Last week, the Durham Miners Brass band and fellow street bands delivered two excellent performances of the PSB songs “Suburbia” and “It’s a sin” at the Durham Brass Festival.

Both performances are now available to watch on YouTube at the links below.

#PetText

Vespa Tunes XXIV: Nostalgia Canaglia, Romina Power & Al Bano, 1986 Twenty-five years ago I moved into a flat-share on via della Pelliccia in Trastevere.

“Una strada, un’amico, un bar”Memory, melancholy, and optimism; James Joyce and Romina Power, and the multiple iterations of self. My latest newsletter is my most personal
understandingrome.substack.com/p/vespa-tune...

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The special envoy’s plan is the latest push to weaponise antisemitism in Australia, as a relentless campaign pays off | Louise Adler The omissions are as important as the inclusions in Jillian Segal’s plan, which is guilty of overreach

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Part I of my three posts about the blockbuster Caravaggio show, now sans paywall. understandingrome.substack.com/p/caravaggio...

Many of us already knew the childcare sector was in crisis. The question is: what are we going to do about it? | Lisa Bryant Is it finally time for bold, radical action? I know what I think

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Opinion | The Man Putin Couldn’t Kill

In which I get to profile Christo (gift link). The Man Putin Couldn’t Kill www.nytimes.com/2025/06/02/o...

Pet Shop Boys today release a new dance mix of “Hymn (In memoriam Alexei Navalny)”, a song dedicated to his memory and cause, which was originally released in February 2025.

petshopboys.lnk.to/hymn

Former PM Olmert tells BBC Israeli actions in Gaza ‘close to a war crime’ Comments criticizing war spark immediate backlash from right-wing politicians, who accuse him of 'stabbing soldiers in the back'

Former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, tells BBC Israeli actions in Gaza ‘close to a war crime’

www.timesofisrael.com/former-pm-ol...

Opinion | My First Thought When I Heard Joe Biden’s News

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/19/o...

Awesome!

From the time white smoke appears until the new pope appears on the balcony, can a woman ride a Vespa from Pigneto to Vatican City and, if so, will there be parking nearby?

Opinion | One Last Chat About Trump All good things come to an end. What about bad things?

Oh no. One of the few unadulterated joys of contemporary journalism is coming to a close.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/28/o...

‘Devastating’: Inside the Liberals’ One Nation deal After decades of principled condemnation, the Liberal Party has done sweeping preference deals with One Nation and Family First.

www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politic...

We now leave navigation to our phones. The result: more of us are getting hopelessly lost | John Harris The blue dot of GPS has cut us off from a basic human skill. It’s no wonder mountain rescuers are being called out so often, asks Guardian columnist John Harris

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s chaos makes an Australian inquiry into AUKUS common sense An English parliamentary inquiry is investigating if AUKUS is on track.

www.smh.com.au/world/europe...

Happy snap! Jacinta Price poses in a MAGA cap for family Christmas selfie A Christmas social media post has brought new tidings of the Liberal senator’s association with Donald Trump’s famous campaign slogan.

www.smh.com.au/national/hap...

Caroline Kennedy’s face when she said, “Bobby is a predator.” One more thing I’m glad my parents didn’t live to see.

Kennedy’s Plan to Send Health Officials to ‘Indian Country’ Angers Native Leaders Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is committed to improving the Indian Health Service. Native American leaders have doubts. “It’s shameful,” one said.

Bobby betrays Native Americans
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/u...

Palm Springs Mod Squad Tours — Tour Review | Condé Nast TravelerSearchChevronChevronChevronChevronChevronChevronSave this storySave this storyChevronChevronPinterestFacebookSnapchatInstagramXLargeChe...

www.cntraveler.com/activities/p...

Don’t assume that the midterms will be held.

Opinion | Unmarked Vans. Secret Lists. Public Denunciations. America’s Police State Has Arrived. Those of us who’ve seen secret police in action can’t shake a feeling of dreadful familiarity.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/o...

The surprising reason this neighbourhood opposes a new development Inner west residents are pushing back against the state’s largest ever build-to-rent development – because they want more affordable housing on the site.

www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...

A fascinating chat about the current excavations.

Two amphorae sit in the last few centimetres of pumice during excavations and lean up against a frescoed wall that has been partially gauged out in order to lay a lead pipe.

America, PBS has just confirmed that the brand new episode of ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ documentary that lovingly follows the current excavations of a large and sumptuous house in Region IX will air on Sunday 8th June 2025.

Clever, sure, but coherent, consistent, substantive? As the cadence of politics lifts toward an election, will small target tactics hold up in a world of big problems and major values questions?

Elon Musk Shared, Then Deleted X Post Absolving Hitler, Stalin and Mao of Genocide The post falsely claimed that Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong were not responsible for the murders of millions of people, but rather public sector workers were.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/t...

Peter Dutton repeatedly charged taxpayers for flights coinciding with fundraisers Exclusive: The travel, which was within parliamentary rules, coincided with fundraisers including those at a men-only club in Melbourne and a private home on Sydney’s north shore

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Washington Post Columnist Quits After Article Criticizing Jeff Bezos Is Shelved Ruth Marcus, a longtime columnist at The Post, said its publisher refused to run her critique of the new focus for the paper’s opinion section.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/b...