John Watts
@wattsgoingon.bsky.social
Reposted by John Watts
ENDS TODAY!
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Ends 18 January
www.gailmyerscough.co.uk/prints
Ends 18 January
January 18, 2026 at 10:28 AM
ENDS TODAY!
Reposted by John Watts
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
January 17, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Had an intriguing editorial discussion recently: how did people in the past talk about 'minutes' when they didn't have watches or standardised times? How does that affect your thinking?
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Come down an Elizabethan/Jacobean rabbit hole with me.
1/
Reposted by John Watts
Watch the Moldovan selection tonight!
Live at 18:00 CET!
Here is our preview to the show
Live at 18:00 CET!
Here is our preview to the show
@bensvision.bsky.social is attending Selecția Națională, Moldova’s one-night-only competition to choose its Eurovision representative; in a newly built Arena with a five-thousand capacity, and an expanded 16-song selection. Why does the Moldovan Eurovision selection matter so much to the country?
Welcome to Moldova's Biggest Ever Television Production
The stage for Moldova's Eurovision, illustrating an article on Modlvoa in 2025 (photo: Ben Robertson).
escinsight.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Watch the Moldovan selection tonight!
Live at 18:00 CET!
Here is our preview to the show
Live at 18:00 CET!
Here is our preview to the show
Reposted by John Watts
The 2026 Forecasting contest closes tomorrow.
If you forecasted high on question 50, you know what you need to do!
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
If you forecasted high on question 50, you know what you need to do!
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
2026 Forecasting Contest
A forecasting contest for 2026, featuring UK politics and global events.
www.edrith.co.uk
January 17, 2026 at 11:51 AM
The 2026 Forecasting contest closes tomorrow.
If you forecasted high on question 50, you know what you need to do!
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
If you forecasted high on question 50, you know what you need to do!
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
Reposted by John Watts
I got Columbo training before I went on the Traitors and was kicked off on the first day for refusing to put out my cigar
January 17, 2026 at 1:18 PM
I got Columbo training before I went on the Traitors and was kicked off on the first day for refusing to put out my cigar
Reposted by John Watts
Knew someone was going to go there, kudos for the Lib Dems for getting there first
January 15, 2026 at 12:16 PM
Knew someone was going to go there, kudos for the Lib Dems for getting there first
Reposted by John Watts
Politician who badmouthed Birmingham sacked and expelled.
They never learn.
They never learn.
January 15, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Politician who badmouthed Birmingham sacked and expelled.
They never learn.
They never learn.
Reposted by John Watts
Properly funding the court system would clear the backlog even more quickly.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Slashing jury trials could clear courts backlog within a decade, says Lammy
Exclusive: Lord chancellor urges MPs to back judge-only trials in thousands of criminal cases in England and Wales
www.theguardian.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Properly funding the court system would clear the backlog even more quickly.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by John Watts
Need to reform the BBC's governance structure to empower the DG and the communications team to feel more able to punch back against this kind of thing, quite frankly.
good grief this is a pathetic bleat from the Sun. How else do you get people who work shifts to and from work? And if you want a guest in the studio, you sort cabs for them.
If you:
1. Need to get guests to studios, and back home after, or
2. Need to get staff safely into work or back home after the tube has stopped running
You need to use taxis or private hire. If you do that via contract, it’s cheaper than paying full price each time.
1. Need to get guests to studios, and back home after, or
2. Need to get staff safely into work or back home after the tube has stopped running
You need to use taxis or private hire. If you do that via contract, it’s cheaper than paying full price each time.
January 11, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Need to reform the BBC's governance structure to empower the DG and the communications team to feel more able to punch back against this kind of thing, quite frankly.
Reposted by John Watts
Some important new government policy that Native Americans might be interested in:
Trump talks about Denmark and Greenland just now: "The fact that they landed a boat there 500 years ago doesn't mean that they own the land."
January 9, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Some important new government policy that Native Americans might be interested in:
Reposted by John Watts
Libraries of London, an ongoing project. www.instagram.com/libraries_of...
January 9, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Libraries of London, an ongoing project. www.instagram.com/libraries_of...
Reposted by John Watts
all the advice I need for this year #Traitors #TheTraitors
January 8, 2026 at 8:29 PM
all the advice I need for this year #Traitors #TheTraitors
Reposted by John Watts
A great design that has survived well. Great location too. This 1960s Kenneth Wood modern house near Worthing, West Sussex, is now on the market. bit.ly/3Yyu8Gx
January 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
A great design that has survived well. Great location too. This 1960s Kenneth Wood modern house near Worthing, West Sussex, is now on the market. bit.ly/3Yyu8Gx
Reposted by John Watts
Winter Glossary
Acedia: a melancholic sluggishness of mind/body
Clinomania: a desire to stay in bed
Apricity: the warmth of the sun on a cold day
Latibulize: to retire into a den & lie dormant for the winter
Abibliophobia: a fear of running out of reading material
Acedia: a melancholic sluggishness of mind/body
Clinomania: a desire to stay in bed
Apricity: the warmth of the sun on a cold day
Latibulize: to retire into a den & lie dormant for the winter
Abibliophobia: a fear of running out of reading material
January 8, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Winter Glossary
Acedia: a melancholic sluggishness of mind/body
Clinomania: a desire to stay in bed
Apricity: the warmth of the sun on a cold day
Latibulize: to retire into a den & lie dormant for the winter
Abibliophobia: a fear of running out of reading material
Acedia: a melancholic sluggishness of mind/body
Clinomania: a desire to stay in bed
Apricity: the warmth of the sun on a cold day
Latibulize: to retire into a den & lie dormant for the winter
Abibliophobia: a fear of running out of reading material
Reposted by John Watts
I reckon I’m now about twenty years behind TV. Keep getting ads going ‘struggling to fill the gap after TOASTER? Binge all 11 series of THE SWANS today!’ and I’m like, sir, this is the first I’m hearing of TOASTER even.
