Simon Craven
@simoncraven.bsky.social
Writer/ editor/ photographer/ filmmaker
Producer and general behind-scenes at https://www.youtube.com/@CatherineWarr/videos
Currently no access to DMs on here
Producer and general behind-scenes at https://www.youtube.com/@CatherineWarr/videos
Currently no access to DMs on here
Pinned
New up! How and why the crew of a German bomber, downed in England in 1940, decided to fight it out rather than surrender... www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnFS...
Reposted by Simon Craven
The fact that CBS didn’t report this incident tells you everything.
NYT publishes audio of Karoline Leavitt threatening CBS over its Trump interview: “He said, ‘If it’s not out in full, we’ll sue your ass off.’” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/b...
‘We’ll Sue’: White House’s Warning to CBS Is Sign of a New Media Status Quo
www.nytimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 9:33 PM
The fact that CBS didn’t report this incident tells you everything.
Reposted by Simon Craven
Duckduckgo has a survey for pro/anti-AI and I cackled so hard at the (current) results
https://voteyesornoai.com
https://voteyesornoai.com
Are you YES AI or NO AI? Vote now.
Big Tech doesn't care if you want AI or not. They should.
voteyesornoai.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Duckduckgo has a survey for pro/anti-AI and I cackled so hard at the (current) results
https://voteyesornoai.com
https://voteyesornoai.com
Reposted by Simon Craven
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
Reposted by Simon Craven
you know this guy is a FOR REAL photographer because he's telling the story of his brutal, unconditional arrest by federal goons and can't help but slip in a gear review
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 3:37 PM
you know this guy is a FOR REAL photographer because he's telling the story of his brutal, unconditional arrest by federal goons and can't help but slip in a gear review
Reposted by Simon Craven
Contractors:
Been paid via an umbrella company?
Later had HMRC say the scheme didn’t work? When you didn't know there *was* a scheme?
We’d love to hear from people ths has happened to.
DM me or email MYNAME @ taxpolicy .org.uk - and please share with others.
Been paid via an umbrella company?
Later had HMRC say the scheme didn’t work? When you didn't know there *was* a scheme?
We’d love to hear from people ths has happened to.
DM me or email MYNAME @ taxpolicy .org.uk - and please share with others.
January 17, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Contractors:
Been paid via an umbrella company?
Later had HMRC say the scheme didn’t work? When you didn't know there *was* a scheme?
We’d love to hear from people ths has happened to.
DM me or email MYNAME @ taxpolicy .org.uk - and please share with others.
Been paid via an umbrella company?
Later had HMRC say the scheme didn’t work? When you didn't know there *was* a scheme?
We’d love to hear from people ths has happened to.
DM me or email MYNAME @ taxpolicy .org.uk - and please share with others.
Reposted by Simon Craven
A Cyanotype T shirt I made using pressed flowers, kestrel & curlew feathers 🪶:
January 17, 2026 at 12:22 PM
A Cyanotype T shirt I made using pressed flowers, kestrel & curlew feathers 🪶:
Reposted by Simon Craven
that’s not very free speech-y
It will not surprise you to learn that Toby Youngs 'Free Speech Union' has obtained a High Court injunction banning the publication of a list of its donors open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
Who funds the Free Speech Union?
Toby Young’s outfit went to court to hide its donors. Today we reveal that funders include US anti-abortion groups, Brexit politicians and Tufton Street insiders.
open.substack.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:35 AM
that’s not very free speech-y
The War of the Gardener’s Worlds
January 17, 2026 at 10:11 AM
The War of the Gardener’s Worlds
Reposted by Simon Craven
I try not to know the sales numbers of my own books or others, but it appears that my book on writing has this week outsold Olivia Nuzzi's book on activities that she enjoys (including, I presume, writing). Not vastly outsold, so I have included a link.
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
A Long Game
From bestselling and award-winning author and professor Elizabeth McCracken comes an irresistible look at the art of writing.
Writing can feel like an endle...
www.harpercollins.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:46 PM
I try not to know the sales numbers of my own books or others, but it appears that my book on writing has this week outsold Olivia Nuzzi's book on activities that she enjoys (including, I presume, writing). Not vastly outsold, so I have included a link.
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
www.harpercollins.com/products/a-l...
Last year I saw movies in seven different towns and cities to see them in the places I wanted to see them, with the people I wanted to share them with
"You’re not going to get in the car and go to the next town to see a movie," says Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos
Ted Sarandos commits to 45-day theatrical windows, believes theaters are for city folk
Ted Sarandos commits to 45-day theatrical windows, believes theaters are for city folk
www.avclub.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Last year I saw movies in seven different towns and cities to see them in the places I wanted to see them, with the people I wanted to share them with
I think I’ve still got my old “Bollocks to Blair” t-shirt somewhere.
Trump names Tony Blair, Jared Kushner and Marc Rowan to Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ ft.trib.al/RxoVwVU
Trump names Tony Blair, Jared Kushner and Marc Rowan to Gaza ‘Board of Peace’
US president will chair executive body that he says will guide reconstruction of war-ravaged enclave
ft.trib.al
January 16, 2026 at 10:59 PM
I think I’ve still got my old “Bollocks to Blair” t-shirt somewhere.
Reposted by Simon Craven
I read someone's assessment of a proposed death ray, once: "if you could get a German soldier to stand in front of it, perfectly still, for twenty-four hours, wearing a copper waistcoat, it would make him feel pretty seedy."
