Simon Parkin
@simonparkin.bsky.social
Author and journalist. Creator of the My Perfect Console podcast. www.simonparkin.com
While alive, Einstein fought all attempts to use his name and likeness as a promotional gimmick. His death, however, turned his face into a battleground, kickstarting the celebrity image rights industry.
Inside the murky world of Einstein’s rights, now in audio:
www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
Inside the murky world of Einstein’s rights, now in audio:
www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
October 26, 2025 at 12:12 PM
While alive, Einstein fought all attempts to use his name and likeness as a promotional gimmick. His death, however, turned his face into a battleground, kickstarting the celebrity image rights industry.
Inside the murky world of Einstein’s rights, now in audio:
www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
Inside the murky world of Einstein’s rights, now in audio:
www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...
*The Audience Versus* is coming to The Pleasance, Islington next Tues, 28th Oct.
Face-off against @elliegibson.bsky.social and www.instagram.com/_ednight/ in a series of bastardised video game-challenges.
With host @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
Tickets here: www.pleasance.co.uk/event/audien...
Face-off against @elliegibson.bsky.social and www.instagram.com/_ednight/ in a series of bastardised video game-challenges.
With host @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
Tickets here: www.pleasance.co.uk/event/audien...
October 23, 2025 at 1:07 PM
*The Audience Versus* is coming to The Pleasance, Islington next Tues, 28th Oct.
Face-off against @elliegibson.bsky.social and www.instagram.com/_ednight/ in a series of bastardised video game-challenges.
With host @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
Tickets here: www.pleasance.co.uk/event/audien...
Face-off against @elliegibson.bsky.social and www.instagram.com/_ednight/ in a series of bastardised video game-challenges.
With host @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
Tickets here: www.pleasance.co.uk/event/audien...
Chance the Rapper vs Animal Crossing - prob the best thing I made in lockdown tbh.
October 16, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Chance the Rapper vs Animal Crossing - prob the best thing I made in lockdown tbh.
For today’s Observer magazine I interviewed Brett Goldstein at the house he’s renovating in Fulham, about the secret tape that made him Roy Kent, his new film’s rejection of algorithmic love, and why, after 5 years in the froth of success, he’s ready to put down roots: observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
September 14, 2025 at 12:54 PM
For today’s Observer magazine I interviewed Brett Goldstein at the house he’s renovating in Fulham, about the secret tape that made him Roy Kent, his new film’s rejection of algorithmic love, and why, after 5 years in the froth of success, he’s ready to put down roots: observer.co.uk/culture/inte...
Comedians x Video Games = The Audience Versus, a new live show that pits the audience against a team of comedians in a series of match-ups using silly rules.
Debuts at The Pleasance on 29th September, featuring Sarah Keyworth, @pierrenovellie.bsky.social and hosted by @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
Debuts at The Pleasance on 29th September, featuring Sarah Keyworth, @pierrenovellie.bsky.social and hosted by @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
September 2, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Comedians x Video Games = The Audience Versus, a new live show that pits the audience against a team of comedians in a series of match-ups using silly rules.
Debuts at The Pleasance on 29th September, featuring Sarah Keyworth, @pierrenovellie.bsky.social and hosted by @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
Debuts at The Pleasance on 29th September, featuring Sarah Keyworth, @pierrenovellie.bsky.social and hosted by @thenewsatglenn.bsky.social.
The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is out today in UK paperback.
The book tells the true story of the botanists who worked at world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad.
It’s a finalist in the Orwell Prize and the 2025 Royal Society Prize.
Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.
The book tells the true story of the botanists who worked at world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad.
It’s a finalist in the Orwell Prize and the 2025 Royal Society Prize.
Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.
August 14, 2025 at 9:53 AM
The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is out today in UK paperback.
The book tells the true story of the botanists who worked at world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad.
It’s a finalist in the Orwell Prize and the 2025 Royal Society Prize.
Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.
The book tells the true story of the botanists who worked at world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad.
It’s a finalist in the Orwell Prize and the 2025 Royal Society Prize.
