Jake Goldsmith

Except with a performance-enhancing drug, as unhealthy and immoral as it is, the athlete stills runs faster. Using AI is not only unhealthy and immoral, but you don’t run faster (or produce good work). You ‘produce’ more, but it’s terrible. It’s as if she’s happy she has larger poo than you

Cameron

Hard to fathom how anyone could not see Johnson as wretched, but such people live among us

Remember when Spitting Image portrayed Mandelson as a green serpent? 🐍 This was a sign to young me that this man was duplicitous and possibly untrustworthy. I wonder how they knew? It's almost as if his shameful character has always been obvious...

It turns out there are some places left on my Memoir & Life Writing short course at the University of the Arts starting February 16. The course runs for 5 weeks and is being held ONLINE from 18:00-20:30 (London time) every Monday so you can tune in from anywhere in the world. (1)

Jesus, as we all remember, was a deeply hurtful racist who reviled all Latin Americans, as per Texans Chapter 6 Verse 9. A message of love and tolerance would be heretical

State Terror in America: ICE in Minneapolis FUNCTION, NORMALISATION AND EMPATHY

State Terror in America: ICE in Minneapolis
open.substack.com/pub/vladvexl...

Strange situation where I’ve had to unfollow a specific person here who I’d prefer to remain following. They post valuable information yet they repost so much that it entirely clogs my feed so I have to scroll endlessly to see anyone else. Unable to turn off reposts from specific users. Sad.

But of course, anyone who as bought your work wouldn’t dare give it away, and would covet the book. So it is less likely to be found in secondhand shops unless we are dealing with readers who for some bedevilling reason would part with your books

If a good bookshop doesn’t currently have your books in stock, they should at least have the ability to order them in, or they hazard becoming bad shops. Secondhand shops and antiquarian bookshops understandably may not stock your work. One might ask why not in a secondhand bookshop? …

Does the goodness of bookshops hinge on the availability of your books? I’d say yes, but I’m biased towards you. I think it is possible, still, that a good bookshop might not stock your book, however, perhaps due to geography or being antiquarian

Thus, it is indeed possible that your books are available in a bad bookshop, but not in all bad bookshops. Yet if an otherwise good bookshop doesn’t stock your books, does it risk being, or becoming, bad?

One may retort: why would I shop at a bad bookshop, and why would such a good book be in a bad bookshop? Yet a bad bookshop might be at one’s nearest convenience, and (as shocking as it is) we cannot discount good books being in bad shops

As good as your work is, available in good bookshops, what is the possibility of bad bookshops stocking it? Bad bookshops can be bad for reasons besides low stock, as their stock can be plentiful despite otherwise being bad

I received Greyhound for Christmas and it’s the book I’ve been most eager to read. I’m over 100 pages in so far and it’s great. Thank you 😊

People are ‘victimised by their own expertise’ trying to rationalise why this is happening. He wants Greenland for the same reason a dim 7 year old wants something: it’s big. It looks big on a map. That’s cool. There are no clever machinations. He’s a child. Stop sane-washing him.

I loved Cook when I was a teenager, read his biography and watched/listened to a lot. Was introduced to him through Private Eye. But then I’m peculiar. Not sure how many in their late twenties know him

Happy Public Domain Day 2026! Each January 1st is Public Domain Day, when a new crop of works have their copyrights expire and become free to share and reuse for any purpose. Here's our highlights for 2026.

Happy Public Domain Day! At the start of each year, a new set of works is freed from copyright — ready to be shared, reused, and reimagined. See our highlights — Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, Langston Hughes, William Faulkner, and many more. #publicdomain

Happy New Year's Eve! Europe has been marking the change of year with pyrotechnics since at least the 16th century. @simon_werrett looks at how artists have represented fireworks displays through the centuries: https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/picturing-pyrotechnics #Fireworks #NewYearsEve

You can imagine the sort of person who claps with vulgar glee at the sight of a punny tote bag... I allow myself to be curmudgeonly and scowl at them

The more we are colonised by American English, the power of Vox Americana, we will see all these outmoded in favour of…

Brother,
Cuz,
Cousin,
Unc,
Man,

And some choice other names my provincial English background precludes me from saying…

I received this book of maps for Christmas too ☺️

Clive James is one of my favourites. Much of his writing is freely available on his old website

That’s because Ford is a normal car manufacturer and Tesla is a cult

Thank you, Penny

I've always said the greatest issue regarding inclusivity in publishing has been class. Publishing looks overwhelmingly middle class with only token nods to anything outside. Rather than 'real' diversity (in class, race, age, gender, etc) we've developed closed-off niches and cliques. Inaccessible

I remember inane tasks like this at school (writing one's own 'targets', etc) and teachers couldn't fathom why this seemingly simple task was so bothersome to me. "What will you be doing in 5 years?" Not answering risible questions, hopefully

Haven't read any Chinese novels recently but I was recently made aware of (non-fiction) 'I Deliver Parcels in Beijing' by Hu Anyan (about the harsh reality of gig work in China over 14 years) and I will definitely buy it soon (after Christmas, too much on my list already)

IN EXTREMIS JAKE GOLDSMITH book cover

In Extremis

Published 9th September 2025

@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social

www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/in_e...

In Extremis cover

In Extremis Essays Jake Goldsmith Sagging Meniscus

Quotations from Joan Didion, Montaigne, Manès Sperber, and Senancour prefacing In Extremis

In Extremis contents page

My essay collection ‘In Extremis’ was published in September (from @saggingmeniscus.bsky.social) .

www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/in_e...

My next project is a long essay titled ‘Envying Artists’, about art, artists I’m privileged to know, friendship, and the desire for connection