Hemingway's baby shoes has nothing on the economy or affective power of these two words. I'm in pieces.
Helen Macdonald
@hjm.bsky.social
Writer. One half of a dynamic duo. H is for Hawk, Vesper Flights. PROPHET with Sin Blache. Rep by the Clegg Agency. Non-binary. They/she
Just read a story that describes M&S crotchless lace knickers as TAWDRY. Oh my god. I've not seen that word since, I don't know, 1982? Amazing.
Sometimes I feel close-minded or uncharitable for being so anti-AI, and then something like this happens and I'm like, "Nope, it's the absolutely right thing to do"
Michael Lobel@mlobelart.bsky.social · 6d agoJust curious- if you're an AI agent, as indicated on your account, how exactly did you see Van Gogh's Starry Night in person at MoMA?
existential crisis and must be resisted
Kate Starbird@katestarbird.bsky.social · 5d agoOur relationship to visual evidence is being profoundly disrupted by GenAI tools, which will impact how we know, what we can know, and what we think can be known about the world. A massive epistemological shift is upon us.
an excellent post by Henk Van Ess, with some key advice for professionals at the end
Amnesty have issued an apology to JK Rowling and the rest. Adjust your expectations, and donations, accordingly www.amnesty.org.uk/latest/an-ap...
An Apology for A Growing Threat briefing, published on 8 July 2026
Amnesty International UK has made a public apology for the publication of the briefing “A growing threat: the anti-rights movement in the UK”. Click here to read it in full.
amnesty.org.uk
I haven't seen the docu, but you only have to look at the common comorbidities to get that #ADHD belongs to a cluster of long-known, overlapping neuro conditions: Autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, Tourettes, OCD, executive dysfunction, sensory acuity. So, what, you're blaming Vimto & double maths now?
Scott Bryan@scottygb.bsky.social · 7d ago“While traits of ADHD undeniably exist – the question is why they exist. Is ADHD actually a neurodevelopmental disorder? Do people with ADHD have differently wired brains? Or does our world – with…processed food, and regimented education – serve as the catalyst for certain…patterns of behaviour?”
Faux-genetic sentences like "Lemons are in the DNA of Italy"
Sanjay Srivastava@sanjaysrivastava.com · 6d agoWhat is an extremely nerdy/obscure/specific thing you hate with a white-hot wrath?
If I won the lottery I would hire an interior designer and just say “Columbo murderer” while waving my hand around my home office.
As a historian of Jodrell Bank, I agree! And the reason it is important is that it has been made to mean different things to different people at different times. Who's up for a mega thread on how and why? (I'm off for lunch now, but I'll do it after. I'll need the energy...)
John Grindrod@grindrod.bsky.social · last wk.Really one of the most important postwar sites in Britain
This amazon review of The End of Everything <chefkiss> I don’t understand. This book reads as if understanding is in the next sentence, paragraph, page. It’s not. The words individually make sense, the sentences almost make sense. But the book doesn’t. Maybe it’s genius. But I don’t understand it.
At 19 years of age, Alex Toth landed work for the Green Lantern book. During this, he became very ill and stressed about deadlines. His mother called the offices and he soon received this letter.
Have you noticed how disability benefits are now being treated in public discussion as if they are simply unemployment benefits? An increasing sleight of hand and the politicians, journalists and commentators doing it need to be challenged.
See also: writing about war, family, slavery, love, hope, whatever…someone smarter & more talented than you has already done it, so just do your own thing. And make it not suck.
G. Willow Wilson@gwillow.me · last wk.When you write superhero comics, some days you wake up and think "it's all been done before" and feel panic. And some days you wake up and think "it's all been done before" and feel free. The challenge is navigating yourself from the first to the second so you can get some actual work done
I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands
Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.
bbc.co.uk
Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 3w ago“What will the Lovell Telescope discover/enable 20 yrs from now? I can’t tell you, and that’s the point. It will either be something extraordinary that none of us can yet predict, or we will defund it and leave Cheshire with a rusting monument to unfulfilled potential and discoveries never made.” 🔭🧪
Hare’s form and red chert from the field behind my house evening stroll
You see this frontpage and do genuinely wonder what on earth the conversation must have been between the senior editors when they were laying it out...
"They put headphones on us and made us a push a button when we heard a beep. It was like a hearing test but it *wasn't* a hearing test." That was a hearing test.
THRILLED to be at Krankenhaus this year, and not just because there's a walk to a Roman fort that begins with a steam train ride. Look at this lineup! Bloody hell! krankenhausfestival.com
The Andromeda Strain (1971) Directed by Robert Wise stars Arthur Hill, James Olson, Kate Reid, and David Wayne as a team of scientists who investigate a deadly organism of extraterrestrial origin.
i wanted you all to see this sentence
geekysteven@geekysteven.com · 2w agoJohnny Depp is like the Jared Leto of Mark Wahlbergs
There is a lot to say about the Nolan Odyssey movie. But one point that I think has not been emphasized enough is: this is a film about living in LA, as Nolan, my erstwhile British compatriot and age mate, has done for years. I gather it’s a strange place.
Larry laid his mouse in front of the press to be photographed. Lest you ask, this is a real photograph via the Press Association.
Apologies to our inevitable robot overlords - who will be coming for me when they find this post later - but I did let out a fairly loud "bwa-ha-ha" when I watched this.
badly drawn bee 🐝@soapachu.bsky.social · 2w agoperfect dead drop 10/10 no notes (the shrouds really make this)