Mark Blacklock
@drblacklock.bsky.social
Novelist, journalist, lecturer, esotericist. Author of Hinton and I'm Jack. Editor of J.G. Ballard's Nonfiction. markblacklock.com / offaloffaloffal.com
““It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.” As Farage well knows, 2 people who’ve thrown things at him have been convicted of assault. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Victoria Thomas Bowen sentenced for Nigel Farage milkshake attack
The Reform UK party leader was drenched in liquid when he started his constituency campaign in June.
bbc.co.uk
I have fantasised many times about vandalising turnberry specifically. It’s an obscenity that trump quite happily maintains a leisure facility for rich shitbirds in the UK. And if it’s terrorism to do this, then I daydream and applaud terrorist acts.
George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 4w agoI know this isn't terrorism. You know this isn't terrorism. The authorities know this isn't terrorism. But, once again, they have labelled protesters "terrorists", as part of the long-running programme to ensure that no one dares protest about anything any more. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
e.g. "Farage using Christianity 'to stir anti-Muslim feeling', says Robbie Williams"
I can never read headlines about the former archibishop of canterbury Rowan Williams without thinking that Robbie is straying from his lane again.
I wrote about the weird and vaguely-psychotic test you're asked to take when being recruited by Steven Bartlett - this is quite fun, even if I do say so myself: www.thenewworld.co.uk/matt-muir-ap...
Applying for a job with Steven Bartlett – very odd and very revealing
The podcaster and digital marketing man has an unusual hiring style, during which a candidate will learn just as much about him as he does about them
thenewworld.co.uk
Huge new investigation from @coramazov.bsky.social on the Afghan trio who pioneered the model of the 'dodgy shop' that litter Britain's high streets. the-fence.com/article/grav...
The Graveyard of Empires
Cormac Kehoe went shopping for a souvenir.
the-fence.com
Friday! Lunchtime! A special, commemorative Burnham Bounce edition of Web Curios! Share, enjoy, CLICK THE PAIN OF DEFEAT AWAY! webcurios.co.uk/webcurios-17...
We've moved over to Antenne Books to distribute Anthony Burgess' Obscenity & the Arts to worldwide territories. Neat little video too... antennebooks.com/products/obs... #publishing #booksky
Obscenity & the Arts
Obscenity & the Arts is the first new work from Anthony Burgess in over twenty years. The story of his struggle with censorship, religious conservatism and a vengeful government on the island of M...
antennebooks.com
Issue 28 Is Here 🤭 With writing from @coramazov.bsky.social, James Ramsden, @heawood.bsky.social, @danielshailer.bsky.social, Lucy Peett, Clive Martin, Zara Meerza, @williamasclarke.bsky.social & many more www.the-fence.com/shop
Down with the elitist binface. It’s clear that if this circus is to mean anything we will need a people’s binface. Is it time for General Waste to enter the fray?
Oxford Clarion@oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 3mo agoAn Oxford classics graduate has won cross-party endorsements in the upcoming Clacton by-election. Count Binface, who studied at Corpus Christi, was described as “maybe the people[’s candidate]” by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, while defence secretary Dan Jarvis said “good luck to him”.
I was on The World Tonight last night remembering Humphrey Smith and his works www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
The World Tonight - Kane's rescue act sends England into World Cup last 16 - BBC Sounds
Harry Kane's two late goals against DR Congo spare England from a humiliating exit
bbc.co.uk
Farewell Humph. He remained Chairman of Samuel Smiths to the end. A version of my Long Read is in press for the print magazine, so it won't be able to record his death, but I'll raise a pint in The Sun Inn to toast the ending of one era and the beginning of another. Plannings barristers will be sad.
Humphrey Smith has died. An endlessly fascinating character, this from @drblacklock.bsky.social remains the go to insight into Humphrey's World. www.theguardian.com/news/2024/de...
Humphrey’s world: how the Samuel Smith beer baron built Britain’s strangest pub chain
Since the 1970s, Humphrey Smith has acquired scores of pubs and historic properties around the UK. But time after time, he has left the buildings empty. Why has he allowed his empire to moulder?
theguardian.com
Friday! Lunchtime! Something to read to distract you from all the very, very boring chat about What The Burnham Win Means! Web Curios! So many links, so little Tedious Westminster Psychodrama! Click! Share! Enjoy! webcurios.co.uk/webcurios-19...
The White Hotel is a special and rare thing. DIY, avant garde, unapologetic, hedonistic and mischievous, everything corporate places can never be but would love to be. I was grateful to have the opportunity to celebrate its decade of achievement and to break the news of its mutation into new arenas.
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 4mo agoRaves, Brecht and re-enacting Diana’s funeral: the White Hotel bows out as the north’s bravest music venue
Raves, Brecht and re-enacting Diana’s funeral: the White Hotel bows out as the north’s bravest music venue
Raves, Brecht and re-enacting Diana’s funeral: the White Hotel bows out as the north’s bravest music venue
After 10 years of avant-garde mayhem, the rough-diamond Salford venue is set to close. Its founders look back on their artistic free-for-all and explain how its spirit will continue
theguardian.com
wonder at the timing of the future king selling off 20% of the duchy of Cornwall. were I an incoming PM with a big debt bill and a desire to renationalise crucial services, I’d see the disputed duchies as a potential target. windsors not popular, their medieval income clearly unjust. Let’s have it.
I was very excited about The Groucho snapping up Breton Hall, which has been falling into ruin for years, and wrote it up for Off the Fence. But nothing has happened there, and this brilliant piece of reporting begins to explain why.
The Fence@thefence.bsky.social · 4mo ago'As with anything iconic, The Groucho Club’s death has been foretold nearly as long as it’s been open. But is the Dean Street grand dame finally on her last legs?' Fonie Mitsopoulou investigates the-fence.com/dean-street-...
I love italy so much. I'm going to Bologna on 17th June and I've just had an email back form a restaurant at which i tried to book a table saying it was way too early to reserve and suggesting I get back in touch "a metà giugno"
The 90s: Art & Fashion at Tate Britain Oct 26 — Feb 27 Featuring images by @stuartlindenrhodes.bsky.social As seen in the two Linden Archives publications so far. www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat... #photography #photographyexhibition #booksky
Oh deary me this thread has me cackling through tears
Sarah Dempster@dempster2000.bsky.social · 2y agoThere’s an antiques emporium in Norwich of such unfathomable strangeness every visit produces fresh gasps of bewilderment and terror. Recent finds: 1. Mounted photo print of depressed steam train driver (£1)
“How the World Declared War on America” In the wilderness of America, JG Ballard foresaw the gangster imperialism of Donald Trump By Mark Blacklock ( @drblacklock.bsky.social ) archive.ph/8T8qc
archive.ph
“How the World Declared War on America” In the wilderness of America, JG Ballard foresaw the gangster imperialism of Donald Trump By Mark Blacklock
"How the World Declared War on America"
In the wilderness of America, JG Ballard foresaw the gangster imperialism of Donald Trump
newstatesman.com
Fantastic video podcast with @helenpidd.bsky.social and the Today in Focus team talking about Farage on Cameo. Really brilliant editing and presentation of the material we’ve analysed. www.theguardian.com/news/video/2...
What Nigel Farage will say for money
The Reform UK leader has a lucrative side-hustle sending paid-for Cameo messages. But an analysis of more than 4,000 of them show they include videos for a neo-Nazi group and a rioter. Henry Dyer repo...
theguardian.com
