Pinned
Manchester University Press signs Richard Smyth’s ‘vital’ book on fascism and the environment
Manchester University Press has acquired Richard Smyth’s Greenshirts, a new book that uncovers the "deep, often obscured entanglements between fascist ideologies and environmental thought" over the la...
www.thebookseller.com
This is what I'm working on next: fascism and the environment. Hoping to finish it before the world burns and/or the fascists take charge. Fingers crossed. Do ask me about it, if you're curious. www.thebookseller.com/rights/manch...
Reposted by Richard Smyth
I persistently plug these because they take time to do, both for me and the guests, so do share and tell people about it if you like it. The aim is to make a quality long read each week. Thanks. #FirstLastAnything
NEW! #FirstLastAnything Ep 32: We are back each Sunday, till Christmas, and my guest today - versatile and fascinating music writer and musician Joanna Wyld (@joannawyld.bsky.social) - talks about bellringing, Queen, liner notes, Molly Drake and much more. firstlastanything.co.uk/2025/11/09/f...
FLA 32: Joanna Wyld (09/11/2025)
Of all the guests I’ve had on First Last Anything so far, Kent-born Joanna Wyld might have worn the most musical hats. Writer, musician, composer, librettist, teacher and administrator, she’s playe…
firstlastanything.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 7:46 AM
I persistently plug these because they take time to do, both for me and the guests, so do share and tell people about it if you like it. The aim is to make a quality long read each week. Thanks. #FirstLastAnything
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Lugged a suitcase packed to the density of a neutron star all the way from London to Exeter to perform a science show based on “How to Find a Rainbow”. Kit includes an old-fashioned slide projector, various bits of glassware, a metal clamp and stand, bottles of vegetable oil, vinegar, a red cabbage
How To Find a Rainbow
“This charming story can be read on two levels – that of two sisters in search of a physical rainbow and that of emerging from a gloomy emotional episode and beginning to find joy again. It …
alomshaha.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Lugged a suitcase packed to the density of a neutron star all the way from London to Exeter to perform a science show based on “How to Find a Rainbow”. Kit includes an old-fashioned slide projector, various bits of glassware, a metal clamp and stand, bottles of vegetable oil, vinegar, a red cabbage
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Boy destroying a piano, Pant-Y-Waun, south Wales, 1961, photo by Philip Jones Griffiths (1936-2008).
November 10, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Boy destroying a piano, Pant-Y-Waun, south Wales, 1961, photo by Philip Jones Griffiths (1936-2008).
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Any journalists interesting in covering/following can DM here or contact me at pdkmitchell at gmail dot com. The most recent BBC and ITV coverage is here (CW: violence, femicide, suicide):
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.itv.com/news/tyne-te...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.itv.com/news/tyne-te...
www.itv.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Any journalists interesting in covering/following can DM here or contact me at pdkmitchell at gmail dot com. The most recent BBC and ITV coverage is here (CW: violence, femicide, suicide):
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.itv.com/news/tyne-te...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.itv.com/news/tyne-te...
Thunder Road is a brilliant song but Bruce is really unclear about where he wants her to sit and also about where his car is parked.
November 10, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Thunder Road is a brilliant song but Bruce is really unclear about where he wants her to sit and also about where his car is parked.
Still taking orders! Reckon I can fit in a few more in time for Christmas.
Is there a crossword person in your life? Would you like to get them a unique gift? PERHAPS FOR CHRISTMAS?
Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!
Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!
November 10, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Still taking orders! Reckon I can fit in a few more in time for Christmas.
Reposted by Richard Smyth
I've got a fresh batch of paperbacks in if anyone wants to buy directly from me for Christmas. Same deal as back in July: £13 each, or both for £25, including UK postage.
precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/07/25/a...
precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/07/25/a...
A rare chance to buy books direct from me
I’ve got a limited supply of paperback copies of both Municipal Gothic and Intervals of Darkness ready to ship to anyone in the UK who wants to buy one. They’re £13 each including delivery in the U…
precastreinforced.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 AM
I've got a fresh batch of paperbacks in if anyone wants to buy directly from me for Christmas. Same deal as back in July: £13 each, or both for £25, including UK postage.
precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/07/25/a...
precastreinforced.co.uk/2025/07/25/a...
Reposted by Richard Smyth
No more noble British tradition than resigning over some nonsense everyone is only pretending to be angry about rather than all of the actually bad things you've done.
November 9, 2025 at 6:10 PM
No more noble British tradition than resigning over some nonsense everyone is only pretending to be angry about rather than all of the actually bad things you've done.
Literally nothing. Either he was right about everything or I have learned nothing.
What do you like now that 16 year old you would hate you for?
November 9, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Literally nothing. Either he was right about everything or I have learned nothing.
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Mak u fink.
Rebecca Hendin on King Charles leading the UK’s Remembrance Sunday service – cartoon
Rebecca Hendin on King Charles leading the UK’s Remembrance Sunday service – cartoon
The monarch laid the first wreath at the Cenotaph in Whitehall in recognition of those killed in wars and conflicts dating back to the first world war
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Mak u fink.
