Robert Hanks
@roberthanks.bsky.social
The man who never was but sometimes looked as though he might be. Cultural commentator for hire. Will work for food.
What gets me is that these people clearly got all their ideas about Sparta from watching 300, but don't seem to have noticed that the Spartans actually lost that one.
February 16, 2026 at 6:16 PM
What gets me is that these people clearly got all their ideas about Sparta from watching 300, but don't seem to have noticed that the Spartans actually lost that one.
"It is one thing to take a beloved, multilayered book and make a movie that sets it in a new direction. It is quite another to make an adaptation that seems determined to reverse the meaning of the entire story." (This is also my take, btw, on the film version of Stuart Little.)
February 16, 2026 at 5:51 PM
"It is one thing to take a beloved, multilayered book and make a movie that sets it in a new direction. It is quite another to make an adaptation that seems determined to reverse the meaning of the entire story." (This is also my take, btw, on the film version of Stuart Little.)
Reposted by Robert Hanks
From today's @washingtonpost.com front page:
"Abruptly terminated": harsh, contentious, negative
"Sunset": natural, pleasant, the circle of life
h/t @alecmac.bsky.social
"Abruptly terminated": harsh, contentious, negative
"Sunset": natural, pleasant, the circle of life
h/t @alecmac.bsky.social
February 15, 2026 at 4:11 PM
From today's @washingtonpost.com front page:
"Abruptly terminated": harsh, contentious, negative
"Sunset": natural, pleasant, the circle of life
h/t @alecmac.bsky.social
"Abruptly terminated": harsh, contentious, negative
"Sunset": natural, pleasant, the circle of life
h/t @alecmac.bsky.social
Really, Radio 4, when Jim Ratcliffe uses offensive, historically uninformed language and gets his figures so grotesquely wrong, why do we have to go to such lengths to acknowledge his "broader point"?
February 12, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Really, Radio 4, when Jim Ratcliffe uses offensive, historically uninformed language and gets his figures so grotesquely wrong, why do we have to go to such lengths to acknowledge his "broader point"?
There used to be a pub in St Albans with a box of secondhand paperbacks and a sign that read BUY A BOOK FOR A BLIND DOG, so this doesn’t bother me.
i think they’re being overly optimistic regarding the canine literacy rate
February 10, 2026 at 7:29 PM
There used to be a pub in St Albans with a box of secondhand paperbacks and a sign that read BUY A BOOK FOR A BLIND DOG, so this doesn’t bother me.
How many nannies does he have?
VAN HOLLEN: Did you in fact make the visit to Epstein's private island?
LUTNICK: I did have lunch w/ him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me as were my 4 children and nannies. We had lunch on the island. That's true. For an hour. We left with all of my children
LUTNICK: I did have lunch w/ him as I was on a boat going across on a family vacation. My wife was with me as were my 4 children and nannies. We had lunch on the island. That's true. For an hour. We left with all of my children
February 10, 2026 at 3:07 PM
How many nannies does he have?
Macaulay Culkin now rewatching his Blu-ray of Kes to prepare for the film version.
Barnsley drug dealer rigged properties with ‘Home Alone’ booby traps
Barnsley drug dealer rigged properties with ‘Home Alone’ booby traps
Ian Claughton, 60, jailed after setting up crow-scarers, stun guns and homemade flame-throwers to deter intruders
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Macaulay Culkin now rewatching his Blu-ray of Kes to prepare for the film version.
Thread
My take on the Corruption Perceptions Index, and the steady decline in Britain's score: the CPI is a crass, incoherent measurement that should never be published. If it came close to reflecting how corruption works, Britain would have been down the bottom of the list for decades already.
However...
However...
February 10, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Thread
Sitting here in the UK listening to Radio 3 and eating a bacon sandwich and shaking my head sadly as Megyn Kelly tells the unpalatable truth that Europe has lost its culture to radical Muslims.
Megyn Kelly just shouting “FOOTBALL IS OURS” at Piers Morgan about Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl show is the perfect example of this moment in time. Put it in a time capsule and send it out into space.
February 10, 2026 at 12:37 PM
Sitting here in the UK listening to Radio 3 and eating a bacon sandwich and shaking my head sadly as Megyn Kelly tells the unpalatable truth that Europe has lost its culture to radical Muslims.
Reposted by Robert Hanks
Lovely review, but when did British people start saying 'Rube Goldberg' instead of 'Heath Robinson'? This makes me sad.
Small Prophets review – Mackenzie Crook’s magical new comedy is pure, pure pleasure
Small Prophets review – Mackenzie Crook’s magical new comedy is pure, pure pleasure
Wonder lies below the surface of this truly fantastic sitcom from the creator of Detectorists. It’s an impossible marvel of TV making
www.theguardian.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:09 AM
Lovely review, but when did British people start saying 'Rube Goldberg' instead of 'Heath Robinson'? This makes me sad.
If Starmer understands that McSweeney was giving him bad advice all round – that the Mandelson appointment was not just a fluke – then this "reset" might be meaningful and good. If he still believes that McSweeney was the business and regrets losing him, what's the difference?
February 10, 2026 at 12:09 PM
If Starmer understands that McSweeney was giving him bad advice all round – that the Mandelson appointment was not just a fluke – then this "reset" might be meaningful and good. If he still believes that McSweeney was the business and regrets losing him, what's the difference?
