Martin McGrath
@martinmcgrath.bsky.social
Tries to be funny, often fails. Irish, Labour, LFC, NUJ & CIPR. Has a PhD, isn't afraid to use it. University lecturer in PR, branding & design, also sometime journalist, writer & editor. Will work for karma. "He's not angry, he always sounds like that."
Aaronofsky started his career with 5 films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler & Black Swan) which I admire
His career has been in a spiral ever since
"On This Day... 1776" is embarrassing, not just because of the AI slop. He's managed to make 4 minute episodes feel interminable
His career has been in a spiral ever since
"On This Day... 1776" is embarrassing, not just because of the AI slop. He's managed to make 4 minute episodes feel interminable
February 3, 2026 at 10:33 PM
Aaronofsky started his career with 5 films (Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler & Black Swan) which I admire
His career has been in a spiral ever since
"On This Day... 1776" is embarrassing, not just because of the AI slop. He's managed to make 4 minute episodes feel interminable
His career has been in a spiral ever since
"On This Day... 1776" is embarrassing, not just because of the AI slop. He's managed to make 4 minute episodes feel interminable
I sincerely hope that Tony Blair's mobile phone is steadily filling up with messages from Gordon Brown going "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO" over and over and over again.
February 3, 2026 at 10:07 PM
I sincerely hope that Tony Blair's mobile phone is steadily filling up with messages from Gordon Brown going "I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO" over and over and over again.
"Never mind Manufacturing Consent – have a read of Not Giving A Shit About Consent. I thought Chomsky cared about power and exploitative elites? Still, nice photo of him laughing it up with Steve Bannon."
Zing...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zing...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Never forget Epstein’s little helpers – the powerful men who knew about his crimes, and helped him out anyway | Marina Hyde
I’m sorry, but this is not just a political scandal. Time to refocus on the horrific mistreatment of women and girls, and the role of these ghouls, says Guardian columnist Marina Hyde
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:51 PM
"Never mind Manufacturing Consent – have a read of Not Giving A Shit About Consent. I thought Chomsky cared about power and exploitative elites? Still, nice photo of him laughing it up with Steve Bannon."
Zing...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zing...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I don't care what anyone says, I won't really believe Mandelson's career is dead until i see it nailed inside a lead-lines box, encased in concrete and then dropped to the bottom of the Marianas Trench (and, even then, I'd want it watched 24 hours-a-day, just in case...)
February 3, 2026 at 8:48 PM
I don't care what anyone says, I won't really believe Mandelson's career is dead until i see it nailed inside a lead-lines box, encased in concrete and then dropped to the bottom of the Marianas Trench (and, even then, I'd want it watched 24 hours-a-day, just in case...)
ORAC's granddaddy...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard...
Babbage’s Analytical Engine, the Harvard Mark I, and the atomic bomb
Babbage’s Analytical Engine, the Harvard Mark I, and the atomic bomb
Harvard Mark I - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 2, 2026 at 11:10 PM
ORAC's granddaddy...
The oldest adage in journalism is, surely, "don't upset the advertisers" #cynical_hat_on
the oldest adage in journalism is “follow the money”
new in the FT:
new in the FT:
January 31, 2026 at 11:56 PM
The oldest adage in journalism is, surely, "don't upset the advertisers" #cynical_hat_on
The notion that America has lost out from having an open economy in a free trade world is nonsense, but it is useful rhetoric to obscure the fact that the power and wealth that America has accumulated as global hegemon is concentrated in a tiny number of hands in a chronically unequal society
The thing that gets me is that these statements are accurate, that is a correct description of US policy. And as @bretdevereaux.bsky.social likes to note it should be followed by "And then the US became the richest, most powerful nation in the history of the world"!
Translated "it's fine if they're slaves or indentured servants"
January 31, 2026 at 8:57 PM
The notion that America has lost out from having an open economy in a free trade world is nonsense, but it is useful rhetoric to obscure the fact that the power and wealth that America has accumulated as global hegemon is concentrated in a tiny number of hands in a chronically unequal society
Watched Wonder Man today.
Bloody loved it.
A funny bit of Hollywood fiction, two great leads, and enough respect for the (frequently abused, third-tier) Simon Williams character to make it fun for fans without carrying any Marvel baggage (even with Trevor Slattery).
My only complaint...
Bloody loved it.
A funny bit of Hollywood fiction, two great leads, and enough respect for the (frequently abused, third-tier) Simon Williams character to make it fun for fans without carrying any Marvel baggage (even with Trevor Slattery).
My only complaint...
