John Grindrod
@grindrod.bsky.social
Social historian of modern places. Wrote Concretopia and Iconicon. Tales of the Suburbs, on LGBTQ+ history, out March 2026. Also, maps. Disappointingly unserious. Podcast: Monstrosities Mon Amour
https://linktr.ee/johngrindrod
https://linktr.ee/johngrindrod
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John Grindrod
@grindrod.bsky.social
· Oct 28
Let's take a ride... My next book is coming out with @faberbooks.bsky.social. Tales of the Suburbs: LGBTQ+ Lives Behind Net Curtains will be published March 12 2026. Preorder links in profile, and lots more on the book and the remarkable stories people told me to come over the next few months...
Reposted by John Grindrod
Submit your poems, short stories or creative non-fiction as we map the stories of Milton Keynes.
www.mklitfest.org/raisingvoice...
#raisingvoicesmk #miltonkeynes #creativewriting
www.mklitfest.org/raisingvoice...
#raisingvoicesmk #miltonkeynes #creativewriting
January 5, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Submit your poems, short stories or creative non-fiction as we map the stories of Milton Keynes.
www.mklitfest.org/raisingvoice...
#raisingvoicesmk #miltonkeynes #creativewriting
www.mklitfest.org/raisingvoice...
#raisingvoicesmk #miltonkeynes #creativewriting
Drive back through country roads, rabbits scampering through the ice and snow, a deer watching, unimpressed with my woolly hat
January 4, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Drive back through country roads, rabbits scampering through the ice and snow, a deer watching, unimpressed with my woolly hat
‘We sorted our decs out, got rid of a few.’
‘Oh right. I need to radicalise mine too.’
‘Oh right. I need to radicalise mine too.’
January 4, 2026 at 7:00 PM
‘We sorted our decs out, got rid of a few.’
‘Oh right. I need to radicalise mine too.’
‘Oh right. I need to radicalise mine too.’
Christmas has gone away now. In its place, all the dread and excitement of starting a year
January 4, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Christmas has gone away now. In its place, all the dread and excitement of starting a year
Song for today youtu.be/UUwbw_zJh8A
Low - Taking Down the Tree (Official Visualizer)
YouTube video by Low
youtu.be
January 4, 2026 at 11:26 AM
Song for today youtu.be/UUwbw_zJh8A
Just found the 3 Christmas presents I’d bought and lost. They were on my desk where I’d expect
January 4, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Just found the 3 Christmas presents I’d bought and lost. They were on my desk where I’d expect
As Joe Mount sang:
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
But I just can’t look away.
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
But I just can’t look away.
January 3, 2026 at 7:28 PM
As Joe Mount sang:
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
But I just can’t look away.
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
I have seen enough
But I just can’t look away.
Bombing ordered like a McDonald’s side
January 3, 2026 at 8:41 AM
Bombing ordered like a McDonald’s side
Just set up a brand new Freely TV. Celebrating by watching They Do It With Mirrors followed by Bergerac.
January 2, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Just set up a brand new Freely TV. Celebrating by watching They Do It With Mirrors followed by Bergerac.
Reposted by John Grindrod
Wow, and for the 58th year in a row. What are the chances?
January 1, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Wow, and for the 58th year in a row. What are the chances?
It’s been a year since I launched my podcast. Here’s a guide to the episodes so far… open.substack.com/pub/johngrin...
2025: The Year in Monstrosities
Monstrosities Mon Amour: A Listener's Guide
open.substack.com
January 1, 2026 at 2:36 PM
It’s been a year since I launched my podcast. Here’s a guide to the episodes so far… open.substack.com/pub/johngrin...
I read the Iconicon audiobook and later this month I go into the studio to read Tales of the Suburbs too…
So excited to find @grindrod.bsky.social on Audible, reading his own works. For when the existing episode of Monstrosities Mon Amour aren’t enough!
January 1, 2026 at 10:57 AM
I read the Iconicon audiobook and later this month I go into the studio to read Tales of the Suburbs too…
Literally everyone you meet is dancing in the street all night long. Air traffic controllers, newborn babies, the Amish.
January 1, 2026 at 2:59 AM
Literally everyone you meet is dancing in the street all night long. Air traffic controllers, newborn babies, the Amish.
By the kebab van on the edge of the business park the Deliveroo drivers are making a fire from fallen branches to keep warm. Welcome to the future, 2026 style
December 31, 2025 at 7:31 PM
By the kebab van on the edge of the business park the Deliveroo drivers are making a fire from fallen branches to keep warm. Welcome to the future, 2026 style
Reposted by John Grindrod
Thanks to @grindrod.bsky.social, my next band will be called Crazy-Paving Inglenook.
A new episode of Monstrosities Mon Amour is out! The writer Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social on his love for the strange, eerie landscape of the Fens, and the joys of the psychedelic Rolling Stones album Their Satanic Majesties Request. johngrindrod.substack.com/p/monstrosit...
Monstrosities Mon Amour: The Fens with Tom Cox
#13. John Grindrod meets writer Tom Cox to explore the flatlands of the Fens and the Rolling Stones's most controversial album, Their Satanic Majesties Request
johngrindrod.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Thanks to @grindrod.bsky.social, my next band will be called Crazy-Paving Inglenook.
