Jessica Lee
@jessofarabia.bsky.social
Travel writer | Guidebook Author | Obsessed by deserts, mountains & finding the perfect hummus | Ex-Lonely Planet Türkiye & Egypt author | Lives in a cave | Posts mainly about: MENA, travel, books I like, & my stupid cats | Working on a novel.
Reposted by Jessica Lee
everyone can do this, not just the welsh! send any self addressed envelopes back, empty, don't put a stamp.
I live in Wales and today received my Join Us letter from Reform UK, complete with SAE which I posted back to them, immediately, empty. If every other person in Wales did this, Reform would spend over £1.5 million on postage. Not sorry. Join me Cymru.
December 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
everyone can do this, not just the welsh! send any self addressed envelopes back, empty, don't put a stamp.
Reposted by Jessica Lee
it's a mistake to compare the cost of your newsletter or podcast to a cup of coffee. that cup of coffee is the best treat i'm allowed to have every single day. no podcast is comparable to the beverage that justifies staying alive. instead market your newsletter as two thirds of a sweetgreen salad
December 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
it's a mistake to compare the cost of your newsletter or podcast to a cup of coffee. that cup of coffee is the best treat i'm allowed to have every single day. no podcast is comparable to the beverage that justifies staying alive. instead market your newsletter as two thirds of a sweetgreen salad
Really good article from @turkeyrecap.bsky.social about Adana's Syrian community ⬇️
www.turkeyrecap.com/p/little-ale...
www.turkeyrecap.com/p/little-ale...
Little Aleppo’s long goodbye: Young Syrians in Adana think twice about moving ‘home’
ADANA—A long, narrow, color-splashed street gets bustling as the sun sets.
www.turkeyrecap.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Really good article from @turkeyrecap.bsky.social about Adana's Syrian community ⬇️
www.turkeyrecap.com/p/little-ale...
www.turkeyrecap.com/p/little-ale...
'As you can see, Cloud Dancer is the color of a MacBook charger in its waning days of service. The color of bad news delivered with bureaucratic indifference. The color of congressional insider trading. The color of a person’s thoughts while ignoring war.'
sorry I'm late! I have at last broken my silence on Pantone's Color of the Year johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/cloud-danc...
'Cloud Dancer': A Measured Response
Regarding Pantone's decision, and so on, and so forth
johnpaulbrammer.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:29 PM
'As you can see, Cloud Dancer is the color of a MacBook charger in its waning days of service. The color of bad news delivered with bureaucratic indifference. The color of congressional insider trading. The color of a person’s thoughts while ignoring war.'
Reposted by Jessica Lee
Fresco of the First Council of Nicaea at the Church of St. Nicholas in Myra (modern Demre), where St. Nicholas was bishop.
According to tradition, St. Nicholas slapped the heretic Arius whose teaching was condemned at the First Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago.
According to tradition, St. Nicholas slapped the heretic Arius whose teaching was condemned at the First Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago.
December 7, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Fresco of the First Council of Nicaea at the Church of St. Nicholas in Myra (modern Demre), where St. Nicholas was bishop.
According to tradition, St. Nicholas slapped the heretic Arius whose teaching was condemned at the First Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago.
According to tradition, St. Nicholas slapped the heretic Arius whose teaching was condemned at the First Council of Nicaea 1700 years ago.
The Michelin list is out for Cappadocia & as someone who's eaten at a fair few of the establishments, I have thoughts...some of them uncharitable that I'll keep to myself.
guide.michelin.com/en/tr/area-t...
guide.michelin.com/en/tr/area-t...
null MICHELIN Restaurants - the MICHELIN Guide null
Starred restaurants, Bib Gourmand, all the MICHELIN restaurants. Find the best restaurants in Global on the MICHELIN Guide's official website. MICHELIN inspector reviews and insights
guide.michelin.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:05 AM
The Michelin list is out for Cappadocia & as someone who's eaten at a fair few of the establishments, I have thoughts...some of them uncharitable that I'll keep to myself.
guide.michelin.com/en/tr/area-t...
guide.michelin.com/en/tr/area-t...