January 31, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Watched Wonder Man today.
Bloody loved it.
A funny bit of Hollywood fiction, two great leads, and enough respect for the (frequently abused, third-tier) Simon Williams character to make it fun for fans without carrying any Marvel baggage (even with Trevor Slattery).
My only complaint...
Bloody loved it.
A funny bit of Hollywood fiction, two great leads, and enough respect for the (frequently abused, third-tier) Simon Williams character to make it fun for fans without carrying any Marvel baggage (even with Trevor Slattery).
My only complaint...
Dan Ariely? Really.
Duke’s student newspaper is all over this. Neither Ariely nor the university are saying anything so far www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke...
Duke professor Dan Ariely had longstanding friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, newly released files show
Ariely is named in 636 of the some 3 million newly released files. He was a prominent professor at Duke over the course of his correspondence with Epstein.
www.dukechronicle.com
January 31, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Dan Ariely? Really.
Weirdly, I had always assumed Sophia Money-Coutts was a parody bit (and that "Money-Coutts" was a bit too on the nose to be really funny) - I am disappointed to discover that she is real (for certain values of "real")
January 31, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Weirdly, I had always assumed Sophia Money-Coutts was a parody bit (and that "Money-Coutts" was a bit too on the nose to be really funny) - I am disappointed to discover that she is real (for certain values of "real")
I am for diversity in announcer accents as much as the next non-RP speaking oik, but you need to pick your battles.
There's a Channel 4 trail for "Chateau DIY" that asks you to "Join twelve intrepid Jews*..." (that's what I'm hearing) and it is just too plausible.
* "duos" apparently
There's a Channel 4 trail for "Chateau DIY" that asks you to "Join twelve intrepid Jews*..." (that's what I'm hearing) and it is just too plausible.
* "duos" apparently
January 30, 2026 at 10:51 PM
I am for diversity in announcer accents as much as the next non-RP speaking oik, but you need to pick your battles.
There's a Channel 4 trail for "Chateau DIY" that asks you to "Join twelve intrepid Jews*..." (that's what I'm hearing) and it is just too plausible.
* "duos" apparently
There's a Channel 4 trail for "Chateau DIY" that asks you to "Join twelve intrepid Jews*..." (that's what I'm hearing) and it is just too plausible.
* "duos" apparently
Reposted by Martin McGrath
![[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]
JANET:
Ugh...
LIZ:
What's up?
JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!
LIZ:
Have you tried...
AI peas?
JANET:
AI peas?
LIZ:
They're peas with AI!
[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].
LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas
JANET:
What
LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]
Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?
[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]
LIZ:
Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine
[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]
LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!
JANET:
What
LIZ:
Shut up
LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow
From opening the bag of peas
to boiling the peas
to eating the peas
To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.
JANET:
Is it really necessary to-
LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET
[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:
AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.
[Ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiayqa37f7kik7l7s7fbtfp2sir5ckb662ry2lylinyjrfa2rkvvka@jpeg)
I am not watching Irish Traitors but I am enjoying my timeline filling up with English people who are shocked that the Irish aren't English.
January 29, 2026 at 12:24 AM
I am not watching Irish Traitors but I am enjoying my timeline filling up with English people who are shocked that the Irish aren't English.
Shamone!
January 27, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Shamone!
I think what this blithering, moronic bollocks really reveals is that women are too clever to put up with this self-obsessed man-child
This is marvellous. He's even worse than the headline might make you think (gift link)
Celibacy taught me I’m too clever to find love
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/15a11f3...
Celibacy taught me I’m too clever to find love
www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/15a11f3...
Celibacy taught me I’m too clever to find love
Before my sex hiatus, I prioritised physical chemistry over emotional intellect. Now, it feels impossible to meet someone with both
www.telegraph.co.uk
January 27, 2026 at 7:40 PM
I think what this blithering, moronic bollocks really reveals is that women are too clever to put up with this self-obsessed man-child
Watched One Battle After Another at the weekend. It was... cartoonish? I liked bits - the final car chase is well directed - but lots missed a mark. Penn was outshone by his haircut. DiCaprio mined every cliche. The passcode sequence was too long and not funny. The revolution shouldn't be televised.
Bafta has caught the zeitgeist with One Battle After Another, but let’s hear it for The Ballad of Wallis Island
Bafta has caught the zeitgeist with One Battle After Another, but let’s hear it for The Ballad of Wallis Island
Paul Thomas Anderson’s antifa parable is queasily relevant to the times, but here’s hoping Tim Key and co can get some reward for their brilliant British film
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Watched One Battle After Another at the weekend. It was... cartoonish? I liked bits - the final car chase is well directed - but lots missed a mark. Penn was outshone by his haircut. DiCaprio mined every cliche. The passcode sequence was too long and not funny. The revolution shouldn't be televised.
