Peter Cushing was bae

I have tried to explain to Brits and Americans the role of little scarves in French speaking cultures. No one ever grasps how essential they are to French life.

My daughter made me a phone you can use to call animals. The back includes a box to store chocolates. I wish all phones were like this.

100% it gets better

That’s a goodie John. Follow it with 10 hours of Stalker on a loop

March another record breaking month for @thenewsagents.co.uk. More downloads and YouTube views than ever before. Over *fifty million* views on social platforms. Testament to a truly incredible production team.

Thanks so much to so many of you for watching/listening! Happy Easter

Went into KFC UK to try the pickle mania menu. Reader, it was at best a pickle melancholy.

And now I'm juggling Annie Ernaux's The Years and Borges' Labyrinths. Borges in particular is fascinating. Having not read him before, I'm trying to understand how a brain creates what he did. Really incredible.

Following Maniac, I read The Coin and Assembly. Would recommend both. Quicker reads from two gifted writers who I'm keen to see where they go.

Have been lazy about this thread. Maniac was phenomenal. I wasn't entirely aware of the extent of John von Neumann's work. Man was a polymath of the highest order, and his role in the development of computers and theories that laid the groundwork for AI are incredibly relevant to now.

A decent into something dark. I think we can all agree to that

I would really like to discuss latest Industry. Where is the TV sky?

@luketurner.bsky.social reminded me this week that Liar's Drums Not Dead is 20 years old this week. Outside of the terror of my own mortality that triggered, it reminded me of their amazing four album run between 2004 and 2010. Truly one of the best bands of this century.

A truly historic and (potentially) momentous win for the Greens. They’ve never won 10% in a by election before. Now they’ve won in a part of Manchester Labour has held since 1931.

Oh I’m ready to talk Industry.

As a fellow long-term immigrant I assumed it was a mix of Brideshead, the Hunger Games and a version of Beyond Thunderdome where every character is swapped for some beloved 1970s British sitcom character and/or TV presenter of the era who everyone inexplicably refers to as a legend now

My wife hit the mark with this valentine’s gift.

my ability to make a coffee, drink half and then completely forget I have a coffee is apparently infinite.

Many of us have this relationship with this comp.

Finally, a Smooth-Brained Wuthering Heights Emerald Fennell’s Emily Brontë adaptation is brave enough to just be about two messy bitches.

I think it was @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com who said on here she was ready to read at least 10 think pieces on Wuthering Heights. I would like to submit this hilariously brilliant review of the movie to the committee. www.vulture.com/article/revi...

The Devil YouTube video by PJ Harvey - Topic

Was listening to the latest playlist from Sam Valenti's excellent Herb Sundays substack. PJ Harvey's The Devil from White Chalk came up on it and, this might be a hot take for Harvey fans, it's probably her best song.

Here's Sam's substack if your'e not familiar. herbsundays.substack.com

a poster for wonder man shows a man sitting at a table with a drink ALT: a poster for wonder man shows a man sitting at a table with a drink

My Marvel ennui is profound but Wonder Man is actually a pretty great show. And somehow the small stakes drama of a well rounded character just trying to land an acting role is far more thrilling than any ludicrously expensive action scene from recent years.

Vineland now finished. Wonderful and frequently hilarious book. One Battle After Another is the barest whiff of an adaptation. Novel number three for 2026 is The Maniac. When We Cease To Understand The World was one of my favourites from recent years. Looking forward to this one.

Is British politics just ungovernable? | The News Agents YouTube video by The News Agents

Fascinating interview with David Runciman of @ppfideas.bsky.social and @lewisgoodall.com.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWEo...

I have the Google App on my iPhone. It sends me push notifications to news stories. Lately, when I click on the push, it increasingly takes me straight to AI mode where it gives me a summary of the push story. I did not input the query you see here. This is a big shift.

A. G. Cook - Residue (Official Video) YouTube video by A24

This promo/song for her new Spinal Tap-esque movie is a bit of a belter.

youtu.be/bIk4DpJA104?...

This is 100% correct. My entire career is based on showing up at the DiS/Quietus office to drink

My brother read Magic Mountain last year after years of prodding by our dad to read it. He found it a slog, though the translation is key and he thinks in retrospect he had a bad one. It’s on my pile too just waiting. Though I think 2666 will be my big novel this year.

Excellent. I have the Empusium on the pile. Will add House. The only way I can manage the modern world right now is by excessive reading of quality fiction.

Have finished Drive Your Plow. Excellent.
Now on to Vineland for book two of the year. I tried Gravity’s Rainbow as an ambitious teen reader. I found it impossible. Crying of Lot 49 was far more accessible a few years later. Vineland so far is very funny.