I've made enchiladas and I've got a beer. Maybe we'll all make it through after all.
November 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I've made enchiladas and I've got a beer. Maybe we'll all make it through after all.
He was shuttled from one front to another and spent a lot of time in hospitals with grim, unglamorous things like boils. Once he was given Field Punishment #2 because he went home on leave and didn't come back. I've no idea what happened to him at home. But that's what this story is about.
My great-grandad was a piano tuner from Huddersfield. He was conscripted into the army during the First World War, and had an awful time. After I found out a bit about what he went through, I wrote a short story. I thought today might be a good day to share it. richarddsmyth.com/2025/11/09/n...
New short story: ‘FP Number Two’
The sky shivers with fever and there are devils on the roofs of the public houses.
richarddsmyth.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:07 PM
He was shuttled from one front to another and spent a lot of time in hospitals with grim, unglamorous things like boils. Once he was given Field Punishment #2 because he went home on leave and didn't come back. I've no idea what happened to him at home. But that's what this story is about.
Reposted by Richard Smyth
My great-grandad was a piano tuner from Huddersfield. He was conscripted into the army during the First World War, and had an awful time. After I found out a bit about what he went through, I wrote a short story. I thought today might be a good day to share it. richarddsmyth.com/2025/11/09/n...
New short story: ‘FP Number Two’
The sky shivers with fever and there are devils on the roofs of the public houses.
richarddsmyth.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 AM
My great-grandad was a piano tuner from Huddersfield. He was conscripted into the army during the First World War, and had an awful time. After I found out a bit about what he went through, I wrote a short story. I thought today might be a good day to share it. richarddsmyth.com/2025/11/09/n...
My great-grandad was a piano tuner from Huddersfield. He was conscripted into the army during the First World War, and had an awful time. After I found out a bit about what he went through, I wrote a short story. I thought today might be a good day to share it. richarddsmyth.com/2025/11/09/n...
New short story: ‘FP Number Two’
The sky shivers with fever and there are devils on the roofs of the public houses.
richarddsmyth.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:56 AM
My great-grandad was a piano tuner from Huddersfield. He was conscripted into the army during the First World War, and had an awful time. After I found out a bit about what he went through, I wrote a short story. I thought today might be a good day to share it. richarddsmyth.com/2025/11/09/n...
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Go #JoshShapiro! Is authenticity making a comeback in politics this week?
November 8, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Go #JoshShapiro! Is authenticity making a comeback in politics this week?
Reposted by Richard Smyth
I hosted a great discussion of it all here too:
November 8, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I hosted a great discussion of it all here too:
The year is 2025. It's never cold enough to put the heating on but always too damp to dry anything on the line. The future smells of damp laundry. Welcome.
November 8, 2025 at 8:57 AM
The year is 2025. It's never cold enough to put the heating on but always too damp to dry anything on the line. The future smells of damp laundry. Welcome.
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Science Teachers! If you’re interested in using ”non-fiction November“ to get your students reading a bit more, “Why Don’t Things Fall Up?” is one of the few non-fiction titles on this “Year 10 recommended reading list”. It‘s a book that brings school science together into a coherent story
Year 10 recommended reading list for teens aged 14-15
A selection of exciting reading books including easy reads and more challenging titles for Year 10 pupils in secondary schools aged 14-15.
schoolreadinglist.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Science Teachers! If you’re interested in using ”non-fiction November“ to get your students reading a bit more, “Why Don’t Things Fall Up?” is one of the few non-fiction titles on this “Year 10 recommended reading list”. It‘s a book that brings school science together into a coherent story
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:21 AM
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Very sad to hear about Jim Watson’s death. If you think he was always a racist you are wrong. He refused to support genes/IQ research in the 70s. He boycotted Greece because of the military coup in 1967 and he called for a boycott of meetings in Chicago after the police riot of 1968. 1/2
November 7, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Very sad to hear about Jim Watson’s death. If you think he was always a racist you are wrong. He refused to support genes/IQ research in the 70s. He boycotted Greece because of the military coup in 1967 and he called for a boycott of meetings in Chicago after the police riot of 1968. 1/2
Reposted by Richard Smyth
basically all downhill on the name front since Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur
November 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
basically all downhill on the name front since Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur
Reposted by Richard Smyth
Is there a crossword person in your life? Would you like to get them a unique gift? PERHAPS FOR CHRISTMAS?
Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!
Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!
November 3, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Is there a crossword person in your life? Would you like to get them a unique gift? PERHAPS FOR CHRISTMAS?
Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!
Well maybe a bespoke quiz or cryptic crossword would fit the bill, on any theme, of any size, by the author of [counts on fingers] more than 900 published crosswords, i.e. Me. Give me a shout!
SELF IS WATCHING YOU ALL.
You would. And by which ones.
November 7, 2025 at 3:25 PM
SELF IS WATCHING YOU ALL.