Have listened to the first 3 episodes of this podcast this evening and would highly recommend to any teacher whether you are a literacy specialist or not. Great work from the @thinkreadhq.bsky.social team in putting this together- punchy, clear and well-structured with great expert voices.

Thinking Reading@thinkreadhq.bsky.social · yesterday

The number of people who lack basic literacy skills are of epidemic proportions. We spoke to Rebecca Perry, Head of Adult Literacy & Criminal Justice @Literacy_Trust on "Inside the Reading Gap"  - a 4 part podcast about the literacy crisis.

Calling it a bubble is to miss the point. Go to where a community suits you, and where you suit the community. Where you can get what you want. I don’t want fights any more. I want facts, freedom and fun - peppered with interesting information. Is that a bubble? Maybe, but a good one. 4/4

We need to separate two distinct failures: 1/Schools stayed closed longer than they needed to bec the govt failed to put in strong mitigation measures to make them safe 2/Johnson failed to invest properly in helping children recover – a failure that led Sir Kevan Collins to resign as “catch‑up tsar”

No, he is the wolf who cried wolf.

James O’Brien@mrjamesob.bsky.social · 5d ago

The absurdity of taking Trump seriously & the impossibility of not doing so… open.spotify.com/episode/0C0q...

I would love Binface to beat Farage 52/48, and see how Nigel champions the people’s voice. Though this group of voters will likely get another ‘referendum’

Stats for Lefties 🍉🏳️‍⚧️@leftiestats.bsky.social · 5d ago

🚨 How the British public would vote in Clacton (excluding undecided voters): ➡️ Nigel Farage ~ 58% 🗑️ Count Binface ~ 42% Via @Survation, 10-13 July 2026 x.com/LeftieStats/...

This will be a brilliant experiment where we can assess the value of these two approaches

The number of people who lack basic literacy skills are of epidemic proportions, & most of us will never know that our friends, colleagues or relatives can’t read properly. Listen to Paul Mugford, trustee @ReadEasyUK on "Inside the Reading Gap" podcast talk about adult illiteracy in the UK.

If only Angela Rayner had realised this

Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 2w ago

Nigel Farage on whether his gifts/donations were declarable: “All right, perhaps I should have filled in a piece of paper. If that’s the worst thing I’ve done in life — not filling in a form — I would say that’s not too bad.” “I’ve certainly been judged guilty already by the liberal establishment.”

Fascinating conversation with Vic Goddard, CEO of Passmores Co-Operative Learning Community, about his school's journey to addressing reading problems. A must listen for all school leaders. The first of our extended interviews for 'Inside The Reading Gap' wherever you get your podcasts.

As feared: the robots will teach the more disadvantaged/ vulnerable. The rich will have human tutors, who will be v much a status symbol. When the children of Musk, Zuckerberg and Altman are being taught by robots, maybe then we’ll consider using them in schools www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

‘Really inappropriate’: teachers decry plan for humanoid robot in New York high school

Robot from company that acquired sex doll maker to be introduced in school with large Native American population

theguardian.com

Fascinating conversation with Vic Goddard, CEO of Passmores Co-Operative Learning Community, about his school's journey to addressing reading problems. A must listen for all school leaders. The first of our extended interviews for 'Inside The Reading Gap' wherever you get your podcasts.

Excellent article - v informative!

Journal of Art in Society@artinsociety.bsky.social · 2w ago

JUST PUBLISHED! Millais’ painting Christ in the House of his Parents provoked howls of ridicule from critics, including an enraged Charles Dickens. Our latest article analyses what their hostility tells us about Victorian attitudes to religion and art www.artinsociety.com/millais-char...

Kherson resident Kateryna showed how she has to move around the city - under trees, always watching out for drones and praying. People in Kherson don't go outside without an urgent need. Russia is trying to make Kherson uninhabitable. 📹: ekaterina_feniks7/Instagram

It's funny how no-one ever asks where the money is coming from when you announce a cut in immigration.

And so it begins.

Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · 2w ago

New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will use money allocated to helping poor countries deal with the worst impacts of climate change to fund a new cap on bus fares across England.

I’m beginning to think the real assassination threat may not come from Iran

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Trump on fallen US troops: "All of them said very strongly, 'We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.'"