I see it's time for my annual reminder to Americans that the oldest Christian communities in the world live in the Middle East & the best Christmas parade I've ever seen was in Madaba, Jordan (& included local Bedouin on camels who'd been roped in to play the 3 wise men)...
December 7, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I see it's time for my annual reminder to Americans that the oldest Christian communities in the world live in the Middle East & the best Christmas parade I've ever seen was in Madaba, Jordan (& included local Bedouin on camels who'd been roped in to play the 3 wise men)...
Reposted by Jessica Lee
thank you to everyone finding this essay in a brand new magazine - one that is trying to do something different in this time of media consolidation...
"And what about all those books with checklists on how to spot your country sliding into fascism? Why did so many of the people who read them—and even some of the people who wrote them—falter when a genocide was unfolding on their screens..." - @naomiaklein.bsky.social h/t @annfriedman.bsky.social
Surrealism Against Fascism • EQUATOR
A century ago, artists who survived the trenches captured humanity’s capacity for destruction. What can they teach us about confronting the far-right in a new age of genocide?
www.equator.org
December 6, 2025 at 4:04 AM
thank you to everyone finding this essay in a brand new magazine - one that is trying to do something different in this time of media consolidation...
Reposted by Jessica Lee
These days, whenever my friends in Turkey mention how well their gold fund is doing, I just yell: blood on your hands.*
*I am not popular at parties.
*I am not popular at parties.
There we go. Sudan. Yemen. Somaliland. UAE's doing stuff all over right now.
An armed group backed by the United Arab Emirates has pushed into Yemen's oil-rich province of Hadramout. The military offensive was a significant escalation of its push to create an independent country and could reignite a civil war that has settled into a stalemate. Here's what to know.
December 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
These days, whenever my friends in Turkey mention how well their gold fund is doing, I just yell: blood on your hands.*
*I am not popular at parties.
*I am not popular at parties.
Reposted by Jessica Lee
There's a lot of 2014/2015 vibes about what's happening in Yemen at the moment. When the Houthis were taking territory with similar speed and deals done to smooth their way, I was living in Sana'a trying to pitch stories to editors on the unfolding coup. Now, as then, no one could give two hoots.
Yemen is currently going through changes that are determining the next few decades and the world could not give less of a shit it's actually kinda funny
December 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
There's a lot of 2014/2015 vibes about what's happening in Yemen at the moment. When the Houthis were taking territory with similar speed and deals done to smooth their way, I was living in Sana'a trying to pitch stories to editors on the unfolding coup. Now, as then, no one could give two hoots.
Reposted by Jessica Lee
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE HYPHENS
December 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE HYPHENS
Also similar to what I termed as 'women-blindness': a phenomenon that happens when middle-class-white-lady-feminists come to the Middle East & are suddenly unable to see all the women on the street.
This is a good piece and I agree with all of it. But I'd add that a lot of Americans on encountering Actually Existing England come down with a version of "Paris Syndrome" - a widely recognised phenomenon described as....
Why does Tucker Carlson hate Britain?
His garish fantasies about our country are starting to infect our own conservative movement
By @JonnElledge.bsky.social
His garish fantasies about our country are starting to infect our own conservative movement
By @JonnElledge.bsky.social
December 5, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Also similar to what I termed as 'women-blindness': a phenomenon that happens when middle-class-white-lady-feminists come to the Middle East & are suddenly unable to see all the women on the street.
I really didn't need to know this 🙃
Demodex mites live in your facial pores and have lost some of the genes that respond to daylight. They cannot make their own melatonin, so they use the melatonin your skin releases at night as a cue to crawl out and mate on your face.
