Owen Blacker
@owenblacker.bsky.social
🇪🇺🏳️🌈🏴🇵🇸♿⧖ he/him, cis.
Queer political geek; proud social justice warrior+trans ally. Queering Wikipedia (and chair of @wmlgbt.org), Open Rights Group, ex-mySociety. Dysgwr. My opinions, not my employer’s.
t.me/owenblacker
owen.blacker.me.uk
Queer political geek; proud social justice warrior+trans ally. Queering Wikipedia (and chair of @wmlgbt.org), Open Rights Group, ex-mySociety. Dysgwr. My opinions, not my employer’s.
t.me/owenblacker
owen.blacker.me.uk
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Back in the old days, we used to call this a purge. Firing all your senior leaders at NIH? It's a purge. Just call it what it is.
More news (not good) from NIH
The renewal request from National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke Director Walter Koroshetz has been denied.
I guess the NIH_leadership™ needed another position to fill with their time-tested recruitment process.
The renewal request from National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke Director Walter Koroshetz has been denied.
I guess the NIH_leadership™ needed another position to fill with their time-tested recruitment process.
December 27, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Back in the old days, we used to call this a purge. Firing all your senior leaders at NIH? It's a purge. Just call it what it is.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Finally, after so many years of transitioning...
I might soon finally be able to change my long standing cringey gmail address with my deadname in it!
I might soon finally be able to change my long standing cringey gmail address with my deadname in it!
December 27, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Finally, after so many years of transitioning...
I might soon finally be able to change my long standing cringey gmail address with my deadname in it!
I might soon finally be able to change my long standing cringey gmail address with my deadname in it!
Reposted by Owen Blacker
1. I listen to a LOT of podcasts (subbed to ~300)
2. I also watch a lot of Youtube
3. There is *zero* overlap between the two for me
4. If you put a video version of your podcast out, I'll actively avoid it
Bonus: your phone will subtitle audio, certainly Android can, have a mess in access settings
2. I also watch a lot of Youtube
3. There is *zero* overlap between the two for me
4. If you put a video version of your podcast out, I'll actively avoid it
Bonus: your phone will subtitle audio, certainly Android can, have a mess in access settings
will also add - yes, this is my personal crusade - that turning podcasts into videos implicitly asks women to once again make more effort than men, as the bar for "camera-ready" for one gender is obviously higher than for the other
‘Painful to hear!’ How podcasts’ rush to video is turning them into dreadful listens
December 27, 2025 at 4:06 PM
1. I listen to a LOT of podcasts (subbed to ~300)
2. I also watch a lot of Youtube
3. There is *zero* overlap between the two for me
4. If you put a video version of your podcast out, I'll actively avoid it
Bonus: your phone will subtitle audio, certainly Android can, have a mess in access settings
2. I also watch a lot of Youtube
3. There is *zero* overlap between the two for me
4. If you put a video version of your podcast out, I'll actively avoid it
Bonus: your phone will subtitle audio, certainly Android can, have a mess in access settings
Reposted by Owen Blacker
will also add - yes, this is my personal crusade - that turning podcasts into videos implicitly asks women to once again make more effort than men, as the bar for "camera-ready" for one gender is obviously higher than for the other
‘Painful to hear!’ How podcasts’ rush to video is turning them into dreadful listens
‘Painful to hear!’ How podcasts’ rush to video is turning them into dreadful listens
From Joe Marler’s visual-only stunts to the incomprehensible shuffling sounds Steven Bartlett recently subjected headphone users to, dodgy audio experiences are on the rise
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2025 at 10:20 AM
will also add - yes, this is my personal crusade - that turning podcasts into videos implicitly asks women to once again make more effort than men, as the bar for "camera-ready" for one gender is obviously higher than for the other
Reposted by Owen Blacker
New Year's Resolution is to have even an ounce of the confidence of influencers holding up the entire street for a photoshoot.
December 27, 2025 at 3:34 PM
New Year's Resolution is to have even an ounce of the confidence of influencers holding up the entire street for a photoshoot.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Oh hey by the way do you want to preorder those books?
If you save your receipt there will be a preorder reward
If you save your receipt there will be a preorder reward
I'm relaunching Dominion of the Fallen in the US with @awfulagent.bsky.social
Magnificent covers by @fringe-element.net
Deliciously gothic atmosphere, queer characters from across the world, and high intrigue--in a Paris wrecked by magical cataclysms
March 10th, 2026!
awfulagent.com/ebooks/the-h...
Magnificent covers by @fringe-element.net
Deliciously gothic atmosphere, queer characters from across the world, and high intrigue--in a Paris wrecked by magical cataclysms
March 10th, 2026!
awfulagent.com/ebooks/the-h...
