Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
@stunathan.bsky.social
Storytelling science and technology. Enemy of jargon and wilful obscurity. Often doesn't follow back - nothing personal, just keeping my feed manageable.
Pinned
Words to live by, from Primo Levi, who knew what he was talking about.
Well-presented too.
December 10, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Well-presented too.
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
Check it out!! Hodder & Stoughton have an open submission window for all fiction genres.
Get in quick.
Details in link.
Please share :)
Get in quick.
Details in link.
Please share :)
HODDER & STOUGHTON OPEN SUBMISSIONS
Visit the post for more.
www.hodder.co.uk
December 7, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Check it out!! Hodder & Stoughton have an open submission window for all fiction genres.
Get in quick.
Details in link.
Please share :)
Get in quick.
Details in link.
Please share :)
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
I submitted an atmospheric tale of grief and hope to this anthology the day before yesterday, wish me luck!!
Submissions are open for our Welsh folklore anthology, They Are Still Here: wizardstowerpress.co...
December 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
I submitted an atmospheric tale of grief and hope to this anthology the day before yesterday, wish me luck!!
The cook, the thief, his wife, and her lover.
Never mind movies you’ve watched multiple times, name a movie you’ve watched once and would never watch again.
December 9, 2025 at 8:26 PM
The cook, the thief, his wife, and her lover.
"It takes a rare talent to make football fans nostalgic for Sepp Blatter, but Fifa’s presiding gollum is so insistently unpleasant, such a strange, damp little man, that he makes his famously venal predecessor look positively dapper and twinkle-eyed in comparison."
Gianni Infantino accused of breaking Fifa rules with Trump’s peace prize
Gianni Infantino accused of breaking Fifa rules with Trump’s peace prize
*
Complaint from FairSquare calls for investigation
*
Infantino awarded Trump peace prize at World Cup draw
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has been accused of breaching his organisation’s rules on political neutrality in relation to United States president Donald Trump.
Infantino and Trump have formed a close bond in recent years, with the US one of the co-hosts for next year’s men’s World Cup. Infantino even presented Trump with the inaugural Fifa peace prize at last Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington DC. Continue reading...
dlvr.it
December 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
"It takes a rare talent to make football fans nostalgic for Sepp Blatter, but Fifa’s presiding gollum is so insistently unpleasant, such a strange, damp little man, that he makes his famously venal predecessor look positively dapper and twinkle-eyed in comparison."
Here's a better idea. Don't make politicians into heroes. They will always, withiut exception, let you down. And don't idolise dead ones either. They all had skeletons in their cupboards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Make a political hero of Zack Polanski if you want. Just don’t forget to engage your brain | Marina Hyde
The Green party leader is riding high in the polls. But across the political spectrum, uncritical adulation leads nowhere fast, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Here's a better idea. Don't make politicians into heroes. They will always, withiut exception, let you down. And don't idolise dead ones either. They all had skeletons in their cupboards.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Some excellent goats, and I say that as someone who habitually refers to goats as "slot-eyed freaks."
Someone has just sent me a shitty email complaining because I made this post free for everyone to read but out of stubbornness I've decided to keep it that way in case any strangers who *aren't* bubbling over with writer-policing entitled rage might like to read it: www.tom-cox.com/important-bi...
Important Biographical Information About Some Goats I Have Met On My Walks
There's also a sheep version of this, in case you missed it.
Subscribe now
Today's post was a free one, but if you'd like to support my writing with a subscription, you can do so here and get acces...
www.tom-cox.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Some excellent goats, and I say that as someone who habitually refers to goats as "slot-eyed freaks."
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
The notion that Europeans live in a repressive anti-free-speech hellscape because Twitter got fined is so funny to me.
I feel like all those LA residents who kept being told by dumb fucks in states halfway across the country that their city was a lawless flaming apocalypse that needed liberation.
I feel like all those LA residents who kept being told by dumb fucks in states halfway across the country that their city was a lawless flaming apocalypse that needed liberation.
December 9, 2025 at 10:02 AM
The notion that Europeans live in a repressive anti-free-speech hellscape because Twitter got fined is so funny to me.
I feel like all those LA residents who kept being told by dumb fucks in states halfway across the country that their city was a lawless flaming apocalypse that needed liberation.
I feel like all those LA residents who kept being told by dumb fucks in states halfway across the country that their city was a lawless flaming apocalypse that needed liberation.
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
US berating Europe on liberty is farcical. US is =51st on Freedom in the World Index, Europeans 8 of top 10 places. US 28th on Democracy Index, 9 of top 10- European. 2024 ratings! US median rank across indices of governance, wellbeing, security = 28th
www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou...
www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou...
December 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
US berating Europe on liberty is farcical. US is =51st on Freedom in the World Index, Europeans 8 of top 10 places. US 28th on Democracy Index, 9 of top 10- European. 2024 ratings! US median rank across indices of governance, wellbeing, security = 28th
www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou...
www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianou...
Very groggy this morning. I think I woke up just as I was getting to sleep last night, then lay mostly-awake for hours. Strong urge to go back to bed, but I really want a cup of tea.
December 9, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Very groggy this morning. I think I woke up just as I was getting to sleep last night, then lay mostly-awake for hours. Strong urge to go back to bed, but I really want a cup of tea.
