Helen Macdonald
@hjm.bsky.social
Writer. One half of a dynamic duo. H is for Hawk, Vesper Flights. PROPHET with Sin Blache. Rep by the Clegg Agency. Non-binary. They/she
Oh my god www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...
January 4, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Oh my god www.flickr.com/photos/sdasm...
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Okay if you are a Donna Tartt fan, you simply must listen to this. Not only does he nail it, he ALSO DOES HER VOICE.
If you are a Heated Rivalry fan but not a Donna Tartt fan this will make absolutely no sense
If you are a Heated Rivalry fan but not a Donna Tartt fan this will make absolutely no sense
Since you mentioned watching Heated Rivalry -- have you seen this? I think about it daily: www.instagram.com/reel/DSS2B0j...
Spence Whitman on Instagram: "This is for a niche audience #thesecrethistory #donnatartt #heatedrivalry #hbo #hbomax"
In this imaginative take, Donna Tartt's signature atmospheric and psychological writing style meets the high-stakes world of professional hockey, where rivalries are forged and tensions run deep. Join...
www.instagram.com
January 4, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Okay if you are a Donna Tartt fan, you simply must listen to this. Not only does he nail it, he ALSO DOES HER VOICE.
If you are a Heated Rivalry fan but not a Donna Tartt fan this will make absolutely no sense
If you are a Heated Rivalry fan but not a Donna Tartt fan this will make absolutely no sense
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
The Hague, all of them
January 3, 2026 at 6:37 AM
The Hague, all of them
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Lovely piece on the hatefulness of all this. Worth it for many little highlights, but I enjoyed the riff on a calculator that aggressively suggests sums you might want to do today.
In what's now become an annual tradition, I've written another piece for The Gist about how and why I hate A.I.
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
On a bubble about to burst, a future rotted to its core, and the limits of the Mrs Doyle Theory of artificial intelligence.
www.thegist.ie/guest-gist-2...
Guest Gist: 2026, Our Already Rotting Future
Seamus O'Reilly warns of AI maximum bubbledrive this year.
www.thegist.ie
January 2, 2026 at 11:22 AM
Lovely piece on the hatefulness of all this. Worth it for many little highlights, but I enjoyed the riff on a calculator that aggressively suggests sums you might want to do today.
Obsessed with the single Reeves’ pheasant that lives in the copse at the bottom of the hill in my village
January 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Obsessed with the single Reeves’ pheasant that lives in the copse at the bottom of the hill in my village
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Finally bought the fluffy sweater I wanted only to realise it might be too fluffy will I never learn
December 31, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Finally bought the fluffy sweater I wanted only to realise it might be too fluffy will I never learn
Dreamed that I spent hours cycling around street markets searching for the right foodstuffs for my housemate’s pet Hispanolian solenodon. It ended up accepting a diet of pate and plumeria flowers, after which I had a heated argument with my housemate who insisted it was “just a fancy rat”
December 31, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Dreamed that I spent hours cycling around street markets searching for the right foodstuffs for my housemate’s pet Hispanolian solenodon. It ended up accepting a diet of pate and plumeria flowers, after which I had a heated argument with my housemate who insisted it was “just a fancy rat”
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
The Ozymandias-level hubris of a family member knocking the no-record tab off a VHS, as if sellotape didn’t exist. Look upon my Poirot Christmas Special and despair!
December 30, 2025 at 8:28 AM
The Ozymandias-level hubris of a family member knocking the no-record tab off a VHS, as if sellotape didn’t exist. Look upon my Poirot Christmas Special and despair!
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Y’all ever walk into a public restroom and immediately whisper “Jesus Christ”
December 27, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Y’all ever walk into a public restroom and immediately whisper “Jesus Christ”
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 29, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
A bunch of NZ MPs were asked about their holiday reading recs by the Herald today. Turns out it's the Greens who are the nerds with good taste.
December 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
A bunch of NZ MPs were asked about their holiday reading recs by the Herald today. Turns out it's the Greens who are the nerds with good taste.
Kaiju Bertie: a brief moment of calm before resuming his campaign to destroy every paper lampshade in existence
December 26, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Kaiju Bertie: a brief moment of calm before resuming his campaign to destroy every paper lampshade in existence
I once had the honour of being on a judging panel for a hugely esteemed literary prize. We read without knowing ANY biographical details of the authors, including their names. Afterwards it turned out that many many white men were in the running. None of them were winners.
Annie, maybe white men just don't write books worthy of the best of the year lists.
www.startribune.com/2026-reading...
www.startribune.com/2026-reading...
Opinion | You can’t be diverse if you exclude white men
Those year-end book lists that claim to be all about diversity often seem to miss this one major demographic, Annie Holmquist writes.
www.startribune.com
December 26, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I once had the honour of being on a judging panel for a hugely esteemed literary prize. We read without knowing ANY biographical details of the authors, including their names. Afterwards it turned out that many many white men were in the running. None of them were winners.
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Watching THE GREEN KNIGHT again
April 22, 2024 at 7:43 PM
Watching THE GREEN KNIGHT again
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Christ on a bike, this is brilliant.
And disgustingly historically accurate. 10/10
And disgustingly historically accurate. 10/10
December 24, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Christ on a bike, this is brilliant.
And disgustingly historically accurate. 10/10
And disgustingly historically accurate. 10/10
In the midst of utter festive chaos am singing DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS in tribute to Mr Rea AND Rao and Adam from Prophet. It's Rao's go-to Christmas song (in matters of celebration and opportunities for a good time, he's resolutely multi-faith) and Adam has Very Complicated Feelings about it.
December 25, 2025 at 10:50 AM
In the midst of utter festive chaos am singing DRIVING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS in tribute to Mr Rea AND Rao and Adam from Prophet. It's Rao's go-to Christmas song (in matters of celebration and opportunities for a good time, he's resolutely multi-faith) and Adam has Very Complicated Feelings about it.
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
And Tiny Tim, who did not die. Yet did not live. Trapped forever in his tiny body, never growing older, cursed to survive only on the blood of the living, never to see sunlight again
December 24, 2025 at 9:32 AM
And Tiny Tim, who did not die. Yet did not live. Trapped forever in his tiny body, never growing older, cursed to survive only on the blood of the living, never to see sunlight again
YouTube AI: awful, but occasionally hilarious
December 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
YouTube AI: awful, but occasionally hilarious
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
Gonna need someone to show me a request by anyone, anywhere for white men to apologise for being white men.
I'll wait.
I'll wait.
December 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Gonna need someone to show me a request by anyone, anywhere for white men to apologise for being white men.
I'll wait.
I'll wait.
Very proud my new passport photos feature me with Nigel Tufnel's hair.
December 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Very proud my new passport photos feature me with Nigel Tufnel's hair.
Reposted by Helen Macdonald
& contrast of late blue sky gave out to allow the new moon to cut through - that which will swell solstice to next year's 1st full - setting into late afternoon, slipping under the wire & behind the ridge
December 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
& contrast of late blue sky gave out to allow the new moon to cut through - that which will swell solstice to next year's 1st full - setting into late afternoon, slipping under the wire & behind the ridge
Oof
FFC review: AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (2025), by Walter Chaw (@mangiotto.bsky.social). filmfreakcentral.net/2025/12/avat...
Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025) - FILM FREAK CENTRAL
ZERO STARS/****starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winsletscreenplay by James Cameron & Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silverdirected by James Cameron by Walter Chaw I think, for white ...
filmfreakcentral.net
December 22, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Oof