December 27, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Oh hey by the way do you want to preorder those books?
If you save your receipt there will be a preorder reward
If you save your receipt there will be a preorder reward
Reposted by Owen Blacker
It’s very funny how this has become the latest moral panic for the media class, when people have been cutting family ties for centuries. Long before newspapers were a thing, let alone TikTok
"I worry that we are rapidly moving towards a society of self-absorbed and entitled individuals who have no time, affection or care for their parents." Letter in the Times from a 'relationship and family therapist' in response to Sarah Ditum's article attacking kids who have cut off abusive parents
December 27, 2025 at 1:16 PM
It’s very funny how this has become the latest moral panic for the media class, when people have been cutting family ties for centuries. Long before newspapers were a thing, let alone TikTok
Reposted by Owen Blacker
"Um yes hello thank you for coming to worship me"
December 22, 2025 at 7:59 AM
"Um yes hello thank you for coming to worship me"
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Also, earlier today I was playing Minecraft with my daughter, who now has many massive secret lairs. she demanded I pick a pet for myself. I chose a chicken. She labeled it but missed the Z when typing and thus it was named:
Yo let’s chicken
i don’t know where we should use that name but i love it
Yo let’s chicken
i don’t know where we should use that name but i love it
explain your username:
it’s short for yozlet
it’s short for yozlet
explain your username:
it's my actual name and it rules and i finally grew into it in my late teens and have been camping on 'dorian' everywhere i can since efnet
it's my actual name and it rules and i finally grew into it in my late teens and have been camping on 'dorian' everywhere i can since efnet
December 25, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Also, earlier today I was playing Minecraft with my daughter, who now has many massive secret lairs. she demanded I pick a pet for myself. I chose a chicken. She labeled it but missed the Z when typing and thus it was named:
Yo let’s chicken
i don’t know where we should use that name but i love it
Yo let’s chicken
i don’t know where we should use that name but i love it
Reposted by Owen Blacker
There are some old women who have been stood up on this train for two hours and counting and they're moaning about HS2 and how pointless it is. "ruining the countryside and what for?" 😭😭😭😭
December 27, 2025 at 12:20 PM
There are some old women who have been stood up on this train for two hours and counting and they're moaning about HS2 and how pointless it is. "ruining the countryside and what for?" 😭😭😭😭
Reposted by Owen Blacker
In their willingness to roll up their sleeves-sometimes literally between scenes-I saw a truth we often forget: we are strongest when we take care of one another. And in a year when so much feels uncertain, that simple lesson is worth holding on to. www.statnews.com/2025/12/24/f... via @statnews.com
What giving flu shots backstage taught me about public health
On or off Broadway, public health lives or dies at the level of ordinary, everyday interactions.
www.statnews.com
December 27, 2025 at 12:19 PM
In their willingness to roll up their sleeves-sometimes literally between scenes-I saw a truth we often forget: we are strongest when we take care of one another. And in a year when so much feels uncertain, that simple lesson is worth holding on to. www.statnews.com/2025/12/24/f... via @statnews.com
Reposted by Owen Blacker
#TodayInQueerHistory
December 27 (1901)
Celebrating Marlene Dietrich who was born #OTD.
Marlene gave us an iconic lesbian kiss in her 1930s film Morocco. She allegedly enjoyed the thriving queer scene in 1920s Berlin, had relationships with other women and rocked a tuxedo!
December 27 (1901)
Celebrating Marlene Dietrich who was born #OTD.
Marlene gave us an iconic lesbian kiss in her 1930s film Morocco. She allegedly enjoyed the thriving queer scene in 1920s Berlin, had relationships with other women and rocked a tuxedo!
December 27, 2025 at 11:55 AM
#TodayInQueerHistory
December 27 (1901)
Celebrating Marlene Dietrich who was born #OTD.
Marlene gave us an iconic lesbian kiss in her 1930s film Morocco. She allegedly enjoyed the thriving queer scene in 1920s Berlin, had relationships with other women and rocked a tuxedo!
December 27 (1901)
Celebrating Marlene Dietrich who was born #OTD.
Marlene gave us an iconic lesbian kiss in her 1930s film Morocco. She allegedly enjoyed the thriving queer scene in 1920s Berlin, had relationships with other women and rocked a tuxedo!
Reposted by Owen Blacker
This is quite a wild ride for Fanny fans.
Alas! It is 31 years since the world was deprived of one of its more colourful culinary characters: Phyllis Nan Sortain Pechey – better known as double bigamist, child abandoner, amphetamine user, dangerous driver, and celebrity cook Fanny Cradock
December 27, 2025 at 11:40 AM
This is quite a wild ride for Fanny fans.
