com · 3d ago

🇧🇪 Belgium's Flemish broadcaster VRT will take part in #Eurovision 2027. "VRT has noticed that the EBU is now taking its members' concerns seriously and is making work of the future of the contest."

‘For many young people, part of the pain they have felt in the past few years has been in witnessing the events in Gaza … why would they not increasingly expect artists to draw connections between their personal pain and what is causing it?’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Ed Sheeran thought fans didn’t want artists to be politically engaged. He’s finding out how wrong he was | Jason Okundaye

Twenty years ago, even Madonna faced radio blacklisting for being overtly political. But in our age of streaming, there’s less excuse for not speaking out, says Guardian columnist Jason Okundaye

theguardian.com

‘The difference, said @dorianlynskey.bsky.social, is that Ukraine reads in the west as a “consensus position” – “like Chris Martin wearing the pride flag, subtly progressive without risk of a massive backlash”’ Again very like what #Eurovision faced in 2024

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last wk.

‘A maelstrom of his own making’: how Ed Sheeran’s tour turned into a full-blown culture war

‘As sports owners transform their stadiums into concert venues and more artists use big stadiums for their shows, we are increasingly entering a world where the most powerful billionaires in sports will be inclined to take more blatantly political stances’

David Dennis Jr@daviddennisjr.bsky.social · last wk.

I wrote about three tours and what they say about protest, the billionaire class and what *real* cancel culture looks like

in more writing-y skeets: I have a chunk in Think Write Edit Romance, talking about how you can't just slap a job title on an MC: to make a convincing mafioso/hairdresser/sculptor, you need to show what they know and do informing their general behaviour. re which, check out this delightful post!

the very efficient Thanksgiving dinner, the threat assessments, and other ways our jobs follow us home

Last month we talked about what habits have followed you home from work, and here are some of the most delightful habits you shared. •  My husband is a captioner and uses a specialized voice-to-text s...

askamanager.org

Look. This is really simple. Whilst the RNLI is a charity, it forms part of the basic infrastructure of the country (whether this is a suitable arrangement is another matter). Due to intimidation parts of this infrastructure are unable to function.

Nicola Kelly@nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · last wk.

I have spent weeks shadowing the RNLI and I can tell you, they do it out of nothing more than compassion. Wrote about the heroes I've met over the years in this free-to-read post. nicolakelly.substack.com/p/the-rnli-a...

From a creative industries perspective this makes more sense than the media want to suggest it does, especially since #Eurovision got bumped up the cultural policy agenda after 🇬🇧 hosting for 🇺🇦 in 2023.

ESC Discord@escdiscord.com · last wk.

🇬🇧 The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is likely to call BBC employees and music industry experts to give evidence at a hearing that will be held "over the coming months." More: www.bbc.com/news/article...

Lookie here, the UK legal definition of terrorism! I'd say this falls under 1b, 1c, 2c, 2d. Again, this is the same definition used to proscribe Palestine Action.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last wk.

Lifeboat station in Portsmouth forced to temporarily shut after far-right action

Also not opening on Ed Sheeran’s tour.

ESC Discord@escdiscord.com · last wk.

🚨🇮🇪 BREAKING: Ireland will not compete in #Eurovision 2027. "RTÉ feels that Ireland's participation cannot be justified given the appalling and ongoing loss of lives in Gaza."

‘Now the 90s are far enough away for us to understand them, it’s clear that there was a hidden architecture to those times, one that supported this burst of creativity. It wasn’t just the party venues that were easy to find’ www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Hard parties, cheap rents and horrible flats: how 90s art and fashion redefined British culture

An evocative new Tate Britain show captures an era when the UK’s newly flush creative industries teamed up with a generation of skint dreamers to bring the decade into vivid colour

theguardian.com

CFP: Far-Right Archives in the Digital Age, a collaboration between @wienerlibrary.bsky.social and me (via my @britishacademy.bsky.social grant): 27 November, London: www.northampton.ac.uk/research-blo... Travel funds are available (probably only within UK)!! Please share. 🗃️

CFP: Far-Right Archives in the Digital Age | UON

Wiener Holocaust Library, London. Friday 27 November 2026, 10.30am-4pm Improved digital access to far-right material at archives, libraries, and beyond...

northampton.ac.uk

I know GLP are up against a very hostile legal context but this is absolutely a depressing read. Highlighting minor ways in which schools can flex that still leave trans kids in a horrendous & harmful position. These flexes are no where near enough to protect trans kids.

