Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
@matthewpb.bsky.social
Publisher, Little Island Books @littleislandbooks.bsky.social. The best new Irish writing for young readers.
Pinned
Best man speech anecdote from my beloved and infamously impractical and chaotic cousin’s wedding: “One day he said to me, ‘By the way our bar of soap is running low.’ I said, ‘What do you fucking mean, *our* bar of soap?!?”
January 2, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Best man speech anecdote from my beloved and infamously impractical and chaotic cousin’s wedding: “One day he said to me, ‘By the way our bar of soap is running low.’ I said, ‘What do you fucking mean, *our* bar of soap?!?”
Status: warming to my theme
January 2, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Status: warming to my theme
I am getting sworn in at the mass grave of the 1916 leaders that’s overlooked by the sex offenders’ prison in Arbour Hill; and it’s got to be my own copy of Ulysses
congratulations! you have been elected mayor of your city
where are you being sworn in, and what book are you swearing on?
i'll go first: those weird electricity boxes on college green, and i'm swearing on a first edition of dracula
where are you being sworn in, and what book are you swearing on?
i'll go first: those weird electricity boxes on college green, and i'm swearing on a first edition of dracula
January 2, 2026 at 1:05 AM
I am getting sworn in at the mass grave of the 1916 leaders that’s overlooked by the sex offenders’ prison in Arbour Hill; and it’s got to be my own copy of Ulysses
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
2026 means it's a decade since the 2016 Democratic Primary. Posters be warned.
January 1, 2026 at 9:00 PM
2026 means it's a decade since the 2016 Democratic Primary. Posters be warned.
I listen to little new music – I don’t know how some of you keep up tbh – so I just have 3 favourite 2025 music things. But let me tell you, I listened the arse off each of them:
Blood Orange – the new thing he did
Sharon Van Etten – the new thing she did
Kamasi Washinton – the new thing he did
Blood Orange – the new thing he did
Sharon Van Etten – the new thing she did
Kamasi Washinton – the new thing he did
January 1, 2026 at 11:20 PM
I listen to little new music – I don’t know how some of you keep up tbh – so I just have 3 favourite 2025 music things. But let me tell you, I listened the arse off each of them:
Blood Orange – the new thing he did
Sharon Van Etten – the new thing she did
Kamasi Washinton – the new thing he did
Blood Orange – the new thing he did
Sharon Van Etten – the new thing she did
Kamasi Washinton – the new thing he did
The most Dublin thing about me is that I like Fontaines DC but I can’t stop calling them DiFontaines
January 1, 2026 at 10:58 PM
The most Dublin thing about me is that I like Fontaines DC but I can’t stop calling them DiFontaines
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
subscriptions >>> shop.viz.co.uk/viz351bs
January 1, 2026 at 10:31 PM
subscriptions >>> shop.viz.co.uk/viz351bs
Hand-made, resolable, Spanish leather boots are about the most socialist-coded items of clothing I can think of
January 1, 2026 at 9:19 PM
Hand-made, resolable, Spanish leather boots are about the most socialist-coded items of clothing I can think of
It’s weird that people who for a long time wanted US influence out of Europe are furious to discover that the withdrawal of US influence will require Europe to do some stuff in order ti stand on its own feet
January 1, 2026 at 8:27 PM
It’s weird that people who for a long time wanted US influence out of Europe are furious to discover that the withdrawal of US influence will require Europe to do some stuff in order ti stand on its own feet
Does the mayor actually have the power to do this?
Mamdani: "The cost of childcare will no longer discourage young adults from starting a family, because we will deliver universal childcare for the many by taxing the wealthiest few"
January 1, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Does the mayor actually have the power to do this?
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
Yeah I have said this before but one thing that happens in middle age is you realise life is actually quite hard for most people. Would have liked to understand this at 18 tbh.
January 1, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Yeah I have said this before but one thing that happens in middle age is you realise life is actually quite hard for most people. Would have liked to understand this at 18 tbh.
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
the US playing catch-up from a 5 or 10 year lead on fundamental tech is like a fever dream that ought to have been impossible
December 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM
the US playing catch-up from a 5 or 10 year lead on fundamental tech is like a fever dream that ought to have been impossible
Going to my cousin’s wedding tomorrow and it suddenly struck me that a baby I held in my arms is getting married. But I’m a millennial!! I’m young!!!
a group of women are walking down a sidewalk and one of them is saying `` i 'm beautiful '' .
