Sam
@samkarlharrison.bsky.social
Sporadic writer & editor at Lion & Unicorn https://thelionandunicorn.com/
"She is Miss Upward Mobility" Tonight on YouTube, Margaret Thatcher is interviewed by William F. Buckley on FIRING LINE (September 1975)👇 youtu.be/Hf9rNeTN4V0
Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: The British Mess, with the First Lady of British Politics
YouTube video by Hoover Institution Library & Archives
youtu.be
Su Pollard & Peter Cook on Joan Rivers' chat show👇 youtu.be/apSQO35n_NA
Su Pollard - talking to Joan Rivers
YouTube video by regentrobbie
youtu.be
Tonight on YouTube, THE CITY BENEATH THE SEA (1962) by John Lucarotti. Atomic submarine the Cyana is hijacked during its maiden voyage by a former German U-Boat commander. But for what nefarious & fantastic purpose? (Recommended by @hellothisisivan.bsky.social) youtu.be/beI9rYM2dKg
City Beneath The Sea 1
YouTube video by 50's Sleaze, 60's Ease & 70's Cheese From London
youtu.be
🎶Who's the girl who gets us giddy? Eyes so blue and shoes so diddy Who's our favourite Tory biddy?🎶 Someone at work started talking about Ann Widdecombe today, and I suddenly remembered this. (Think of it as the antidote to Sooz Kempner) youtu.be/j-3VSLyje4E
Ann Widdecombe Song | Victoria Wood with all the Trimmings | Christmas 2000
YouTube video by I archived this
youtu.be
"The present government was the weakest in a century. It wouldn’t fight, it wouldn’t defend its interests, even oil. The people was soft and its government softer." The great spy-novelist William Haggard was born 11 August 1907. thelionandunicorn.com/2016/11/26/a...
‘As hearty as roast beef’: William Haggard
ALWYN TURNER celebrates the work of Cold War thriller writer William Haggard.
thelionandunicorn.com
"I know it’s absurd to feel an aching sense of the lost world over an old episode of Parkinson, but I can’t help mourning what’s been lost." Trade unionist Jimmy Reid died 10 Aug 2010. @finlay24.bsky.social writes on his chatshow encounter with Kenneth Williams. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/23/l...
Last night on YouTube: Parkinson
FINLAY McLAREN watches Kenneth Williams and Jimmy Reid going at it (ooh matron).
thelionandunicorn.com
Sunday folk sunset: Sandy Denny 'North Star Grassman and the Ravens' (1971) Sandy's first solo album, and for me, her best. The sleeve - Denny in a cobwebbed apothecary’s shop, measuring out dried herbs as an autumn sun flares through the window - is a wonderful evocative image. #musicsky
"Little less hate in the universe today" How did the good people of Blueksy respond to the death of Rod Liddle? Lion & Unicorn has made a list of bleats (which contains strong language)👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/08/08/r...
Rod Liddle: a tribute in bleats
How the good people of Bluesky responded to the death of columnist Rod Liddle.
thelionandunicorn.com
"He’s already said he’ll avoid wearing a tie whenever possible, so why not take it further? He should show up to his audience with the King wearing a pair of faded jeans and some creased Adidas Sambas" It's top bloke @finlay24.bsky.social writing for UnHerd👇 unherd.com/newsroom/do-...
Do blokes still have a place in British politics?
This week, the Times reported that Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been upbraided by his social media team over fears that his comms have become too “blokeish”. The source of No. 10’s concerns seems t...
unherd.com
"In Nigel Kneale’s classic THE STONE TAPE (1972), he was one of a rambunctious team of scientists whose nerves begin to fray as they investigate a haunting. His terrified scream of realisation that the ghost has infested their own computer is a much cited example of abject on-screen terror"
Toby Hadoke@tobyhadoke.bsky.social · 4d agoTom Chadbon Guardian obituary by me: www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/a...
"Raynor & Moth Winn, for all I dislike them, are clever. They spotted the weak spot in the market – that soft, underbelly of Britain’s collective conscience – and gave it a hearty prod" Apropos recent news, I keep thinking about this from @finlay24.bsky.social👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2025/08/23/d...
Decade: The Salt Path (2018)
FINLAY McLAREN on the cultural phenomenon of The Salt Path, and how it sold us what we deserved.
thelionandunicorn.com
"On PIRLS, an international test of primary reading, England are now fourth out of 43 countries and the highest-performing country in the west. International delegations frequently visit primary schools in England to find out what they are doing right" On why we mustn't unGove education👇
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 4d agoA must-read by @daisychristo.bsky.social:
Be warned, the bleat posted below is one of the mildest quoted in the article
Lion & Unicorn@lionunicorn.bsky.social · 5d ago"The illness is now feeling better after a short case of Rod Liddle" ‘Social media as it should be,’ is how Bluesky bills itself. ‘Unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.’ So how’s this antidote to hate going? thelionandunicorn.com/2026/08/08/r...
