Mark Brown
@markoneinfour.bsky.social
Mental health/tech stuff. Sell ads for local newspapers, keeping local public interest news alive. Former writer in residence @centreforMH. Ask me to write MH things. Director Social Spider CIC. DMs open. Podcast @BBCOuch
(he/they)
(he/they)
I don't think the lives of trans people should be chucked in the bonfire to appease the egos of gender essentialists who think the most important thing in the world is that boys go through one door and girls the another and society will fall apart without that illusory comfort
February 17, 2026 at 4:58 PM
I don't think the lives of trans people should be chucked in the bonfire to appease the egos of gender essentialists who think the most important thing in the world is that boys go through one door and girls the another and society will fall apart without that illusory comfort
I have often thought that discomfort with the Post war and pre war modern in the UK is going to leave only the worst of it, not the best of it standing. I'm the kind of pillock who'll go half an hour out of my way just to walk through something that might not be here forever.
Been saying this for years (Then again, did live in Oxford for years...).
Everyone forgets those lovely Victorian buildings next to those equally lovely Georgian ones were a modern eyesore once & made conservative victorians spit with rage. Ditto the Georgian ones next to the Tudor ones &c &c
Everyone forgets those lovely Victorian buildings next to those equally lovely Georgian ones were a modern eyesore once & made conservative victorians spit with rage. Ditto the Georgian ones next to the Tudor ones &c &c
okay at this point I’m just procrastinating BUT! This is one of my favourite topics because! At some point, in probably about a century, ppl are gonna look at those brutalist council housing blocks that survive and think they’re lovely/aesthetic/whatever. How do I know?
Jericho.
Jericho.
February 17, 2026 at 3:48 PM
I have often thought that discomfort with the Post war and pre war modern in the UK is going to leave only the worst of it, not the best of it standing. I'm the kind of pillock who'll go half an hour out of my way just to walk through something that might not be here forever.
Reposted by Mark Brown
Something feudal about RAM and technology parts being only available to the tech-barons for their AI systems. The retreat from the personal computer age
February 17, 2026 at 10:22 AM
Something feudal about RAM and technology parts being only available to the tech-barons for their AI systems. The retreat from the personal computer age
Hello. Computer games is a bigger industry than boom publishing and film. I don't really play games that much. I assume people consumer more 'story' through games than they do through other media. Can someone point me towards some good writing on narrative in games and its real world implications?
February 16, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Hello. Computer games is a bigger industry than boom publishing and film. I don't really play games that much. I assume people consumer more 'story' through games than they do through other media. Can someone point me towards some good writing on narrative in games and its real world implications?
I can't help but feel so much of the malaise of the current government comes from not expecting to win the last election and being geared up intellectually to fight a campaign to win the next one. Ready to outflank a government, but not to be one. Except they are.
February 16, 2026 at 2:17 PM
I can't help but feel so much of the malaise of the current government comes from not expecting to win the last election and being geared up intellectually to fight a campaign to win the next one. Ready to outflank a government, but not to be one. Except they are.
Always a bit suspicious when 'the most pressing public heath issue' crosses over with 'removing the autonomy of young people'. 'Ban screens for youths' is such catnip because it sound big and weighty but doesn't actually cost anything. Develop spaces and activities for youth does, though
‘It’s the most urgent public health issue’: Dr Rangan Chatterjee on screen time, mental health – and banning social media until 18
‘It’s the most urgent public health issue’: Dr Rangan Chatterjee on screen time, mental health – and banning social media until 18
The hit podcaster, author and former GP says a failure to regulate big tech is ‘failing a generation of children’. He explains why he quit the NHS and why he wants a ban on screen-based homework
www.theguardian.com
February 16, 2026 at 11:12 AM
Always a bit suspicious when 'the most pressing public heath issue' crosses over with 'removing the autonomy of young people'. 'Ban screens for youths' is such catnip because it sound big and weighty but doesn't actually cost anything. Develop spaces and activities for youth does, though
My current thesis is most of what has happened in media and society as a result of the Internet only works if things that aren't dependent on those mechanisms still exist, rather than being replaced by them. See: journalism, book publishing, BBC World Service, financial regulation.
February 15, 2026 at 9:38 PM
My current thesis is most of what has happened in media and society as a result of the Internet only works if things that aren't dependent on those mechanisms still exist, rather than being replaced by them. See: journalism, book publishing, BBC World Service, financial regulation.
I didn't think in 2026 I'd be watching Barrymore buy shit from the corner shop and talking about having a joint and playing fortnite.
February 15, 2026 at 9:34 PM
I didn't think in 2026 I'd be watching Barrymore buy shit from the corner shop and talking about having a joint and playing fortnite.
I've always liked Saturn 3 because it has a visual aesthetic that's like a Mayflower paperback cover or a Hawkwind sleeve. There's something 'Moorcock-y' about the ships, costumes and sets. Everyone else went a bit Chris Foss, but this goes the more Biba feeling art deco, collage, organic
Classic sci-fi movie Saturn 3 celebrates its joyful 46th anniversary today. Obviously, you’re familiar with it – directed by Stanley ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ Donen, it starred Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel, and had a script by Martin Amis. It couldn’t fail. Ah, and yet, and yet... 🧵
February 15, 2026 at 1:57 PM
I've always liked Saturn 3 because it has a visual aesthetic that's like a Mayflower paperback cover or a Hawkwind sleeve. There's something 'Moorcock-y' about the ships, costumes and sets. Everyone else went a bit Chris Foss, but this goes the more Biba feeling art deco, collage, organic
Love that the effect on politics of a resurgent far right is always, for some people, 'the way we must beat the far right is to be far right but respectable because we'll know we're the good guys'
February 14, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Love that the effect on politics of a resurgent far right is always, for some people, 'the way we must beat the far right is to be far right but respectable because we'll know we're the good guys'
Reposted by Mark Brown
Met more than one young artist visiting London recently who'd been really anxious beforehand, as they'd seen so much on social media about it being a crime-ridden hellhole. They then proceeded to have an unexpectedly lovely time in one of the world's great cities, but it is actually just really sad.
