Roger McCarthy
@rogermccarthy.bsky.social
'Prince, I can hear the trumpet of Germinal,
The tumbrils toiling up the terrible way;
Even to-day your royal head may fall,
I think I will not hang myself to-day'.
(Chesterton)
The tumbrils toiling up the terrible way;
Even to-day your royal head may fall,
I think I will not hang myself to-day'.
(Chesterton)
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
It’s just News & Current Affairs. The rest of BBC output is not tainted in the same way. What BBC doesn’t cover, C4 and the others surely do. You may class me as privileged. I can recognise that.
November 11, 2025 at 10:45 AM
It’s just News & Current Affairs. The rest of BBC output is not tainted in the same way. What BBC doesn’t cover, C4 and the others surely do. You may class me as privileged. I can recognise that.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
I wrote this as a TIMELY submission for @mcsweeneys.net
… six months ago.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-v...
… six months ago.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-v...
I Vow to Fight Autocracy with Unprecedented Levels of Finger Wagging
“Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate, has reportedly been criticized by some of the party’s state governors for not resisting Donald...
www.mcsweeneys.net
November 11, 2025 at 7:18 AM
I wrote this as a TIMELY submission for @mcsweeneys.net
… six months ago.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-v...
… six months ago.
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-v...
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
When Lucy from Compass Books in Dartmouth, Devon, was victim to shoplifting people told her to install CCTV. Instead she put this ancient book thief curse on the wall from the Monastery of San Pedro in Barcelona so book stealers would be consumed by "the flames of hell" with "their members blasted".
November 11, 2025 at 7:59 AM
When Lucy from Compass Books in Dartmouth, Devon, was victim to shoplifting people told her to install CCTV. Instead she put this ancient book thief curse on the wall from the Monastery of San Pedro in Barcelona so book stealers would be consumed by "the flames of hell" with "their members blasted".
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Today’s labour market statistics show that the labour market is weakening on multiple fronts, with unemployment reaching 5 per cent for the first time in almost a decade (pandemic period aside).
Here’s our @resolutionfoundation.org thread, from @nyecominetti.bsky.social and me.
Here’s our @resolutionfoundation.org thread, from @nyecominetti.bsky.social and me.
November 11, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Today’s labour market statistics show that the labour market is weakening on multiple fronts, with unemployment reaching 5 per cent for the first time in almost a decade (pandemic period aside).
Here’s our @resolutionfoundation.org thread, from @nyecominetti.bsky.social and me.
Here’s our @resolutionfoundation.org thread, from @nyecominetti.bsky.social and me.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
It’s already started - the BBC allows Newsmax boss to opine about bias, suggest some of the Jan 6 mob were merely innocent tourists visiting Congress, without pushback
November 11, 2025 at 8:35 AM
It’s already started - the BBC allows Newsmax boss to opine about bias, suggest some of the Jan 6 mob were merely innocent tourists visiting Congress, without pushback
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
‘Crowds rarely feature in conventional accounts of the early medieval period. After the fall of Rome, population numbers collapsed, cities emptied out and, it’s often claimed, public gatherings largely ceased
Is this true, a new book asks?
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Is this true, a new book asks?
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Pablo Scheffer · Among the Rabble: Early Medieval Crowds
Along with their terminology, the Romans had passed down to early medieval Europe the belief that crowds were an...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 11:10 AM
‘Crowds rarely feature in conventional accounts of the early medieval period. After the fall of Rome, population numbers collapsed, cities emptied out and, it’s often claimed, public gatherings largely ceased
Is this true, a new book asks?
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Is this true, a new book asks?
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
November 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Love being reminded to do this every year. It's a win/win all round
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Lieutenant LEONARD STOPFORD BROOKE, 110th Squadron RAF, reported missing 25th September 1918, later unofficially reported killed in action, Western Front, aged 23. He's one of only a very small number of Allied servicemen buried in Germany, at Bad Bergzabern Cemetery. My great uncle.
November 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Lieutenant LEONARD STOPFORD BROOKE, 110th Squadron RAF, reported missing 25th September 1918, later unofficially reported killed in action, Western Front, aged 23. He's one of only a very small number of Allied servicemen buried in Germany, at Bad Bergzabern Cemetery. My great uncle.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
I stayed in a converted underground toilet in Oxford - and you can too!
(if you pay approximately £200) on.ft.com/3XllOZU
(if you pay approximately £200) on.ft.com/3XllOZU
The Netty: Oxford’s new micro-hotel — in a former public toilet
[FREE TO READ] Key Notes | Hidden down a flight of steps on a traffic island, two underground suites offer only a ‘few subtle nods’ to the past
on.ft.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:52 AM
I stayed in a converted underground toilet in Oxford - and you can too!
(if you pay approximately £200) on.ft.com/3XllOZU
(if you pay approximately £200) on.ft.com/3XllOZU
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Is that a new policy from the British Conservative Party?
a man with a beard is kneeling in front of a sign that says kneel before zodi
ALT: a man with a beard is kneeling in front of a sign that says kneel before zodi
media.tenor.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Is that a new policy from the British Conservative Party?
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Tory culture spokesperson Nigel Huddleston says BBC should apologise and 'grovel' to Trump over Panorama broadcast - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
November 11, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Tory culture spokesperson Nigel Huddleston says BBC should apologise and 'grovel' to Trump over Panorama broadcast - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Huddleston used to be a Tory moderate. Now advocating that one of our national institutions grovels before a foreign tyrant.
