OMG Mastermind!!!!

2026 books 105: The Daleks, by Oliver Wake

Just to add that Oliver Wake, in Chapter 10 of his new book on “The Daleks” (the original 1963/64 TV story and its adaptations), gives direct quotes for Terry Nation describing himself as a socialist and pacifist at the time he was writing.

obversebooks.co.uk/product/82-t...

The Doctor Who radio pilot of 1966 In 1989, an article in The Frame fanzine drew fandom’s attention to the hitherto unknown attempts to launch a Doctor Who radio series staring Peter Cushing in the 1960s.

I did not know about this - there was a plan for a radio version of Doctor Who in 1966 which got as far as recording a pilot episode starring Peter Cushing, before it got shelved.

open.substack.com/pub/thehidde...

I've reported on Iran for decades. What comes next could be even worse — The i Paper Few Iranians I speak to believe this war represents a real turning point. Many fear it could be the start of something worse

BBC Persia journalist saw a report that the street in which her parents live in Iran had been hit. She was unable to make direct contact 8 days.

“As we said goodbye, I found myself trying to memorise their voices & faces.
Will I see them again? I don’t know.”

apple.news/AHPjSDjzhSIe...

@nwhyte.bsky.social you might know people

@slovobooks.bsky.social ?

From the BestofRedditorUpdates community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the BestofRedditorUpdates community

Timeline cleanse:

www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedd...

Kash Patel is such a pathetic character, in both senses of that word: so hopelessly out of his depth, compulsively acting out what he thinks constitutes macho swagger – private jets, Vegas, booze, merch – in ways that only emphasise how profoundly insecure and terrified he is

2026 books 104: The Memory of Winter, by George Mann

Why does Keir Starmer even want to be Prime Minister? He clearly has no animating mission, no zeal for addressing the nation and no interest in politics or policy

Over in the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social, @jonnelledge.bsky.social asks "Why does Keir Starmer even want to be prime minister?" It's a good question.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

The Daily Challenge - GeoGuessr GeoGuessr is a geography game which takes you on a journey around the world and challenges your ability to recognize your surroundings.

I got four out of five challenges in today's Geoguessr really close - including one in Latin America where my guess was within a metre of the target.

But there was one challenge, in S*****a, where I was 1600 km out, which rather depressed my score for the day...

www.geoguessr.com/daily-challe...

Recreating my grandparents’ epic journey into remotest Pakistan Guided by an account written 70 years ago, Mishal Husain heads deep into the mountains of Hunza and Baltistan

Recreating my grandparents’ epic journey into remotest Pakistan

www.ft.com/content/ef9cbb0c-55ad-4c...

A man of property Just outside the City of London, in the secluded streets once occupied by the monastic precinct of the Black Friars, is an unassuming warehouse building

Shakespeare’s London house has been precisely located.

www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...

2026 books 103: Dr Who and the Daleks, by “Alan Smithee”

Yesterday I visited the First Cemetery of Athens and paid my respects to the grave of children’s literature and fantasy author T.H. White. More photos and full report in this new piece: dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/finding-th...
@uofgfantasy.bsky.social @uofgartshums.bsky.social

Finding T.H. White’s grave in Athens I’m on holidays back home right now, to celebrate the Greek Orthodox Easter with my family on the island of Salamis, very close to Athens.

“The grave is very simple and unassuming. There is no large cross or imposing sculpture upon it, unlike many other graves in the vicinity. It’s flat and bears only two brief inscriptions, as well as an etched sword in the stone.” - @dimitrafimi.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/dimitraf...

Quote post with something good that lasted longer than the Confederacy (Feb 1861-May 1865):

Sex Education (Jan 2019-Sep 2023)

This is great. Zelazny was an early enthusiasm for me. He did get plenty of recognition during his life, but it’s appropriate for SFWA to recognise him with Octavia Butler, Tanith Lee and Frank Herbert as authors who would have been named Grand Masters if they had lived long enough. Well done SFWA.

Star Flight, by Paul Hayes It’s reminiscent of Terror of the Vervoids, but done much better.

Star Flight, by Paul Hayes

fromtheheartofeurope.eu/star-flight-...

It's reminiscent of Terror of the Vervoids, but done much better.

I have developed a personal rule to deal with that - "If you haven't read whatever you just sent me, why should I?"

Point to ponder from Cory Doctorow @doctorow.pluralistic.net:

"Emailing a stranger a blob of unverified AI output is not a form of dialogue – it's an attempt to coerce a stranger into unpaid labor on your behalf."

pluralistic.net/2026/03/02/n...

*boggle*