Ali Baker
@alisonbaker01.bsky.social
BA Primary lecturer at UEL. Children's fantasy literature researcher. Podcast host at Fantasy Book Swap. Trans rights are human rights.
No DMs without asking first. I am a prolific blocker.
No DMs without asking first. I am a prolific blocker.
Reposted by Ali Baker
Today is Human Rights Day. Protecting human rights is essential, especially in these days of relentless and brutal attacks against so many groups of people.
Saying "no" isn't enough, but it is a start. I wrote about why, and provide a few suggestions as to what and how.
ko-fi.com/post/Saying-...
Saying "no" isn't enough, but it is a start. I wrote about why, and provide a few suggestions as to what and how.
ko-fi.com/post/Saying-...
Saying No to the Assault on Human Rights
SJ Groenewegen published a post on Ko-fi
ko-fi.com
December 10, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Today is Human Rights Day. Protecting human rights is essential, especially in these days of relentless and brutal attacks against so many groups of people.
Saying "no" isn't enough, but it is a start. I wrote about why, and provide a few suggestions as to what and how.
ko-fi.com/post/Saying-...
Saying "no" isn't enough, but it is a start. I wrote about why, and provide a few suggestions as to what and how.
ko-fi.com/post/Saying-...
Reposted by Ali Baker
That's because you're in Dubai.
December 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
That's because you're in Dubai.
Reposted by Ali Baker
Joanne isn’t bothered about these women and children
No good deed, thanks to the vicious propaganda campaigns of the billionaire media, now goes unpunished.
They hate it when anyone tries to make life better for vulnerable people.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
They hate it when anyone tries to make life better for vulnerable people.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
UK charities face ‘culture of fear’ as threats and violence surge
Exclusive: Charity Commission chief condemns public hostility towards staff helping women and refugees and at places of worship
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Joanne isn’t bothered about these women and children
Hello @backlisted.bsky.social pals. I am so delighted to tell you that Winifred from Ballet Shoes turns up in Curtain Up*. She is an excellent ballet teacher and looks after the Sorrell children despite their appalling relations.
* Re-named as Theatre Shoes. WTF are theatre shoes? I blame Meg Ryan
* Re-named as Theatre Shoes. WTF are theatre shoes? I blame Meg Ryan
December 9, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Hello @backlisted.bsky.social pals. I am so delighted to tell you that Winifred from Ballet Shoes turns up in Curtain Up*. She is an excellent ballet teacher and looks after the Sorrell children despite their appalling relations.
* Re-named as Theatre Shoes. WTF are theatre shoes? I blame Meg Ryan
* Re-named as Theatre Shoes. WTF are theatre shoes? I blame Meg Ryan
When I am less felled by Sadmin and grief I will write about my dad and his writing life.
December 6, 2025 at 2:19 PM
When I am less felled by Sadmin and grief I will write about my dad and his writing life.
I lost my dad on 22nd November at 1:10pm. He fell asleep in his chair in my parents’ house and he didn’t wake up. It’s been a delight to rediscover him through his writing. Here he is in the appendices to Katherine Langrish’s From Spare Oom to War Drobe
December 6, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I lost my dad on 22nd November at 1:10pm. He fell asleep in his chair in my parents’ house and he didn’t wake up. It’s been a delight to rediscover him through his writing. Here he is in the appendices to Katherine Langrish’s From Spare Oom to War Drobe
Reposted by Ali Baker
Diana Wynne Jones panel at Novacon.
November 9, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Diana Wynne Jones panel at Novacon.
Reposted by Ali Baker
Attending tickets for Iridescence 2026 ( Eastercon ) currently start at £50/£80 for adults, £20 for teens. This price will rise at the start of December 2025, so check out the link in the profile today and book!
When? 3rd-6th April, 2026
Where? Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, UK.
When? 3rd-6th April, 2026
Where? Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, UK.