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
Really wonderful news for a change:
Blood cancer therapy reverses incurable leukaemia in some patients
Seven out of 11 patients with incurable cancer who had the treatment appear to be cancer-free.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Really wonderful news for a change:
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
Just when you think you can put your pitchfork down for a second, the fact people like Boris Johnson exist remind you why you bought one with an ergonomic grip.
December 8, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Just when you think you can put your pitchfork down for a second, the fact people like Boris Johnson exist remind you why you bought one with an ergonomic grip.
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
Check out this fab new podcast by art historian Ferren Gipson looking at the meanings behind ordinary objects and images
Suitably, it’s called Object
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
Suitably, it’s called Object
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
Object
Visual Arts Podcast · A narrative podcast about the stories, meanings, and histories behind the imagery and objects that colour our lives. Hosted by art historian and writer Ferren Gipson, Object expl...
podcasts.apple.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Check out this fab new podcast by art historian Ferren Gipson looking at the meanings behind ordinary objects and images
Suitably, it’s called Object
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
Suitably, it’s called Object
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/o...
Manufactured outrage is older than righteous outrage.
The main fact that stuck with me after writing a book about British Xmases is that The Times was complaining about decorations going up in October back in the *1930s*, Selfridges has had decorations up in Oct since at least the 1950s and the whole “earlier every year” thing is generally bollocks
Middle class people love to pretend to be appalled at Christmas decorations being either early or fun to look at, the ideal Christmas tree is put up at midnight on Christmas day and decorated only by a black cloak and an unlit matchstick
December 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Manufactured outrage is older than righteous outrage.
This will be very much worth watching, wherever you are.
The Ghost Story for Christmas Eve this year is M R James's "An Episode of Cathedral History".
It'll be livestreamed at 7pm (UK) but available to watch anywhere, anytime after that. Simply register and pay-what-you-can here
christmascathedralghosts.eventbrite.co.uk
art by Paul Lowe
It'll be livestreamed at 7pm (UK) but available to watch anywhere, anytime after that. Simply register and pay-what-you-can here
christmascathedralghosts.eventbrite.co.uk
art by Paul Lowe
December 8, 2025 at 11:08 AM
This will be very much worth watching, wherever you are.
I believe that Jökullsarlon lake, a big tourist draw in Iceland, only exists because the glaciers are dying.
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I believe that Jökullsarlon lake, a big tourist draw in Iceland, only exists because the glaciers are dying.
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
Peter Thiels general affect seemed to me to be one of a man in acute suffering, he’s sweaty, scared and on the verge of tears all the time, and it’s reassuring to know that he really is that miserable
December 7, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Peter Thiels general affect seemed to me to be one of a man in acute suffering, he’s sweaty, scared and on the verge of tears all the time, and it’s reassuring to know that he really is that miserable
@lrjonte Thank you very much for the bag of many pockets. It's already proving useful and definitely isn't something I'd have bought for myself.
December 7, 2025 at 10:41 PM
@lrjonte Thank you very much for the bag of many pockets. It's already proving useful and definitely isn't something I'd have bought for myself.
@mariephillips.bsky.social Lovely to see you, if briefly, and good to meet Andrew.
December 7, 2025 at 9:29 PM
@mariephillips.bsky.social Lovely to see you, if briefly, and good to meet Andrew.
@whippletom.bsky.social a friend is after some Sunday Times ancient(ish) history. Any ideas for leads?
Looking for some help locating a holy grail. In 1989, The Sunday Times ran a promotion called "The Great Ghost Hunt". An illustrated poster of famous British hauntings came free with the paper, and in the following weeks they published quiz questions relating to the various spooky happenings. (1/X)
December 6, 2025 at 5:08 PM
@whippletom.bsky.social a friend is after some Sunday Times ancient(ish) history. Any ideas for leads?
Reposting in case anyone can help Steve out.
Looking for some help locating a holy grail. In 1989, The Sunday Times ran a promotion called "The Great Ghost Hunt". An illustrated poster of famous British hauntings came free with the paper, and in the following weeks they published quiz questions relating to the various spooky happenings. (1/X)
December 6, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Reposting in case anyone can help Steve out.
@mim Brother, why?
How to Insult Like a Medieval Monk www.medievalists.net/2025/12/insu...
How to Insult Like a Medieval Monk - Medievalists.net
Learn how medieval monks at Cluny waged battles with words, using biting poetry, classical references, and cutting invective to uphold their spiritual legacy.
www.medievalists.net
December 6, 2025 at 4:39 PM
@mim Brother, why?
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
Reposted by Stu Nathan, science word-wrangler for hire
As a Doctor Who fan, I'd say this half-dead thing sat in a chair with one arm tucked away, surrounded by obedient fascist robots reminds me of Davros, except the Daleks aren't robots.
Trump: "Now even the head of the autoworkers said, 'Trump is the greatest president we've ever seen.' And he happens to be right about that."
December 4, 2025 at 1:28 AM
As a Doctor Who fan, I'd say this half-dead thing sat in a chair with one arm tucked away, surrounded by obedient fascist robots reminds me of Davros, except the Daleks aren't robots.
Cynthia Payne. The 80s were weird.
She was mostly known for being game: happy to pose for photographers with, um... fruit, and to attend Samantha Fox’s 21st birthday party at Stringfellow’s and have her picture taken with a Princess Diana ~ahem~ ‘lookalike’
December 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Cynthia Payne. The 80s were weird.