Pick up a copy wherever you get your books.
On June 19 I’ll be in conversation with Mishal Husain at @foylesforbooks.bsky.social. We’ll be discussing our books, ‘Broken Threads’ and ‘The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad’, which are both finalists in the 2025 @orwellprize.bsky.social Tickets available here: www.foyles.co.uk/events/orwel...
May 22, 2025 at 7:53 PM
On June 19 I’ll be in conversation with Mishal Husain at @foylesforbooks.bsky.social. We’ll be discussing our books, ‘Broken Threads’ and ‘The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad’, which are both finalists in the 2025 @orwellprize.bsky.social Tickets available here: www.foyles.co.uk/events/orwel...
For @myperfectconsole.bsky.social I spoke to Tomm Hulett, a game designer and director who became the target of a harassment campaign initiated by some fans of the Silent Hill series. His wife, who worked on Konami’s support desk at the time, found herself fielding threats against her husband.
May 20, 2025 at 11:30 AM
For @myperfectconsole.bsky.social I spoke to Tomm Hulett, a game designer and director who became the target of a harassment campaign initiated by some fans of the Silent Hill series. His wife, who worked on Konami’s support desk at the time, found herself fielding threats against her husband.
It is also a story with contemporary resonance. We live on a warming planet, where scientific truth is subject to political distortion, and autocracy is again on the rise. Once again seed bankers are being called to protect the resources of the past, in the face of an uncertain future.
May 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
It is also a story with contemporary resonance. We live on a warming planet, where scientific truth is subject to political distortion, and autocracy is again on the rise. Once again seed bankers are being called to protect the resources of the past, in the face of an uncertain future.
The Forbidden Garden is a tragedy. At least nineteen Plant Institute staff members gave their lives to save the collection. But it is also a tale of triumph. Today, ninety per cent of the seeds held in St Petersburg are found in no other scientific collection in the world.
May 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
The Forbidden Garden is a tragedy. At least nineteen Plant Institute staff members gave their lives to save the collection. But it is also a tale of triumph. Today, ninety per cent of the seeds held in St Petersburg are found in no other scientific collection in the world.
As employees of the world’s first seed bank, the botanists were the only people to have been faced with this fundamental dilemma: to save a collection designed to eradicate famine, or to use the collection to save themselves.
May 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
As employees of the world’s first seed bank, the botanists were the only people to have been faced with this fundamental dilemma: to save a collection designed to eradicate famine, or to use the collection to save themselves.
The book tells the story of a group of botanists who worked at the world's first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad. As Nazi troops surrounded the city, and food stocks ran dry, the botanists were called to defend a collection of valuable seeds and tubers collected from around the world.
May 14, 2025 at 11:43 AM
The book tells the story of a group of botanists who worked at the world's first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad. As Nazi troops surrounded the city, and food stocks ran dry, the botanists were called to defend a collection of valuable seeds and tubers collected from around the world.
The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is a finalist in the 2025 Orwell Prize. Delighted to be nominated alongside such a wonderful clutch of books. Thank you to my editors at @sceptrebooks.bsky.social and @scribnerbooks.bsky.social: www.orwellfoundation.com/political-wr...
May 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM
The Forbidden Garden of Leningrad is a finalist in the 2025 Orwell Prize. Delighted to be nominated alongside such a wonderful clutch of books. Thank you to my editors at @sceptrebooks.bsky.social and @scribnerbooks.bsky.social: www.orwellfoundation.com/political-wr...
