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Stewart Parsons

@libraryfiend.bsky.social

1.1K followers 1K following 1.5K posts

Founder of Get It Loud In Libraries www.loudinlibraries.com cool programme of doorstep library gigs with future BRIT & Grammy winners. Born to live in Scotland. Lover of music, books, libraries, radio, dogs, PNE & wife Elizabeth. A BEM, no less.

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · Jun 17

For 175 years, public libraries, despite often steeply declining Govt support, have served the educational, information and entertainment needs of the general public. Staffed by a committed national family of workers determined to transform the life chances of some 7.3mill people.Oh, and it's free.

Helene von Bismarck @helenebismarck.bsky.social · Jun 16

So,as a little thought-experiment, tell me something about the United Kingdom that works well and is actually quite impressive. I am not trying to sound like some boosterish politician. I just genuinely believe that making people believe that all is lost is a convenient pretext for shady characters.

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 3h

Proper telly. Sally Wainwright's dialogue is funny, wry & pin-sharp & a genius-recruited cast bring warmth & pathos to a triumphant story. Brilliant northern women doing brilliant northern women things: the writers & actors & the characters they play. Punk is just the side dish, but still a riot.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

Riot Women review – Sally Wainwright’s menopausal punk drama is one of her best

This high-pedigree TV drama about midlife women who form a punk band is up there with Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax. It’s rich, plot-packed, and perfectly seasoned with humour

www.theguardian.com

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Zack Polanski @zackpolanski.bsky.social · 13h

The Spectator (owned by GBNews owner Paul Marshall - estimated wealth of £800 million) doesn’t like taxing wealth fairly.

I wonder how they got to this editorial decision?

Let’s tax wealth fairly, fund front line services & make hope normal again.

join.greenparty.org.uk

Polanski is talking nonsense about wealth taxes.

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 12h

Another colossus strides forth into the Big Author Signature-Off @gallovidiabooks.bsky.social - It's only William Boyd: elegant stylist. Ronaldo to Sebastian Faulks' Messi. An exquisite scrawl of a signature, too. Much like his prose. A robust 8/10.

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 14h

Mad King Donny isn't so much caught between a rock and a hard place as the Epstein Files and The Portland Frog...

Spanglish @spanglish51.bsky.social · 16h

What’s Dumb Don tackling today ? Pestilence , famine , flood ?

Anything to detract attention from the fact that his govt is scared of the threat from inflatable cows & frogs !

Pathetic man baby.

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 16h

Something tangibly shifts in the universe at the sound of the kettle first going on in the morning....

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Congratulations!

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

And then 1471 if the caller put the phone down or started the heavy breathing thing....

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Hello, Leyland 423654?

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 1d

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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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Between The Covers. Was excellent for the most part.

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

The media got high on all the Brexit drugs. Stone drunk on the Johnson years. And spammed out into a wheelie bin on Truss. The Starmer government is proving a massive downer to these clickbait addicts. Desperate for Farage to cut them another line...

Mark Johnson @braunton-mark.bsky.social · 1d

The real work of government and diplomacy is dull and grinding, that’s what actually makes real change happen. Sadly, our media landscape requires entertainment, so hard work is devalued in favour of showboating and inflammatory statements. What a bloody mess.

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

'Rory Stewart. Someone with experience of these issues', Evan Davis closes probably the most sober assessment of events on this carnival of reporting in Israel on the BBC today. Finally...

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Otto English @ottoenglish.bsky.social · 1d

Tens of thousands of people killed. An entire state reduced to rubble and he acts like it's the Apprentice final.

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Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 1d

Pope Leo says that American bishops need to be more vocal and support migrant communities from being abducted by ICE in US cities

"Important that we as church give a message of hope in the midst of these horrible struggles, what's going on in some cities in the US"

"The church cannot be silent"

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Quite so. It was half decent, in one sense, but omitting The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues seemed a wee bit perverse...

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

BBC 6Music celebrating Irish punk and post-punk by playing mostly shouty pale imitations of the actual, genuine best of Irish punk is peak 6Music this morning...

Reposted by Stewart Parsons

Gail Myerscough @gailmyerscough.co.uk · 2d

My husband @mjowen174.bsky.social really needs some work.
AI has had a very detrimental effect on his earnings this year.
ChatGTP doesn’t have bills to pay and doesn’t have to worry constantly.
Please repost far and wide because I don’t like to see ‘Sad Matt’

Matt Owen @mjowen174.bsky.social · 2d

If you could please do us a favour and RT (or whatever it is on here) my writing CV I would be extremely grateful. I am a very capable writer of words, mainly “humorous”’ and if you have some PROPER paid work for me, please DM me. Thank you for your time www.mathew-owen.co.uk

Home | Matt Owen | Freelance Writer

I offer a broad and diverse range of writing services. Get in touch!

www.mathew-owen.co.uk

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Dorian Lynskey @dorianlynskey.bsky.social · 1d

It's Thatcher's centenary so why not learn more about who she was, why she did what she did, which myths don't hold up and what Thatcherism actually was. With @iandunt.bsky.social
podcasts.apple.com/dk/podcast/t...

Thatcherism – Part One – Birth of a Notion

Podcast Episode · Origin Story · 02/04/2025 · 1h 26m

podcasts.apple.com

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Another day, another head scratcher as to why BBC report the news in the tone, with the vocabulary, and from the position they do...

Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 1d

Listening to the Today programme, you'd think Donald Trump was about to be released as a hostage

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Royal wedding vibes from these two this morning #r4today

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

Quite. This is a momentous occasion but #r4Today 's toadying reporting is certainly sticking in the throat somewhat...

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Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 1d

I’m sure they didn’t mean to eliminate the woman in this image.

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Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 1d

'Someone on Facebook said...' A genuine modern malaise. I think Hilary Clinton stated that she would like to see investment in programmes to UN-brainwash Americans crazed with misinformation and propaganda...

Alastair Meeks @alastairmeeks.bsky.social · 2d

Last night I heard of another friend of a friend who has been lost to a rabbit hole of online propaganda. We need to start treating this as a serious public health concern.

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 2d

Ah, apologies. I didn't realize and wish you well with this treasured dish...

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 2d

Seconded!

Martin G @thatmartin.bsky.social · 5d

If you have the chance to see Moonchild Sanelly, you should definitely see her. To get the crowd singing when you are second support - not even first ..is pretty amazing!!

Martin G @thatmartin.bsky.social · 5d

Have a new character name...

Stewart Parsons @libraryfiend.bsky.social · 2d

Scrambled eggs is the ultimate healthy fast food: literally under a minute in the pan. And tasty, too. Microwaves shouldn't enter the world of scrambled eggs imho obvs....

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