Tory culture spokesperson Nigel Huddleston says BBC should apologise and 'grovel' to Trump over Panorama broadcast - www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Huddleston used to be a Tory moderate. Now advocating that one of our national institutions grovels before a foreign tyrant.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
“James Bond is eternal and belongs to everyone” was my defence in Broccoli vs Twlldun on the subject of “James Bondage: 00Heaven”, my artistic project
James Bond’s death in No Time to Die is causing a nightmare for the next film. Writers are stuck because Bond “was blown to pieces.”
Anthony Horowitz, author of three 007 novels, says:
“You can't have him wake up in shower and saying it was all a dream."
radaronline.com/p/james-bond...
Anthony Horowitz, author of three 007 novels, says:
“You can't have him wake up in shower and saying it was all a dream."
radaronline.com/p/james-bond...
November 11, 2025 at 10:24 AM
“James Bond is eternal and belongs to everyone” was my defence in Broccoli vs Twlldun on the subject of “James Bondage: 00Heaven”, my artistic project
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
*maximum alpha at 1.25x speed* continuously lives on in my head, unfortunately.
November 11, 2025 at 10:03 AM
A subtle one that's easy to miss, but the fact that Andreesen and Musk both use "alpha" as slang for "information advantage" is a clear tell that their mental world is finance, not technology. They try to talk otherwise but they are investors not inventors.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
November 10, 2025 at 7:03 PM
history will ultimately decide this but i think joyce carol oates might have just landed the most devastating burn in human history. like the death star trench run of posting
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
we live in an era where we are burning the legacy of civilization on the altar of men who don't want to do what their mothers told them when they were 6
November 10, 2025 at 8:28 PM
we live in an era where we are burning the legacy of civilization on the altar of men who don't want to do what their mothers told them when they were 6
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Who thought it'd be a good idea to follow a politically spineless move by putting Tim Kaine on TV looking like a hobbit who's Ambien sleepwalking?
November 10, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Who thought it'd be a good idea to follow a politically spineless move by putting Tim Kaine on TV looking like a hobbit who's Ambien sleepwalking?
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
*me, a freelancer, walking around town looking in at all the businesses*
"Yeah, hope you're having fun in there with all your COLLEAGUES!"
"Yeah, hope you're having fun in there with all your COLLEAGUES!"
November 10, 2025 at 7:42 PM
*me, a freelancer, walking around town looking in at all the businesses*
"Yeah, hope you're having fun in there with all your COLLEAGUES!"
"Yeah, hope you're having fun in there with all your COLLEAGUES!"
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
On J Carol Oates/Muskie cage match:
-Never met JCO, though have read (nearly!) all her books
-Have met EM, interviewed him at public event and otherwise
Benchmark: Have also met/interviewed 4 US prez, 5 VPs, multiple Nobel winners, multiple tech billionaires.
Of smarts in that group, EM = meh.
-Never met JCO, though have read (nearly!) all her books
-Have met EM, interviewed him at public event and otherwise
Benchmark: Have also met/interviewed 4 US prez, 5 VPs, multiple Nobel winners, multiple tech billionaires.
Of smarts in that group, EM = meh.
November 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
On J Carol Oates/Muskie cage match:
-Never met JCO, though have read (nearly!) all her books
-Have met EM, interviewed him at public event and otherwise
Benchmark: Have also met/interviewed 4 US prez, 5 VPs, multiple Nobel winners, multiple tech billionaires.
Of smarts in that group, EM = meh.
-Never met JCO, though have read (nearly!) all her books
-Have met EM, interviewed him at public event and otherwise
Benchmark: Have also met/interviewed 4 US prez, 5 VPs, multiple Nobel winners, multiple tech billionaires.
Of smarts in that group, EM = meh.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
smallpox eradication is one of the greatest achievement of humans, up there with 'hey maybe we should wash our hands'
Smallpox was so bad that two nations who were threatening to nuke everyone and everything agreed on eradication.
November 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
smallpox eradication is one of the greatest achievement of humans, up there with 'hey maybe we should wash our hands'
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Once you've costed all that, you know how much tax needs raising. It'd be a lot.
My aim would be to minimise the hit on
- low-income households
- lower-middle income households with kids
and maximise the hit on
- housing capital gains
- well-off pensioners
- childless upper-middle and high earners
My aim would be to minimise the hit on
- low-income households
- lower-middle income households with kids
and maximise the hit on
- housing capital gains
- well-off pensioners
- childless upper-middle and high earners
November 10, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Once you've costed all that, you know how much tax needs raising. It'd be a lot.
My aim would be to minimise the hit on
- low-income households
- lower-middle income households with kids
and maximise the hit on
- housing capital gains
- well-off pensioners
- childless upper-middle and high earners
My aim would be to minimise the hit on
- low-income households
- lower-middle income households with kids
and maximise the hit on
- housing capital gains
- well-off pensioners
- childless upper-middle and high earners
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
Oh, couple of other things I meant to include:
- juice housing demand. no, really. people can't afford to buy, so builders have stopped building and the whole system is gummed up, planning reform or not. they're going to have to do something to substantively help buyers.
- juice housing demand. no, really. people can't afford to buy, so builders have stopped building and the whole system is gummed up, planning reform or not. they're going to have to do something to substantively help buyers.
November 10, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Oh, couple of other things I meant to include:
- juice housing demand. no, really. people can't afford to buy, so builders have stopped building and the whole system is gummed up, planning reform or not. they're going to have to do something to substantively help buyers.
- juice housing demand. no, really. people can't afford to buy, so builders have stopped building and the whole system is gummed up, planning reform or not. they're going to have to do something to substantively help buyers.
Reposted by Roger McCarthy
We know that we've let Donald Trump down, and in future, we shall try to do better.
thecritic.co.uk/cris...
thecritic.co.uk/cris...
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
We know that we've let Donald Trump down, and in future, we shall try to do better.
thecritic.co.uk/cris...
thecritic.co.uk/cris...