I spoke to @grentperez.bsky.social, the Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter who became a YouTube star at 13, whose debut single, Cherry Wine, topped Spotify's Viral 50 chart around the world, and who, every weekend, races a digital version of his Toyota JXZ100 Mk II in @acassettocorsa.bsky.social:
May 13, 2025 at 10:34 AM
I spoke to @grentperez.bsky.social, the Filipino-Australian singer-songwriter who became a YouTube star at 13, whose debut single, Cherry Wine, topped Spotify's Viral 50 chart around the world, and who, every weekend, races a digital version of his Toyota JXZ100 Mk II in @acassettocorsa.bsky.social:
I spoke to @alexkealy.bsky.social, comedian and co-host of the joyous Gig Pigs Podcast, about the gig that turned him on to live music, his love of video game versions of boardgames, and the time he and his friends recreated their boarding school's science lab in Counterstrike:
May 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
I spoke to @alexkealy.bsky.social, comedian and co-host of the joyous Gig Pigs Podcast, about the gig that turned him on to live music, his love of video game versions of boardgames, and the time he and his friends recreated their boarding school's science lab in Counterstrike:
Introducing May's very special guests for My Perfect Console: www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
May 2, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Introducing May's very special guests for My Perfect Console: www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
Liam Wong had a wildly successful career as an art director for major video games when, during a promo trip to Japan, he bought a camera, and altered his life’s trajectory. In a rare, wide-ranging interview, the street photographer discusses his unique and fascinating journey:
April 30, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Liam Wong had a wildly successful career as an art director for major video games when, during a promo trip to Japan, he bought a camera, and altered his life’s trajectory. In a rare, wide-ranging interview, the street photographer discusses his unique and fascinating journey:
I spoke to Saraya Bevis, who grew up in a council house in Norwich, then joined the WWE to become a professional wrestler. We discuss addiction, injury, sobriety, the Stephen Merchant film of her life, and how a gracious word from her dad saved her life: open.spotify.com/episode/52JT...
April 1, 2025 at 8:17 AM
I spoke to Saraya Bevis, who grew up in a council house in Norwich, then joined the WWE to become a professional wrestler. We discuss addiction, injury, sobriety, the Stephen Merchant film of her life, and how a gracious word from her dad saved her life: open.spotify.com/episode/52JT...
This week's episode features former WWE wrestler Saraya Bevis. In this clip, Saraya recalls the moment she called her dad having learned that an ex-partner had leaked a private, intimate video of her –– a moment of humiliation which she did not expect to survive:
March 31, 2025 at 1:52 PM
This week's episode features former WWE wrestler Saraya Bevis. In this clip, Saraya recalls the moment she called her dad having learned that an ex-partner had leaked a private, intimate video of her –– a moment of humiliation which she did not expect to survive:
Announcing April's line-up of stellar guests for My Perfect Console: www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
March 28, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Announcing April's line-up of stellar guests for My Perfect Console: www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
This week's guest on My Perfect Console is Seamus Blackley, originator of the Xbox. In this clip, he explains the institutional pushback he experienced from middle managers when pitching Microsoft the Xbox –– and the people at the very top who backed the idea:
March 24, 2025 at 9:21 AM
This week's guest on My Perfect Console is Seamus Blackley, originator of the Xbox. In this clip, he explains the institutional pushback he experienced from middle managers when pitching Microsoft the Xbox –– and the people at the very top who backed the idea:
Tomorrow evening at Pushkin House in London, @mauricejcasey.com and I will be in conversation with the BBC's Julia Wheeler about our two books, which tell the stories of people who lived within two very different Soviet-era buildings. www.pushkinhouse.org/whats-on/eve...
March 11, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Tomorrow evening at Pushkin House in London, @mauricejcasey.com and I will be in conversation with the BBC's Julia Wheeler about our two books, which tell the stories of people who lived within two very different Soviet-era buildings. www.pushkinhouse.org/whats-on/eve...
I spoke to @marjoleinrobertson.bsky.social about her trilogy of standup shows about the health condition that almost proved fatal, the perilous games she and her brother played growing up on the Shetland Islands, and the surprisingly political world of Neopets:
March 11, 2025 at 9:44 AM
I spoke to @marjoleinrobertson.bsky.social about her trilogy of standup shows about the health condition that almost proved fatal, the perilous games she and her brother played growing up on the Shetland Islands, and the surprisingly political world of Neopets:
Announcing this month's guests for My Perfect Console: www.patreon.com/posts/introd...
March 1, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Announcing this month's guests for My Perfect Console: www.patreon.com/posts/introd...