February 13, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Met more than one young artist visiting London recently who'd been really anxious beforehand, as they'd seen so much on social media about it being a crime-ridden hellhole. They then proceeded to have an unexpectedly lovely time in one of the world's great cities, but it is actually just really sad.
Hello. Can someone recommend me some current bands/artists that have the same mixture of the sublime and the awkward that is encapsulated in The Human League please? There's this thing with the League that they are not nervous or geeky but are also supremely, confidently, not at ease ever. Thanks
February 10, 2026 at 9:03 PM
Hello. Can someone recommend me some current bands/artists that have the same mixture of the sublime and the awkward that is encapsulated in The Human League please? There's this thing with the League that they are not nervous or geeky but are also supremely, confidently, not at ease ever. Thanks
February 9, 2026 at 9:24 PM
February 9, 2026 at 9:18 PM
What a great version of Harborcoat!
R.E.M. Live at Circle Pavilion - University of Illinois at Chicago 1987-11-04 https://archive.org/details/ajc02667_rem1987-11-04.aud
R.E.M. Live at Circle Pavilion - University of Illinois at Chicago 1987-11-04 : R.E.M. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
R.E.M.November 4, 1987Circle PavilionUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoChicago, IL, USARecording generously loaned from the Aadam Jacobs Audio Archive.Taper:...
archive.org
February 8, 2026 at 10:55 PM
What a great version of Harborcoat!
I reckon if you could say 'the poundshops will come back, you won't have to buy shit from Temu and the cost of your shopping will come down' you'd have a solid base of pro-rejoin voters
February 8, 2026 at 7:00 PM
I reckon if you could say 'the poundshops will come back, you won't have to buy shit from Temu and the cost of your shopping will come down' you'd have a solid base of pro-rejoin voters
I sometimes feel like people take policy decisions based on the Daily Mail in their head. The story since 2016 in the UK has really been, regardless of what real people actually think, to answer to the people who live in your imagination made up by right wing people who insist you respect them
February 7, 2026 at 7:12 PM
I sometimes feel like people take policy decisions based on the Daily Mail in their head. The story since 2016 in the UK has really been, regardless of what real people actually think, to answer to the people who live in your imagination made up by right wing people who insist you respect them
Always gets me how everyone assumes that it's an ancient building. If you've ever been to a meeting there, the corridors and stuff feel a bit like a decaying seaside hotel.
Your regular reminder that the Palace of Westminster started falling to pieces in 1849 (about 20 years before they finished building it). Real cowboy job.
February 6, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Always gets me how everyone assumes that it's an ancient building. If you've ever been to a meeting there, the corridors and stuff feel a bit like a decaying seaside hotel.
Reposted by Mark Brown
Jake That, Ben Sync, The Roland Stones, The Rex Pistols, Procul Herman, Ray Against The Machine, Mercury Reg, Half Mandy Half Biscuit
February 6, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Jake That, Ben Sync, The Roland Stones, The Rex Pistols, Procul Herman, Ray Against The Machine, Mercury Reg, Half Mandy Half Biscuit
Reposted by Mark Brown
Geoff Leppard, Fred Zeppelin, Jack Sabbath, Judith Priest, Brian Maiden, Seb Pultura.
February 6, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Geoff Leppard, Fred Zeppelin, Jack Sabbath, Judith Priest, Brian Maiden, Seb Pultura.
Reposted by Mark Brown
Venn Om, Beth Ory, Dirk Throne, Em(ma) Puror
February 6, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Venn Om, Beth Ory, Dirk Throne, Em(ma) Puror
Reposted by Mark Brown
Dwight Stripes
February 6, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Dwight Stripes
Geoff Leppard, Fred Zeppelin, Jack Sabbath, Judith Priest, Brian Maiden, Seb Pultura.
February 6, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Geoff Leppard, Fred Zeppelin, Jack Sabbath, Judith Priest, Brian Maiden, Seb Pultura.
Bad geeks fucking rotting everything from the inside goes back a long way it seems.
I was on a panel once, about flirting; one of the panelists; who was a fan in the 60s, was explaining that These were the "good old days and nobody minded, because it was all in good fun, and today you can't do anything" and she missed that
The rest of us were just agog at the levels of disconnect
The rest of us were just agog at the levels of disconnect
Folks outside SF/F don't know that Asimov was a sexual harasser because while he was alive fandom thought it was cute (up to and including Asimov being invited to give a lecture on "The Power of Positive Posterior Pinching" at Worldcon, which he, wisely, declined).
daily.jstor.org/asimovs-empi...
daily.jstor.org/asimovs-empi...
February 5, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Bad geeks fucking rotting everything from the inside goes back a long way it seems.
I think this year might be the one where crypto stops being a wierd fringe thing because its collapse is really going to screw over people who have never traded a thing in their lives
February 5, 2026 at 10:42 PM
I think this year might be the one where crypto stops being a wierd fringe thing because its collapse is really going to screw over people who have never traded a thing in their lives