Sam Mace

This looks excellent

People who are stingy with their reposts are like people who never buy rounds. You don't mention it in the moment but, eventually, they stop getting invited out.

a man with a blue sticker on his face is hugging another man in front of a building Alt: a man with a blue sticker on his face is hugging another man in front of a building

Watched a Curzon screening of ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ (1985) and never felt more in 2025. Thatcher’s Britain as portrayed in the film feels very present. Watch it or rewatch.

Trump won't be able to adopt constitutional reform. My fear is he will just ignore it and the constitution slowly becomes a worthless document

Me taking a smiling selfie as an excuse to get a picture of the man behind me at the bar, despondently counting out beer money.

Two men seated at a table, slumped forward, possibly asleep, possibly dead, heads in arms. In the background, a man with a thousand yard stare drinks alone.

A standing woman addresses three people, two women and a man, all seated, oddly, in a row. They all have expressions of hopelessness on their faces.

A pint glass of a mysterious green drink stands alone on a bar of pale, office furniture wood. I never found out what this was, it looked like washing up liquid. When I asked the lady behind the bar, she just said "You probably wouldn't like it"

9 years ago today I was in Luxembourg and found The Bar of Ultimate Despair, a place so bleak I probably wouldn't believe my memory if I hadn't taken pictures. Brightly lit, pale wood officey furniture, one single beer on draught and a clientele whose common mood could not be described as convivial.

it's a small case, but in many ways, it is symptomatic of how parliamentary democracy just isn't performing its 101 functions

Bit long, sorry

Terrific piece. I had missed that the Reform council in Kent is *already* complaining about tightened visa rules for social care.

James Baldwin (with scenes from Raoul Peck's documentary on Baldwin, "I Am Not Your Negro") - BOTD

Yeah, I really enjoyed it Mark :) I do think this was a little trying to be two books in one but definitely just as good as James Ball's book on Qanon which I also enjoyed :)

@stephenkb.bsky.social I thought you may enjoy this

@j-amesmarriott.bsky.social I thought you may enjoy this :)

@chadbourn.bsky.social I thought you may like this :)

hope you're enjoying York! The Minster bookshop usually has some good theory books and the Oxfam on Mickelgate sometimes has a terrific selection :)

Book Review: Lost Boys by James Bloodworth For complete transparency, James was kind enough to send me a PDF copy of his book for me to review.

theorymatters.substack.com/p/book-revie...

My latest where I review James Bloodworth's new book Lost Boys. I find it a riveting if imperfect effort which should be read widely! @jonnelledge.bsky.social thought you may be interested in this

Book Review: Lost Boys by James Bloodworth For complete transparency, James was kind enough to send me a PDF copy of his book for me to review.

theorymatters.substack.com/p/book-revie...

My latest where I review James Bloodworth's new book Lost Boys. I find it a riveting if imperfect effort which should be read widely! @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com thought you may be interested in this

Book Review: Lost Boys by James Bloodworth For complete transparency, James was kind enough to send me a PDF copy of his book for me to review.

theorymatters.substack.com/p/book-revie...

My latest where I review James Bloodworth's new book Lost Boys. I find it a riveting if imperfect effort which should be read widely!

The only solution to pornography is for parents to have meaningful conversations with their children. This involves things like consent, sure, but also more complicated issues like the difference between fantasy and reality. There is no policy solution to this problem.

surely as well this just continues to infantilize teenagers? Isn't part of growing up the dynamic of weighing up choices which surely teens won't be doing if they know their messages will be on mums and dads phones. Same with the issue of porn criminalising isn't going to solve the core issues

the pigs is an interesting one. I'm not 'against' them perse and I would love a pet pig but it's definitely not as easy as keeping a cat or a dog.

Social media is used for such awful things but sharing good news like fellowships, acceptances, book deals is the absolute best. I love feeling truly happy for strangers. I love your good news!

massive congrats Toby! have a very happy anniversary :)

spent most of yesterday and a good portion of today in bed trying not to cry. It doesn't look like I'll get an academic job this year and I'm really not sure what to do :(

Adorable James

Thanks for the share

Thanks for the kind words

NGL I did take inspiration from that quote

"Democracy if it means anything, means taking accountability for the votes we cast. We always have the option of reversing our vote but we cannot merely scrub out the results of the first. We have to live with our decisions."

Excellent piece.
We really do need serious (dare I say revolutionary?) change.
Instead Labour will continue to shrivel in popularity as they cling to failed neo-liberalism to serve the finance industry. Then if Reform win we have to look forward to a cabal of half-wits, racists & racist half-wits.

I think McSweeney did well to craft the majority off such a small % of the vote. But yes we definitely do need a change!

I have read most of this, but I will give it a re-read :) It strikes me that even if he is a so-called 'reluctant leader' he'll end up being the face of it and it'll need some organisation led by him in its initial form.