Paul Simpson

If you were to characterise Ruben Amorim’s perplexing reign as Manchester United manager in a David Bowie song, it would be Always Crashing In The Same Car.

RIP Jimmy Cliff, and thanks for all the songs, not just the obvious ones but Limbo, Vietnam and You Can Get It If You Really Want, and a vibe I will always find uplifting.

There is nothing remotely frictionless or seamless about the technology we use to talk to chatbots which only understand issues we can explain in three words, smartphones that don’t recognise our faces unless we stand in the exact same spot at home and apps that demand we login again, again and …

Duncan Hamilton’s Answered Prayers is the finest book I’ve read about England’s World Cup triumph, grasping Ramsey’s complexities and exploring the strange aftermath for the boys of ‘66 - 5 of whom (Cohen, Wilson, Moore, Hurst and Hunt - never won another major trophy.

Just been alerted to a job on LinkedIn for a ‘midweight writer’. I hadn’t realised that journalists could be rated like boxers but, as someone who fluctuates erratically between heavyweight and featherweight, I get the logic.

No gas leak on yesterday’s charity book shift. Instead the bags were full of Croatian CDs although I did find a Maigret I hadn’t read which was a delightful surprise.

Why does Trump think Putin has all the cards? Possibly because he gave them all to him?

Disturbing details about John Lennon's final moments unearthed in autopsy report — The Mirror John Lennon spent his final day in the recording studio before returning to his home, the Dakota, in New York City, where gunman Mark David Chapman shot him four times

This Mirror story about Lennon’s killing is exploitative, gratuitous, and utterly shameful: apple.news/A-0ROnOMXS1W...

“We are one step closer to answering the question, what did the president know and how old were these women when he knew it.” Great quip from Jimmy Kimmel about the Epstein files.

If England had the perfect World Cup qualifying campaign, Bulgaria are enduring the most wretched. Fewer points (0) than Andorra (1), as many goals (1) as San Marino and a worst goal difference (-17) than Armenia (-16). They’re not even favourites at home to Georgia on Wednesday.

Abrupt ending to today’s charity book shift when, after intermittent reports of a funny smell, the store was closed because of a suspected gas leak.

Sometimes it’s astounding how topical period TV drama can be. Foyles War episode Trespass, set after WWII, features a Labour govt blamed for acting too slowly, tensions about immigrants and a right-wing demagogue who leads racist mob on a violent march in which innocent bystanders are killed.

‘News’ from the Scottish Daily Record about Rasputin. Must admit I’d been wondering what he’d been up to lately.

Love this NewYorker cartoon.

In a small, pyrrhic but nevertheless amusing triumph over AI I discovered that it can’t explain the meaning of Tanzanian proverbs, it just repeats or regurgitates them.

The best thing that could happen to the BBC now is for Trump to sue it for $1bn which, in his finite wisdom, he plans to do. Hope this goes to court in UK. Can’t wait to see how his lawyers argue this has ‘irredeemably harmed’ the reputation of a man convicted of 34 felonies.

Genghis Khan’s burial place is a mystery. Can modern science solve it? — National Geographic What cutting-edge technology has revealed in the 800-year-old search for the Mongol ruler's lost tomb.

A bit left field but Genghis Khan, a historical and archaeological mystery, and proper old school journalism from @NatGeo, what’s not to like?

apple.news/ArKZeANtCS0a...

“A shadow is a man when the mosquito death approaches.” Keith Douglas was killed in France in 1944 when he was 24, a year younger than Wilfred Owen at his death. This is a brutal unsparing poem about the reality of war: poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/how-to-k…

These days, it’s hard to know who is more furious: supporters of certain football clubs (like mine, #LCFC) or Strictly viewers suspecting nefarious conspiracy theories against their favourite.

“No rocket goes as far astray as man,” said Robert Lowell, who certainly knew what he was talking about.

“I am looking at a sunlit picture of Hell.” Siegfried Sassoon reflecting on the first day of battle on the Somme in 1916.

I always try and read something in memory of the fallen around this time of year and Nicholas Murray’s book on the World War I poets is moving, nuanced and brilliant.

Behold the glory of the helmet gun The VA still wouldn't find your TBI to be service connected.

Am sharing this story about a helmet-mounted pistol because Pete Hegseth might want to reinvent it:

taskandpurpose.com/tech-tactics...

Someone has left a trail of those little blue pens you get in betting shops down our street. Carelessness? Coincidence? Or a crafty new guerrilla marketing strategy?

Harsh on forward Kaj de Rooji to score twice for Zwolle and still lose 8-2 to Heracles in the Dutch Eredivisie.

There shouldn’t ever be a PS6 or new Xbox console - Reader's Feature — Metro With next generation consoles expected in 2027, a reader argues that both Sony and Microsoft should give up their plans and stick with the current hardware.

I’ve never owned a computer game or a console but I found this critique compelling: apple.news/AKbFey-3oT1y...

‘Perfection’: how Prunella Scales’s Sybil Fawlty is one of TV comedy’s best characters — The Guardian The accomplished classical actress had a perfect ear and the ability to effortlessly pull off demanding jokes. Her performance as Sybil alongside John Cleese in Fawlty Towers was one of sitcoms’ fines...

“Basil!” Great tribute to Prunella Scales by Mark Lawson: apple.news/AlXMEjnAaTwe...

Highlight of today’s charity book shift: persuading an elderly customer she ought to take a punt on Eric Newby’s marvellous memoir Love and War in the Apennines.

'I never once said I was the mayor!': The Times of London humiliated after interviewing the wrong Bill De Blasio — We Got This Covered

Maybe it’s time The Times was given a new nickname. Not so much The Thunderer as the Blunderer: apple.news/ApoL_YSoVS0-...

This is the cover for the Spanish edition of my book The Colour Code which is nice.