Simon Seligman
@oybat.bsky.social
Life Coaching, cultural lecturing, comms for arts charity; proud partner & dad in our neuro-diverse family. Derbyshire Peak District. www.seligmancoaching.co.uk
Reposted by Simon Seligman
In tribute to the late Tony Harrison, BBC Radio 4 will be rebroadcasting this 2013 feature on v., his controversial long poem. Tony Harrison read the poem in full, and writer Blake Morrison discussed the poem's impact.
Tune in at 11pm tonight, 6 Nov, or listen later.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
Tune in at 11pm tonight, 6 Nov, or listen later.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
BBC Radio 4 - Artworks, v. by Tony Harrison
The controversial poem by Tony Harrison, to mark his death.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
In tribute to the late Tony Harrison, BBC Radio 4 will be rebroadcasting this 2013 feature on v., his controversial long poem. Tony Harrison read the poem in full, and writer Blake Morrison discussed the poem's impact.
Tune in at 11pm tonight, 6 Nov, or listen later.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
Tune in at 11pm tonight, 6 Nov, or listen later.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...
It’s hard to tell which is more hollow.
November 5, 2025 at 3:52 PM
It’s hard to tell which is more hollow.
Brilliantly put.
Trumpist rule consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: there must be a president and executive branch whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside its opponents and victims whom the law binds but does not protect.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/m...
November 2, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Brilliantly put.
I concur.
Hannan and Frost in the Telegraph.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.
A Brexiter writes...
November 2, 2025 at 11:22 AM
I concur.
I carved this pumpkin in 2020, when America was making its first (and last?) attempt to be rid of the putrefying orange menace. It turns out that rotting carcasses can regenerate after all.
October 31, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I carved this pumpkin in 2020, when America was making its first (and last?) attempt to be rid of the putrefying orange menace. It turns out that rotting carcasses can regenerate after all.
Reposted by Simon Seligman
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
![[Scene is the entrance cabin to a NATIONAL TRUST PROPERTY AND GARDENS]
1
NATIONAL TRUST EMPLOYEE [inside cabin]:
Hello there
2
[A young family - two parents two kids - have arrived at the front desk].
DAD:
Hi - do you have an activity trail, for the kids?
3
NT EMPLOYEE:
Of course – you’re just in time for the Autumn Gammon Trail!
4
MUM:
That sounds fun, doesn’t it kids?
5
NT EMPLOYEE [handing an activity sheet and pencils to the kids]:
Every autumn, the Reform Trust gammons flock back to the National Trust for the AGM. Just follow the trail round the grounds, and see how many you can spot!
6
NT EMPLOYEE [hearing something in the gardens]:
Listen - that's their call
[Calls emanating from the landscape]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
7
NT EMPLOYEE [showing the family an apparently empty fenced enclosure with some bushes in]:
They are extremely sensitive and fragile...
But you can bring them out of hiding if you put a little sign down mentioning slavery.
8
KIDS [pointing]:
There they are!
[Some little red faced PEOPLE wearing Barbour jackets and gilets emerge cautiously from the bushes. They are creeping towards a TINY SIGN in the middle of the enclosure].
[Little people noises]:
woke-woke
tut-tut
woke-woke
9
[Close-up of the TINY SIGN - we can read that it says]:
Slavery had a bit to do with building this massive house.
[Noises from the little people again as they inspect the tiny sign]:
tut-tut
woke-woke
10
MUM [pointing]:
What's that one doing there?
NT EMPLOYEE:
Oh, that's so sweet…
11
[We see that one of the people is sat on a rock, with a little laptop open on a tree stump, and they are furiously typing away].
NT EMPLOYEE:
I think he's writing a column for the Daily Telegraph…
12
[We see close up to the little person’s screen, it is a word document reading]:
Are National Trust scones secretly WOKE?
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreib7lt736b6rmzinml5s7kxjdaapo2a36xp4d4lssypimx3taqicdm@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM
If you're a National Trust member, it's that time of year again: Midnight tonight is the deadline. It's a shame people have to keep doing this to keep a toehold on historical truth in this country, but here we are. Voting link: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/who-we-are/a...
I found this a wonderful read.
Fantasy vs Disappointment: a dispatch from the fence. open.substack.com/pub/louiswei...
Fantasy vs Disappointment: a dispatch from the fence. open.substack.com/pub/louiswei...
Fantasy vs Disappointment: a dispatch from the fence.
1. Sometimes the world feels juicier, more full of possibility, when it’s playing as a private showreel in the cinema of my own mind.