January 16, 2026 at 11:33 AM
I read someone's assessment of a proposed death ray, once: "if you could get a German soldier to stand in front of it, perfectly still, for twenty-four hours, wearing a copper waistcoat, it would make him feel pretty seedy."
Reposted by Simon Craven
This is your reminder that Hungarian-Jewish scientist George de Hevesy dissolved two Nobel Prizes in aqua regia to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
January 16, 2026 at 4:14 AM
This is your reminder that Hungarian-Jewish scientist George de Hevesy dissolved two Nobel Prizes in aqua regia to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
Reposted by Simon Craven
At what angle of elevation should we start being concerned by the arms of blonde people in AfD propaganda?
Écoute des gens qui interviennent régulièrement dans des médias m'ont expliqué qu'il n'y avait absolument rien de volontaire dans cette affiche.
January 16, 2026 at 7:26 AM
At what angle of elevation should we start being concerned by the arms of blonde people in AfD propaganda?
Reposted by Simon Craven
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the Danes agreed to form a working group to discuss the surrender of Greenland to Trump. "No we didn't" says the Danish foreign minister, indeed "there will be no discussion of turnover." www.berlingske.dk/indland/det-...
Det Hvide Hus: Arbejdsgruppe skal drøfte »erhvervelsen af Grønland« – Løkke afviser
Onsdagens møde og NATO-allieredes styrker i Grønland ændrer ikke Trumps ambitioner om, at USA skal erhverve Grønland, lyder det torsdag aften fra Det Hvide Hus.
www.berlingske.dk
January 16, 2026 at 2:06 AM
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the Danes agreed to form a working group to discuss the surrender of Greenland to Trump. "No we didn't" says the Danish foreign minister, indeed "there will be no discussion of turnover." www.berlingske.dk/indland/det-...
There's one born every minute
JUST IN: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented US President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal during their meeting. She did not answer reporters' questions as to whether he accepted it. Follow our live coverage ➡️ reut.rs/4pD343T
Venezuela live: Opposition leader Machado says she presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal
Machado says she presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, but it was not clear if the U.S. president accepted it.
reut.rs
January 15, 2026 at 9:38 PM
There's one born every minute
Reposted by Simon Craven
typical ai use case
January 15, 2026 at 1:10 PM
typical ai use case
Small sources of happiness are extremely powerful
January 15, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Small sources of happiness are extremely powerful
Absolutely true: this is a show to watch and enjoy, not one to inflict a pointless remake upon. And if you’ve never heard of The Rockford Files then lucky you! You have it all ahead of you
So of course I'm now rewatching Rockford Files episodes. Garner is so good. And so was Stuart Margolin as Angel. And Noah Beery Jr, as Rocky, and Joe Santos as Becker. Great cast.
January 15, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Absolutely true: this is a show to watch and enjoy, not one to inflict a pointless remake upon. And if you’ve never heard of The Rockford Files then lucky you! You have it all ahead of you
It’s a hard nope from me
I'm wary of allowing Google's AI assistant to have access to a car's cameras, but who knows, maybe luxury EV buyers aren't?
Volvo EX60 Will Eventually Let Google's Gemini AI Access All Your Car's Cameras - Jalopnik
www.jalopnik.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:39 AM
It’s a hard nope from me
Reposted by Simon Craven
The guy accused of attempting to blind the pilot of Marine One with a laser pointer, Jacob Winkler, was just acquitted.
I mean, on top of all the other ridiculousness about Jeanine Pirro gunning for Jerome Powell, she can't even win convictions for relatively simple cases.
I mean, on top of all the other ridiculousness about Jeanine Pirro gunning for Jerome Powell, she can't even win convictions for relatively simple cases.
January 14, 2026 at 2:46 PM
The guy accused of attempting to blind the pilot of Marine One with a laser pointer, Jacob Winkler, was just acquitted.
I mean, on top of all the other ridiculousness about Jeanine Pirro gunning for Jerome Powell, she can't even win convictions for relatively simple cases.
I mean, on top of all the other ridiculousness about Jeanine Pirro gunning for Jerome Powell, she can't even win convictions for relatively simple cases.
Reposted by Simon Craven
Pretty wild that we these days matter-of-factly write “… who asked not be named to avoid being targeted by the president”. www.ft.com/content/9b2f...
January 15, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Pretty wild that we these days matter-of-factly write “… who asked not be named to avoid being targeted by the president”. www.ft.com/content/9b2f...
Reposted by Simon Craven
Single, you say? x
January 15, 2026 at 8:54 AM
Single, you say? x
Reposted by Simon Craven
Yet again Keir Starmer proves himself to be an absolute mark for any billionaire grifter with a bridge to sell him.
Just today claiming something any of his staff could have checked to discover was a lie.
www.theverge.com/news/861894/...
Just today claiming something any of his staff could have checked to discover was a lie.
www.theverge.com/news/861894/...
X hasn’t really stopped Grok AI from undressing women in the UK
Meanwhile Elon Musk insists users are to blame for what they do with his bot.
www.theverge.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Yet again Keir Starmer proves himself to be an absolute mark for any billionaire grifter with a bridge to sell him.
Just today claiming something any of his staff could have checked to discover was a lie.
www.theverge.com/news/861894/...
Just today claiming something any of his staff could have checked to discover was a lie.
www.theverge.com/news/861894/...
Reposted by Simon Craven
