Joe Deegan

London's thieves are burying phones in flowerbeds The police don't take much interest in returning the stolen devices when they're dug up — so London Centric decided to do it.

The fun thing about having a small team working with you is you can say "hey you're spending this week digging for stolen mobile phones in London flowerbeds, I promise you it's a thing". www.londoncentric.media/p/london-pho...

What I learnt from Irish folk singing sessions Fame means nothing; sing for the room you’re in; slow down and listen. Patrick Freyne’s lyrical lessons for life

I’ve a piece in the Financial Times magazine about the stuff I’ve learned from singing sessions www.ft.com/content/3954...

I am merely aiding the police in their inquiries, it is simply a way of passing the time for me, and the constables, they are gracious enough to accept my assistance, all unpaid, of course. If you, too, will humor me by joining the other guests in the parlor I would like to share some of my findings

The council wasn’t hiring a municipal walker, but she took the job anyway Once a month since September 2022, artist Lian Bell has done a full circuit of the North and South Circular Roads, observing these 14km through the seasons.

The council wasn’t hiring a municipal walker, but she took the job anyway. Once a month since September 2022, artist Lian Bell has done a full circuit of the North and South Circular Roads, observing these 14km through the seasons.

How to sum up the impact and legacy of The Hounds of Love by @katebushmusic.bsky.social? Tonight, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the album's release, @graemethomson.bsky.social and I will attempt this on @rteradio1.bsky.social's Arena at 7pm.
www.rte.ie/radio/radio1... @paulashields.bsky.social

Sort of dizzying to think about how many people are alive today because Patricia Hewitt (ban on smoking in enclosed spaces) was health secretary and because Norman Fowler (mandatory seatbelts) was transport secretary and health secretary (HIV/Aids).

And this is another useful reflection on which protests are publicized internationally.

"Brian Wilson, he made all his records with four tracks, but you couldn't make his records if you had a HUNDRED tracks today." "That ear – I mean, Jesus, he’s got to will that to the Smithsonian." — Bob Dylan

RIP Brian Wilson

My aunt died in near identical circumstances as this story, same time, also Yorkshire hospital. We spent months preparing for the coroner. We wanted something simple to explain it; we found bad luck exacerbated by an NHS running on fumes. I hope these families get what they need from their process.

Semicolons bring the drama; that’s why I love them Neither full stop nor comma, they symbolise a nuance that is disappearing in a polarised world

Maybe my new go-to punctuation mark, now that AI has ruined the em dash forever?

YouTube video by elledeq Grace Jones - She's lost control (long version)

She also did Joy Division! an oldie but a goodie www.youtube.com/watch?v=N64I...

Just out! Our peer-reviewed critique of the Cass Review has been published by BMC Medical Research Methodology. Please read and share. We show that the Cass Review is fatally flawed and should not be the basis for policy or practice in transgender healthcare.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Measuring the association between the opening of a new multi-national restaurant with young people's eating behaviours Out-of-home eating (takeaway, take-out and fast-foods) is associated with intakes of higher energy and fat, and lower intakes of micronutrients, and i…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

What happens when a Golden Arches opened in a place where there wasn't anything like it nearby
So if we want to do something about obesity we have to do something about
1 Availability and accessibility
2 Marketting
3 Price
Handing out leaflet doesn't cut it

Reducing reoffending evidence synthesis This synthesis provides an overview of evidence on what works to reduce reoffending, updating evidence previously published by the MOJ in 2013 and 2014.

Interesting new MoJ report on what works to reduce reoffending. One of key findings "research shows little positive treatment effects for punitive interventions unless alongside rehabilitation". Also shocking lack good quality evidence for some commonly used interventions www.gov.uk/government/p...

Barker - Stochastic Drift Listen to Stochastic Drift on your streaming service

Had to think for a good few minutes why I thought I legitimately knew this band in the real world

Another that I love - Does this choice diminish or enlarge me?

Bon Iver: SABLE, fABLE Read Alex Robert Ross’ review of the album.

A gorgeous review of a gorgeous album

I mean, it's either trans people withdraw from public life completely, we merge single-sex spaces up and down the country, or its only a matter of time before a trans person is physically assaulted for using the facilities the judiciary and government seem to want them to.

Sex Redefined: The Idea of 2 Sexes Is Overly Simplistic Biologists now think there is a larger spectrum than just binary female and male

My husband has taught human reproduction and development to the Cambridge medics for over three decades. When people start banging on about "only two biological sexes" he starts with "which sex: genetic, hormonal, or gonadal"?

Biological sex is not binary. www.scientificamerican.com/article/sex-...

Why I worry this Supreme Court ruling will be used to delegitimise trans people And why Parliament ducked its responsibilities

Parliament, not the Supreme Court should have decided today. I've written about why that's so problematic and why I fear today's judgment will be used to further delegitimise trans people, even though that is not what the Court intends.
goodallandgoodluck.substack.com/p/why-i-worr...

Trump is halfway to making America a police state The president’s refusal to accept a Supreme Court ruling on illegal deportation is a turning point

I haven't been able to shake Prophet Song by Paul Lynch since reading it. Hearing this news, seeing a similar decline in the real world, makes the warning all the more important. I highly recommend both the book and this article to anyone who hasn't read them yet.

(OPM)

And the byline!

Opinion | There’s a Name for What Trump Is Doing to Trans People: Denationalizing The message is that we are a threat to the nation. The subtext is that we are not of this nation.

"The reason you should care about this is not that it could happen to you but that it is already happening to others."

James Harrison, blood donor, 1936-2025 The railway worker who found his mission and saved the lives of more than 2mn babies

The man with the golden arm, as he was dubbed, gave plasma 1, 173 times over 50 years until, to his chagrin, he was forced to stop aged 81. If the rules had allowed it, says his grandson, Jarrod Mellowship, “he would have gone on until the day he died. It gave him purpose.”

a secret fifth thing