ALT: a group of women are walking down a sidewalk and one of them is saying `` i 'm beautiful '' .
media.tenor.com
January 1, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Going to my cousin’s wedding tomorrow and it suddenly struck me that a baby I held in my arms is getting married. But I’m a millennial!! I’m young!!!
I see that an album is being promoted as “human made” and therefore part of the anti-AI resistance. You’re not supposed to use AI to make your album! You don’t get to take credit for it!
January 1, 2026 at 12:17 PM
I see that an album is being promoted as “human made” and therefore part of the anti-AI resistance. You’re not supposed to use AI to make your album! You don’t get to take credit for it!
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
One trillion of AI investment is riding on this being legal
So we just accept this then? This is a legitimate use of technology going forward? This vile individual's account is just prompt after prompt asking Al to alter real-life images of women. The law needs to catch up with technology now - because we can't trust these tech companies to police themselves
January 1, 2026 at 11:34 AM
One trillion of AI investment is riding on this being legal
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
So we just accept this then? This is a legitimate use of technology going forward? This vile individual's account is just prompt after prompt asking Al to alter real-life images of women. The law needs to catch up with technology now - because we can't trust these tech companies to police themselves
January 1, 2026 at 10:50 AM
So we just accept this then? This is a legitimate use of technology going forward? This vile individual's account is just prompt after prompt asking Al to alter real-life images of women. The law needs to catch up with technology now - because we can't trust these tech companies to police themselves
I’m guessing it was pointed out to the government that the guards don’t actually have the capacity to start chasing up every red-light breaker, which is a whole lot of people in this city
January 1, 2026 at 11:28 AM
I’m guessing it was pointed out to the government that the guards don’t actually have the capacity to start chasing up every red-light breaker, which is a whole lot of people in this city
9 > 10
qualitatively
qualitatively
January 1, 2026 at 11:26 AM
9 > 10
qualitatively
qualitatively
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
Residents of a white working-class neighborhood in Amsterdam North attack police with fireworks on NY’s Eve. The city had barred them from lighting a public bonfire because of the danger to neighboring houses.
Stukje traditie in Amsterdam Noord. Politie beschieten met vuurwerk.
January 1, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Residents of a white working-class neighborhood in Amsterdam North attack police with fireworks on NY’s Eve. The city had barred them from lighting a public bonfire because of the danger to neighboring houses.
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
The image of Stalin and the Bolsheviks that emerges in all these stories is that he was the odd working class member of a group dominated by middle class poseurs who prattled on about Marxist theory in a way he couldn't follow but suspected was bogus... and so he had them shot when he had power.
January 1, 2026 at 11:05 AM
The image of Stalin and the Bolsheviks that emerges in all these stories is that he was the odd working class member of a group dominated by middle class poseurs who prattled on about Marxist theory in a way he couldn't follow but suspected was bogus... and so he had them shot when he had power.
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
Any Dutch who might have thought to contest implementation of the anti-fireworks law next year are going to have a hard time making their case, after the Vondelkerk burnt down tonight www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
January 1, 2026 at 2:29 AM
Any Dutch who might have thought to contest implementation of the anti-fireworks law next year are going to have a hard time making their case, after the Vondelkerk burnt down tonight www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/...
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
Also reading isn't a monotonic progression from easy to hard. It's completely fine to read easier books, articles, microblogging sites, after you've first read a long difficult book. It's not a baby book, or too easy.
January 1, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Also reading isn't a monotonic progression from easy to hard. It's completely fine to read easier books, articles, microblogging sites, after you've first read a long difficult book. It's not a baby book, or too easy.
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
It's the national year of reading in the uk in 2026. Instead of asking "why don't kids read any more", ask "how can I help them find the stories (and non fic) they will fall in love with". Less "get off my lawn whippersnappers" and more "come, sit on the lawn, here's a comic".
January 1, 2026 at 9:47 AM
It's the national year of reading in the uk in 2026. Instead of asking "why don't kids read any more", ask "how can I help them find the stories (and non fic) they will fall in love with". Less "get off my lawn whippersnappers" and more "come, sit on the lawn, here's a comic".
Reposted by Matthew Parkinson-Bennett
WATCH: Church tower of Vondelkerk (Vondel Church) collapses from fire in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; many homes being evacuated.
January 1, 2026 at 2:49 AM
WATCH: Church tower of Vondelkerk (Vondel Church) collapses from fire in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; many homes being evacuated.