My second all-green! 💚
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 9 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 9 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
Clues by Sam
A daily logic puzzle where you deduce who is a criminal!
cluesbysam.com
December 27, 2025 at 11:43 AM
My second all-green! 💚
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 9 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
I solved the daily Clues by Sam, Dec 27th 2025 (Tricky), in less than 9 minutes
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
cluesbysam.com
Reposted by Owen Blacker
I got these form the other place so not sure of the publication date for the second screenshot, but the first one was 2024
December 27, 2025 at 9:51 AM
I got these form the other place so not sure of the publication date for the second screenshot, but the first one was 2024
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Another letter in the Times about puberty blockers
December 27, 2025 at 9:06 AM
Another letter in the Times about puberty blockers
Reposted by Owen Blacker
"A “gentle giant” doctor has been suspended for a year over drunkenly headbutting a waiter after arriving hours late for a bar booking." Times
Yeah, super gentle...
Yeah, super gentle...
December 27, 2025 at 9:04 AM
"A “gentle giant” doctor has been suspended for a year over drunkenly headbutting a waiter after arriving hours late for a bar booking." Times
Yeah, super gentle...
Yeah, super gentle...
Reposted by Owen Blacker
He's also a GC twat.
-Alright Chris. You’ve been out of the public eye for ages. No one under forty really knows who you are. It’s a soft-soap interview in the Telegraph during Christmas, keep it light and irreverent and you’ll be fi-
-BRING BACK HANGING
-BRING BACK HANGING
December 27, 2025 at 8:52 AM
He's also a GC twat.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
"sex-rejecting procedures"
HHS is trying to force Seattle Children's into doing a Sophie's choice of abandoning trans youth or see kids with cancer or other serious illness have their coverage and care disrupted. That's what this is about.
Hopefully, the courts put a quick stop to this like the subpoenas.
Hopefully, the courts put a quick stop to this like the subpoenas.
December 27, 2025 at 8:06 AM
"sex-rejecting procedures"
Reposted by Owen Blacker
If you're wondering how explaining Gays to children went in the country where we're defacto illegal here's how it went.
Me *hugging bf over breakfast*
5yo: I had a dream I lived on a marshmallow planet.
--end scene--
Kids don't care until adults force their own prejudices upon them.
Me *hugging bf over breakfast*
5yo: I had a dream I lived on a marshmallow planet.
--end scene--
Kids don't care until adults force their own prejudices upon them.
December 27, 2025 at 4:06 AM
If you're wondering how explaining Gays to children went in the country where we're defacto illegal here's how it went.
Me *hugging bf over breakfast*
5yo: I had a dream I lived on a marshmallow planet.
--end scene--
Kids don't care until adults force their own prejudices upon them.
Me *hugging bf over breakfast*
5yo: I had a dream I lived on a marshmallow planet.
--end scene--
Kids don't care until adults force their own prejudices upon them.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
I'm not even going to talk about the "fact based" part, when they pay Helen Lewis to write about trans people.
December 27, 2025 at 3:43 AM
I'm not even going to talk about the "fact based" part, when they pay Helen Lewis to write about trans people.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
The Atlantic is literally owned by a billionaire. I don't think it gets to count as independent journalism.
December 27, 2025 at 3:41 AM
The Atlantic is literally owned by a billionaire. I don't think it gets to count as independent journalism.
Reposted by Owen Blacker
Lemme fix it for you:
"Billionaires, in an attempt to prevent a proposed tax measure, claim they will leave California if it passes"
This is an accurate headline. Notice I didn't even say they're lying, which they obviously are. Because that, much like accepting their claims, is bad journalism.
"Billionaires, in an attempt to prevent a proposed tax measure, claim they will leave California if it passes"
This is an accurate headline. Notice I didn't even say they're lying, which they obviously are. Because that, much like accepting their claims, is bad journalism.
Billionaires are considering cutting or reducing their ties to California by the end of the year because of a proposed ballot measure that could tax the state’s wealthiest residents.
A Wealth Tax Floated in California Has Billionaires Thinking of Leaving
It’s uncertain whether the proposal will reach the statewide ballot in November, but some billionaires like Peter Thiel and Larry Page may be unwilling to take the risk.
nyti.ms
December 27, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Lemme fix it for you:
"Billionaires, in an attempt to prevent a proposed tax measure, claim they will leave California if it passes"
This is an accurate headline. Notice I didn't even say they're lying, which they obviously are. Because that, much like accepting their claims, is bad journalism.
"Billionaires, in an attempt to prevent a proposed tax measure, claim they will leave California if it passes"
This is an accurate headline. Notice I didn't even say they're lying, which they obviously are. Because that, much like accepting their claims, is bad journalism.