Helen Barrett
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helenbarrett.bsky.social
Helen Barrett
@helenbarrett.bsky.social
11K followers 2.2K following 5.2K posts
Features journalist - NYTimes, Financial Times, Telegraph. On a book break, writing about the Beatles.

https://www.helenbarrettjournalist.com/

https://open.substack.com/pub/helenbarrett
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helenbarrett.bsky.social
Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · Sep 27
I wrote about a rush of new nightlife memoirs and the death of nightclubs for this week's @ftweekend.com books essay.

www.ft.com/content/a4ed...
Memoirs from the dance floor — the nocturnal universes of New York, London and Berlin
Three very different accounts by Mark Ronson, Jodie Harsh and Liam Cagney create a history of club culture since the 1990s
www.ft.com
helenbarrett.bsky.social
RIP Pam Hogg. I interviewed her a few years ago. She was ferocious, funny and a fucking excellent designer.

www.ft.com/content/6c78...
Designer Pam Hogg: ‘Kids at school called me a witch. But I loved it!’
The punky outlier who gave us Kylie Minogue in a catsuit is back in London with a show that plays on her sorcerous image
www.ft.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
weloveallthat.bsky.social
Shocked to see this old Spanish Peanuts book translates back into English as YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK YOUR NECK, CHARLIE BROWN
TE VAS A DESNUCAR, CHARLIE BROWN. Front cover, Lucy yells at Charlie Brown
November 26, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
pcsunion.bsky.social
More than 150 members at Tate Galleries are taking seven consecutive days of strike action from tomorrow (26) until 2 December. Pickets will be taking place at Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate Modern – so please support them.
www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
The background image shows Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives.
November 25, 2025 at 10:25 PM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
This is great.
apollo-magazine.com Apollo @apollo-magazine.com · 8h
For Owen Hatherley, a delightful Surrealist automaton in Southampton City Art Gallery is testament to the twin forces that have shaped his hometown in the 20th century: mass migration and municipal socialism
A Surrealist gem in Southampton
A delightful automaton by the Czech artist Jan Žalud is testament, writes Owen Hatherley, to the two forces that shaped the city in the 20th century: mass migration and municipal socialism
buff.ly
November 26, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
okwonga.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Finally, there is the suggestion from Farage that this was somehow normal 1970s banter that is being wrongly reinterpreted today to fit a contemporary narrative. The cruelty of Farage’s words transcended typical schoolkid banter even back then in the 1970s. Racist attacks are becoming normalised once again in the UK, fuelled by the rise of populism and the far right across the world, and, of course, the anti-immigration agenda. Given Reform UK’s policies, it is even more pressing that questions about Farage’s own “banter” and “misspeaking” are raised. I’d like to know why he has never shown the slightest contrition for the deep offence these allegations caused me and many others. And I’d like to know if what I view as his early racist mindset has truly changed with the passing of time. Because when I hear Mr Farage talking about rounding up and deporting hundreds of thousands of human beings, and threatening those with leave to remain or settled status, I cannot help but think of the schoolboy sidling up to me and telling me that “Hitler was right”. Peter Ettedgui is a Bafta- and Emmy-winning director and producer.
November 25, 2025 at 10:04 PM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Like sitting in a puddle and complaining about getting wet, as my nan used to say.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I went to an M&S opening and it was mobbed. Why are people so weird about shops? | Zoe Williams
I thought it would just be big news for me but I had reckoned without the TikTok generation, mums staring at the premixed cocktails and the yoga-mat brigade stalking every aisle, writes Zoe Williams
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
apiln.bsky.social
Tell me you’ve used AI to tweak an archive photo without telling me you’ve used AI to tweak an archive photo. Breeds musnuey, indeed.
Bournemouth Echo From The Archives feature: Bournemouth's Wessex Way was fought tooth and nail by the people of Springbourne. Image is a colourised version of an archive photo of protesters. Their placards have been rendered into nonsense.
November 25, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
tathamjoanne.bsky.social
The RCA isn’t always included in these summaries, probably because it’s small and the overall figures are low, but the % impact is potentially the worst of all. As a PG only specialist institution it’s funding model is also different to other universities, i.e. no fees via UG student loans.
sundersays.bsky.social Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 2d
2023 news report on variations in share of income from international students
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
November 24, 2025 at 8:19 AM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Surprised no one wants fish leather.

www.ft.com/content/d706...
The sustainable fabrics market collapse
After hefty investment and hyped deals with luxury brands, many material innovation start-ups are winding down. What comes next?
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
thewiremagazine.bsky.social
Alison Knowles (29 April 1933–29 October 2025)