You're never truly alone. ❤️
🧪 #entomology #invert 🪲🪳
You're never truly alone. ❤️
🧪 #entomology #invert 🪲🪳
December 5, 2025 at 12:50 PM
I really didn't need to know this 🙃
Reposted by Jessica Lee
Oh well, at least our entire economy is resting on this succeeding wildly and will come crashing down if it doesn't.
“we estimate employment-weighted share of Americans using AI at work has fallen by a percentage point & now sits at 11%. Adoption has fallen sharply at the largest businesses, those employing +250 people. 3 yrs into the genAI wave, demand looks surprisingly flimsy” www.economist.com/finance-and-...
Investors expect AI use to soar. That’s not happening
Recent surveys point to flatlining business adoption
www.economist.com
December 5, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Oh well, at least our entire economy is resting on this succeeding wildly and will come crashing down if it doesn't.
Reposted by Jessica Lee
“A Ceasefire in Name Only” — @scotnational.bsky.social is not afraid to call out Israel's continued attacks on Gaza
December 4, 2025 at 11:17 PM
“A Ceasefire in Name Only” — @scotnational.bsky.social is not afraid to call out Israel's continued attacks on Gaza
Finished this last night⬇️
It's funny & sweet & everyone will know someone like the main character (basically right-wing* dad having a mental health crisis) It totally deserved its space on the Booker shortlist.
*I presume the main character is seen as centrist in the US which is funny in itself.
It's funny & sweet & everyone will know someone like the main character (basically right-wing* dad having a mental health crisis) It totally deserved its space on the Booker shortlist.
*I presume the main character is seen as centrist in the US which is funny in itself.
December 5, 2025 at 3:44 AM
Finished this last night⬇️
It's funny & sweet & everyone will know someone like the main character (basically right-wing* dad having a mental health crisis) It totally deserved its space on the Booker shortlist.
*I presume the main character is seen as centrist in the US which is funny in itself.
It's funny & sweet & everyone will know someone like the main character (basically right-wing* dad having a mental health crisis) It totally deserved its space on the Booker shortlist.
*I presume the main character is seen as centrist in the US which is funny in itself.
Reposted by Jessica Lee
An excellent piece by Yasmin Khan in @theguardian.com – and I’m very relieved the preposterous case against her has been dropped. www.theguardian.com/food/comment...
I called my recipe book Sabzi – vegetables. But the name was trademarked. And my legal ordeal began
The granting of patents and trademarks to foods and words from the global south is part of a long colonial grab. It’s time to realise we share what we cook, and what we call it
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 11:39 AM
An excellent piece by Yasmin Khan in @theguardian.com – and I’m very relieved the preposterous case against her has been dropped. www.theguardian.com/food/comment...
Reposted by Jessica Lee
A UAE/STC or Houthi choice reminds of Assange quote on options faced in 2016 US election: "Well, you’re asking me, do I prefer cholera or gonorrhea?"
What's happening in Yemen right now is the most significant military & political shift since at least 2022 if not 2015. Not that many will notice.
What's happening in Yemen right now is the most significant military & political shift since at least 2022 if not 2015. Not that many will notice.
Overwhelmed and forced to withdraw, would be a more accurate description.
Either way, UAE backed forces have northern Hadhramaut and are moving through neighbouring Al Mahra. If they take Al Mahra, UAE/STC forces will control the majority of Yemen (by land size. Houthis control larger population)
Either way, UAE backed forces have northern Hadhramaut and are moving through neighbouring Al Mahra. If they take Al Mahra, UAE/STC forces will control the majority of Yemen (by land size. Houthis control larger population)
December 4, 2025 at 10:19 AM
A UAE/STC or Houthi choice reminds of Assange quote on options faced in 2016 US election: "Well, you’re asking me, do I prefer cholera or gonorrhea?"
What's happening in Yemen right now is the most significant military & political shift since at least 2022 if not 2015. Not that many will notice.
What's happening in Yemen right now is the most significant military & political shift since at least 2022 if not 2015. Not that many will notice.
Sigh. So close...& yet...so far off the mark.
