Nick Hilton
@nickfthilton.bsky.social
Chief TV Critic: @theindependent
Podcaster in Chief: @podotpods
Other "chief" roles: tbc
Podcaster in Chief: @podotpods
Other "chief" roles: tbc
Pinned
Nick Hilton
@nickfthilton.bsky.social
· Dec 4
Future Proof | Nick Hilton | Substack
100% Undiluted Media Futurology. Click to read Future Proof, by Nick Hilton, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
futureproofnews.substack.com
I have a newsletter – Future Proof – where I write bitter musings about digital media, from podcasts and YouTube to movies and TV. Basically every post is free and harmless, and I like seeing the subscriber ticker going up: so please sign up!
Extremely important for the IOC to crack down on the *checks notes* zero transgender women who competed at the last Olympics.
IOC moves closer to ban on transgender women
The International Olympic Committee moves a step closer to introducing a blanket ban on transgender women from female categories across all sports.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Extremely important for the IOC to crack down on the *checks notes* zero transgender women who competed at the last Olympics.
Trespasses = good.
A captivating Lola Petticrew elevates Trespasses’ tale of forbidden love – review
Channel 4’s adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s novel, which also stars Gillian Anderson, feels like grown-up fare in tone and substance
www.independent.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Trespasses = good.
Reposted by Nick Hilton
The BBC: quite a big deal.
November 10, 2025 at 10:36 AM
The BBC: quite a big deal.
This column may be complete bollocks, but I'm not sure I could've come up with a better cover image.
The BBC is not really institutionally biased. But reality no longer matters. The BBC has to change. A few thoughts ⬇️
The BBC's Reckoning: can the next Director-General solve its impartiality permacrisis?
Tim Davie has resigned, but does this help the BBC move forward?
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:25 AM
This column may be complete bollocks, but I'm not sure I could've come up with a better cover image.
The BBC is not really institutionally biased. But reality no longer matters. The BBC has to change. A few thoughts ⬇️
The BBC's Reckoning: can the next Director-General solve its impartiality permacrisis?
Tim Davie has resigned, but does this help the BBC move forward?
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:19 AM
The BBC is not really institutionally biased. But reality no longer matters. The BBC has to change. A few thoughts ⬇️
Must be wild for the Trump administration to bear witness to a culture of accountability.
November 9, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Must be wild for the Trump administration to bear witness to a culture of accountability.
In an effort to cure my low self-esteem with one of those gold ticks on Substack, I am providing my first perk for premium subscribers: The Frigest, a Friday digest of cultural delights, industrial gossip, and stray observations about moustache growth.
The Frigest #1: Surrogates, Tories, Moustaches, and Treachery
The first edition of my premium Friday digest of cultural and political treats
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:44 PM
In an effort to cure my low self-esteem with one of those gold ticks on Substack, I am providing my first perk for premium subscribers: The Frigest, a Friday digest of cultural delights, industrial gossip, and stray observations about moustache growth.
I really wasn't sure what sort of response critics would give Pluribus. It's interesting but slippery; engaging but not gripping. Rhea Seehorn is excellent, but is its dystopian built out in sufficient technicolour? I remain unconvinced.
Rhea Seehorn is a force of nature in dystopian drama Pluribus – review
Vince Gilligan makes his first return to the small screen after ‘Breaking Bad’ spin-off ‘Better Call Saul’ with an interesting show that nevertheless fails to live up to those two masterpieces
www.independent.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I really wasn't sure what sort of response critics would give Pluribus. It's interesting but slippery; engaging but not gripping. Rhea Seehorn is excellent, but is its dystopian built out in sufficient technicolour? I remain unconvinced.
Someone has to to stand up to the celebification of every half-decent reality TV format.
Celebrity Race Across the World is an all-star version that just doesn’t work
‘Race Across the World’ has always felt like a format created by the people, for the people
www.independent.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Someone has to to stand up to the celebification of every half-decent reality TV format.
Huge respect for the 2% of Celeb Traitors viewers who think that David Olusoga played the best game.
November 6, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Huge respect for the 2% of Celeb Traitors viewers who think that David Olusoga played the best game.
I think that Steven Bartlett's attempt to build "the Disney of the creator economy" misunderstands the psychology of why the creator economy has thrived. My thoughts ⬇️
Synecdoche, New Media: can the creator economy become more than the sum of its parts?
Can Steven Bartlett create "the Disney of the creator economy"?
