Svenja O'Donnell
@svenjaodonnell.bsky.social
Journalist, writer, editor. Reformed lobby hack. Owned by dachshund.
My husband’s irritability towards French drivers was freshly exposed when, whilst cycling round ile de Re, our 3 year old daughter shouted “pricks” from her open top cargo at a car who tried to cut us off. I will point out that I speak to her in French so refuse to take the blame.
No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...
Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation
PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...
theonion.com
If Russian hackers want to seed anger and hate on Bluesky they should simply post about giving up on Middlemarch.
Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 7d agoWell, this explains a lot of your behavior. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/b...
French farmers from all over France are heading to Bordeaux with their tractors and irrigation tanks. Solidarity will prevail. www.instagram.com/reel/DbPyMVy...
75secondes on Instagram: "Des dizaines d’agriculteurs convergent vers Bordeaux avec leurs tracteurs et leurs citernes pour prêter main-forte aux pompiersView…"
Des dizaines d’agriculteurs convergent vers Bordeaux avec leurs tracteurs et leurs citernes pour prêter main-forte aux pompiers
instagram.com
Bordeaux is very close to my family’s neck of the woods so these fires feel very close to home. The solidarity and practical help offered by the farmers in our region (the neighbouring one) and people opening up their homes has been incredible.
I do worry the cult of the NHS has gone too far: covid messaging was "protect the NHS" not "protect your neighbour", now social care pitch rolling is "protect the NHS", not "you and your loved ones deserve peace of mind over the end of your lives".
Mirror Politics@politics.mirror.co.uk · last wk.Andy Burnham has warned the NHS faces collapse unless the social care system is finally sorted after years of promises.
The Times corrects its splash story headlined "Migrant care workers bring dozens of family members." The Times got this totally wrong. It then used its own error as the basis for an editorial calling explicitly for forced expulsions of people living here legally. www.thetimes.com/comment/regi...
Larry laid his mouse in front of the press to be photographed. Lest you ask, this is a real photograph via the Press Association.
I like to think he's done this to make political journalists look stupid, and honestly I admire it.
"We win by being Labour" is a worthy successor to "Brexit means Brexit"
65 per cent of Britons are owner-occupiers. General elections are won in the Midlands. Most people have a middle class occupation. The United Kingdom's comparative advantage is in services. These aren't facts that Philip Gould invented in order to make Labour feel sad.
Just read a disappointed review of this - the reviewer only gave it three stars, because: "Without any warning that I could see, it turns out to be a children’s book. Okay if I were decades younger." Oh, if *only* there had been some clue on the cover....
I adore you Leon, Egyptologist here, they were built by a largely volunteer force (corvée labor) of 25,000. The builders were very well fed, paid in bread and beer, and received excellent medical care. There was no slavery whatsoever, it is a common misconception.
leon@leyawn.bsky.social · 4w agoum, so everyone cheering on egypt in the world cup realizes how the pyramids were built right? but i guess that's a conversation you're not ready to have
for god's sake stop paying attention to Jonathan Haidt. He's a charlatan who doesn't know anything he pronounces with the confidence of the mediocre middle-aged man about
Presumably we're going to call the Northern No 10 Winterfell?
Might be good if some of the people still taking him seriously realise what he's become.
Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · last mo.feels bad that the guy who was chief of staff to the Prime Minister not a decade ago is now associating himself with an extreme right party! feels very bad!
That is a genius idea. I might emulate it and set myself a goal of adding hundreds of thousands of pounds to my salary so I can live mortgage free.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · last mo.Al Carns believes the UK govt should set a goal of adding a trillion pounds to (nominal) GDP in a decade, with fairer tax for coffee shops + an industrial strategy.
Yes, I will be saving up to install inbuilt aircon in the bedrooms
You know you’ve married the right person when you’ve just watched your husband stand with a garden hose for 15 minutes, misting the chickens
I went to a wedding where- and I am not joking- they played “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for” for their first dance.
Look, I know the world is ending, but it has to be said that I am ridiculously, supremely happy right now. PS: I left signed copies at Hatchard’s, Waterstones Piccadilly, and Waterstones opposite the National Gallery.
I think the one lesson we could have learned from Brexit, Trump and the rise of Reform is that social media should be banned for the over 70s. Especially since they’re unlikely to have the skills to circumvent it. And yet here we are…
