Here’s my regular reminder that if children’s book publishers insist on prioritising celebrity books, it will undermine the decades of effort it’s taken to achieve critical and commercial credibility by convincing people that *anyone* can write a kid’s book, and they’re basically just merchandise.
PSA for anyone who missed it, the National Theatre has put The Importance of Being Earnest on its YouTube channel for free. It's available until March 18th and is an utter delight.
youtu.be/obX-HGs-PS8?...
Invasive parasite that spreads its seed into other things that it then grotesquely puppets with the goal of sucking the planet dry and then repeating the cycle? Which is then spread willingly by irresponsible rich folk who believe it to be the next frontier of human evolution?
Yup, checks out.
That clip of Timothee Chalamet being like “no one watches the opera or ballet” is wild and I am dying over every ballet and opera acct (correctly) being like “we’ve been here for hundreds of years before you and we’ll be here for hundreds of years after you” lmao
Just fascinating to see Blair, a man whose reputation was ruined by the Iraq war, advocate joining a war that is exponentially stupider and more chaotic. How is it possible to learn nothing from the worst mistake of your life?
The Service95 team asked me to write about how amazing Roxane is (easy assignment) and I told them I’d do it for an autographed vinyl. www.service95.com/ashley-c-for...
I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.
a blurry photo of a smiling young woman, holding a pet dog on the dockside in happier times. The only known photo of Madeleine.
black and white photo of a single stack, ex-merchant RN vessel
To mark International Women's Day, meet Lt Cmdr. Madeleine Barclay. First Officer on HMS Fidelity.
To my knowledge, the first woman to officially serve as First Officer on a Royal Navy vessel deployed on combat duty. Achieving this involved a three-way war between Navy, SOE and the WRNS /1 🧵 #IWD
It was going on one, two in the morning, and we were shooting what I felt was an important scene for me, when he makes an attempt to be quote-unquote straight, in a suit, and at the end of it he gets emotional and locks himself in the other room. And I felt like, I’m not getting what I want—I’m not happy with it. Mike was happy with it. He called me the next day and said, “I know you weren’t happy with the scene last night. Believe me, we wouldn’t have gone home if I had felt we weren’t getting it.” And then he sort of became my psychiatrist and said, “You find it difficult to be happy, don’t you? You find it difficult to enjoy things.” And I said, “Well, sometimes. Last night was about feeling too tired and not feeling I was reaching what I needed to reach for the scene.” He talked to me then about when he was making, I don’t know whether it was Virginia Woolf or The Graduate. He said, “I didn’t enjoy it for a second. I was worried about so many things.” And then he said, “You know, this is never going to happen again quite this way. You should try to allow yourself to enjoy this more. Take a minute a day, and then add a minute the next day, and another minute. Pretty soon, you’ll have hours of happiness.”
The Birdcage opened thirty years ago today, so in its honor, I want to share one of my favorite stories about Mike Nichols that didn't make it into my biography. This is from an interview I did with Nathan Lane.
Caitlin KALINOWSKI over X I resigned from OpenAl. I care deeply about the Robotics team and the work we built together. This wasn't an easy call. Al has an important role in national security. But surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got. This was about principle, not people. I have deep respect for Sam and the team, and I'm proud of what we built together.
OpenAI head of robotics just resigned over company deal with the Pentagon saying…
“Surveillance of Americans without judicial oversight and lethal autonomy without human authorization are lines that deserved more deliberation than they got”
Image of an orange and silver vessel, floating in the artic.
Image of an orange and silver vessel, floating in the artic.
Image of an orange and silver vessel, floating in the artic.
Image of an orange and silver vessel, floating in the artic.
Appreciation post for the French Tara Polar Station
(@fondationtaraocean.bsky.social), a drifting scientific base designed for long-term Artic missions to study biodiversity and the effects of climate change.
More info: fondationtaraocean.org/en/schooner/...
If you ever want to read a paper for free and can't find it otherwise, email the lead author and politely ask for a copy. You will not be bothering the person. You will in fact make their whole entire day. I have had scientists get so excited I asked they sent me everything they ever published.
🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work.
This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public.
Please spread the word.
🧵 1/4
When you have the chance, please take the time to watch Harrison Ford's remarkable, beautiful Life Achievement Award acceptance speech. #ActorAwards
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV_2...
Here's the latest attempt to erase Palestine from history.
The free speech warriors are silent.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I had forgotten that I'd put Shadow of a Dead God in the Smashwords sale, but I apparently did, so you can get it for $1.49 or equivalent on Smashwords for the next week!
Dan Simmons, noted racist, has died. He wrote Hyperion, which contained a good short story and then a lot of other words, which many of us read anyway because it was the Nineties and Waldenbooks had a limited science fiction section.
Made a video about Edward Scissorhands and Johnny Depp! Here you go!
youtu.be/wQKincT8_sw?...
After considerable soul-searching, I feel compelled to withdraw from the BAFTA emerging talent judging panel. The organisation's handling of the unfortunate Tourette's N-Word incident last night at the awards was utterly unforgivable. I cannot and will not contribute my time energy and expertise to an organisation that has repeatedly failed to safeguard the dignity of its Black guests, members and the Black creative community. This is particularly unfortunate given that this year's cohort boasts some incredible Black talent, especially one of my favourite shows of 2025 "Just Act Normal". However, when an organisation like BAFTA, with its own long history of systemic racism, refuses to acknowledge the harm inflicted on both the Black and disabled communities and offer an appropriate apology, remaining involved would be tantamount to condoning its behaviour. I hope BAFTA leadership comprehend the damage they and the BBC have caused and take the necessary steps to ensure their production staff are inclusive enough to prevent such an issue in the future. Yours sincerely, Jonte Richardson
Black filmmaker Jonte Richardson says he is stepping down as a BAFTA judge:
So the BBC promised Davidson and StudioCanal (who made I Swear) that any swearing tics would be edited out from broadcast, and instead they left them in despite a two hour delay, and even put a fucking microphone right in front of him to ensure they picked it up - he was sat at the back of room.
When I saw the news story about the girls school being bombed, one of my first thoughts was about how unlike American physics, Iranian physics is 50% women at the undergrad level and how some of those girls who had been murdered were going to be physicists one day
"In Paris, France, water is 100% municipally owned and the customer satisfaction rate of the publicly owned Eau de Paris ranges from 90-96%."
I've not been on socials much these days. But I'm very proud of this little movie - in particular because of the utterly spectacular performances of Ian McKellen and Michael Coel. It was a small film, written and shot on spec. It opens in NY and LA April 10.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8eT...
Screen shot from Paul Embery’s X account: Respect to this police officer. Confronted by radicals demanding the arrest of a Christian preacher on the grounds that Whitechapel "is a Muslim area" she was calm and professional and gave them short shrift. Let's see more of this from the police. Has a video of a woman police officer talking to a group of Muslim men
This clip is all over the other place and has made its way onto GB News and Talk TV so I’ll do a bit of an explainer here too!
The clip doing the rounds is of a fantastic police officer telling a group of Muslim men that a Christian preacher nearby is entitled to freedom of expression.
🧵
1/19
People might bring up Vincent van Gogh as an example of a painter who did great work in spite of, or because of, his suffering. I like to think that van Gogh would have been even more prolific and even greater if he wasn't so restricted by the things tormenting him. I don't think it was pain that made him so great, I think painting brought him whatever happiness he had. —David Lynch
I think about this quote from time to time
This is a beautiful and moving story:
Levine did not have concerns while making the movie but has developed a fuller understanding of the trans experience in the ensuing decades. "It's just over time and having gotten aware and worked with trans folks, and understanding a bit more about the culture and the reality of the meaning of gender.", says the actor, "It's unfortunate that the film vilified that, and it's fucking wrong. And you can quote me on that.".
I don't believe I've ever seen Ted Levine speak so candidly about his regrets of portraying Buffalo Bill in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. He and some of the crew on the film were asked about the film's cultural transphobia by The Hollywood Reporter.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Jinx and Vi depicted facing one another in an Art Nouveau style.
Art Nouveau study