At The Wire website, Irene Revell reflects on the life and work of Fluxus co-founder Alison Knowles, who died in October

www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/t...
Alison Knowles (29 April 1933–29 October 2025) - The Wire
Irene Revell reflects on the life and work of Fluxus co-founder Alison Knowles, who died in October
www.thewire.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 PM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Me reading your feature on "day-to-evening dressing for the party season".
Edwardian painting of a woman lying in bed reading.
November 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Really enjoying this. Bravo @holsmith.bsky.social for putting residents at the centre of tired debates about architectural style and dismantling received wisdom with archival evidence, especially on Ronan Point.
Book - Up in the Air. A History of High-Rise Britain by Holly Smith
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
groomb.bsky.social
Rochdale chippy owners Jimmy and Elsie Greenwood with their coal-fired fryer, May 1973.
November 23, 2025 at 9:10 AM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Winds, fires, bamboo. Obviously the metaphors are a side issue but I'm enjoying how spectacularly clunky and introduction-to-creative-writing they all are.
employer. Ms. Nuzzi moved to Los Angeles and got to work on her book, a grafting of her own crisis onto the current national maladies, one attempted in the spirit of Joan Didion, and so close to its apparent source of inspiration that the cruelties of the Santa Ana winds are invoked at least three times.
November 24, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
rafaelbehr.bsky.social
I have a limitless appetite for Beatles alt takes and outtakes anyway, but in era of AI-generated music I’m finding the new Anthology release especially poignant as reminder of how humans create things, collaboratively, iteratively, being silly, making mistakes …
November 23, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
paintingsoflondon.bsky.social
'Night Lights of Piccadilly'
(from 'This Is London', 1959) by Miroslav Šašek
------
🎵 'Kinky Reggae' by Bob Marley and the Wailers
youtu.be/s0Ds9hec-CY?...
November 23, 2025 at 9:02 AM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Staying on a barge. Highly recommended -- if only for the sound of rain on the roof at night.
A big Dutch barge on the River Thanes
November 23, 2025 at 5:29 PM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Kingston latest: Mat Collishaw's accursed AI-ish Christmas mural has gone. That was quick.
Christmas mural Christmas mural gone
November 23, 2025 at 12:36 PM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Marianne Faithfull's chinoiserie desk with gilt and leather detailing is up for auction with a starting bid of £10. It's crazy how little old furniture is worth, even with provenance (the desk appears in the video for "Nowness".
Elaborate early 20th century chinoiserie desk, once owned by Marianne Faithfull and coming up for auction at Bonhams.
November 23, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
naomialderman.bsky.social
I flew to Canada this week to go to a Paul McCartney concert and I wrote about it here:

open.substack.com/pub/naomiald...
going through hell, keeping going
on art, grief, and the emotional heroism of just bloody keeping on making your work
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:23 AM
helenbarrett.bsky.social
Little-known fact that delighted me recently: Feldman worked with Brian Epstein in the same Charing Cross Road bookshop in the late 1950s. (Little-known to me, at least.)
November 22, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
detentionaction.bsky.social
Since August, we’ve witnessed how this government’s UK–France deal puts people in danger. Their new asylum reforms will only push more people — including the most vulnerable — into detention and expose them to serious risks of harm. Our full statement: detentionaction.org.uk/2025/11/21/o...
November 21, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
byrobdavies.bsky.social
Terrifying, maddening and utterly heart-breaking. Truly incredible journalism to expose and document this.
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · 4d
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors As Esau Lopez was asphyxiated for the first 17 minutes of his life on Earth, the atmosphere in the room remained serene, even ecstatic. Acoustic music crooned from a speaker in a modest two-bedroom apartment in a suburb of Pennsylvania. “You are a queen,” murmured one of three friends in the room. Only Esau’s mother, Gabrielle Lopez, felt something was wrong. She was pushing hard, but her son would not be born. “Can you help [him] out?” she asked, as Esau crowned. “Baby is coming,” the friend replied. Four minutes later, Lopez asked again, “Can you grab [him]?” Another friend murmured, “Baby is safe.” Six minutes passed. Again, Lopez asked, “Can you grab [him]?” Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
frondescent.bsky.social
If anyone takes this much care to help you with your writing, you are truly blessed.
November 21, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Helen Barrett
samadams.bsky.social
I found the one exception to my belief that journalists should be paid for their work
November 22, 2025 at 6:42 AM