I met a very nice young woman who had come all the way from the US to study at Bangor.
February 10, 2026 at 11:48 AM
I met a very nice young woman who had come all the way from the US to study at Bangor.
Good to see this sort of pragmatism, going for easily achievable goals.
February 10, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Good to see this sort of pragmatism, going for easily achievable goals.
Reposted by Robert Hanks
Gordon Brown by James Macintyre review – a very different kind of politician
Gordon Brown by James Macintyre review – a very different kind of politician
A new biography reveals Brown to be a man of exceptional vision and probity – what a contrast with today’s politics
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 7:54 AM
Gordon Brown by James Macintyre review – a very different kind of politician
I think this is an important point about Starmer: the reason he's been so terrible isn't that he has no principles; it's that he's allowed himself to be persuaded that it's good politics to abandon his principles, and that's left him floundering, sounding directionless and insincere.
“The pescatarian forced to eat dog meat” - why Morgan McSweeney’s real fault was to force Keir Starmer to be something he is not - my piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/politic...
‘A pescatarian forced to eat dog meat’: the Starmer-McSwe...
Starmer's former aide Morgan McSweeney saw the prime minister as his creation. Now that McSweeney is gone, so too has the imbalanced relationship between chief of staff and PM
observer.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 7:11 PM
I think this is an important point about Starmer: the reason he's been so terrible isn't that he has no principles; it's that he's allowed himself to be persuaded that it's good politics to abandon his principles, and that's left him floundering, sounding directionless and insincere.
But I bet he said it with a faintly sarcastic intonation that made it sound as though he was implying something much cleverer.
BBC News presenter asking Chris Mason whether McSweeney going means the heat is off Keir Starmer and Mason gave a waffling answer which ended with ‘I think the key question now is whether or not McSweeney’s departure means the heat is now off Starmer’
February 8, 2026 at 5:41 PM
But I bet he said it with a faintly sarcastic intonation that made it sound as though he was implying something much cleverer.
Reposted by Robert Hanks
I am very intelligent.
February 7, 2026 at 4:46 PM
I am very intelligent.
Reposted by Robert Hanks
Bezos burning the Washington post to the ground is as firm a reason for the continued bbc licence as ever there was. Eventually everything that can be owned by a billionaire will be owned by a billionaire and at that point its future will be determined by the whims of a man making 166k per minute.
February 6, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Bezos burning the Washington post to the ground is as firm a reason for the continued bbc licence as ever there was. Eventually everything that can be owned by a billionaire will be owned by a billionaire and at that point its future will be determined by the whims of a man making 166k per minute.
Headline on the World at One is that more people in the UK die of cancer than in Poland. But is that self-evidently bad? What do we think they should be dying of instead?
February 4, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Headline on the World at One is that more people in the UK die of cancer than in Poland. But is that self-evidently bad? What do we think they should be dying of instead?
I guess crooks need to be good judges of character.
February 4, 2026 at 11:13 AM
I guess crooks need to be good judges of character.
Feel this meme is allowing me to construct Maslow's Hierarchy of Nerds.
A bar called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Meads.
A bakery called Maslow’s Hierarchy of Kneads.
February 4, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Feel this meme is allowing me to construct Maslow's Hierarchy of Nerds.
Yes, honesty is definitely Farage's distinguishing characteristic 🙄
Laura Kuenssberg "On occasion, he is quite unlike other politicians, with flashes of honesty you wouldn't hear from others".
BBC News - Inside Reform: Laura Kuenssberg follows Farage's party as it experiences the glare of scrutiny - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Inside Reform: Laura Kuenssberg follows Farage's party as it experiences the glare of scrutiny - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Inside Reform: Laura Kuenssberg follows Farage's party as it experiences the glare of scrutiny
The BBC has spent time interviewing senior figures and witnessing Reform's work at the largest council it runs.
www.bbc.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 9:52 AM
Yes, honesty is definitely Farage's distinguishing characteristic 🙄
The article talks of a security dog being supplied to an unnamed former prime minister. In would live to know which one. Truss?
Dogs as weapons - a disturbing trend. Have any philosophers written about this? www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
‘Demand has increased, without a doubt’: the shocking rise of personal protection dogs
Pets trained to bite, hold and release on command are growing ever more popular in the UK. But why – and at what cost to the animals and their owners?
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 8:07 AM
The article talks of a security dog being supplied to an unnamed former prime minister. In would live to know which one. Truss?
Reposted by Robert Hanks
“Jaywalking is permitted in London. In 1966, the police tried to crack down on it, but gave up after three months.”
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Self-driving taxis are coming to London – should we be worried? | Jack Stilgoe
Waymo’s cars were first rolled out in San Francisco, but the English capital’s old roads, pelican crossings and jaywalkers may pose issues for AI, says science and technology professor Jack Stilgoe
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2026 at 3:48 PM
“Jaywalking is permitted in London. In 1966, the police tried to crack down on it, but gave up after three months.”
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
People walk and cycle on roads by right, people drive under licence.
Jaywalking is not a thing in English law and Waymo must not change that.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Yeah, but now the press will have to pay for their tickets. Ker-ching!
January 30, 2026 at 6:31 AM
Yeah, but now the press will have to pay for their tickets. Ker-ching!