Katy Guest

I think I know what I’m getting for Christmas …

Don’t Cry for free outside theatre as Evita scene moved offstage in West End Paying audiences divided over staging in which they get video feed of Rachel Zegler singing on balcony to passersby

Hat tip to the Guardian headline writers today, somebody's on fire over on the news desk: www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...

My cat has started doing impressions, what do you think?

It’s summer in the park so I got my knees out and had an ice cream.

These cruel benefit cuts will rob security from so many – but Labour will lose something crucial too | Frances Ryan The worst reforms since George Osborne will teach voters that politicians really are all the same. Is it worth it? asks Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

“Benefit cuts with a red rosette are no different from those stained blue. And yet cuts signed off by a Labour government are in a sense particularly brutal. They come with a tinge, not just of fear, but despair and betrayal.”

My col. in tomorrow’s paper www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

@gabyhinsliff.bsky.social puts her finger on it right here:

A screenshot of part of the web page on the above link. It shows a collage of a group of former work experience people, including myself.

It’s that time of year again! The Guardian is opening its two-week work experience for underrepresented journalists: disabled people, POC, and now working class. It is paid at the London living wage.

This scheme changed my life. Go on, give it a go: workforus.theguardian.com/entry-level-...

Things in the garden, Feb 2025. I tidied up some rotten old leaves and found a bit of spring underneath.

When you walk to work through a Disney movie:

A reader with a terminal illness emailed in despair. What she told me should shock us all | Frances Ryan Rosy is unable to move, breathe or eat unassisted. Yet NHS assessors think it’s fine to leave her alone for hours at a time, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

This column has been the second most read on the whole Guardian site today and it’s all credit to Rosy who literally used her last voice to speak out about this country’s care crisis.

Please do continue to read and share. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A reader with a terminal illness emailed in despair. What she told me should shock us all | Frances Ryan Rosy is unable to move, breathe or eat unassisted. Yet NHS assessors think it’s fine to leave her alone for hours at a time, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan

Superb, moving & enraging journalism from @francesryan.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Blue Monday was a great day here as one magnificent colleague brought in the unwanted Bounties from a box of Celebrations and I ate most of them.

Things in the garden, Jan 2025: nemesia and viola hanging on; hellebore and primrose coming through.

May 2025 be your best year yet! x

Me too. But what if it's not done with us?? 😟

Don't jinx it, it's not the end yet!

I saw first-hand how the grooming scandal is being weaponised. This is what Starmer must do | Gaby Hinsliff There is a nagging sense that justice still has not been done. At a Reform rally, I watched Nigel Farage exploit that “Sophie” was 12 years old when she walked into Oldham police station to report a sexual assault. For a vulnerable child, first…

I saw first-hand how the grooming scandal is being weaponised. This is what Starmer must do | Gaby Hinsliff

New year deer

Two flowers still clinging on and two coming out in my garden on Christmas Day.

Brilliantly evocative piece here by John Harris.

Merry Solstice, one and all, at last! Here’s to everything getting brighter from here on in.

I will be joining my colleagues at the Guardian and Observer who are on strike for 48 hours. It ends at 23.59 GMT on Friday 13 December. For more information please follow bsky.app/profile/gonu... and @NUJofficial, or visit nuj.org.uk/savetheobserver

I will be joining my colleagues at the Guardian and Observer who are on strike for 48 hours. I will be back at work on Friday. For more information please follow bsky.app/profile/gonu... and @NUJofficial, or visit nuj.org.uk/savetheobserver

Imagine!

BLUESKY CHRISTMAS DISCOURSE SCHEDULE 1 Dec - Whamageddon Debate 3 Dec - Amusing DIY Advent Calendars 8 Dec - Elf On The F**king Shelf 10 Dec - Fairytale Of New York Lyrics 13 Dec - _ Is Actually A Christmas Movie 15 Dec - Crappy Winter Wonderland Scandal 17 Dec - Christmas Radio Times Nostalgia 20 Dec - Chris Rea 21 Dec - It's A Wonderful Life Appreciation 23 Dec - Baffling Cracker Jokes 24 Dec - Subtweeting House Guests 25 Dec - Doctor Who 26 Dec - Doctor Who 27 Dec - Bounty Bar Celebrations 28 Dec - The Word "Merryneum" 31 Dec - Hootenanny Rage 1 Jan - Public Domain Day 2 Jan - Cadburys Creme Eggs In Shops 3 Jan - When Is Bins?

They’ve released the Christmas Discourse Schedule! Lots to look forward to this year.

‘Woke’ didn’t lose the US election: the patrician class who hijacked identity politics did | Nesrine Malik Why is this simple explanation being so widely embraced? Because it does not require a commitment to real, structural change, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

'The readiness to repudiate identity politics & group them under “bad woke” is less about policy and more about the fact that social justice never really found a home amongst liberals, who were happy to capture its energy but not its demands.'

The week's column

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Here’s what I learned at Cop29. Rows aside, an unstoppable transition to clean energy is happening | Ed Miliband Britain wanted much better outcomes on many issues, but seeing the ambition at the conference gives me hope for the future, says energy secretary Ed Miliband

Here’s what I learned at #COP29. Rows aside, an unstoppable transition to clean energy is happening, says UK's Ed Miliband

- Britain wanted much better outcomes on many issues, but seeing the ambition at the conference gives me hope for the future

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

They're the smart ones! Like cats. I think they're lucky.

Me too, I'm so excited!