Ben
@seldomseenben.bsky.social
Editor, writer, shark sympathiser. Helping people finish their weird, beautiful stories. Spurs fan but otherwise reliable. Check out www.justpunchtheclock.com for my services.
There is one party willing to say it, right @zackpolanski.bsky.social ?
"The most obvious cause for Britain's difficulties is Brexit," says Salman Rushdie. "Yet nobody of any political party is willing to say that."
The author on life, death, the 'dumb' BBC and how a brutal stabbing in 2022 gave him "another act"
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/salm...
The author on life, death, the 'dumb' BBC and how a brutal stabbing in 2022 gave him "another act"
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/salm...
Salman Rushdie: ‘The BBC continues to be really stupid – and there's no cure for stupidity’ | The News Agents
Author Salman Rushdie, who The News Agents describe as a man who "spent probably half of his life under the threat of death" discusses his new book, the root cause of problems in UK society, and the…
www.thenewsagents.co.uk
November 28, 2025 at 12:06 PM
There is one party willing to say it, right @zackpolanski.bsky.social ?
So bad. So boring. So passive. This is the least bothered I’ve ever been about an NLD. I know this isn’t an airport lounge and you don’t have to announce departures, but it’s amazing how quickly I’ve done from season ticket holder and a 40-year fan to barely giving a shit
November 23, 2025 at 5:11 PM
So bad. So boring. So passive. This is the least bothered I’ve ever been about an NLD. I know this isn’t an airport lounge and you don’t have to announce departures, but it’s amazing how quickly I’ve done from season ticket holder and a 40-year fan to barely giving a shit
What with this and the news of a jail term for a Reform leader for taking Russian bribes, today is another landmark day for the WE COULDN’T POSSIBLY HAVE SEEN THAT COMING rabble.
Brexit has caused almost twice as much damage to the UK economy than estimated by official forecasts, according to new paper from a group of experts including a senior Bank of England economist
Brexit Hit to UK Economy Double Official Estimate, Study Finds
Brexit has caused almost twice as much damage to the UK economy than estimated by official forecasts, according to new paper from a group of experts including a senior Bank of England economist.
bloom.bg
November 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM
What with this and the news of a jail term for a Reform leader for taking Russian bribes, today is another landmark day for the WE COULDN’T POSSIBLY HAVE SEEN THAT COMING rabble.
England’s 172 nowhere near as bad as it looked - that ground is massive. You can add 50 runs to the total for a start.
November 21, 2025 at 11:24 AM
England’s 172 nowhere near as bad as it looked - that ground is massive. You can add 50 runs to the total for a start.
How is Nathan Lyon still a thing?
November 21, 2025 at 2:53 AM
How is Nathan Lyon still a thing?
It is quite amusing, and very on brand, that Adam’s plea for contributions from Bluesky has led to a plethora of replies simply telling him to get off X (from myself included). Although he did frame it in a way that suggested we were a last resort.
Since "X" is down, I must turn to Bluesky to ask for your niche/irrational/highly-specific football fascinations and irritations for tomorrow's recording of the Listeners' Mesut Haaland Dicks.
Email a 30-second voicenote to [email protected] and we'll pick the best six!
Email a 30-second voicenote to [email protected] and we'll pick the best six!
November 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
It is quite amusing, and very on brand, that Adam’s plea for contributions from Bluesky has led to a plethora of replies simply telling him to get off X (from myself included). Although he did frame it in a way that suggested we were a last resort.
Taken as a whole, there’s more truth in fiction than non-fiction
November 18, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Taken as a whole, there’s more truth in fiction than non-fiction
Reposted by Ben
Reposted by Ben
Peter Thiel is in the Epstein emails, enjoying himself.
Peter Thiel is an overt, convinced, outspoken Nazi.
Peter Thiel's company is being paid by the UK government to crawl all over YOUR personal data.
Oswald Mosley's grandson runs his UK operation.
You can't make it up.
Peter Thiel is an overt, convinced, outspoken Nazi.
Peter Thiel's company is being paid by the UK government to crawl all over YOUR personal data.
Oswald Mosley's grandson runs his UK operation.
You can't make it up.
How Palantir infiltrated the state
At a moment of national emergency, the government handed our data to Peter Thiel’s controversial company
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Peter Thiel is in the Epstein emails, enjoying himself.
Peter Thiel is an overt, convinced, outspoken Nazi.
Peter Thiel's company is being paid by the UK government to crawl all over YOUR personal data.
Oswald Mosley's grandson runs his UK operation.
You can't make it up.
Peter Thiel is an overt, convinced, outspoken Nazi.
Peter Thiel's company is being paid by the UK government to crawl all over YOUR personal data.
Oswald Mosley's grandson runs his UK operation.
You can't make it up.
Moose continues to show that creativity is at its best when it is at its simplest. I hope he doesn’t think this is anything other than a compliment.
A brand new cartoon I thought of this morning that might appeal to the golf-playing Alan Carr fan in your life (is it you?)
www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
www.worldofmoose.com/collections/...
November 11, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Moose continues to show that creativity is at its best when it is at its simplest. I hope he doesn’t think this is anything other than a compliment.
