Sam Leith
@questingvole.bsky.social
@spectator lit ed. “Clock-white, still friendly to the earth.” https://bit.ly/TheHauntedWood
Pinned
Sam Leith
@questingvole.bsky.social
· Sep 4
The Haunted Wood | Oneworld
'A MARVEL' PHILIP PULLMAN Do you remember the first time you fell in love with a book? The stories we read as children extend far beyond our childhoods; they are a window into our deepest hopes, joys ...
bit.ly
My book is out in paperback TODAY. All about children’s books, which are the best and most important sort. bit.ly/4pdXMNt
Reposted by Sam Leith
Give me your Nobel Peace Prize or I’ll kill you.
January 15, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Give me your Nobel Peace Prize or I’ll kill you.
My penetrating analysis of the geopolitical subtleties of the situation
Is there method in Donald Trump's madness?
The president of the United States is not playing four-dimensional chess with long-term global politics but, rather, is a complete maniac
spectator.com
January 19, 2026 at 8:58 AM
My penetrating analysis of the geopolitical subtleties of the situation
Reposted by Sam Leith
I feel I should bang the drum for this post, which hasn't received the love it deserves.
It helps to know that Jenrick's constituency is Newark.
It helps to know that Jenrick's constituency is Newark.
Robert Jenrick is unique in British politics for being the only MP who is an anagram of his constituency
January 18, 2026 at 12:58 PM
I feel I should bang the drum for this post, which hasn't received the love it deserves.
It helps to know that Jenrick's constituency is Newark.
It helps to know that Jenrick's constituency is Newark.
Reposted by Sam Leith
New Substack out today - @questingvole.bsky.social you are implicated xxx open.substack.com/pub/thatwrit...
Tripping the Light Fantastic
Francis Spufford is a very rare type of writer.
open.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:36 AM
New Substack out today - @questingvole.bsky.social you are implicated xxx open.substack.com/pub/thatwrit...
*logs on to see the latest on Greenland* *laughs like the sound of an ancient tomb opening* *logs off*
January 17, 2026 at 8:09 PM
*logs on to see the latest on Greenland* *laughs like the sound of an ancient tomb opening* *logs off*
Totally normal presidency.
Imagine having Trump point at you - you specifically - and say "fuck you" - again, fuck *you* specifically - twice in one day, and then he caps it off by flicking you off in front of everyone. The stuff of legends tbh
WATCH: Trump shows his middle finger and appears to say "fuck you" after Ford worker yells "pedophile protector" - TMZ
January 13, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Totally normal presidency.
Reminder of the quality of Reform’s latest recruit
The curious carefulness of Nadhim Zahawi's ‘carelessness’
The cliché is that it’s scandals about sex that tend to do for Tories, and scandals about money that do for their counterparts on the opposite benches. To give credit to the current generation of Tori...
spectator.com
January 12, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Reminder of the quality of Reform’s latest recruit
Watching my kid play football. I realise I’m 52 and still have no idea what “man on” means.
January 10, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Watching my kid play football. I realise I’m 52 and still have no idea what “man on” means.
Reposted by Sam Leith
Reposted by Sam Leith
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
January 5, 2026 at 6:50 AM
amazing how the entire machine can pivot within 24 hours. no need to slowly upsell the argument; just issue new marching orders
So we’re invading Venezuela now, is it, Ted?
a man in a clergy collar is making a face
ALT: a man in a clergy collar is making a face
media.tenor.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:42 PM
So we’re invading Venezuela now, is it, Ted?
Another broken promise. Disappointed.
🧪A few more hours to go…
January 1, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Another broken promise. Disappointed.
Reposted by Sam Leith
Hetta and William Empson.
January 1, 2026 at 7:18 PM
Hetta and William Empson.
I’ll take “Things You Don’t Want To Read On Your 52nd Birthday”, please, Clive.
January 1, 2026 at 7:35 PM
I’ll take “Things You Don’t Want To Read On Your 52nd Birthday”, please, Clive.
Reposted by Sam Leith
These were my favourite non-fiction books, with special mention of the Sarah Perry which was the best book I read last year - a beautifully observed, deeply moving and cathartic read.
@questingvole.bsky.social @lutimestwo.bsky.social @clairedederer.bsky.social @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social
@questingvole.bsky.social @lutimestwo.bsky.social @clairedederer.bsky.social @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social
January 1, 2026 at 8:37 AM
These were my favourite non-fiction books, with special mention of the Sarah Perry which was the best book I read last year - a beautifully observed, deeply moving and cathartic read.
@questingvole.bsky.social @lutimestwo.bsky.social @clairedederer.bsky.social @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social
@questingvole.bsky.social @lutimestwo.bsky.social @clairedederer.bsky.social @elizabetholdfield.bsky.social
Reposted by Sam Leith
“This morning I discovered the newborn year on my doorstep, begging to be welcomed into the house. I hesitated a moment for fear of what might come in its wake. But it continued to plead until I picked it up, not out of pity, but because I had to.”
