Jan Smith
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janjancsmith.bsky.social
Jan Smith
@janjancsmith.bsky.social
750 followers 560 following 350 posts
Wildlife, singing, books, red wine. Hedgehog rescue and rehabber, Christian, vegan. Trying to find my way round bsky.social
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Jan Smith
bearlypolitics.co.uk
It’s impressive to combine a complete misunderstanding of NHS funding, workforce dynamics and productivity economics with a casually misogynistic aside about women “not working”.

That’s a full bingo card of not knowing what you’re talking about.
Overhead At Docksat 7m Subscribe The NHS has had funding increased since the Tories were in power from the 2010s. You can go and look it up. One of the reasons the NHS is so bad at productivity is that it is often a creche for women who just don't work. And it is extremely hard to get rid of people. So be default you don't have real productivity metrics and standards because you aren't weeding out time wasters and you are disincentivising good people. Of which there are a lot. Too many managerial levels and no autonomy. My wife had to sit in a meeting once where she was told she had overspent her budget by a few thousand while the year before you have come in under budget by tens of thousands. In a sane world how would that work?
December 14, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
maddow.bsky.social
just. brutal.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d
GLASHEEN: Antifa is our primary concern right now. That's the most immediate violent threat we're facing

BENNIE THOMPSON: Where is antifa headquartered?

GLASHEEN: ... ... ... we are building out the infrastructure right now

THOMPSON: What does that mean?
December 14, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
nulasuchet.bsky.social
Far Right Reform ??
December 14, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
rorycj.bsky.social
Our street had a great little carols and mince pie party where #sophiefromromania was invited to be the celebrity turning on some Christmas lights. I had to take over as she was a bit shy but she did accept a treat from a fan..
December 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
saulstaniforth.bsky.social
Francesca Albanese: "This is the genocide that continues through other means. Israel has zero intention to relinquish control of the Gaza strip.. what has been sold to the world as the peace plan.. is a way to push the intl community to have an alibi not to continue to engage with Gaza"
December 14, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
foreigncorr1.bsky.social
Trump is trying to rig the geopolitical game at Ukraine and Europe’s cost - Today’s in-depth international read👇
www.thenational.scot/news/world/2...
David Pratt: Donald Trump is trying to rig the geopolitical game
This time last week, I was in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv that sits close to the Black Sea. It wasn’t my first trip there
www.thenational.scot
December 14, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
danielsohege.bsky.social
I don't think a lot of people get quite how bad the situation has got with targeted attacks on the migrants rights and refugee sector.

My wife would be very happy if I left the sector I know that for sure. It's also just getting worse, stoked in no small part by government rhetoric and policies.
nicolakellywrites.bsky.social Nicola Kelly @nicolakellywrites.bsky.social · 3d
🔴I wrote about far-right attacks against refugee charities and why some are choosing to leave the sector to protect themselves. It's awful but understandable.

open.substack.com/pub/nicolake...
When it's time to move on
It's toxic out there
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
alisonkilling.bsky.social
In late 2020 a Chinese man called Guan Heng travelled to Xinjiang with our BuzzFeed map of detention facilities to provide ground truth for our work - he provided the first corroborating evidence for many sites.

He escaped to the US - then ICE detained him.

www.wsj.com/world/china/...
ICE Holding Chinese Man Who Documented Uyghur Camps
Heng Guan is awaiting an immigration hearing on Monday that could lead to his removal from the U.S. and ultimately land him back in China, according to his lawyer and a New York-based activist group.
www.wsj.com
December 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
declassifieduk.org
📽️ OUR FILM IS NOW LIVE 👇

We present the first documentary about Britain's complicity in the Gaza genocide, exposing Keir Starmer's shady spy flight missions for Israel.

Watch the full film on YouTube here
👉 youtu.be/0fk3t28TiAc
December 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
markhamillofficial.bsky.social
Just when I thought I couldn't admire the man more...

🎯 🎯 🎯 💯 💯 💯 👍 👍 👍
December 13, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
altnps.bsky.social
Caring is an act of resistance in a system that thrives on indifference.
December 13, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
helengoodman.bsky.social
Striking BL staff, struggling to pay their rent, advised to consider not giving presents this year, and interim CEO, Jeremy Silver, has the nerve to tell them they ‘don’t live in a real world’. Only 17% of staff guaranteed the Living Wage (£14.80 ph) suggests acute familiarity with the ‘real world’.
anna-aslanyan.bsky.social Anna Aslanyan @anna-aslanyan.bsky.social · 4d
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line
On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
margaretmorgan.bsky.social
This is so sad. Robin Ince & The Infinite Monkey Cage have been a scientific institution on the BBC for nearly two decades.