Maybe I’m just getting old or maybe football is boring me senseless but I very rarely last 90 minutes these days. I want TF to do well but I’m just so bored of it all. My season ticket days feel a very long time ago
November 8, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Maybe I’m just getting old or maybe football is boring me senseless but I very rarely last 90 minutes these days. I want TF to do well but I’m just so bored of it all. My season ticket days feel a very long time ago
Really don’t know how I feel about Screen Rot
November 8, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Really don’t know how I feel about Screen Rot
Reposted by Ben
Pierrot, by Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1718-19, 📸 by @andyharnik
November 7, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Pierrot, by Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1718-19, 📸 by @andyharnik
Name a movie quote that people almost always quote incorrectly.
Ferris: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Silly people: Life comes at you fast
Ferris: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Silly people: Life comes at you fast
November 7, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Name a movie quote that people almost always quote incorrectly.
Ferris: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Silly people: Life comes at you fast
Ferris: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
Silly people: Life comes at you fast
Anyone still on X is a wrongun and has been for at least a year
November 6, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Anyone still on X is a wrongun and has been for at least a year
Reposted by Ben
spread Samir Zitouni’s name far and wide
November 4, 2025 at 11:24 AM
spread Samir Zitouni’s name far and wide
That Bruno shot bounced three times before hitting the post. Very unsatisfying.
November 1, 2025 at 4:20 PM
That Bruno shot bounced three times before hitting the post. Very unsatisfying.
Thomas Frank did the 6-7 meme, complete with actions, after Newcastle? Sign him up for life.
November 1, 2025 at 7:27 AM
Thomas Frank did the 6-7 meme, complete with actions, after Newcastle? Sign him up for life.
I played against someone who had Partey and Greenwood in his team on FIFA last week and it made me feel sick. Greenwood to Spurs simply cannot happen
October 29, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I played against someone who had Partey and Greenwood in his team on FIFA last week and it made me feel sick. Greenwood to Spurs simply cannot happen
The News Agents are like some year 9 social studies project. Some wide eyed kids talking about Trump’s fascism as if it’s all still hypothetical
"Rather than talking about what's going wrong at the moment, everybody's talking about whether he will – or whether he can – run for a third term."
Why Donald Trump wants everyone focused on whether he's planning to stay in the White House after 2028
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/why-...
Why Donald Trump wants everyone focused on whether he's planning to stay in the White House after 2028
www.thenewsagents.co.uk/article/why-...
Why it suits Trump to plot a third term as president | The News Agents
Donald Trump continues to talk about the idea of a third term as president, even though it goes against the constitution. If he knows it’ll never happen, why does it suit him to keep the idea alive?
www.thenewsagents.co.uk
October 29, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The News Agents are like some year 9 social studies project. Some wide eyed kids talking about Trump’s fascism as if it’s all still hypothetical
I really don’t like this idea. They’ve been over platformed for so long their abhorrence has become legitimised. The mask slipping doesn’t matter - look at Trump. We need to stop pandering to these twats. Put them back in the corner with the dunce’s hat on.
This might be controversial…
But given that the more Reform talks, the more the mask slips
I say…
Give them the limelight.
Read my new piece below…
open.substack.com/pub/marinapu...
But given that the more Reform talks, the more the mask slips
I say…
Give them the limelight.
Read my new piece below…
open.substack.com/pub/marinapu...
The More Reform Talks, the More the Mask Slips. So I Say… Give Them the Limelight.
And as Caerphilly showed, let more of the public see that the supposed groundswell of support for Reform is nothing but Farage’s cigarette smoke and mirrors.
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I really don’t like this idea. They’ve been over platformed for so long their abhorrence has become legitimised. The mask slipping doesn’t matter - look at Trump. We need to stop pandering to these twats. Put them back in the corner with the dunce’s hat on.
Related, there’s a proud tradition of fascism within nature writing. Tarka the Otter and the purity of the English countryside, etc
this is an overtly fascist narrative - even the misreading of myth & literature is on brand
October 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Related, there’s a proud tradition of fascism within nature writing. Tarka the Otter and the purity of the English countryside, etc
I’m old enough to remember when Zack Polanski was shouting from the rooftops at 77,000. That was last month. Genuine momentum for hope over fear.
🚨BREAKING : The Green Party has passed 150,000 members 🥳
Thousands are joining right now to help us replace Labour and take the fight to Reform.
Are you in?
Make hope normal again. Join the Green Party now ⤵️
Thousands are joining right now to help us replace Labour and take the fight to Reform.
Are you in?
Make hope normal again. Join the Green Party now ⤵️
October 27, 2025 at 10:42 AM
I’m old enough to remember when Zack Polanski was shouting from the rooftops at 77,000. That was last month. Genuine momentum for hope over fear.
Lovely cameo from Bergvall
October 26, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Lovely cameo from Bergvall
I see all the protests in the US and the Portland frog etc and I keep thinking of this section from Ali Smith’s Autumn
October 25, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I see all the protests in the US and the Portland frog etc and I keep thinking of this section from Ali Smith’s Autumn