Lion & Unicorn's Alwyn Turner has been moonlighting for The Times again. Check out his review of 1936: THE YEAR OF THREE KINGS by Siân Evans👇
Alwyn Turner@alwynturner.bsky.social · 5d agoI very much enjoyed Sian Evans's new book on the Abdication crisis. www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
"I got fed-up with the flying, the drinking, the looning and the no-rehearsals." Alan Price on why he left the Animals. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/08/05/h...
Have you heard… Alan Price
ALWYN TURNER celebrates the mid-1970s solo work of ex-Animal Alan Price.
thelionandunicorn.com
Jack Good, the man who invented rock 'n' roll television, was born 95 years ago today. Here's @alwynturner.bsky.social writing about him. thelionandunicorn.com/2017/09/28/t...
‘The first pop intellectual’
ALWYN TURNER on the early television shows of the great Jack Good.
thelionandunicorn.com
"Raynor & Moth Winn, for all I dislike them, are clever. They spotted the weak spot in the market – that soft, underbelly of Britain’s collective conscience – and gave it a hearty prod" Apropos recent news, I keep thinking about this from @finlay24.bsky.social👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2025/08/23/d...
Decade: The Salt Path (2018)
FINLAY McLAREN on the cultural phenomenon of The Salt Path, and how it sold us what we deserved.
thelionandunicorn.com
I loved this episode of SINCE ATTLEE & CHURCHILL looking at the life & career of Labour square peg Ann Clwyd. (Although her husband's treatment by NHS Wales & the Welsh government's subsequent refusal to work with her on standards may have pushed me to the Right.) open.spotify.com/episode/2yfV...
How did a left-wing Labour MP become an advocate for the Iraq War?
Since Attlee & Churchill · Episode
open.spotify.com
"There does not appear to be any correlation with the cost of living crisis. Inequality? No. Unemployment? No. Global financial crash? No. But surely, this can’t be right? What could explain it?" A typically thought-provoking piece from @residentadviser.bsky.social👇
Obadiah Mbatang @residentadviser.bsky.social · 2w agoMy only opinion on prime ministers' holidays is that we should look down on them for travelling abroad.
K M Flett@keithbeard.bsky.social · 6d ago
Liberal England: Before Paddington Bear there was Mary Plain "I appreciate Rae's skill in creating stories that entertained children whilst also amusing their long suffering parents; their dry wit that would have flown straight over my six year old head."
Before Paddington Bear there was Mary Plain
If the Paddington phenomenon has Gone A Bit Far , as Lord Bonkers would put it, is there an alternative bear whose adventures we can enjoy? ...
liberalengland.blogspot.com
"On an island built on coal and with oil beneath the sea, We struggle to get by and we’ve joined the EEC." I wrote a bit about Alan Price, together with an introductory playlist. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/08/05/h...
Have you heard… Alan Price
ALWYN TURNER celebrates the mid-1970s solo work of ex-Animal Alan Price.
thelionandunicorn.com
1. Calling all Family fans: A (very) recent upload of Family performing 'Part of the Load' from the then newly released 'Fearless' on Beat Club in 1971. Brilliant. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynSY...
Family (ft. Roger Chapman) - Part Of the Load (1971)
YouTube video by Beat-Club
youtube.com
Apropos devolution👇 "Will the Government please take its filthy hands off Morley, which happens to be my home town? Morley, apart from producing Asquith, has never bothered the central Government, and I see no good reason why Whitehall should bother us" thelionandunicorn.com/2015/08/05/t...
Town bloody hall!
DAN ATKINSON laments 40 years of hurt in local government.
thelionandunicorn.com
Lion & Unicorn — the blog I started with historian @alwynturner.bsky.social & financial journalist Dan Atkinson — turns 11 today. Below is a 10th-anniversary celebration of our brilliant writers, who have since been joined by renowned internet wit Ivan Kirby (@hellothisisivan.bsky.social)👇
Lion & Unicorn@lionunicorn.bsky.social · last yr."We don’t write to order – just stuff that interests us. And when we get bored, we stop. The internet was made for man, not man for the internet" To mark Lion & Unicorn's ✨️10th anniversary✨️, a celebration of our wonderful writers (& of Britain).👇 wp.me/p6lzJb-7uD
"It’s more than a little reminiscent of the famous apocryphal headline ‘Fog in the Channel: Europe Cut Off.’" Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford and Petula Clark in The Runaway Bus. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/08/01/f...
Final cut: The Runaway Bus (1954)
SIMON MATTHEWS watches Frankie Howerd, Margaret Rutherford and Petula Clark.
thelionandunicorn.com