November 7, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Attending tickets for Iridescence 2026 ( Eastercon ) currently start at £50/£80 for adults, £20 for teens. This price will rise at the start of December 2025, so check out the link in the profile today and book!
When? 3rd-6th April, 2026
Where? Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, UK.
When? 3rd-6th April, 2026
Where? Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, UK.
Reposted by Ali Baker
Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc in my birth nation of Jamaica. Reported: "The University of Miami with the US NOAA measured wind speeds from start to finish across Jamaica with the weather aircraft named Kermit. The maximum wind gust speeds were 252mph and maximum sustained winds were 185 mph..."
November 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc in my birth nation of Jamaica. Reported: "The University of Miami with the US NOAA measured wind speeds from start to finish across Jamaica with the weather aircraft named Kermit. The maximum wind gust speeds were 252mph and maximum sustained winds were 185 mph..."
Final point on the Brontës: they were well educated and travelled (at least Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels) and visited friends in other towns. They really were not lone geniuses.
Also, #TeamAnne. Arthur in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a devastating portrayal of alcoholism, probably written from her experience of Branwell’s death.
November 1, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Final point on the Brontës: they were well educated and travelled (at least Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels) and visited friends in other towns. They really were not lone geniuses.
Reposted by Ali Baker
#totp viewers, I've been told a perfect Christmas gift, or indeed just something you might like to read. OUT NOW. #IntoTheGroove
OUT NOW, my month-by-month guide to 1980s pop, from ABC to XTC, and from Madonna to Neneh. #IntoTheGroove, published by @eandtbooks.bsky.social.
October 31, 2025 at 8:25 PM
#totp viewers, I've been told a perfect Christmas gift, or indeed just something you might like to read. OUT NOW. #IntoTheGroove
All Saints Day youtu.be/AOZhgs2Uk20?...
All Saints - I Know Where It's At (TOTP 1997)
YouTube video by Divas Forever
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 9:20 AM
All Saints Day youtu.be/AOZhgs2Uk20?...
See also the UK benefits system. Most people on Universal Credit are employed by retail businesses. Our taxes support supermarket chains in providing terrible wages.
From 1961 to 1981 the US minimum wage was increased methodically every year except for 3.
Once Reaganism took hold it stagnated for 9 years and eventually was ignored now for 16 years.
SNAP is so expensive because we don't pay people living wages.
Once Reaganism took hold it stagnated for 9 years and eventually was ignored now for 16 years.
SNAP is so expensive because we don't pay people living wages.
October 31, 2025 at 5:20 PM
See also the UK benefits system. Most people on Universal Credit are employed by retail businesses. Our taxes support supermarket chains in providing terrible wages.
How anyone in a country with government-controlled healthcare doesn’t look at the US with terror is beyond me. Resist all privatisation of of NHS, and campaign for more funding to reduce waiting lists.
Next time you consider grumbling about the NHS…
Well, an acquaintance who relies on the ACA marketplace for insurance just received a notice explaining that their fee for coverage will be rising. Right now they pay $180 a month. The new price?
$2733.15 a month.
$2733.15 a month.
October 31, 2025 at 5:16 PM
How anyone in a country with government-controlled healthcare doesn’t look at the US with terror is beyond me. Resist all privatisation of of NHS, and campaign for more funding to reduce waiting lists.
Reposted by Ali Baker
First panel of the day: Paranormal
Romance to Romantasy with Ruth Frances Long, @amydelaforce.bsky.social, @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social, @anniesummerlee.bsky.social and Sophie Jarrell
Romance to Romantasy with Ruth Frances Long, @amydelaforce.bsky.social, @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social, @anniesummerlee.bsky.social and Sophie Jarrell
October 31, 2025 at 11:08 AM
First panel of the day: Paranormal
Romance to Romantasy with Ruth Frances Long, @amydelaforce.bsky.social, @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social, @anniesummerlee.bsky.social and Sophie Jarrell
Romance to Romantasy with Ruth Frances Long, @amydelaforce.bsky.social, @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social, @anniesummerlee.bsky.social and Sophie Jarrell
Reposted by Ali Baker
Tonight I’ll be at the mass @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social signing with character art! So will @amalelmohtar.com @rflong.bsky.social @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social ENDLESS ROCK STARS, happy Halloween everyone. #worldfantasy2025
October 31, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Tonight I’ll be at the mass @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social signing with character art! So will @amalelmohtar.com @rflong.bsky.social @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social ENDLESS ROCK STARS, happy Halloween everyone. #worldfantasy2025
And more power to him. I note that the most virulent online opponents to him are not New Yorkers, just as the most anti- Sadiq Khan voices are generally not Londoners
Give 'em hel Mamdani!
