Dr Joe Baker
@jsbaker.co.uk
Writer. PhD in religion and narrative from Bristol University; I post about writing, reading, philosophy, current affairs, business, and more. jsbaker.co.uk | figuration.al | helios360.co.uk
My manly identity may be nearing completion at last, with this external validation arriving, unrequested, in the post
August 11, 2025 at 7:27 PM
My manly identity may be nearing completion at last, with this external validation arriving, unrequested, in the post
I finished reading 'Days Without End' by Sebastian Barry. One of my favourite authors, and here he goes back in time with the McNulty family to the US Indian War and Civil War, to their brutal realities made tender through the families we choose, and the love that chooses us. Great story.
July 25, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I finished reading 'Days Without End' by Sebastian Barry. One of my favourite authors, and here he goes back in time with the McNulty family to the US Indian War and Civil War, to their brutal realities made tender through the families we choose, and the love that chooses us. Great story.
I just finished reading ‘Playground’ by Richard Powers. An enjoyable read. So many interesting ideas and people … but I felt like there were so many of them that they were all crowding in to have their moment all the time and I never quite got to understand any of them well. Maybe that’s a me thing.
July 15, 2025 at 9:06 AM
I just finished reading ‘Playground’ by Richard Powers. An enjoyable read. So many interesting ideas and people … but I felt like there were so many of them that they were all crowding in to have their moment all the time and I never quite got to understand any of them well. Maybe that’s a me thing.
Covers over half the screen and doesn’t disappear when clicking either button
July 15, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Covers over half the screen and doesn’t disappear when clicking either button
One of my ancestors won a Nobel peace prize.
I find it incredibly offensive that a man who bragged about selling arms to Saudi Arabia (www.npr.org/2019/07/25/7...) then did it again (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...) now wants one coz he bombed something then shouted at people to stop bombing.
I find it incredibly offensive that a man who bragged about selling arms to Saudi Arabia (www.npr.org/2019/07/25/7...) then did it again (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...) now wants one coz he bombed something then shouted at people to stop bombing.
June 26, 2025 at 11:54 AM
One of my ancestors won a Nobel peace prize.
I find it incredibly offensive that a man who bragged about selling arms to Saudi Arabia (www.npr.org/2019/07/25/7...) then did it again (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...) now wants one coz he bombed something then shouted at people to stop bombing.
I find it incredibly offensive that a man who bragged about selling arms to Saudi Arabia (www.npr.org/2019/07/25/7...) then did it again (www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...) now wants one coz he bombed something then shouted at people to stop bombing.
I’m at a funeral today. Here’s a beautiful Wendell Berry poem, The Peace of Wild Things.
June 21, 2025 at 10:17 AM
I’m at a funeral today. Here’s a beautiful Wendell Berry poem, The Peace of Wild Things.
I heard you talking about 'The Queue' earlier today @mrjamesob.bsky.social (www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hri...) and it made me wonder whether you'd read Michael Sandel's 'The Tyranny of Merit', one of the most helpful books on this area of modern life that I've read, maybe ever. Taken from the blurb:
May 12, 2025 at 1:17 PM
I heard you talking about 'The Queue' earlier today @mrjamesob.bsky.social (www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hri...) and it made me wonder whether you'd read Michael Sandel's 'The Tyranny of Merit', one of the most helpful books on this area of modern life that I've read, maybe ever. Taken from the blurb:
Really unconvinced by the latest update to the @theguardian.com iOS app — the promoted articles are half the screen, *so big*, so prominent, that the even first news headline is truncated. Seems kinda odd to make news subsidiary to opinion pieces. And can’t final any options for this layout. Sigh.
May 8, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Really unconvinced by the latest update to the @theguardian.com iOS app — the promoted articles are half the screen, *so big*, so prominent, that the even first news headline is truncated. Seems kinda odd to make news subsidiary to opinion pieces. And can’t final any options for this layout. Sigh.
Magnolia blossom season is the most urgent, riotous burst of hope
March 27, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Magnolia blossom season is the most urgent, riotous burst of hope
I’m in Norwich for the day, ambling around and taking in the vibe and stuff while Mrs B does some actual work, examining music grades. Found a wonderful Middle Eastern café to relax in for a while.
March 22, 2025 at 9:13 AM
I’m in Norwich for the day, ambling around and taking in the vibe and stuff while Mrs B does some actual work, examining music grades. Found a wonderful Middle Eastern café to relax in for a while.
My lovely brother bought me breakfast today. They call this ‘The Full French’.
March 14, 2025 at 11:58 AM
My lovely brother bought me breakfast today. They call this ‘The Full French’.
On a walk today in the Warwickshire countryside, 100 miles or more from the nearest sea. The boat is called ‘High Tide’ but I don’t recall any quite that big in the 30ish years I’ve lived up here.
March 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM
On a walk today in the Warwickshire countryside, 100 miles or more from the nearest sea. The boat is called ‘High Tide’ but I don’t recall any quite that big in the 30ish years I’ve lived up here.