Reform are going to look so much like 2024's Tories that I'm beginning to wonder whether Keir Starmer's genie is back on the job...
January 26, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Reform are going to look so much like 2024's Tories that I'm beginning to wonder whether Keir Starmer's genie is back on the job...
This might be the final straw for my relationship with @nytimes.com ... today's Spelling Bee puzzle is refusing to accept "BOLLOCKED* as the (best ever) pangram.
January 23, 2026 at 9:23 AM
This might be the final straw for my relationship with @nytimes.com ... today's Spelling Bee puzzle is refusing to accept "BOLLOCKED* as the (best ever) pangram.
One thing that gives me hope is that these idiots are too lazy and greedy to do fascism properly.
Say what you like about the Nazis, but at least they put the hours in:
"Herr Heydrich thanks you for your invitation to Wannsee but thinks that the final solution should be arranged on jet skis..."
Say what you like about the Nazis, but at least they put the hours in:
"Herr Heydrich thanks you for your invitation to Wannsee but thinks that the final solution should be arranged on jet skis..."
January 22, 2026 at 10:17 PM
One thing that gives me hope is that these idiots are too lazy and greedy to do fascism properly.
Say what you like about the Nazis, but at least they put the hours in:
"Herr Heydrich thanks you for your invitation to Wannsee but thinks that the final solution should be arranged on jet skis..."
Say what you like about the Nazis, but at least they put the hours in:
"Herr Heydrich thanks you for your invitation to Wannsee but thinks that the final solution should be arranged on jet skis..."
Pick up...
"Yet when they first took to the streets in 1829, the thousand officers of Home Secretary Robert Peel’s Metropolitan Police were not
welcomed as protectors but condemned as ‘blue devils’ a ‘plague of blue locusts’ by Englishmen suspicious they would be used to
crush political opposition"
"Yet when they first took to the streets in 1829, the thousand officers of Home Secretary Robert Peel’s Metropolitan Police were not
welcomed as protectors but condemned as ‘blue devils’ a ‘plague of blue locusts’ by Englishmen suspicious they would be used to
crush political opposition"
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42 and post the second sentence.
‘He was accumulating, in short, a long list of enemies who might seek the survival of their interests in his death.’
‘He was accumulating, in short, a long list of enemies who might seek the survival of their interests in his death.’
Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42 and post the second sentence.
'Still, despite the obvious advantage of combining distributional, telemetry, and tracer data sets, empirical and statistical studies that do so remain rare in the literature.’
'Still, despite the obvious advantage of combining distributional, telemetry, and tracer data sets, empirical and statistical studies that do so remain rare in the literature.’
January 22, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Pick up...
"Yet when they first took to the streets in 1829, the thousand officers of Home Secretary Robert Peel’s Metropolitan Police were not
welcomed as protectors but condemned as ‘blue devils’ a ‘plague of blue locusts’ by Englishmen suspicious they would be used to
crush political opposition"
"Yet when they first took to the streets in 1829, the thousand officers of Home Secretary Robert Peel’s Metropolitan Police were not
welcomed as protectors but condemned as ‘blue devils’ a ‘plague of blue locusts’ by Englishmen suspicious they would be used to
crush political opposition"
Sometimes you think higher education has changed completely and universities will never be the same.
And the two lads walk past you with one-person sized, Co-op, pepperoni pizzas under their arms and you feel strangely reassured
And the two lads walk past you with one-person sized, Co-op, pepperoni pizzas under their arms and you feel strangely reassured
January 22, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Sometimes you think higher education has changed completely and universities will never be the same.
And the two lads walk past you with one-person sized, Co-op, pepperoni pizzas under their arms and you feel strangely reassured
And the two lads walk past you with one-person sized, Co-op, pepperoni pizzas under their arms and you feel strangely reassured
One of the problems of living in the sunny south of France is that you never think to buy a draft excluder.
#thatsafootballjoke #Marseilles #LFC
#thatsafootballjoke #Marseilles #LFC
January 21, 2026 at 8:53 PM
One of the problems of living in the sunny south of France is that you never think to buy a draft excluder.
#thatsafootballjoke #Marseilles #LFC
#thatsafootballjoke #Marseilles #LFC
What the hell is Trump talking about?
January 21, 2026 at 2:35 PM
What the hell is Trump talking about?