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I found this a wonderful read.
Fantasy vs Disappointment: a dispatch from the fence. open.substack.com/pub/louiswei...
Fantasy vs Disappointment: a dispatch from the fence. open.substack.com/pub/louiswei...
They’re worse than ‘traditionalists’, some of the Restore Trust folk. They’re highly political, opaquely funded, regressive, entitled whingers, afraid of the rich, complex diversity of our heritage & history. They wish the @nationaltrust.org.uk nothing but malice, and this Life Member rejects them.
National Trust Members.
It’s time to vote to keep the Faragists out.
Best not to split the vote.
Use the QUICK VOTE” link both for people and for motions.
It’s time to vote to keep the Faragists out.
Best not to split the vote.
Use the QUICK VOTE” link both for people and for motions.
Which reminds me, it's that time of year again for National Trust members to vote. The easiest way is to use the 'quick vote' to keep out the traditionalist 'Restore Trust' candidates. secure.cesvotes.com/V3-3-0/nt25/...
1/2
1/2
October 20, 2025 at 8:38 PM
They’re worse than ‘traditionalists’, some of the Restore Trust folk. They’re highly political, opaquely funded, regressive, entitled whingers, afraid of the rich, complex diversity of our heritage & history. They wish the @nationaltrust.org.uk nothing but malice, and this Life Member rejects them.
Reposted by Simon Seligman
"There are no proven therapies or drugs that ‘cure’ autism. Most autistic people and families want research to focus on better understanding and support."
Joint statement from the major UK autism charities: www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/about-us/med...
Joint statement from the major UK autism charities: www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/about-us/med...
Our joint statement on the US government’s autism announcement
Ambitious about Autism is the national charity for autistic children and young people. We stand with autistic children, young people and their families to champion rights, campaign for change and crea...
www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk
September 23, 2025 at 7:34 AM
"There are no proven therapies or drugs that ‘cure’ autism. Most autistic people and families want research to focus on better understanding and support."
Joint statement from the major UK autism charities: www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/about-us/med...
Joint statement from the major UK autism charities: www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/about-us/med...
Beautiful from @olivermantell.bsky.social
September 10, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Beautiful from @olivermantell.bsky.social
Beautiful.
‘I thought, I can’t keep living with this shame’: five life models on the power of posing nude
‘I thought, I can’t keep living with this shame’: five life models on the power of posing nude
What is it like to be in a room full of artists who are observing and drawing your naked body? Sitters discuss the freedom and healing they have experienced
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Beautiful.
Because there is ‘so’ much more evidence of God’ existence than there is that queer people exist, and have always existed. Bigotry and cruelty exhibited proudly by people of ‘faith’ is never ending.
June 19, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Because there is ‘so’ much more evidence of God’ existence than there is that queer people exist, and have always existed. Bigotry and cruelty exhibited proudly by people of ‘faith’ is never ending.
SUCH a beautiful piece of writing from @johnharris1969.bsky.social - manages to simultaneously honour the unique genius of Brian Wilson while also gently making the most civilised-possible argument for society to better understand the fragile necessity of neurodiversity in making a beautiful world.
Latest Maybe I'm Amazed Substack from me: on neurodiversity, creativity, genius & Brian Wilson. It's free, as are subscriptions
maybeimamazed.substack.com/p/neurodiver...
maybeimamazed.substack.com/p/neurodiver...
Neurodiversity, creativity and genius: on Brian Wilson
He was hyper-sensitised to sound and able to write modern symphonies; he also found social etiquette and self-promotion impossible. Many people will recognise that cognitive style
maybeimamazed.substack.com
June 15, 2025 at 9:54 PM
SUCH a beautiful piece of writing from @johnharris1969.bsky.social - manages to simultaneously honour the unique genius of Brian Wilson while also gently making the most civilised-possible argument for society to better understand the fragile necessity of neurodiversity in making a beautiful world.
Reposted by Simon Seligman
Re extra money to improve schools' SEND provision: I agree with the Disabled Children's Partnership
June 8, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Re extra money to improve schools' SEND provision: I agree with the Disabled Children's Partnership
Goodwood Art Foundation n Sussex today, with landscaping by Dan Pearson and an opening exhibition by Rachel Whiteread; a fantastic achievement.
June 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Goodwood Art Foundation n Sussex today, with landscaping by Dan Pearson and an opening exhibition by Rachel Whiteread; a fantastic achievement.
