I know I’ve said before but no matter what you do to escape advertising - it is very difficult not to see infuriating bra sellers who refer to breasts as ‘the girls.’ Even if I didn’t see it, it would still be going on. The patriarchy is fine. It really doesn’t need any more help.
Adolf Hitler's rise to power was marked by early warning signs that went ignored. Politicians dismissed the alarm bells and institutions believed the system would restrain what was coming. History shows clearly just how wrong those assumptions were.
Thrilled my poem 'Curlew Writing', trans into Cymraeg by Eurig Salisbury, has been published in @modronmagazine.bsky.social. I'm indebted to @glynedwards.bsky.social who interviewed me about the poem.
#birds #curlew #speciesextinction @curlewaction.bsky.social
modronmagazine.com/a-poem-by-we...
Beautiful song by Ella Speirs.
Briget/Brigid is a figure associated with poetry, the arts, fire, smithcraft, and healing. Some crossover with Saraswati.
She's pretty damn cool if you ask me. So are Brigid and Saraswati.
youtu.be/puyrTlDFHhU?...
I keep thinking again, in light of the latest Epstein files dump, about how MeToo “went too far.”
Some more of my ramblings - this time about mental ill-health and therapy.
www.wedossett.com/post/birch
In the piece, I talk about Rusalki — the malevolent female spirits of Slavic folklore.
And I converse with a tree.
#therapy #psychotherapy #birch #birchtree #weepingsilverbirch #rusalka
🗓️ Today marks 5 years since the Treaty on Prohibition Of Nuclear Weapons came into force. Let’s take a look at the treaty and its impact 👉🏼
The brilliant Sophie Calon on what can learned from addiction memoirs. She should know. Her life was shaped by her father’s addiction, as her heartbreaking, yet beautiful, memoir Long Going (Honno 2025) recounts.
“The Free Speech Union’s commitment to free speech would seem to end where transparency about itself begins.”
@petergeoghegan.bsky.social and @mc00.bsky.social blow the lid off the backers of Toby Young’s outfit:
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/who-funds-the-free-spe...
❤️🔥Tory sources confirm that Nadhim Zahawi made approaches to senior members of Kemi Badenoch's team about getting a peerage just weeks before defecting to Reform UK - but was turned down.
Interesting little article that could also have mentioned the role of the Temperance Movement in the Women's Movement. It was a crucial training ground in political activism for early feminists.
Temperance is often treated as a footnote, but in Victorian Britain it was a mass movement.
Millions pledged abstinence and reshaped London with alcohol-free spaces - a hidden history still standing today.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
When Duran Duran reads the room better than your average Democrat
Just wow.
By Christian he means ‘white’ (supremacist).
Thank you so much -- what a lovely response. How nice to have found this connection here, and to know that I am not alone in those elements of my biography/temperament! 💜
Moel Siabod (mountain) with the sun behind it and a stream in the foreground.
The government failed at actually redacting the Epstein files because DOGE cancelled the feds adobe acrobat premium subscription is the funniest shit.
Failure of AI #2365346213 - the algorithm imagining I'd respond positively to underwear advertising that refers to breasts as 'the girls.'
I don’t charge rent to lines of poetry that want to live in my head.
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
"what has it got in its pocketses" - good question to ask when you're doing the laundry
I won’t be accepting any new invitations to speak at WI meetings while this exclusionary policy is in place. This ruling goes against everything I’ve come to learn about the WI’s commitment to inclusion and community. Bullied by billionaire bigots.
😂 brilliant!
I only knew what it meant because of having recently read Candide - before seeing a production. It seemed such 'Pseud's Corner' thing to say! But it delighted me nonetheless!
CW - sexual abuse, suicide.
I wanted to write a reflection on a couple of books. With the enormous amount currently in the news about the #Epstein case, I wouldn't blame you if you were beyond saturation point. Please do skip on by if this is not for you.
www.wedossett.com/post/lasting...
Dear friends, I’m writing with some difficult news. We recently applied for long-term revenue funding through the Books Council of Wales, support that would have secured stability for Broken Sleep Books for the next five years and helped us continue publishing the ambitious, risk-taking, inclusive work we believe in so deeply. Unfortunately, we were not successful. It’s disappointing, of course. We put forward a strong application, had a positive interview, and genuinely believed our publishing programme where we champion low socio-economic status authors, working-class authors, and marginalised authors, while widening access to the arts and degentrifying the arts, reflected the cultural values Wales should be proud to support. Clearly, our idea of cultural value doesn’t fully match the Books Council’s. Sometimes decisions go another way. What hasn’t changed is our commitment.
Broken Sleep Books will carry on publishing with the same determination, ambition, and care that has always sustained us, just with fewer resources and a much harder road ahead. If you value what we do, there are meaningful ways you can help us weather this moment: 📚 Buy a book, or a few Every purchase directly supports the press. Browse the catalogue here: https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/books 🎁 Consider our books as gifts With the holidays approaching, this makes a real difference. 💬 Spread the word Tell a friend, share our books online, recommend us to a bookshop, or forward this newsletter. ❤️ Make a donation (if you’re able) Some readers have asked how they can help directly. If you’d like to support our work with a small donation, we’ve set up a simple option here: https://ko-fi.com/brokensleepbooks
(Please only give if you’re in a position to do so, we know times are hard for many.) Broken Sleep has always been a community effort, powered by readers, writers, booksellers, and supporters who believe in literature that takes risks and makes space for voices that don’t always find a home elsewhere. Thank you, sincerely, for sticking with us. Your support means everything, especially right now.
We didn’t get Books Council Wales funding, it would've meant 5 years of stability. It’s a blow, and it means a rockier road ahead, but our commitment to ambitious, inclusive, working-class publishing stays firm. If you want to help: buy a book, spread the word, or donate:
ko-fi.com/brokensleepb...
Your term bass-ackwards is right on the money! I didn't get it on the podcast. It doesn't work so well in British English because of the r in 'arse', but all the pennies dropped when I saw it written down! And yes. I hadn't seen it, but the LF case is worse than straight hypocrisy.
Just discovered this excellent podcaster/blogger.
Makes me think of Laurence Fox’s legal action to prevent him being called racist, and his concomitant defence of his ‘right’ to call GNC people paedos. We’re getting nowhere if people don’t understand the relationship between rights & liberties.