January 7, 2026 at 10:38 PM
I reckon I’m now about twenty years behind TV. Keep getting ads going ‘struggling to fill the gap after TOASTER? Binge all 11 series of THE SWANS today!’ and I’m like, sir, this is the first I’m hearing of TOASTER even.
Reposted by John Watts
Gutted to see the news about Martin Chivers. One of the all-time great Southampton players. I never got to see him play, but my dad always talked about how good he was for us. A really sad day. RIP.
#SaintsFC
#SaintsFC
January 7, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Gutted to see the news about Martin Chivers. One of the all-time great Southampton players. I never got to see him play, but my dad always talked about how good he was for us. A really sad day. RIP.
#SaintsFC
#SaintsFC
Reposted by John Watts
It's also weirdly, excessively online. Lots of people in the UK knew who Nick Griffin was. Absolutely no-one knows who Curtis Yarvin is. Why not let it stay that way?
The thing about putting Yarvin on Newsnight is that it's worse than having Nick Griffin on QT. Not only are his views similar but far broader than Griffin's common thuggery but at least Griffin was a UK politician who it could be seen as necessary to have on. Yarvin is an American blogger.
January 6, 2026 at 10:37 PM
It's also weirdly, excessively online. Lots of people in the UK knew who Nick Griffin was. Absolutely no-one knows who Curtis Yarvin is. Why not let it stay that way?
Reposted by John Watts
January 4, 2026 at 6:54 AM
Reposted by John Watts
Watching BBC coverage and discussion of "What is the plan?" is making *BOLD* assumptions about this administration.
January 3, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Watching BBC coverage and discussion of "What is the plan?" is making *BOLD* assumptions about this administration.
Reposted by John Watts
A Christie for Christmas is traditional, but curl up tonight with:
The Mysterious Mr Quin
Agatha Christie’s weirdest and most thematically distinctive investigator
The first story crosses midnight at a New Year’s Party
The third is Christie’s only story looking backwards from the year 2025!
The Mysterious Mr Quin
Agatha Christie’s weirdest and most thematically distinctive investigator
The first story crosses midnight at a New Year’s Party
The third is Christie’s only story looking backwards from the year 2025!
December 31, 2025 at 9:34 PM
A Christie for Christmas is traditional, but curl up tonight with:
The Mysterious Mr Quin
Agatha Christie’s weirdest and most thematically distinctive investigator
The first story crosses midnight at a New Year’s Party
The third is Christie’s only story looking backwards from the year 2025!
The Mysterious Mr Quin
Agatha Christie’s weirdest and most thematically distinctive investigator
The first story crosses midnight at a New Year’s Party
The third is Christie’s only story looking backwards from the year 2025!
With my Nana in a restaurant when she spotted Peter Sallis at a nearby table. Not only did we not speak to him, for added discretion she alerted me to the fact by taking paper & pen from her handbag, and writing me a message "Clegg from Last of the Summer Wine is over there, but don't say anything!"
Please quote this with the time you didn’t interact with someone famous - eg one time I was in Cardiff the same weekend as Willem Dafoe (but I didn’t see him or even know he was there until he appeared on the telly later)
Please quote this with your major interactions with massive celebrities. eg “I was married to the pope for fifteen years”
December 30, 2025 at 11:49 PM
With my Nana in a restaurant when she spotted Peter Sallis at a nearby table. Not only did we not speak to him, for added discretion she alerted me to the fact by taking paper & pen from her handbag, and writing me a message "Clegg from Last of the Summer Wine is over there, but don't say anything!"
Reposted by John Watts
We have so much good evidence for cash transfers but so many just refuse to accept that those in poverty can make good decisions.
Spoiler: They used the money just as wisely as anyone else would, and it's so frustrating that this still isn't a common sense assumption to make.
December 30, 2025 at 5:21 PM
We have so much good evidence for cash transfers but so many just refuse to accept that those in poverty can make good decisions.
Reposted by John Watts
After their excellent piece on Penda's Fen a few weeks ago, @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social turns its attention to the Midlands' other great slice of celluloid history. Time for another showing, @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social?
The bizarre ode to brutalist Birmingham that killed Cliff Richard’s film career
The Peter Pan of Pop’s final big-screen role is a prize piece of Brummie pop culture. Just maybe not in the way he intended…
www.birminghamdispatch.co.uk
December 27, 2025 at 10:17 AM
After their excellent piece on Penda's Fen a few weeks ago, @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social turns its attention to the Midlands' other great slice of celluloid history. Time for another showing, @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social?
Reposted by John Watts
I admit it's true what people say, Quality Street isn't as good as it was in the 90s. But on the other hand look at the state of the Balkans then and the mostly thriving, relatively prosperous democracies down there now. So, you pick your battles really.
December 26, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I admit it's true what people say, Quality Street isn't as good as it was in the 90s. But on the other hand look at the state of the Balkans then and the mostly thriving, relatively prosperous democracies down there now. So, you pick your battles really.