Seems like Lucy Powell’s appointment as EdSec has unleashed an army of zombie ideas in education. They’re now stomping around social media and careering through random educational discussions. Ah well. Tuning up the evidence chainsaw.

As an unrepentant Govian I disagreed with a lot of what Bridget Phillipson did at the DfE, but she demonstrated that she could shape a department even against a dysfunctional backdrop. Wrongheaded to not give her another delivery department IMV.

George Eaton@georgeeaton.bsky.social · 2w ago

Not said enough in recent weeks that Bridget Phillipson was the cabinet minister who did the most to secure the abolition of the two-child benefit cap (cited by Starmer as his proudest moment).

Let's see an end to "the soft bigotry of low expectations and all the claims about why children can’t read. The mission is: find out how they need to be taught, then teach them. All of them." Our podcast "Inside the Reading Gap" is available on all the usual platforms.

Exactly this. And it was remarkable how quickly it happened once the political will was there.

George Potter 🔶@georgepotter.bsky.social · 2w ago

Not only do I completely agree with this, but we also have UK proof that it works! Oft overlooked is that during the covid lockdowns there was a massive government push to get rough-sleepers into hotels and off streets on public health grounds. But very few of them returned to rough sleeping.

One of the annoying downsides of AI (minor, I admit) is the increasingly awful AI-generated images people use to illustrate their blogs. But it might be more important than that: is AI corroding our judgement about what’s good and bad quality? Or are people just lazy (seems unlikely)?

So that’s a textbook police state. Do what we say when we say it, or you have no rights, not even to life. Dimination, not service.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w ago

Homan on people getting killed by ICE: "It comes down to one simple fact -- these people failed to comply with law enforcement ... all they had to do is comply. If they did, they'd be alive today."

Cuts to the heart of the matter: does reading ‘come naturally’ or does it require explicit teaching?

Thinking Reading@thinkreadhq.bsky.social · 3w ago

Why can't some children read after even 11 years of formal education? Some will argue deprivation, lack of intelligence, poor motivation, & presumed disabilities. In this podcast, we show how those beliefs don’t hold water & that teaching is the solution.  @daisychristo

Is it controversial to say all children in our mainstream state education system should leave school able to read well? We discuss this in our podcast "Inside the Reading Gap" - why it isn't happening, the impact it has & the solution.  Available wherever you get your podcasts.

We shouldn’t have to do this, but it’s time the conversation moved beyond hand-wringing. If tens of thousands leave compulsory education lacking basic literacy every year, what are we, the education system, going to do about it? Something to think about over the summer.

Thinking Reading@thinkreadhq.bsky.social · 3w ago

For people who mastered reading as children, it can be difficult to imagine the life-changing power that learning to read brings. You will hear from adults who learnt to read in their 40s in our podcast series "Inside the Reading Gap". Available wherever you get your podcasts.

So it turns out that IS OK to “arrest people for a tweet”, it just depends on who the tweet is about. apple.news/ArWrnwsECQAW...

Man arrested over social media post threatening to shoot Farage — BBC News

Met Police says a man in his 20s was held in south London this week on suspicion of sending threatening communications to an MP.

apple.news

I strongly recommend Vic’s experience, insight and honesty. A must listen for heads and senior leaders.

Thinking Reading@thinkreadhq.bsky.social · 3w ago

In our podcast "Inside the Reading Gap" we hear from teachers like @vicgoddard who know reading problems in secondary schools can be solved - rather than accommodated.  You can listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Really important listening for anyone in education or has a child with reading problems!

Thinking Reading@thinkreadhq.bsky.social · 3w ago

Episode 4 of "Inside the Reading Gap" is called Hope. Reading problems are solvable, and in this episode we explain what it takes to do that, and that we can achieve far more than is usually thought possible. Thank you to @ReadEasyUK for sharing their adult learner success stories.

I’m sure that the schedules have been written and are being closely followed.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w ago

Trump: "I thought Lindsey was gonna be living forever. I said, 'Lindsey, you're gonna live forever.' And he was gonna have a big victory. He was scheduled to win by a lot. He was scheduled."

Netanyahu forgot yo add, “Everybody cheered.”

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3w ago

What a surprise that Netanyahu says his last conversation with Lindsey was that he wanted US military aid to Israel to continue forever.