James Bridle

Several large stacks of timber on palettes, drying varnish, red earth, pines, sky.

Writing essays about design, quantum theory, the discovery of mRNA, seagrass, while occasionally popping out to move a tonne of wood, varnish it, cut, cover again. Typing for coins and the Towers of Hanoi: a self-build story.

Episode 1: Uncharted Territory Podcast Episode · Overshoot: Navigating a world beyond 1.5°C · 05/10/2025 · 35m

A first foray into podcast script-writing... helped make this series on what to do now that we're overshooting 1.5c global warming. Presented by Laurie Laybourn and produced by Planet B. More things soon I hope!
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...

I would really appreciate a Euro-centric social media platform precisely for this. I want to know what's happening in the US, but I really want to be able to work and organise around Europe, where I have (some) agency. Greysky?

I wonder what the equivalent of those album covers which seemed to shape culture in the 80s is now? Good morning :)

So I think the 80s is interesting as a time when that energy seemed to dissipate in the Big Bang and North Sea Oil, except of course it didn't - it went into rave and reclaim the streets and punk and more DIY as you say. It became counterculture again when the dominant culture went the other way.

And I'm particularly interested in the countercultures of the 70s, of DIY, self-build, radical alternative lifestyles and design - from Superstudio to Ken Isaacs to John and Sally Seymour - and what happened to them. Where did that energy go?

And there are obviously others which I/"we" don't have access to, but I think it's just ridiculous to say there's no counterculture(s) now.

... which delaminates everything. But I get really angry at the idea that there are no countercultures right now. I think much of the eco movement (more radical green) and queer and trans culture will be seen - because it is - as an extremely strong and vibrant counterculture.

Thanks for these thoughts @edwinheathcote.bsky.social @markhurrell.bsky.social - a couple in return. First is that, yes, countercultures only visible in hindsight. It feels like there's no outside to the dominant culture right now, because of the flattening effects of the internet...

Israel accused of detaining Greta Thunberg in infested cell and making her hold flags Activist tells Swedish officials she has been subjected to harsh treatment, including insufficient food and water

“They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

Yes.

(Adaptive reuse for everything? Enjoyed that too.)

Yes, very much so. And now? (Genuine Q)

It's morning in America... But I can't see the dawn. www.radioalhara.net on 🔥 this morning fyi

Such an amazing book. Was absolutely shattered when I read it, a rare thing.

A Map, the Sea, and Many Olive Trees And some trains

Read this instead: "A Map, the Sea, and Many Olive Trees", by Elia Ayoub www.hauntologies.net/p/a-map-the-... (via palestinegeographies.org)

I don't know them. I was looking for olive groves, not strawberries. I was trying to distract myself from the Flotilla, and now the Synagogue. It was a strawberry farm.

A photo of a man carrying a basket of plants, from the Gaza Strawberry facebook page.

Here's their Facebook: www.facebook.com/strawberry.g...

A photo of three young people in a strawberry greenhouse, from the instagram account @strawberry_gaza

Here's their Instagram page: www.instagram.com/strawberry_g...

A satellite image of polytunnel greenhouses in Gaza, July 2020.

The same location, satellite image taken in December 2024, shows the greenhouses in ruins, surrounded by destroyed earth and buildings.

Strawberry Farm, Beit Lahia, Gaza in 2020, and now.

Consultation on the future access to the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds: Executive Summary This consultation seeks your views on access arrangements at the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds -Highgate Men’s Pond, Kenwood Ladies’ Pond and Hampstead Mixed Pond, with a particular focus on potential changes at the Highgate Men’s Pond and the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond. Following the recent Supreme Court decision in For Women Scotland, and in line with other service providers, the City of London Corporation is reviewing its policies, including those at the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds. Your feedback will help inform decisions about future arrangements, alongside legal obligations, equality and safeguarding duties, financial constraints, and practical considerations.

📣 Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds need your help!
🏊‍♀️ 🏊🏊‍♂️
They’ve always been firmly trans-inclusive, but now this is under threat.
Please respond to their consultation to show how much public support there is for trans-inclusive arrangements.
hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is/en-GB/propos...

24/7 LIVESTREAM OF GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA YouTube video by Global Sumud Flotilla

Watch: www.youtube.com/live/uEN2bWF...

There are spontaneous protests throughout Italy for Gaza happening right now. This is in addition to calls for a general strike this Friday by the country's largest union (see above in thread)

Here Napoli/Naples

www.instagram.com/reel/DPRlQP9...

Sending love, strength, and solidarity to our friends and comrades on the Global Sumud Flotilla. We watch and hope and pray, because this is what humanity consists in.

YouTube video by James Bridle Funnel Cloud

We had another funnel cloud today. A pair, in fact, just ahead of the storm. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZqf...

A tornado over Methana, seen from Aegina, in the Saronic Gulf, Greece.

First day back on the site, watching a tornado roll over the next island. Good morning.

YouTube video by TheJellybaby1988 Labi Siffre-Something Inside So Strong.(1987) Original Video.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=7B-4...

Something inside so wrong: Labi Siffre tells Tommy Robinson to stop using anti-apartheid anthem Exclusive: UK singer, 80, says it is ‘absurd’ as a ‘positive atheist, homosexual black artist’ for far right to claim his work

God these fascists are such dicks, it's such an insufficient thing to say, but it's so overpowering and necessary too. Just go and listen to the song now, do it. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Power Station Power Station

I met Hilary and Dan in London this summer. Their Power Station project is an incredible artist-led work showing how we can transform our energy system as well as our societies for better, more livable futures. Please, check them out and support their fundraising if you can! www.power.film

It's pretty wild to me that investigators have uncovered that anti-trans campaigns are largely funded by the fossil fuel industry, and that the presumed motivations are pretty directly to redirect the public conversation away from climate change... and that this isn't bigger news.