Really enjoyed immersing myself in @archieislander.bsky.social’s corpus tenebras lux exhibition at the Six Foot Gallery in Glasgow. Sadly this was the last day but look out for her work elsewhere!

Would immediately buy the mid-century novel that began with this sentence.

Monstrosities Mon Amour: Nottingham's Victoria Centre, with Lucy Brouwer #16. John Grindrod meets Nottingham historian and tour guide Lucy Brouwer to discuss a dinosaur of 70s mega-shopping and the Radiohead single time forgot

There's a new episode of Monstrosities Mon Amour! Featuring Lucy Brouwer, the magnificent @notrock.bsky.social, on Nottingham's big beast the Victoria Centre and Radiohead's lost single Pop is Dead open.substack.com/pub/johngrin...

How Reform is exposing the reality of Scotland’s views on immigration and identity Once a progressive outlier, Scotland is facing a political reckoning as Reform benefits from growing social division

Holyrood elections: how Reform is exposing the reality of Scotland’s views on immigration and identity

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Thanks for reading and sharing it, Robert

This. This. This. A thousand times, this.

Dear John, voters aren't fooled by freebies and teasing independence ONCE, not so very long ago, the SNP talked about winning the argument on independence through competent government.

You can't fool voters by offering freebies as a sop to systemic problems your party has failed to address in their 19 years in power. My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2603341...

sabotaging

is one of the worst affected. Sure, it's possible others may be deliberately undermining the SNP government but none of this is going to be fixed with a schoolbag, would be my position. We should have this discussion over a coffee one day!

I think it would take more than an exchange of posts on here to thrash this out, but surely the Scottish government is partly responsible for LAs' cash crisis through policies such as council tax freeze etc? Glasgow, though SNP-led, albeit as a minority administration, /

A Tomb with a View by Peter Ross (Omnibus) - BBC Sounds Peter Ross uncovers the stories behind the headstones in graveyards across the UK.

"I grew up in graveyards. The dead were my quiet companions. Not silent, though."
Radio 4's Book of the Week adaptation of 'A Tomb With A View' is now available in full on BBC Sounds. It features abridged versions of five chapters.
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

I try to make the distinction between the baby box & the school bags in my piece. Also, maternity pads are things you need for a short period of time. Children need school resources for the next 13 years. If access to those resources is not available, a one-off gift in P1 is not an adequate fix.

Mine are well out of the education system now so it's difficult for me to judge what they do or don't get. But my point would be, if they already get what they need, it's unnecessary and a waste of money, and, if they don't, then it's an admission of failure.

Thank you, Margaret. It's not an ongoing measure, though, is it? It's a one-off first day of school thing to supply equipment that should be readily available to every child within the classroom. It feels to me like an admission of failure. I know some people like it, tho'

Dear John, voters aren't fooled by freebies and teasing independence ONCE, not so very long ago, the SNP talked about winning the argument on independence through competent government.

You can't fool voters by offering freebies as a sop to systemic problems your party has failed to address in their 19 years in power. My @heraldscotland.bsky.social column. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2603341...

Thank you!

Sorry, I can see that was ambiguous. I was just saying, yay, it is already on their shelves.

I mean they're selling it of course. It's only just out!

It’s already on sale in Waterstones

The best thing about having written a book, I think, is hearing from people who have enjoyed it. I’m always glad and grateful to hear from readers. Upon A White Horse is out in paperback on April 23, but preorders are already arriving.

The Big Review: Rothko in Florence ★★★★★ A revelatory show, which has been years in the making, stretches across three venues in the birthplace of the Renaissance

www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/04/17/t...

And the woman did speak unto the hound, saying, What do you mean, normal men, and the hound answered the woman, saying, We are just innocent men. And great was her emotion

So exciting to see these - aren't they beautiful?

Remembering Pete Shelley on his birthday. Here are Buzzcocks performing Love You More at Manchester's Free Trade Hall in 1978

Elizabeth Goldring · At the National Gallery: Holbein and Henry James More has probably been written about The Ambassadors than about any other work by Holbein. Is the painting a commentary...

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Goodnight

At least 17 people killed in Russia’s deadliest attack on Ukraine this year More than 100 injured across country after Russia launches nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles

I arrived in Kyiv last night, a couple of hours before Russia's latest massive drone and missile attack. Seventeen people were killed. I'm proud of the fact my newspaper, the Guardian, continues to cover Russia's bloody war against Ukraine. We are still here www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

The Prodigy review — masterful rave hedonism with a sombre subtext This ruthlessly enjoyable show by the Nineties dance giants featured poignant nods to their late frontman, Keith Flint

"That little burst of baroque was one of several intriguing moments during an otherwise relentless performance when they seemed to pause and muse upon mortality."
I went to see The Prodigy in Glasgow and wrote about it for The Times.
www.thetimes.com/culture/musi...

Artists, clowns, runaways: a stay at the Chelsea Hotel – in pictures Patti Smith lived there in ‘creative chaos’, while others paid their bills with paintings. Fellow guest Albert Scopin unpacked his camera to capture the iconic New York hotel and its clientele

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Sonnet II, 4 from Sonnets to Orpheus, but better known as Unicorn, I think