Mmm. Espresso while reading the latest draft and considering how far it’s improved
February 28, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Mmm. Espresso while reading the latest draft and considering how far it’s improved
A delightful afternoon walk yesterday on Candlemas, the day for marking the returning light. Our walk finished at sunset, at just the perfect moment.
February 3, 2025 at 9:21 AM
A delightful afternoon walk yesterday on Candlemas, the day for marking the returning light. Our walk finished at sunset, at just the perfect moment.
Morning world. Mrs B is out all day today adjudicating at a music competition, so I have the whole day to stare into the abyss and listen to the screaming
January 26, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Morning world. Mrs B is out all day today adjudicating at a music competition, so I have the whole day to stare into the abyss and listen to the screaming
A delightful winter’s walk in the Warwickshire countryside this morning
January 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
A delightful winter’s walk in the Warwickshire countryside this morning
Very wintery walk today
January 11, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Very wintery walk today
Cold, foggy, lovely walk with the family in the Worcestershire countryside yesterday
December 29, 2024 at 9:16 AM
Cold, foggy, lovely walk with the family in the Worcestershire countryside yesterday
And 5th spot in 2024: 'How They Broke Britain,' by James O'Brien. It's too easy for things in society, culture, politics and current affairs to become atomised, and in that fog we have the wool pulled over our eyes. We know this stuff has happened, but O'Brien pulls 'em all together and says … look!
December 16, 2024 at 3:58 PM
And 5th spot in 2024: 'How They Broke Britain,' by James O'Brien. It's too easy for things in society, culture, politics and current affairs to become atomised, and in that fog we have the wool pulled over our eyes. We know this stuff has happened, but O'Brien pulls 'em all together and says … look!
No. 4 in ’24: ‘Another England,’ by Caroline Lucas — like Lucas, I feel strongly that the idea of Englishness has been hijacked. In this book she explores whether and how it can be reclaimed, taking profound stories from English literature to show us the first steps in a journey full of challenges.
December 16, 2024 at 3:53 PM
No. 4 in ’24: ‘Another England,’ by Caroline Lucas — like Lucas, I feel strongly that the idea of Englishness has been hijacked. In this book she explores whether and how it can be reclaimed, taking profound stories from English literature to show us the first steps in a journey full of challenges.
3rd in 2024: 'The Outrun,' by Amy Liptrot. An autobiography like I've never read before, beautiful poetic prose and powerful honesty on Liptrot's experience of alcohol addiction and how a wild place, Orkney, and the wildest places within it where the place where she found some sort of healing.
December 16, 2024 at 3:48 PM
3rd in 2024: 'The Outrun,' by Amy Liptrot. An autobiography like I've never read before, beautiful poetic prose and powerful honesty on Liptrot's experience of alcohol addiction and how a wild place, Orkney, and the wildest places within it where the place where she found some sort of healing.
2nd place: 'Supercommunicators,' by Charles Duhigg. Good conversation is a gift, something I've always enjoyed deeply and believed I was good company in conversation. But I've often felt I was missing something. This was a sublime read, a powerful moment to consider and reflect on talking better-er.
December 16, 2024 at 3:44 PM
2nd place: 'Supercommunicators,' by Charles Duhigg. Good conversation is a gift, something I've always enjoyed deeply and believed I was good company in conversation. But I've often felt I was missing something. This was a sublime read, a powerful moment to consider and reflect on talking better-er.
And number 5: 'Karla's Choice,' by Nick Harkaway. George Smiley was the first fictional character who really moved me. John le Carré was the first novelist I truly admired, whose work I properly esteemed. This is a great addition to Smiley's post-WW2 world of espionage, loyalty and betrayal. Ace.
December 15, 2024 at 8:52 PM
And number 5: 'Karla's Choice,' by Nick Harkaway. George Smiley was the first fictional character who really moved me. John le Carré was the first novelist I truly admired, whose work I properly esteemed. This is a great addition to Smiley's post-WW2 world of espionage, loyalty and betrayal. Ace.
No. 4: 'Caledonian Road,' by Andrew O'Hagan. I've become a huge fan of O'Hagan, and this one is a huge addition to his work — a powerful, complex story of modern Britain and the social upheavals it's undergoing and its intricate causes, with a huge, interlaced cast of characters. Gripping. Terrific.
December 15, 2024 at 8:44 PM
No. 4: 'Caledonian Road,' by Andrew O'Hagan. I've become a huge fan of O'Hagan, and this one is a huge addition to his work — a powerful, complex story of modern Britain and the social upheavals it's undergoing and its intricate causes, with a huge, interlaced cast of characters. Gripping. Terrific.
3rd top novel: 'The Borrowed Hills,' by Scott Preston. Don't know how I came across this one but so glad I did — it's fabulous. A Western set in the Cumbrian hills, in the aftermath of foot & mouth disease. Brutal and sublime and honest and complex, not flinching or turning its eyes away. Fantastic.
December 15, 2024 at 8:37 PM
3rd top novel: 'The Borrowed Hills,' by Scott Preston. Don't know how I came across this one but so glad I did — it's fabulous. A Western set in the Cumbrian hills, in the aftermath of foot & mouth disease. Brutal and sublime and honest and complex, not flinching or turning its eyes away. Fantastic.