Jonathan McGrain
@jmcgrain.bsky.social
“As yardsticks of American progress go, Penn Station does not inspire pride. Since Mr. Clinton’s appearance there 26 years ago, China has constructed nearly 30,000 miles of high-speed rail tracks and built more than a thousand new stations.”
Why Is It So Hard to Fix Penn Station?
The nation’s busiest transit hub stands as a symbol of a condition that afflicts so many attempts to get big things done in America: inertia.
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:04 PM
“As yardsticks of American progress go, Penn Station does not inspire pride. Since Mr. Clinton’s appearance there 26 years ago, China has constructed nearly 30,000 miles of high-speed rail tracks and built more than a thousand new stations.”
Reposted by Jonathan McGrain
Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
really fun history blog post
diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2025/11/odd-...
really fun history blog post
diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2025/11/odd-...
November 12, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Four strange places to see London's Roman Wall
really fun history blog post
diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2025/11/odd-...
really fun history blog post
diamondgeezer.blogspot.com/2025/11/odd-...
Quote du jour: “They fired a starting gun by mistake, and firing a gun in the Alps is not the best idea.”
on.ft.com/4qUCUvd
on.ft.com/4qUCUvd
How Keir Starmer is facing plots from across the Labour party
Plummeting polling numbers and a misguided Downing Street briefing add to febrile environment
on.ft.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Quote du jour: “They fired a starting gun by mistake, and firing a gun in the Alps is not the best idea.”
on.ft.com/4qUCUvd
on.ft.com/4qUCUvd
An Australian cricket star calls for a ban on gambling ads in sport. Rare courage from an active player; no one in US sports is taking a stand like this. He’s focused on kids, but the risks go wider: adults, athletes, and sports integrity. #UsmanKhawaja #GamblingAds
Usman Khawaja says Labor has been ‘100% too slow’ to ban gambling ads to protect children
Australian cricketer says the normalisation of gambling in sport for young people is ‘scary and dangerous’ as government continues to sit on reforms
www.theguardian.com
August 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
An Australian cricket star calls for a ban on gambling ads in sport. Rare courage from an active player; no one in US sports is taking a stand like this. He’s focused on kids, but the risks go wider: adults, athletes, and sports integrity. #UsmanKhawaja #GamblingAds
Love cricket, but if the Hundred’s raking in foreign cash, it’s on the game to fund its own grassroots — not the taxpayer.
#Cricket #TheHundred #SportsFunding #UKPolitics
#Cricket #TheHundred #SportsFunding #UKPolitics
Government gives £1.5m to grassroots cricket and decries £35m Tory ‘fantasy’
The government has watered down a Conservative pledge of £35million for grassroots cricket, describing it as a ‘fantasy’
www.theguardian.com
August 26, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Love cricket, but if the Hundred’s raking in foreign cash, it’s on the game to fund its own grassroots — not the taxpayer.
#Cricket #TheHundred #SportsFunding #UKPolitics
#Cricket #TheHundred #SportsFunding #UKPolitics
“If you set aside Harold, almost none of the historical figures who die in King and Conqueror meet their end how they are supposed to, when they are supposed to or where they are supposed to.” #KingandConqueror #BBC www.historyextra.com/period/norma...
How historically accurate is King and Conqueror? Here’s the real history that should have happened
The BBC’s Norman Conquest drama starring James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau brings 1066 to the small screen. Here’s what King and Conqueror gets right about the build-up to the battle of Hastings ...
www.historyextra.com
August 25, 2025 at 1:08 AM
“If you set aside Harold, almost none of the historical figures who die in King and Conqueror meet their end how they are supposed to, when they are supposed to or where they are supposed to.” #KingandConqueror #BBC www.historyextra.com/period/norma...
The Battle of Hastings didn’t need a rewrite. Waiting for its release on Prime. #KingAndConqueror
King and Conqueror review – James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau fight the Battle of Hastings
King and Conqueror review – James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau fight the Battle of Hastings
This tale of 1066 forces viewers to wade through exposition-heavy episodes, and its pace does drag. But Coster-Waldau does play William the Conqueror with a phenomenal 70s dad tache
www.theguardian.com
August 25, 2025 at 12:45 AM
The Battle of Hastings didn’t need a rewrite. Waiting for its release on Prime. #KingAndConqueror
Ouch. “a Frankenstein’s monster” #BBC
Not Even Wrong: my thoughts on the BBC's King and Conqueror. www.marcmorris.org.uk/2025/08/king...
August 25, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Ouch. “a Frankenstein’s monster” #BBC
The British Museum will host the Bayeux Tapestry in 2026—its first UK visit in more than 900 years. The V&A, long seen as the favorite, was kept in the dark. Major museum power play. #BayeuxTapestry #BritishMuseum
How British Museum secured chance to host Bayeux Tapestry’s return to UK after 900 years
Loan of the 70m-long celebration of the 1066 Norman invasion was sealed after weeks of high level diplomacy
www.ft.com
July 8, 2025 at 11:22 PM
The British Museum will host the Bayeux Tapestry in 2026—its first UK visit in more than 900 years. The V&A, long seen as the favorite, was kept in the dark. Major museum power play. #BayeuxTapestry #BritishMuseum
Britain cannot rush to reclaim a European future
open.substack.com/pub/philipst...
open.substack.com/pub/philipst...
Britain cannot rush to reclaim a European future
The BBC provides an eloquent reminder of the deep-seated neuralgia that took Britain out of its own continent
open.substack.com
May 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Britain cannot rush to reclaim a European future
open.substack.com/pub/philipst...
open.substack.com/pub/philipst...