Sainsbury’s full of human sorrow and angst being held at bay with booze and beige snacks
December 31, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Sainsbury’s full of human sorrow and angst being held at bay with booze and beige snacks
That’s the third time in the last month I’ve coincidentally opened the front door just as the postman is there, about to deliver the mail. He definitely thinks I’m stalking him now. He looks scared. Though to be fair he’s the one who keeps hanging round outside my house
December 31, 2025 at 1:14 PM
That’s the third time in the last month I’ve coincidentally opened the front door just as the postman is there, about to deliver the mail. He definitely thinks I’m stalking him now. He looks scared. Though to be fair he’s the one who keeps hanging round outside my house
A pleasure to be transported to a modern megalith with Gareth
From earlier this year - my tuppenceworth on inner city motorways and cardigans - 'Monstrosities Mon Amour: Junction 3 of the M32 in Bristol' - with @grindrod.bsky.social johngrindrod.substack.com/p/monstrosit...
Monstrosities Mon Amour: Junction 3 of the M32 in Bristol with Gareth E Rees
#5. John Grindrod meets writer Gareth E Rees to explore the strange hidden life of a pedestrian junction of a motorway and the haunted power of cardigans.
share.google
December 31, 2025 at 1:02 PM
A pleasure to be transported to a modern megalith with Gareth
Reposted by John Grindrod
Corfe Castle, the model of Corfe Castle in Corfe Castle Model Village, and the model of Corfe Castle in the model of Corfe Castle Model Village in Corfe Castle Model Village.
December 31, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Corfe Castle, the model of Corfe Castle in Corfe Castle Model Village, and the model of Corfe Castle in the model of Corfe Castle Model Village in Corfe Castle Model Village.
Some things I really enjoyed this year:
1. Ibibio Sound Machine in Bedford. Tiny club, massive sound, charisma and tunes = dancey dance dance dance dance.
2. Target Book Club: hilarious and uber-geeky Doctor Who day with the nicest crowd.
3. Walking on The Street in the sea at Tankerton.
1. Ibibio Sound Machine in Bedford. Tiny club, massive sound, charisma and tunes = dancey dance dance dance dance.
2. Target Book Club: hilarious and uber-geeky Doctor Who day with the nicest crowd.
3. Walking on The Street in the sea at Tankerton.
December 31, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Some things I really enjoyed this year:
1. Ibibio Sound Machine in Bedford. Tiny club, massive sound, charisma and tunes = dancey dance dance dance dance.
2. Target Book Club: hilarious and uber-geeky Doctor Who day with the nicest crowd.
3. Walking on The Street in the sea at Tankerton.
1. Ibibio Sound Machine in Bedford. Tiny club, massive sound, charisma and tunes = dancey dance dance dance dance.
2. Target Book Club: hilarious and uber-geeky Doctor Who day with the nicest crowd.
3. Walking on The Street in the sea at Tankerton.
Reposted by John Grindrod
Monstrosities Mon Amour has been going for a year now. I know! Thanks so much to all my brilliant guests, and for everyone who's listened in. Here's a little guide to the show johngrindrod.substack.com/p/2025-the-y...
2025: The Year in Monstrosities
Monstrosities Mon Amour: A Listener's Guide
johngrindrod.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Monstrosities Mon Amour has been going for a year now. I know! Thanks so much to all my brilliant guests, and for everyone who's listened in. Here's a little guide to the show johngrindrod.substack.com/p/2025-the-y...
Confusingly am watching Spanish gay rom-com Smiley, to be followed by the Le Carré evening on BBC4
December 30, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Confusingly am watching Spanish gay rom-com Smiley, to be followed by the Le Carré evening on BBC4
Not so wacko now, eh?
Happy #sketchpadvent. Now for the last and biggest: engineers Pell Frischmann’s early 70s proposals for a cross channel bridge, linked by a massive sea-platform city for oil tankers and container ships, with an airport, helipad and homes for workers. Jingle! x
December 30, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Not so wacko now, eh?
Reposted by John Grindrod
My most fascinating, misunderstood read of 2025, written 67 years ago by Toby Young's dad. A science fiction novel masquerading (with the connivance of its publisher!) as sober sociological enquiry. It coins the term 'meritocracy' and then just savages its implications over 190 pages.
December 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
My most fascinating, misunderstood read of 2025, written 67 years ago by Toby Young's dad. A science fiction novel masquerading (with the connivance of its publisher!) as sober sociological enquiry. It coins the term 'meritocracy' and then just savages its implications over 190 pages.
Monstrosities Mon Amour has been going for a year now. I know! Thanks so much to all my brilliant guests, and for everyone who's listened in. Here's a little guide to the show johngrindrod.substack.com/p/2025-the-y...
2025: The Year in Monstrosities
Monstrosities Mon Amour: A Listener's Guide
johngrindrod.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Monstrosities Mon Amour has been going for a year now. I know! Thanks so much to all my brilliant guests, and for everyone who's listened in. Here's a little guide to the show johngrindrod.substack.com/p/2025-the-y...