Natacha@natacha.bsky.social · 2w ago

Guidance from @goodlawproject.org about trans kids in schools. The Equality Act still applies and it would appear that @lucympowell.bsky.social’s transphobic schools’ guidance may be unlawful in many instances.

Ed Sheeran’s tour now that venues have dropped Macklemore appears to be speedrunning Eurovision 2024, except with 🇮🇪 support acts able to use stronger language and actually drop out.

Una Mullally@unamullally.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Irish musician Aaron Rowe has said he is withdrawing as a support act on Ed Sheeran’s tour.

“The organisation said 50 activists had been detained, more than 10 taken after police raids on their homes. It said that authorities had blocked several websites and social media accounts linked to LGBTQ+ organisations.” Chilling to see Turkish authorities escalate their attacks against LGBT folk.

Turkish police detain dozens in raids on gay bars and homes of LGBTQ+ activists

Human rights groups in Turkey have accused the government of using a family- values campaign to target the LGBTQ+ community.

bbc.co.uk

‘At no point would a group on the left be given the levels of understanding or implicit praise that the black-shorted boot boys are getting. We’ve seen it happen enough times to know exactly what’s going on here’s

Mic Wright@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 2w ago

NEW | On some dangerous language… AN (ACCIDENTAL?) LOVE LETTER TO THE LUNKHEADS Taking a closer look at the BBC Home Affairs Editor’s gentle coverage of street fascists. brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/an-acciden...

Exciting news (well we think so)! We are looking for new people to regularly contribute to our archive! We accept applications from anyone based in the UK who has an interest in sending us their thoughts and opinions about life in the UK. #Skystorians massobs.org.uk/write-for-th...

Write for the archive - Mass Observation Archive

Writing for Mass Observation You can apply to write for the archive here. Current Observers If you are one of our current Observers you may find our handbook for new Observers helpful. This has all th...

massobs.org.uk

🛡️ What does the Viking legacy look like today? Tom Birkett and his team have launched a project exploring how ideas and narratives about the #Vikings have evolved across Europe over the past 200 years. 👉 t.co/0L4WD9EsLL 📸 ©️Clare Keogh @norsemap.bsky.social @norseincork.bsky.social @ucc.ie

‘Joan, like her literary knightly kin, was reverted back to womanhood in spite of the known fact of her short hair … Artists gave her back her long hair, turning her into a woman, not a warrior’

Speculative Insight journal@speculativeinsight.bsky.social · 2w ago

Joyce Chng's essay - first published in April 2024, now leaping out of the vault - points to ways in which lady knights, while challenging stereotypes, nonetheless get cut down to expected feminine standards by male medieval poets. www.speculativeinsight.com/from-the-vault

Kateryna Pavlenko (ex Go_A, 🇺🇦 #Eurovision 2021) was on another evacuated train a few hours ahead in opposite direction, returning from a Ukrainian content creators’ visit to the European Commission

WarTranslated (Dmitri)@wartranslated.bsky.social · 2w ago

Der Spiegel says Russia’s drone strike near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing hit close to a special train from Kyiv carrying Boris Johnson plus advisers to Merz and other European leaders. www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/u...

‘The year is doing a lot of work before the plot has even bought its popcorn. … In 1994, culture could travel fast enough to become a rumour, but not fast enough to become a fact before bedtime. That is a lovely place for horror to live’

Ginger Coffee Creams of Horror@gnofhorror.com · 2w ago

The novel is not secretly about three people returning a family film late and being condemned by a supernatural late fee. https://gnofhorror.com/why-1994-was-perfect-for-a-cursed-movie/