Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 5h

The bookseller in me is ready to throw out the person who breaks the spine in the bookshop. Also, we learned how to read a book without killing it

Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 20h

The veneration of Books As Objects misses the point entirely. If you're reading a book, turn the corners down, break the spine, spill soup on it. It's your book, go nuts. A pristine, unread book is a tragedy in a way that a beloved, much-read book that looks like the dog's been at it could never be.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 1d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Reposted by Hel in a hand basket

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 22h

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 5h

Curious George and Babar and Tin Tin and Enid Blyton and and and

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 5h

In Primary school we had to watch Taka the Otter, and I am still scarred by it

Richard Smyth @rsmythfreelance.bsky.social · 6h

Today I am mostly thinking about the popular inter-war literary genre 'animal stories written by fascists'. Join me.

Title page of a collection of animal stories by Henry Williamson: TARKA THE OTTER, SALAR THE SALMON, THE EPIC OF BROCK THE BADGER, CHAKCHEK THE PEREGRINE.

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 6h

I feel like no one is writing love ballads anymore. Ones that are beautifully sung, that get you right in the cockles. Don’t get me wrong, there is so much music I love today (Bumpy’s new record is amazing). But I’d love to hear a ballad in today’s style belted out

Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 7h

This. Scratch the surface of complaints and you discover a much more nuanced reason for disaffection. Austerity must be one of these reasons

Lily Einhorn @madewithstring.bsky.social · 8h

This clip actually breaks my heart a little. I’m not really one for meeting bigotry in the middle but how many Garys have been told they’re stupid, told it so many times they believe it and will listen to people like Farage who can then easily tell them what to think?

LBC @lbc.co.uk · 2d

'The majority of immigrants contribute more than they take.'
'You sound a lot smarter than me.'

Caller Gary vows to 'rethink' his support for Reform after @natashadevon.bsky.social explains her 'lack of faith' in Farage.

Reposted by Hel in a hand basket

Lily Einhorn @madewithstring.bsky.social · 8h

This clip actually breaks my heart a little. I’m not really one for meeting bigotry in the middle but how many Garys have been told they’re stupid, told it so many times they believe it and will listen to people like Farage who can then easily tell them what to think?

LBC @lbc.co.uk · 2d

'The majority of immigrants contribute more than they take.'
'You sound a lot smarter than me.'

Caller Gary vows to 'rethink' his support for Reform after @natashadevon.bsky.social explains her 'lack of faith' in Farage.

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 20h

Wordle 1,578 4/6

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

I think I need Margot Robbie in a bath to explain this to me

Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 1d

Massive crypto sell off amp.scmp.com/tech/tech-tr...

‘My crypto life is over’: sell-off triggers angst on Chinese social media

Exchanges will forcibly sell a trader’s leveraged positions if their losses approach the amount of their initial investment.

amp.scmp.com

Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

I just had the urge to wash windows, vacuum, is this spring fever?

youtu.be/Z0vodGV4oz4?...

The Singing Detective on vinyl - It Might As Well Be Spring

YouTube video by BlackHoleSon

youtu.be

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

I have no words for my disgust at her small mouthed small mind. I’m out of words

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Reposted by Hel in a hand basket

Louie Stowell @louiestowell.bsky.social · 1d

I want everyone to the think of the poor production teams having to act on increasingly unhinged requests. They didn't ask for this. They don't deserve this. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A book is being marketed with mayo-scented ink. Jealous? Me? | David Barnett

With the rise of TikTok and two-tier marketing budgets, something’s off in the world of publishing (and it’s not just the aroma), says author David Barnett

www.theguardian.com

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

Just imagine the moral bankruptcy to do this to a woman found by a court to have been raped

Vaxatious Litigant 💉 @exposingnv.bsky.social · 1d

Linda Reynolds launches bankruptcy proceedings against Brittany Higgins

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Reposted by Hel in a hand basket

Fiona Katauskas @fionakatauskas.bsky.social · 1d

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK? Reynolds is a monster. Utterly ghastly person.

Vaxatious Litigant 💉 @exposingnv.bsky.social · 1d

Linda Reynolds launches bankruptcy proceedings against Brittany Higgins

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Reposted by Hel in a hand basket

Matthew Parkinson-Bennett @matthewpb.bsky.social · 1d

Returns from a chain bookshop have reduced our sales to a minus figure in the most important sales month of the year.

Please support independent bookshops this Christmas.

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

They said it was because of labour shortages due to an aging population, and then cut immigration - it’s maddening

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

Nothing I’m doing is for the greater good. Nothing I’m doing is truly helping. But I’m going to have to keep doing this soulless work for another nine years

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

It’s all about how do we convince instructors to go on a journey (ie how do we get as much detail about someone and convince them to buy)

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

But now I’m working in a job that truly isn’t about making people’s lives better by showing them new and amazing books

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve been working for forty years straight. And for many of those years I believed what I did was for the collective good

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

Having a moment. Talking to the lovely man from Iran who just wants to go back, and talking about our job conditions. And he doesn’t understand why we aren’t all out in force about having to work until we’re 67. I don’t disagree

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

If only there was something the government could cut (hint unicorn submarines)

Penny Allman-Payne @pennyallmanpayne.com · 1d

🚨 BREAKING: Brand new @ACOSS report finds 1 in 7 Australians are living in poverty, including 757,000 children. Millions of families are struggling while our leaders sit on their hands and let it happen.

Poverty in Australia 2025: Overview – Poverty and Inequality

povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

Agree, and I would posit that Australians also had no time to process the unbelievable destruction of the Black Summer fires before being flung into the maelstrom of lockdowns

Ami Berger @amiberger.bsky.social · 1d

I am working on a piece of writing about stuff that happened during the early years of COVID and the way that is making me feel is a reminder of how much unresolved trauma we are all carrying around from those years and how that is a big part of *waves hands around* that we really don't talk about

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Hel in a hand basket @helodare.bsky.social · 1d

So weird watching myself again on the repeat of Hard Quiz

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