(‘Autobiographies: A Year in Llŷn’)
(‘Autobiographies: A Year in Llŷn’)
December 31, 2025 at 9:35 PM
“This morning I discovered the newborn year on my doorstep, begging to be welcomed into the house. I hesitated a moment for fear of what might come in its wake. But it continued to plead until I picked it up, not out of pity, but because I had to.”
(‘Autobiographies: A Year in Llŷn’)
(‘Autobiographies: A Year in Llŷn’)
Reposted by Sam Leith
Fantastic piece putting the Bari Weiss Experiment in perspective
As it happens, I have experience with high-level government demands to stop an explosive, accurate story from running, and I also have experience with 60 Minutes spiking a story I was involved in, so I have thoughts about the travesty at CBS. If you want some journalism anecdotes, here are a lot:
Watching Bari Weiss Murder Investigative Journalism at CBS
Notes from someone who's withstood White House demands to stop an explosive story—and who once even had a 60 Minutes piece spiked
www.forever-wars.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Fantastic piece putting the Bari Weiss Experiment in perspective
Reposted by Sam Leith
MTG on her split with Trump
When you have a group of kids, you pick the one that is the most well behaved, that always does everything right, and you beat the living shit out of them. Because then the rest of them are like: ‘Oh, man, holy shit. If Dad does that to her, what would he do to me?’”
When you have a group of kids, you pick the one that is the most well behaved, that always does everything right, and you beat the living shit out of them. Because then the rest of them are like: ‘Oh, man, holy shit. If Dad does that to her, what would he do to me?’”
‘I Was Just So Naïve’: Inside Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Break With Trump
www.nytimes.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:29 AM
MTG on her split with Trump
When you have a group of kids, you pick the one that is the most well behaved, that always does everything right, and you beat the living shit out of them. Because then the rest of them are like: ‘Oh, man, holy shit. If Dad does that to her, what would he do to me?’”
When you have a group of kids, you pick the one that is the most well behaved, that always does everything right, and you beat the living shit out of them. Because then the rest of them are like: ‘Oh, man, holy shit. If Dad does that to her, what would he do to me?’”
I once saw Bobby Gillespie in the Holloway Road Waitrose. I once saw P J Harvey on the Central Line carrying a P J Harvey tote bag.
Please quote this with stories of your minor interactions with non-celebrities, e.g. “I once accidentally bumped into a man in the Wellingborough branch of Holland & Barrett”
December 30, 2025 at 11:05 AM
I once saw Bobby Gillespie in the Holloway Road Waitrose. I once saw P J Harvey on the Central Line carrying a P J Harvey tote bag.
Reposted by Sam Leith
Please quote this with stories of your minor interactions with non-celebrities, e.g. “I once accidentally bumped into a man in the Wellingborough branch of Holland & Barrett”
December 30, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Please quote this with stories of your minor interactions with non-celebrities, e.g. “I once accidentally bumped into a man in the Wellingborough branch of Holland & Barrett”
Reposted by Sam Leith
Stephen Miller is a horrible racist in the sense that he is actually not that good at being racist.
Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti, son of Italian immigrant Gaetano Crocetti
Frank Sinatra, son of Italian immigrants Antonino Sinatra and Natalina Garavanta
Merry Christmas to everyone except Stephen Miller and his enablers and handlers
Frank Sinatra, son of Italian immigrants Antonino Sinatra and Natalina Garavanta
Merry Christmas to everyone except Stephen Miller and his enablers and handlers
December 26, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Stephen Miller is a horrible racist in the sense that he is actually not that good at being racist.
Reposted by Sam Leith
Generations of Civil War historians claimed that Gettysburg happened in part because of a shoe factory that drew each side’s attention. A letter written years after 1863 was the source of this idea, but no such factory ever existed there.
December 26, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Generations of Civil War historians claimed that Gettysburg happened in part because of a shoe factory that drew each side’s attention. A letter written years after 1863 was the source of this idea, but no such factory ever existed there.
Reposted by Sam Leith
Delighted to have received @questingvole.bsky.social 's fabulous history of childhood reading for Christmas
Now I want to lie on the sofa for the next week eating Christmas cake and reading about kid's books
Now I want to lie on the sofa for the next week eating Christmas cake and reading about kid's books
December 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Delighted to have received @questingvole.bsky.social 's fabulous history of childhood reading for Christmas
Now I want to lie on the sofa for the next week eating Christmas cake and reading about kid's books
Now I want to lie on the sofa for the next week eating Christmas cake and reading about kid's books
Wallace Stevens, or Raymond Briggs?
December 24, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Wallace Stevens, or Raymond Briggs?