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I think that Steven Bartlett's attempt to build "the Disney of the creator economy" misunderstands the psychology of why the creator economy has thrived. My thoughts ⬇️
Everything about Kemi Badenoch – except her beverage preference – is absolutely chilling.
November 6, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Everything about Kemi Badenoch – except her beverage preference – is absolutely chilling.
What was the last major election anywhere which wasn’t won by the more “authentic” seeming candidate? Like, Keir Starmer might present like a hand-carved ventriloquist’s dummy, but, mercifully, he was up against Rishi Sunak, the human equivalent of an AI chatbot. Authenticity seems a vote winner.
November 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
What was the last major election anywhere which wasn’t won by the more “authentic” seeming candidate? Like, Keir Starmer might present like a hand-carved ventriloquist’s dummy, but, mercifully, he was up against Rishi Sunak, the human equivalent of an AI chatbot. Authenticity seems a vote winner.
One of the ‘celebrities’ appearing on the BBC’s special Christmas series - The Celebrity Apprentice - will be Thomas Skinner. Aside from the BBC giving him yet more airtime, remind me how Skinner got famous originally?
November 5, 2025 at 1:37 PM
One of the ‘celebrities’ appearing on the BBC’s special Christmas series - The Celebrity Apprentice - will be Thomas Skinner. Aside from the BBC giving him yet more airtime, remind me how Skinner got famous originally?
Was always hard to take Dick Cheney seriously when his name sounds like a chastity device.
November 4, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Was always hard to take Dick Cheney seriously when his name sounds like a chastity device.
Britain's sole remaining export is beautiful people. Now to somehow leverage our soft (no jokes) power into trade deals.
November 4, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Britain's sole remaining export is beautiful people. Now to somehow leverage our soft (no jokes) power into trade deals.
London has fallen.
November 1, 2025 at 1:39 PM
London has fallen.
We are not a serious nation.
October 31, 2025 at 7:12 PM
We are not a serious nation.
👑 I'll always call him Prince Andrew 👑 (because the titles were always a totally arbitrary relic, and there should be frequent reminders of the way that powerful establishment figures, like royals, collude in abuse).
October 31, 2025 at 4:53 PM
👑 I'll always call him Prince Andrew 👑 (because the titles were always a totally arbitrary relic, and there should be frequent reminders of the way that powerful establishment figures, like royals, collude in abuse).
This is beyond grotesque. Another young journalism who treats the lives of minorities as a game. I know plenty of people who still hang out with this guy – I can't respect that as a decision when he's publicly gloating about further stigmatising disabled people.
October 31, 2025 at 2:02 PM
This is beyond grotesque. Another young journalism who treats the lives of minorities as a game. I know plenty of people who still hang out with this guy – I can't respect that as a decision when he's publicly gloating about further stigmatising disabled people.
In the 1940s, Vogue carried striking photojournalism about the horrors in Europe. Now, British Airways won't allow itself to be associated with a podcast conversation about the language we use when confronted by such violence. How did our institutions become so cowardly?
Don't Look Away: Lee Miller, Louis Theroux and the urgency of flinching
Have we all become victims of moral cowardice?
substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:38 PM
In the 1940s, Vogue carried striking photojournalism about the horrors in Europe. Now, British Airways won't allow itself to be associated with a podcast conversation about the language we use when confronted by such violence. How did our institutions become so cowardly?
Because it's Halloween (and the only thing scarier than the undead is self-promotion) here's a short (21 mins) podcast documentary I made, a couple of years ago, about Britain's most haunted town: Pluckley in Kent.
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Because it's Halloween (and the only thing scarier than the undead is self-promotion) here's a short (21 mins) podcast documentary I made, a couple of years ago, about Britain's most haunted town: Pluckley in Kent.
My local cinema – the fantastic West Norwood Picturehouse – isn't showing a single horror movie tonight. Halloween falling on a Friday should be a great opportunity to pack out extra screens, but British cinemas are proving, once again, too sclerotic for their own good.
October 31, 2025 at 10:49 AM
My local cinema – the fantastic West Norwood Picturehouse – isn't showing a single horror movie tonight. Halloween falling on a Friday should be a great opportunity to pack out extra screens, but British cinemas are proving, once again, too sclerotic for their own good.
Nobody can make me learn Prince Andrew’s surname.
October 30, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Nobody can make me learn Prince Andrew’s surname.