Books of All Time

And also, you get to read Hesiod (one of the grouchiest voices of all time). #classicsky

"Reading enables us to see with the keenest eyes, to hear with the finest ears, and listen to the sweetest voices of all time."
James Russell Lowell, born on this day in 1819

Absolute Units podcast - The Museum of English Rural Life Come for the big sheep. Stay for the history of rural England and its people.

A spirit watches over Dartmoor. His face is granite grey. His eyes are dark as peat pools. His name is Old Crockern. And today he’s at The Museum of English Rural Life.

Learn Crockern's story on Absolute Units, w/ Ruth Webb & @lisaschneidau.bsky.social, out now!

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

The Moon at waxing crescent phase seen through thin clouds.

This week in 2018 I was capturing a thin Waxing Crescent Moon. 🔭 🧪 🎨 #astrophotography #SciArt #photography #StormHour #ThePhotoHour

A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls.

I don’t think I’m a Luddite for worrying about the environmental toll of AI and its harm to certain communities (data centres and the use of AI itself) 🙏🏽

Originally Ancient Greek for the worst kind of salacious informant. It now means a human parasite, speaking falsely and insincerely in the accusation or the flattery for gain, but retains that original falseness. original etymology of the word (sykos/συκος 'fig', and phanēs/φανης 'to show'; 'revealer of figs'), συκοφάντης (sykophántēs), possibly to be due to laws about exporting figs and taxes on doing so: those who accused others of illegally exporting figs without paying taxes were therefore called sycophants. It was a term intended to disparage unjustified accusers who were attempting to pervert the legal system. Emperor Tiberius (2nd emperor, Julio Claudian) despite Tacitus telling us he was so tyrannical that he had “dislike of public freedom”, was so appalled by the sycophantic behaviour of the Senate (having been reduced in status by the previous and first emperor Augustus) vying to make the most slanderous accusations for his benefit, is reported to have said in disgust “Oh, How ready these men are to be slaves.”

COMIC: What is a sycophant?
Featuring Tacitus 3.65 and a certain US AG.

Heavens. Reading old books, as we've been doing for almost two years now, is incredibly rewarding. Struggling with complex or unfamiliar ideas strengthens the mind; recognising universal human anxieties and experiences down the ages is comforting.

Plus, there are all the dick jokes in Aristophanes.

Done. Looks like a good meta-book for us (especially as the Romans loom in year three of our show)!

Bargain. Until 23.59 on 20 Feb you can order my new book 25%off RRP from Waterstones online. Discount code is FEB26. Details here: www.waterstones.com/campaign/feb...

Roses are redde
Noble are the manatees
For a bettir future
Teach artes and humanityes

we're trying, bro

some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing

Small schnauzer terrier mix sniffing and then kissing a little black baby goat

Coco ❤️ bebbies

Two Bluesky posts. The first is a headline from the Colorado Sun that says “An old land dispute in the San Luis Valley pits the privacy of a billionaire's new home against grazing sheep” and the second from Effin’ Birds that says “What a fuckwit”.

Enjoying the serendipity of the timeline.

Across time and cultures, dicks are funny.

And The Lord of the Rings. Incomprehensible!

Heavens. Reading old books, as we've been doing for almost two years now, is incredibly rewarding. Struggling with complex or unfamiliar ideas strengthens the mind; recognising universal human anxieties and experiences down the ages is comforting.

Plus, there are all the dick jokes in Aristophanes.

Tumblr post from user PainfullyMeta presenting various classic lit against Onion-style headlines which sum them up. the iliad: Area Man Expected To Work With These Incompetents the odyssey: Prodigal Asshole Returns the aeneid: Man Who Thought He'd Lost All Hope Loses Last Additional Bit Of Hope He Didn't Even Know He Still Had the satyricon: | Fucked My Way Into This Mess, And Mil Fuck My Way Out medea: Relationship Not A Power Struggle, Woman Who's Winning Reports the bacchae: Area Man Just In Bad Mood Because He's Tired And An Awful Human Being iphigenia at aulis: Guests Forced To Pretend Wedding A Good Thing agamemnon: Study Finds Expressing Anger In Unhealthy Ways Incredibly Satisfying oedipus the king: True Courage Is Knowing You're Wrong But Refusing To Admit It herodotus's histories: Historians Admit To Inventing Ancient Greeks the poetry of catullus: Relationship Definitely Hurtling Toward Something the ars amatoria: Man's Relationship Advice Same As His Hunting Tips the speeches of cicero: Here Are All Of My Opinions the epigrams of martial: Come On, Lighten Up, I'm Just Being A Total Asshole

looking forward to the Satyricon #booksky #classicsky

Four fistfights with Audacity later and the podcast is published. Will be in feeds shortly.

Back in your feeds tomorrow! #podcast #podcats #proofofcat

oooh, one for the TBL queue! #podcasts

Sun Tzu is so delightful; it's like "what if Taoism, but paranoid and murdery?"

The ancient Indian epics are SO AWESOME. Lots of echoes of them in Homer but also in the big chivalric romances about the Knights of the Round Table. Neither of those have a Shikhandi, though. More on Sunday! #booksky #podcasts

New year, new episode! The meta-entry on the Ramayana finds me trying to get to grips with my ignorance about all the dharmic faiths and deeply enjoying the Simpsons Comic Book Guy energy the Jains brought to their interpretation of the story. Listen now wherever you get podcasts!

we’re in the vet’s office waiting room and they just called for Agamemnon. we all looked at the Great Dane but it turns out Agamemnon is an orange kitten in a backpack that makes him look like an astronaut cheese puff

Moon, January 1st 2026. 95% illuminated, and two days until full Moon. Crater Tycho is prominent, with its ejecta rays spread out for up to 1,500 kilometres. *They* (the lunar geologists) think Tycho is a youngish crater, having been formed only 100,000,000 years ago. #astrophotography

Episode 43: Valmiki, The Ramayana, Part 2 - By Means of Every Sacred Rite Podcast Episode · Books of All Time · 31/12/2025 · 43m

Our last episode of 2025 (squeaked in just under the wire) explores the theme of dharma in the Ramayana, and how different faith traditions reinterpreted the story in line with their beliefs. Gotta love those Jains finding sympathy for the devil! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b... #podcast #booksky

Change of plans! Listen to me discuss the Egyptologist and prolific British Museum “collector” E.A. Wallis Budge with John Roderick on the Omnibus Project today!

Omnibus History Podcast · Updated weekly · Every week, Ken Jennings and John Roderick add a new entry to the OMNIBUS, an encyclopedic reference work of strange-but-true stories that they are compiling as a ti...

Plot twist! @rosejudson.bsky.social’s guest appearance on the Omnibus Podcast is out today! Please give it a listen (and follow that show if you already don’t—it has a great back catalogue). BoAT 43 will now air Sunday. #podcast podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...