First of two Arts Society lectures in Sussex today, on the colourful and consequential life and work of Debo, Mitford & Duchess of Devonshire, who worked with her husband Andrew on the revival of Chatsworth for more than half a century. #chatsworth
June 3, 2025 at 7:54 AM
First of two Arts Society lectures in Sussex today, on the colourful and consequential life and work of Debo, Mitford & Duchess of Devonshire, who worked with her husband Andrew on the revival of Chatsworth for more than half a century. #chatsworth
For once, not a new build, not in London and not a place afraid of the rich complexity of history, culture and society. Huge congratulations to Esme Ward and her colleagues.
May 28, 2025 at 1:27 PM
For once, not a new build, not in London and not a place afraid of the rich complexity of history, culture and society. Huge congratulations to Esme Ward and her colleagues.
Reposted by Simon Seligman
What to Look For in Spring, with Kemi Badenoch
![1 [Title panel, like the old Ladybird book]:
'What To Look For In Spring
with Kemi Badenoch'
2
KEMI [glued to her phone as she walks through a beautiful springtime scene]:
One thing that always brings me joy at this time of year
3
KEMI:
is to spot a really dank meme.
[Kemi is walking past children dancing round a maypole, daffodils swaying in the breeze, cricketers playing on village greens]
4
KEMI:
Or seeing the number of plays on my Jordan Peterson podcast
[She has now entered a beautiful woodland, shafts of light dappling an infinite carpet of bluebells]
5
KEMI:
Or beholding one of my mutuals get traction on X with a thread on Cultural Marxism and Gender Ideology
[Butterflies flit past. A Badger scampers by her feet, unheeded]
6
KEMI:
Or an inspiring takedown of Critical Race Theory by Katherine Birbalsingh, Britain’s Strictest Headteacher!
7
KEMI [a bluebird landing on her shoulder, a dragonfly buzzing past through a shaft of sunlight]:
Ah - look - @Rando64’s reposted a fire crying-doge meme clapping back at some leftist journalist’s take
8
KEMI:
[Continues]
...on my Insta post memeing what I said to Jordan about the West being in crisis from the metropolitan elite.
9
KEMI:
[silently walking, still looking at her phone while deer gambol, lambs frolic, hares box around her, unheeded]
10
KEMI:
[Walking off into out of the woods, still on her phone]:
Beautiful!](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreiatkdwstxhqixolm3ficravqal6vqs3cnyyvlx64vkj36n2jjpok4@jpeg)
May 15, 2025 at 10:46 AM
What to Look For in Spring, with Kemi Badenoch
In beautiful Appleby-in-Westmorland to lecture for The Arts Society on the life & work of Debo, Mitford and Duchess of Devonshire, my boss & then friend, who transformed Chatsworth with her husband over 5 decades, making it a benchmark of heritage survival, visitor welcome & flourishing resilience.
May 14, 2025 at 8:37 AM
In beautiful Appleby-in-Westmorland to lecture for The Arts Society on the life & work of Debo, Mitford and Duchess of Devonshire, my boss & then friend, who transformed Chatsworth with her husband over 5 decades, making it a benchmark of heritage survival, visitor welcome & flourishing resilience.
Reposted by Simon Seligman
My grandmas were immigrants, my mum & sisters in law are immigrants; my sister & nephews are migrants. My kids study maths, Shakespeare, dance, act & score tries alongside the kids of immigrants. My dad’s life was saved by immigrants. Immigrants have made us richer, wiser, stronger
Win the fight
Win the fight
May 13, 2025 at 9:02 AM
My grandmas were immigrants, my mum & sisters in law are immigrants; my sister & nephews are migrants. My kids study maths, Shakespeare, dance, act & score tries alongside the kids of immigrants. My dad’s life was saved by immigrants. Immigrants have made us richer, wiser, stronger
Win the fight
Win the fight
“I’ve always felt with the writers that I like that they continue to ask questions, they continue to be spellbound, to engage in wonder rather than becoming wise and knowledgable.” A yes from me; thank you Simon Armitage. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
Simon Armitage: ‘Our pace of life is unhelpful to nature, it’s burning it up’
Exclusive: Poet laureate says new book, inspired by wildlife at Cornish garden, is a plea for humans to slow down and reflect
www.theguardian.com
May 9, 2025 at 1:12 PM
“I’ve always felt with the writers that I like that they continue to ask questions, they continue to be spellbound, to engage in wonder rather than becoming wise and knowledgable.” A yes from me; thank you Simon Armitage. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...