October 31, 2025 at 4:49 PM
And more power to him. I note that the most virulent online opponents to him are not New Yorkers, just as the most anti- Sadiq Khan voices are generally not Londoners
Reposted by Ali Baker
Something like 1.7m people in UK are in 0hr contracts, and everyone else is forced by the institutions that hire them, to have to deal with them every day. People who are desperate, exhausted, often not very qualified, serving people who are paying more and more for these services every day.
October 31, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Something like 1.7m people in UK are in 0hr contracts, and everyone else is forced by the institutions that hire them, to have to deal with them every day. People who are desperate, exhausted, often not very qualified, serving people who are paying more and more for these services every day.
Reposted by Ali Baker
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
October 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity.
They are not the same.
Reposted by Ali Baker
If you're in the UK, today is your LAST chance to snap up my fantasy rom-com Wooing the Witch Queen for only 99p!
Grab it now: stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen
#romancelandia
Grab it now: stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen
#romancelandia
October 31, 2025 at 9:14 AM
If you're in the UK, today is your LAST chance to snap up my fantasy rom-com Wooing the Witch Queen for only 99p!
Grab it now: stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen
#romancelandia
Grab it now: stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen
#romancelandia
Reposted by Ali Baker
We've been wanting to do this episode for a long time and finally made it happen. I loved geeking out about every aspect of SFF cons, and trying to imagine how they could work differently. <3
We love science fiction conventions! Especially indie fan-run conventions. But... they basically haven't changed since the 1970s.
How could cons change for the 21st century? We talked to a host of con veterans about panels, venues, volunteers, etc.
ouropinionsarecorrect.libsyn.com/the-future-o...
How could cons change for the 21st century? We talked to a host of con veterans about panels, venues, volunteers, etc.
ouropinionsarecorrect.libsyn.com/the-future-o...
October 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM
We've been wanting to do this episode for a long time and finally made it happen. I loved geeking out about every aspect of SFF cons, and trying to imagine how they could work differently. <3
Yes. I am sorry I missed hearing this. Queen Latifah is such an important presence in hip hop.
BBC Radio 6 Music
Nemone
Now Playing
Queen Latifah & De La Soul
Mamma Gave Birth To The Soul Children
Nemone
Now Playing
Queen Latifah & De La Soul
Mamma Gave Birth To The Soul Children
October 30, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Yes. I am sorry I missed hearing this. Queen Latifah is such an important presence in hip hop.
If you want to hear people (including fabulous @unamccormack.bsky.social) being RIGHT about Wuthering Heights, I recommend that you listen to @backlisted.bsky.social. It is not romantic (in the modern sense)! It is a gothic horror.
October 30, 2025 at 12:51 PM
If you want to hear people (including fabulous @unamccormack.bsky.social) being RIGHT about Wuthering Heights, I recommend that you listen to @backlisted.bsky.social. It is not romantic (in the modern sense)! It is a gothic horror.
@cynderness.bsky.social Steve and I went to an exhibition of photographs by Spike Waltzer of LA punk gigs. I bought a postcard print for you and I have to remember to bring it when we meet!
October 17, 2025 at 4:38 PM
@cynderness.bsky.social Steve and I went to an exhibition of photographs by Spike Waltzer of LA punk gigs. I bought a postcard print for you and I have to remember to bring it when we meet!