Hannah Fearn
@hannahfearn.bsky.social
Journalist and podcaster. Politics, social affairs and a little bit of Britpop. Once Independent, now independent.
Find me in The i Paper, The New European, Obs, The Lead, Yahoo and on Oh God, What Now? & The Bunker pods
https://muckrack.com/hannah-fearn
Find me in The i Paper, The New European, Obs, The Lead, Yahoo and on Oh God, What Now? & The Bunker pods
https://muckrack.com/hannah-fearn
Pinned
Hannah Fearn
@hannahfearn.bsky.social
· Nov 5
The winners of the Freelance Journalism Awards 2025 are out! Congratulations everyone!! open.substack.com/pub/freelanc...
Freelance Journalism Awards Winners 2025
Time to unveil our judges' selection!
open.substack.com
Holy moly! I didn't get Lily Allen tickets, but...
I did win TWO awards: Best News Story and Best Opinion Writer in the 2025 Freelance Journalism Awards.
Huge thank you to @freelancingfor.bsky.social for organising these and to your lovely judges. I am so honoured and proud to be named this year
I did win TWO awards: Best News Story and Best Opinion Writer in the 2025 Freelance Journalism Awards.
Huge thank you to @freelancingfor.bsky.social for organising these and to your lovely judges. I am so honoured and proud to be named this year
Reposted by Hannah Fearn
Sometimes I just need Private Eye ….
February 4, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Sometimes I just need Private Eye ….
8 Mile vibes in Westminster
If Starmer does fall, Labour will have one chance to reset. It will have to make the right, decisive calls on leadership and direction.
February 4, 2026 at 2:28 PM
8 Mile vibes in Westminster
Please can Big Magnesium leave me alone.
February 4, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Please can Big Magnesium leave me alone.
That’s a proper endorsement
February 4, 2026 at 12:11 PM
That’s a proper endorsement
Journos and writers are all readers too!
February 4, 2026 at 12:11 PM
Journos and writers are all readers too!
Whaaaat?
I’m so over this.
Ps: your book launch is confirmed in my diary! I will be there!
I’m so over this.
Ps: your book launch is confirmed in my diary! I will be there!
February 4, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Whaaaat?
I’m so over this.
Ps: your book launch is confirmed in my diary! I will be there!
I’m so over this.
Ps: your book launch is confirmed in my diary! I will be there!
Reposted by Hannah Fearn
Fees, debt, recruiting abroad, closures, AI - our deep dive into why most universities are struggling right now.
📚New Episode📚
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
February 4, 2026 at 8:27 AM
Fees, debt, recruiting abroad, closures, AI - our deep dive into why most universities are struggling right now.
Please note this is a US study. Those salaries are not UK ones, depressingly.
February 4, 2026 at 8:51 AM
Please note this is a US study. Those salaries are not UK ones, depressingly.
A depressing inflation update from my morning walk through Clapham
February 4, 2026 at 8:37 AM
A depressing inflation update from my morning walk through Clapham
Interesting report on the state of journalism… but can’t help reading the title as ‘look at the STATE of it’
media.muckrack.com/documents/6....
media.muckrack.com/documents/6....
media.muckrack.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:30 AM
Interesting report on the state of journalism… but can’t help reading the title as ‘look at the STATE of it’
media.muckrack.com/documents/6....
media.muckrack.com/documents/6....
Reposted by Hannah Fearn
As the mum of a 1st yr uni student and a GCSE student thinking about going too, this was not a fun listen but it was an important listen.
📚New Episode📚
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
February 3, 2026 at 8:04 PM
As the mum of a 1st yr uni student and a GCSE student thinking about going too, this was not a fun listen but it was an important listen.
Reposted by Hannah Fearn
📚New Episode📚
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
February 3, 2026 at 7:29 PM
📚New Episode📚
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. @gsoh31.bsky.social joins @rostaylor.bsky.social & @hannahfearn.bsky.social to ask if the problems can be solved ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
For those of you wondering why you haven’t seen as much journalism from me lately, it’s because I’ve been spending time working on an interesting project with @nestauk.bsky.social - will share more soon
February 3, 2026 at 5:31 PM
For those of you wondering why you haven’t seen as much journalism from me lately, it’s because I’ve been spending time working on an interesting project with @nestauk.bsky.social - will share more soon
Though that wasn’t without controversy
February 3, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Though that wasn’t without controversy
The gov has actually made it illegal to buy them for younger generations though. It hasn’t ignored this problem
February 3, 2026 at 5:24 PM
The gov has actually made it illegal to buy them for younger generations though. It hasn’t ignored this problem
Perhaps the most egregious example of politics fawning on older voters while literally starving this country of its future
Reform UK says it would re-impose two-child benefit cap for most families to fund £3bn support package for pubs - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
February 3, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Perhaps the most egregious example of politics fawning on older voters while literally starving this country of its future
Well that’s the same as any government programme. A lot of UC goes to it too.
February 3, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Well that’s the same as any government programme. A lot of UC goes to it too.
I just laughed out loud at this in public
February 3, 2026 at 3:25 PM
I just laughed out loud at this in public
Reposted by Hannah Fearn
Imagine Mandelson is under a lot of stress right now so just as well his husband is a trained osteopath.
February 3, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Imagine Mandelson is under a lot of stress right now so just as well his husband is a trained osteopath.
I would say I’m UBI curious not blindly optimistic about it as an option, it’s hard to see a scaleable workable model on a population level, but our relationship with work and income has been changing for 50 years and is about to go gangbusters.
February 3, 2026 at 2:40 PM
I would say I’m UBI curious not blindly optimistic about it as an option, it’s hard to see a scaleable workable model on a population level, but our relationship with work and income has been changing for 50 years and is about to go gangbusters.
I haven’t read the whole thread yet so this is probably repetitive (and if so, sorry) but the value of UBI is that it gives work more individual purpose not less - all trials where it replaced trad benefits have demonstrated higher work engagement
February 3, 2026 at 2:38 PM
I haven’t read the whole thread yet so this is probably repetitive (and if so, sorry) but the value of UBI is that it gives work more individual purpose not less - all trials where it replaced trad benefits have demonstrated higher work engagement
Honestly your last point is the bit I am still secretly worried about. I left home at 18 and never went back because I was driven by a powerful Anywhere But Here energy. You'll all be laughing at me when my girls still live at home at 35.
February 3, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Honestly your last point is the bit I am still secretly worried about. I left home at 18 and never went back because I was driven by a powerful Anywhere But Here energy. You'll all be laughing at me when my girls still live at home at 35.