Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 16h

I spent MONTHS with a little envelope symbol on my screen and no idea what it meant until a young person explained text messages to me and that I had unread messages.

1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 18h

To be fair, landline numbers are shorter than mobile numbers and easier to memorise. Everyone of my age remembers their childhood home phone number, right? We did write numbers down in address books though, pocket sized to take around with us. And lists on the wall by the phone.

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?

1 1

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Joel Morris @gralefrit.bsky.social · 20h

Don’t use it.

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 1d

This is an alarming compression of the planetary destruction timeline: with the massive growth of the AI bubble, data centers are expected to consume up to 12% of total US electricity by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023.
www.cnn.com/2025/10/13/t...

Sora 2 and ChatGPT are consuming so much power that OpenAI just did another 10 gigawatt deal | CNN Business

OpenAI is partnering with Broadcom to design and develop 10 gigawatts of custom AI chips and systems, a massive amount of power that will use as much electricity as a large city. The move further high...

www.cnn.com

2 13 42

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 23h

This makes so much sense when you think about how much footage they must have from the day. The round table is a concentrated précis of everyone’s thought processes and significant interactions from the day. It’s the illustration on the jigsaw box.

1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 3d

No, I don’t think it’s Caravaggio either. Partly because it doesn’t look like him but also it doesn’t feel like how he’d represent himself.

1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 3d

I always think these touches in Caravaggio’s paintings are subversive acknowledgements of the facts these are real people masquerading as gods and he is using the subject matter as a cover for smuggling the ‘underclasses’ into high art.

1 1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 4d

countries like France have brought in laws that mean products have to be labelled according to how eco the packaging is. Consumers started favouring items with ‘good’ packaging ratings. Manufacturers reacted and found ways to be ecologically competitive. Change is always possible. 2/2

3

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 4d

A few years ago I heard experts in retail supply chains saying reducing plastic packaging was impossible. Today I unboxed an electrical appliance with zero plastic packaging. An item that needed to be sealed came in this nifty tin. How has this come about? Partly because…1/2

1 5

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 4d

No arguments with the policies being advocated here. But what does this statistic mean? Which 20 million people? Is it more than they have combined? Is it wealth of the 4 richest combined? If we are going to move forwards in politics we HAVE to raise our expectations for the quality of data we use.

Farrukh @implausibleblog.bsky.social · 5d

Zack Polanski, "The four wealthiest people in this country have more wealth than 20 million people"

"Inequality in our society is absolutely huge"

"We need to be taxing the super rich"

2

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 4d

Yet again, the satirical media doing a far better job at conveying the truth than the mainstream press.

4 110 390

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 6d

Reform UK in the dock ⚖

9th October Andy Osborn.
14th October Neil Stevens, Tony Stevens, and Rob Sheridan.
15th October Sarah White.
21st November Nathan Gill.
16th December Mandy Clare.
22nd May 2026 Daniel Taylor.

Under investigation:
Joseph Boam.
Lee Duffy.
George Cottrell.

#ReformInTheDock

18 240 390

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 5d

Possibly the most shocking thing I’ve learned this week: Thomas Skinner is 34. Don’t do fascism, kids, it will age you faster than daily sessions in a high street tanning booth.

2

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Rhianna Pratchett @rhi.bsky.social · 7d

Dad’s books are full of empathy, common sense, and a healthy suspicion of the powerful. But at its heart his work is also about how systems keep people poor while pretending it’s their own fault. So I hope Kemi’s taking notes as well as reading the jokes.

Paul Haine @paulhaine.bsky.social · 8d

Kemi Badenoch claiming Terry Pratchett as her favourite author is wild

140 2K 7.7K

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Andy Mackenzie @andymack.bsky.social · 7d

Huge streaming news

4 5 50

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 7d

Even as a very small child, I recognised the importance of representation here. No idealised village, a tower block.

archivetvmusings @archivetvmusings.bsky.social · 7d

The first episode of Mary, Mungo and Midge was broadcast on this day in
1969.

3

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Miller on the Threshold @iammilliam.bsky.social · 8d

RIP lovely Jilly Cooper, the only subject of a @backlisted.bsky.social episode to write us all thank you letters afterwards. ❤️

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 8d

Jilly Cooper, author of Rivals and Riders, dies aged 88

The author of 18 ‘bonkbuster’ novels including Riders, Rivals and Bella has died following a fall Jilly Cooper has died at the age of 88, her agent has confirmed. The author, whose 18 novels include Riders and Rivals, “defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago,” said her agent Felicity Blunt. “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things - class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.” Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

15 70 370

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 8d

My Instagram feed is full of writer friends posting picture of themselves with Jilly Cooper over the years at various events and festivals. Jilly always smiling and looking completely delighted to pose for yet another fan. A life well lived with joy, a delight to see.

3

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 9d

Didn’t they used to come to cinema every few years? Never on TV. So you probably weren’t five when you saw it.

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 10d

I’ve signed, will you?

Leo Greene (if you're nice) @leo-greene.bsky.social · 10d

If you're a cis woman with a UK postcode, please sign this to show that you don't think trans women are a threat to you

Not In Our Name (NION) Women @nionwomen.bsky.social · 12d

We expect to hit 55k signatures in support of our open letter this week, perhaps even today. Thank you to everyone who has signed or shared. Let’s keep this going:

notinourname.org.uk

1 1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 10d

I’m never sure whether to listen to @backlisted.bsky.social before I read a book or after. Suspect the answer is both. Anyway, this is excellent. It makes me yearn for someone to say of my writing: ‘Oh, but her sentences.’

Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · Jul 8

New episode up now. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor, with guest Andrew Male in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. @andrewmale.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/243...

243. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor — Backlisted

Angel  (1957) by the English writer Elizabeth Taylor, is the subject of this special episode - and, as you'll hear, the next episode of Locklisted too. Joining Andy and Una for a hotly disputed ...

www.backlisted.fm

1 9

Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

The Daily Tism @thedailytism.com · 10d

Fitzgerald said: “I thought that childhood was a game that I had to win, so I’ve been doggedly copying everyone around me. Now, everyone thinks I’m normal, except they all still seem to hate me a little bit, for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on.”

Autistic toddler hitting all developmental milestones realises she’s inadvertently fucked it

An autistic toddler who has hit all of her developmental milestones on time has realised she may have unintentionally shot herself in the foot. Lottie Fitzgerald, three, displays a number of typical…

thedailytism.com

3 51 270

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 10d

Want some trivial, frivolous good news? There’s been a breakthrough in sunscreen technology and if you know anyone with polymorphic light eruption (posh name for being painfully allergic to the sun), tell them THIS ACTUALLY WORKS. I’ve tried everything over the years, this is a genuine game changer.

Photo of sunscreen bottle Eucerin Sun Gel+Cream Sun Allergy Protect Factor 50

1 3

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 11d

In what way doesn’t it make sense though? ‘Dearly’ here means ‘with great intensity’. Or it is something else that doesn’t make sense? I’m genuinely interested!

1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 11d

It does to me. ‘Dearly’ here is an intensifier. Same as ‘I would dearly love to…,

1

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 11d

Why not? (Have I missed some context?)

1