Ince has chosen honour over capitulation, refusing to be cowed by the bigots and culture warriors who want to silence him, and who have thoroughly infested the BBC.

Respect.
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 1d
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 8:06 AM
janjancsmith.bsky.social
They needn’t bother as far I’m concerned as I won’t be listening.
scott1gray.bsky.social Scott Gray @scott1gray.bsky.social · 1d
Robin Ince IS The Infinite Monkey Cage, you corporate mouthpiece. The only "news" is that it's over, and we already know that.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We would like to thank Robin Ince for everything he’s done for Infinite Monkey Cage over the past 16 years and wish him all the best for the future. We will announce more Monkey Cage news in due course.”
December 13, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
joannafairtrade.bsky.social
In the audience today at the amazing Niamos theatre in Manchester for the Christmas recording of Infinite Monkey Cage. Devastating news from @robinince.bsky.social - what must have been an incredibly difficult decision but absolutely the correct and humane one. Robin remains the best of us.
December 12, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
danrebellato.bsky.social
Has there ever been a more Reithian show on the BBC than The Infinite Monkey Cage? In the battle between Ince and the BBC, I know who I think best expresses BBC values.
December 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
markslater.bsky.social
Same. You’re not going to replicate that chemistry. Robin was the great big beating heart of ‘The Infinite Monkey Cage’, so as far as I’m concerned it’s ended.
December 13, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
seismatters.bsky.social
The Infinite Monkey Cage/BBC resignation letter of @robinince.bsky.social has now simply got me thinking about all the people who don’t use their platform and privilege to support those lacking both… 👀
December 13, 2025 at 7:24 AM
Reposted by Jan Smith
maddow.bsky.social
kfoxtv.com/news/local/h...
Human rights groups reiterate allegations of abuse at Fort Bliss detention site
Human rights advocates are intensifying their calls for action at the Camp East Montana migrant detention facility on Fort Bliss, which is reportedly the...
kfoxtv.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
adambienkov.bsky.social
A reminder that when Gary Lineker was under fire a couple of years back for criticising the Conservatives while a BBC presenter, the channel said, by contrast, it was fine for Lord Sugar to repeatedly endorse the Tories because he was "free to say, as a business person, what he wants to say."
December 13, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
adambienkov.bsky.social
The fact is no presenter has ever had to leave the BBC for expressing conservative views, or even explicitly endorsing a right-wing party.

Was never a problem for Jeremy Clarkson. Was never a problem for Andrew Neil. Was never a problem for Alan Sugar
thegmcconnachie.bsky.social Garry @thegmcconnachie.bsky.social · 1d
Robin Ince reveals to last night’s audience at a recording of Infinite Monkey Cage that the BBC has forced him to resign over his support of trans people
December 13, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
zackpolanski.bsky.social
GB News grilled me apparently?

Only problem with this is I've never been on their nonsense channel.

They lie - obsessively.

Help us grow an alternative to all the bollocks:

Join.greenparty.org.uk
Zack Polanski grilled over Calais trip
December 13, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
peternimmo.bsky.social
Just yesterday I was watching the actual newsreel of the launch of the Queen Mary, and today I discovered this/...
youtube.com/watch?v=15wL...
STANLEY BAXTER - LAUNCH OF THE QUEEN MARY
YouTube video by Gary Carter
youtube.com
December 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
janjancsmith.bsky.social
Ritz Carlton: out of the Maasai Mara now action.eko.org/a/ritz-carlt...
Ritz-Carlton: out of the Maasai Mara now
In a spectacular, remote corner of the Maasai Mara reserve, something extraordinary happens every year: millions of wildebeest, zebra and other animals cross the plain as part of the Great Migration.
action.eko.org
December 13, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Jan Smith
wemoveeurope.bsky.social
More countries are now supporting a global moratorium and the momentum is finally shifting. Together we can protect the deep before the industry even begins.

👉 Click the link to help defend one of the most fragile places on Earth: go.wemove.eu/DeepSeaMinin...
go.wemove.eu
December 13, 2025 at 8:30 AM