Given we are approaching that time of the year, my big piece from years back on the 1983 Cold War Crisis (and the role of Stanislav Petrov in it) over onto authory as a free-to-read. Over the years, the myth of what happened has been simplified. The reality was scarier. Because: Ronald Reagan.

The Day the World Didn’t End

At the height of the Cold War, with alarms screaming, one Soviet officer stopped to think. It cost him his career. It may also have saved the world. The morning of the 26th September 1983 had started ...

authory.com

Every time I think 'I'll revisit The Decemberists' latest album coz maybe I was too harsh', I get as far as the opening track and am amazed all over again at how unbelievably awful the production is - it sounds like a demo recorded in a bathroom :-(

My thanks once again to Simon Guerrier @0tralala.bsky.social for his thoughtful and sympathetic and extensive response to 'Magic Rays of Light', including a great selection of extracts. 0tralala.blogspot.com/2026/08/magi...

Magic Rays of Light, by John Wyver

0tralala.blogspot.com

When you suspect Andrew Pixley is employing euphemism.

Pub quiz team mate casually told me tonight that he has a friend who was a cameraman on Riverside-filmed Doctor Who! Never interviewed afaik, so I’m trying to arrange a chat. Potential for New Good Facts! Maybe, finally, I’ll get an article in DWM!

Hey you! Want to spend 15 mins seeing what telly was like almost exactly 60 years ago? Includes! Previously missing ‘Hancock’s’ [no actual Tony Hancock, but still] Adverts! Including a woman who does NOT have dandruff! And MISSING ALAN BENNETT - FOUND! discover.york.ac.uk/collections/...

Galton And Simpson Archive

Explore Galton And Simpson Archive in the Discover York Digital Library — high-resolution images served via IIIF.

discover.york.ac.uk

Based on the marketing I prolly wouldn’t have tried Ride or Die, but enough people here said how good it was, so I did. And yeah, it’s really solid and surprisingly ruthless. More pls.

I enjoyed this book hugely and you might too. Lots and lots and lots of dodgy shenanigans and spookiness and arse-kicking and detective stuff. I am torn between having a slight crush on Jackie and being TERRIFIED of him.

RJ Barker@rjbarker.bsky.social · 2w ago

In more A NUMBERS GAME related news. As befits their dodgy working class background you can practically STEAL Mal and Jackie's first adventure, A Numbers Game, with 25% off at Waterstones using the code SUMMER26. @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social @daturabooks.bsky.social

I can't work out if this is intended as a punishment to Lisa Nandy, who clearly hates the job; or a punishment to the entire UK culture sector, which is suffering as a result of that. Maybe both?

It's so exciting being a freelancer in the arts & ents industry (one of the UK's biggest industries) bc about once a month the gvt have a new proposal to kick you in the head & you have to fill in a dry consultation form explaining why kicking you in the head would be bad for business, not good

Tits McGee@scientits.bsky.social · 2w ago

Self-employed people! Sorry to put a downer on your Sunday, but in case you'd not seen, the Government wants us to pay our tax *monthly* like we're employees or something With the World Cup and all the politics, I'd missed the consultation they put out last month, which is here: 1/

I am in France, watching this insane game on a big screen with my French hosts 😬

Labour, like the tories before them, are the political wing of the fossil fuel industry. Our survival literally depends on replacing them.

Zack Polanski@zackpolanski.bsky.social · 3w ago

I ask Sadiq Khan about new oil and gas on Thursday: he refuses to answer properly. By the afternoon: we find out he's a Labour Lord. 48 hours later: we find out Labour are pushing ahead with this climate crime. We cannot trust Labour to tackle the climate crisis.

Everybody will have their own redlines but, after nearly 40 years, this will be the end of my Labour membership... There is no economic sense to this - the cost of living argument is bullshit - and it is insane environmentally www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Burnham to announce plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling

Drilling has become a controversial topic for the Labour party after the 2024 manifesto pledged to not issue new licences.

bbc.co.uk

Our now-un-paywalled MSG stories are here: www.wired.com/story/madiso... www.wired.com/story/madiso...

Madison Square Garden Kept a List of Gay Celebrities

An MSG database tracked and categorized hundreds of celebs, famous Knicks superfans, and even some of Taylor Swift’s wedding guests. Labels included “LGBTQIA,” “DO NOT HOST,” and low to high “risk.”

wired.com

WIRED@wired.com · 3w ago

Yesterday, WIRED learned that Madison Square Garden was suing us for our accurate reporting. We stand by our work. That’s why we’re removing the paywall from two of the MSG stories they don’t want you to read, making them free for everyone.

It didn't take long for King Andy to reveal his true colours. If Ed Miliband has any sense, he will resign from government and fight this climate vandalism from the backbenches.

Burnham to announce plans for new North Sea oil and gas drilling

Drilling has become a controversial topic for the Labour party after the 2024 manifesto pledged to not issue new licenses.

bbc.co.uk

Dang they really got a category for everything

not to come back to this again but i read the statement in full and once again, respectfully, DANG “We are not called to the legal minimum of hospitality. We are called to the radical welcome of the one who sought out the excluded and the overlooked.”

Anupama Ranawana@msamrc.bsky.social · 3w ago

Incredible statement from the Church in Wales on the ignominious Code of Practice: "The Church in Wales will not use equality law exemptions to exclude trans people from our worship, our sacraments, our pastoral care, or our common life." www.churchinwales.org.uk/en/news-and-...

As #DoctorWho #TargetBookClub is selling so well, here's the story behind the artwork by Gürkan Özer (www.instagram.com/gurkan0zer/). It's a tribute to old Turkish cinema posters. Please imagine he found an old poster for Doctor Who Meets Scratchman in a cinema in Sivas and restored it.

I actually heard the words 'the problem, with your generation' come out of my mouth while talking to my daughter the other day. I long for the fiery ritual of Carousel.

It fascinates me that there's a quality of "readability" which is almost entirely unconnected to whether the book is good or bad. I don't know why some writers can do it and some can't.

Furious that Chris Nolan would disregard historical accuracy in adapting The Odyssey by making a "movie" with "cameras" instead of memorizing the entire story and then going on a nationwide tour to sing it to us while tripping on ergotized barley

George Pal / George NTSC

I have to say, the men's Lionesses football team did pretty well in this World Cup. I know they haven't reached the final for decades so not quite up to the standard of the actual Lionesses, but they're getting there. Come on lads. Keep it up. Let's prove that we can be as good as the girls.

There is a raccoon running around Capitol Hill who has Shortened Spine Syndrome.

Thing about British Steel being nationalised is there is no argument around nationalising it that doesn't also apply to the universities except "steel is boy coded :) and teaching is girl coded :("

🚨Exclusive🚨 Two ministers filmed a video for a child-protection software firm that lost £17m in three years, made just *£112* in the UK in 2024 and gets 90%+ of its income from overseas subsidiaries that haven't cooperated with auditors for three years. 1/ theuglygame.wordpress.com/2026/07/15/p...

Prophets without profits

The government’s favourite provider of child protection software, SafeToNet – a perpetually loss-making firm run by recently born-again Christians – has finally filed its long-delayed accounts. The…

theuglygame.wordpress.com

Half the tickets sold for #DoctorWho #TargetBookClub Are you niche enough to spend a day in a dark room with lovely people talking about books? Get yours here: bit.ly/smallbluebox I'll put up something silly to celebrate later.

My son just told me is favourite sentence is: “I didn’t say we should kill him” because if you emphasise each different word it changes the entire meaning