Kate Fathers

The damage we're doing to the planet--and ourselves--to avoid writing an email.

It's funny how much art you get when artists aren't working two other jobs, and paralysed by the stress of worrying over feeding, closing and housing themselves. ( @greenparty.org.uk @glasgowgreens.bsky.social @labouruk.bsky.social take note)

I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.

And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.

This is why taxing the super rich is so important. Free university is a net positive for Scotland. Cutting it would be detrimental to not only individuals, but the country as a whole.

He says he can’t be bought.

£13.2 million says otherwise.

Ireland has shown that basic income works — not just socially, but economically.

Give people time and security to develop their skills, and the returns flow back to society. Now let’s go further.

#UniversalBasicIncome #Economics

I'm also continually baffled by the decision to pair a bodice ripper aeshetic with #WUTHERINGHEIGHTS. If Emerald Fennell wanted that look, there are a dozen other classic romances that would have worked better. "Lady Chatterley's Lover"? "Carmilla"?

I keep thinking about how weird it is that the new #WutheringHeights cuts HINDLEY, but I guess if you're dead set on your boddice ripper aesthetic, then it makes sense to remove anything that might give the story more complexity or ambiguity.

Cutting out both Hindley AND the second generation doesn't help with this. Sure, removing them allows the film to focus on the romance, but removing the characters who help carry the themes of class and generational trauma means that the romance looses a lot of its meat. #WutheringHeights

I think the trashy romance aesthetic is entirely intentional, but it's clear that it doesn't work. Because #WutheringHeights is not a romance. It has romantic elements, but it's not a bodice ripper. So many adaptations focus solely on the romance, when that is just one part of the relationship.

I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.

Democratizing the arts looks like universal income, low-barrier grants for both emerging and working artists, well-funded municipal arts & recreation programs, vibrant third spaces, and a well-funded public school system with progressive curriculum.

Not a free pass for corporate-owned slop engines.

Being a writer in 2026 is so strange, because every week you're like "Should I start a Substack? A BookTok? A Bookstagram? A YouTube channel? A Patreon?", when really all you want to do is write your funny little stories in JD Salinger-style anonymity. #WritingCommunity

IT'S GREEN VS REFORM. JOIN ZACK AND HANNAH IN GORTON & DENTON THIS SATURDAY SIGN-UP NOW Green Party Promoted by Miles Thorpe on behalf of Hannah Spencer and The Green Party of England and Wales, both at 2 Glenhurst Road, Burnage, Manchester, M19 1WX. With photo of Hannah Spencer and Zack Polanski

We have a real chance to elect Hannah Spencer as the Green Party’s 5th MP.

This by-election is clear: Green vs Reform. Graft vs grift. Hope vs division.

Join Hannah and @zackpolanski.bsky.social in Gorton and Denton this Saturday and help us make hope normal again ⤵️

I'll probably log in again at some point (for the aforementioned work, most likely), but I'm going to see if taking a break helps at all. It's such a time suck, but that negativity really dings your mental health.

Remember when the internet used to be fun?

I still have a Twitter account, mostly for work purposes, but decided to log out of it today. I'm not sure whether it's a busted algorithm or a general degrading tone, but my feed has just become so unreletingly nasty and negative that I can't stand it anymore.

A genuine shock to the system.

A stream of meltwater atop the Greenland ice sheet. Photo credit : IAN JOUGHIN / UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

Hitting The Point of No Return.

The world is on course to trigger tipping points that will lead to irreversible cascading consequences: from ice sheets melting to the death of the Amazon rainforest.

Right now, the right thing to do, is act to stop this happening.
🧵

e360.yale.edu/features/1.5...

UK loses measles elimination status Decision made after outbreaks in 2024, when there were nearly 3,000 cases in England and Wales.

Vaccinate your damn kids. #measles #healthcare #NHS www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@glasgowcc.bsky.social make a lot of really bad decisions, but greenlighting AI slop in a city full of talented artists--in a city that hosts the #YardworksFestival showcasing muralists--is a pretty big one.

This is why it's important to vote in your local elections.

Engaging with people in the comments section of a @glasgowgreens.bsky.social post isn't my finest hour, but it does hammer home how vital it is that the Greens use facts and data to support their messages. SO many people think you can boostrap your way to being a billionaire.

a cartoon character with a faceless mask is eating a bowl of food with chopsticks ALT: a cartoon character with a faceless mask is eating a bowl of food with chopsticks

Took my cat for a dental cleaning (and possible dental surgery, which thankfully he didn't wind up needing) yesterday, and when we picked him up, the vet warned us he might be off his feed.

My cat the second he gets home:

MTV shutting down its music channels, while keeping the ones broadcasting reality TV, sure is...a choice.

Happy 2026, Bluesky!

I'm not one for yearly retrospectives (or resolutions), but suffice it to say, 2025 was a rough one, and I'm hoping that 2026 will be a little kinder. To me. To everyone. To the planet as a whole. I think we need it.

a cartoon drawing of santa claus in a sleigh ALT: a cartoon drawing of santa claus in a sleigh

Merry Christmas, Bluesky! 😊🎄Whether you're celebrating or not, I hope everyone has a lovely and restful day.

One panel comic with one person saying to another: Philip K Dick, Ray Bradbury. Like so many others in tech, I draw inspiration from completely misunderstanding those authors

via The New Yorker, Ellis Rosen cartoon

REAL HOPE. REAL CHANGE THE HOTTEST YEAR Green Party Promoted by Chris Williams on behalf of The Green Party, both at PO Box 78066, London SE16 9GQ

2025 is set to be the UK's hottest since records began.

Scientists are clear that changes to our climate are unprecedented and the result of burning fossil fuels.

The government's climate policies must be led by the science, not by climate deniers and their friends from the fossil-fuel lobby.

I grew up with an open concept floorplan and HATED it. Noise travelled so easily, and because all the doors were hollow, there was very little sound blockage. Want to watch TV at night? I hope you like the lowest volume imaginable. I have a more traditional set up now, and it's great.

I absolutely hate the "This strike is happening at an inconvenient time!" rhetoric that comes from both politicians and the public every time a union goes on strike. It happened last year with #CanadaPost and is happening this year with UK doctors.

Yes. It's inconvenient. That is the whole point.

I don't think I truly realised just how many films Rob Reiner made--just how much of an impact he had on cinema. This is such a loss.