Sleeper buses are normally great. I applaud anyone trying to take the bed-bus concept to Europe because it's sorely missing it...but...BUT...£141? The entire point of sleeper-buses is that they're a cheaper option.
www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...
Sleeper buses are normally great. I applaud anyone trying to take the bed-bus concept to Europe because it's sorely missing it...but...BUT...£141? The entire point of sleeper-buses is that they're a cheaper option.
www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...
We tested Europe’s luxurious new ‘business-class’ sleeper bus between Amsterdam and Zurich
A new overnight bus service in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland offers comfort and sustainability
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Sigh. So close...& yet...so far off the mark.
Sleeper buses are normally great. I applaud anyone trying to take the bed-bus concept to Europe because it's sorely missing it...but...BUT...£141? The entire point of sleeper-buses is that they're a cheaper option.
www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...
Sleeper buses are normally great. I applaud anyone trying to take the bed-bus concept to Europe because it's sorely missing it...but...BUT...£141? The entire point of sleeper-buses is that they're a cheaper option.
www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...
Reposted by Jessica Lee
Exhibit 954 on my thesis that my people are weird & live in an insulated bubble where not a lot happens most of the time.
'media assembled, beaming their reports live into morning TV, awaiting customers spoke of their excitement to try Ikea’s iconic meatballs'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
'media assembled, beaming their reports live into morning TV, awaiting customers spoke of their excitement to try Ikea’s iconic meatballs'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
New Zealand assembles for opening of its first Ikea store
Overnight camping was banned and motorists were told to plan their journey as New Zealand finally joined the flatpack family
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Exhibit 954 on my thesis that my people are weird & live in an insulated bubble where not a lot happens most of the time.
'media assembled, beaming their reports live into morning TV, awaiting customers spoke of their excitement to try Ikea’s iconic meatballs'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
'media assembled, beaming their reports live into morning TV, awaiting customers spoke of their excitement to try Ikea’s iconic meatballs'
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Reposted by Jessica Lee
I'm struck by this as well and it extends to most people I know over, say, fifty-five who don't have a special interest in the Middle East.
They learned a narrative as young people. No number of new data points seem to sway them from that narrative.
Of course, this isn't limited to Israel
They learned a narrative as young people. No number of new data points seem to sway them from that narrative.
Of course, this isn't limited to Israel
The highly educated 85+ years olds around me simply disbelieve that Israel has turned into what persecuted Jews 80 years ago. I spell it out for them, fact after fact, but it is too big to swallow. Lifelong othering of Arabs doesn't help. Changing attitudes towards Israel has to be generational.
December 3, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I'm struck by this as well and it extends to most people I know over, say, fifty-five who don't have a special interest in the Middle East.
They learned a narrative as young people. No number of new data points seem to sway them from that narrative.
Of course, this isn't limited to Israel
They learned a narrative as young people. No number of new data points seem to sway them from that narrative.
Of course, this isn't limited to Israel
Lol. Let's do this by not mentioning the behemoths, so no Rooney, no Joyce:
Soldier Sailor, Claire Kilroy
Evenings & Weekends, Oisin McKenna
Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry
My Fourth Time, We Drowned, Sally Hayden
OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea, Patrick Freyne
Soldier Sailor, Claire Kilroy
Evenings & Weekends, Oisin McKenna
Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry
My Fourth Time, We Drowned, Sally Hayden
OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea, Patrick Freyne
Introduce yourself by naming five books by Irish writers that you have read.
December 3, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Lol. Let's do this by not mentioning the behemoths, so no Rooney, no Joyce:
Soldier Sailor, Claire Kilroy
Evenings & Weekends, Oisin McKenna
Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry
My Fourth Time, We Drowned, Sally Hayden
OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea, Patrick Freyne
Soldier Sailor, Claire Kilroy
Evenings & Weekends, Oisin McKenna
Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry
My Fourth Time, We Drowned, Sally Hayden
OK, Let's Do Your Stupid Idea, Patrick Freyne