Richard James Foster
@richardjamesfoster.bsky.social
Artist, author & culture writer. History & art buff. The Museum of Photocopies. Quietus. Write about music, NL, & my family history. #MDANT. My 2nd book, The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club is now out. All stuff here. https://linktr.ee/richardfoster
Pinned
BEYOND delighted to announce that @weare1of100.bsky.social is making a Punk Rock Birdwatching Club teeshirt! You can successfully hide in scrub near a cycle path and not look dodgy! In fact, you’re better dressed than Beau Brummell with this on, phwoar! Details soon, add this in your spotter book.
I understand why but this is classic English navel gazing at one level. As someone who lives in Europe, the BBC is important and respected: you underestimate its soft power at peril, plenty of examples. Plus in this discussion you never hear anything / enough about World Service, Radio 3, etc.
November 11, 2025 at 12:38 PM
I understand why but this is classic English navel gazing at one level. As someone who lives in Europe, the BBC is important and respected: you underestimate its soft power at peril, plenty of examples. Plus in this discussion you never hear anything / enough about World Service, Radio 3, etc.
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Darran Anderson reflects on the work of the great Dennis Potter, an artist who saw the potential of television as medium, and a working class writer so "imaginative in the ways he defied containment"
How #DennisPotter’s TV Plays Were Guides to the Purgatory of the Modern Age
buff.ly/TFfOUzs
How #DennisPotter’s TV Plays Were Guides to the Purgatory of the Modern Age
buff.ly/TFfOUzs
November 10, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Darran Anderson reflects on the work of the great Dennis Potter, an artist who saw the potential of television as medium, and a working class writer so "imaginative in the ways he defied containment"
How #DennisPotter’s TV Plays Were Guides to the Purgatory of the Modern Age
buff.ly/TFfOUzs
How #DennisPotter’s TV Plays Were Guides to the Purgatory of the Modern Age
buff.ly/TFfOUzs
I review Le Guess Who? for @thequietus.com: it was a hoot! thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
A Long Drink of the Best Water: Highlights from 2025's Le Guess Who? | The Quietus
Le Guess Who? is a wonderful music festival. Perhaps – unwittingly – it also reflects the MO of Utrecht’s first bishop, the Northumbrian pilgrim Willibrord. These four days in Utrecht have become a vi...
thequietus.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I review Le Guess Who? for @thequietus.com: it was a hoot! thequietus.com/quietus-revi...
Reposted by Richard James Foster
💌 Check your inboxes!
Our November newsletter is out, combining our events listings with our monthly roundup of events and opportunities
With open mics, residencies, grants and competitions, there are so many ways for you to explore your creativity ✨
With opportunities from....
Our November newsletter is out, combining our events listings with our monthly roundup of events and opportunities
With open mics, residencies, grants and competitions, there are so many ways for you to explore your creativity ✨
With opportunities from....
It's official: dates and location for Annual Salon 2026!
Plus a roundup of events and opportunities across Europe
europeanwriterssalon.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:29 AM
💌 Check your inboxes!
Our November newsletter is out, combining our events listings with our monthly roundup of events and opportunities
With open mics, residencies, grants and competitions, there are so many ways for you to explore your creativity ✨
With opportunities from....
Our November newsletter is out, combining our events listings with our monthly roundup of events and opportunities
With open mics, residencies, grants and competitions, there are so many ways for you to explore your creativity ✨
With opportunities from....
Reposted by Richard James Foster
“When I was [at the BBC], at the height of Boris Johnson’s strength, that fear was ubiquitous. Scripts were sometimes written with a view not solely to their impartiality or truth, but the management of perception of impartiality from one side of the spectrum.“ @lewisgoodall.com
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
goodallandgoodluck.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:21 PM
“When I was [at the BBC], at the height of Boris Johnson’s strength, that fear was ubiquitous. Scripts were sometimes written with a view not solely to their impartiality or truth, but the management of perception of impartiality from one side of the spectrum.“ @lewisgoodall.com
Reposted by Richard James Foster
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
Reposted by Richard James Foster
‘I spoke to President Trump,’ says Farage ‘and he was angry. “I thought you were allies,” he told me.’
I would lay everything I own on the above being pure, unadulterated bollocks.
I would lay everything I own on the above being pure, unadulterated bollocks.
November 10, 2025 at 9:21 AM
‘I spoke to President Trump,’ says Farage ‘and he was angry. “I thought you were allies,” he told me.’
I would lay everything I own on the above being pure, unadulterated bollocks.
I would lay everything I own on the above being pure, unadulterated bollocks.
Me & Arnold de Boer go back a long way. His new lp is all kinds of wonderful : Frisian poetry to a light jazzy soundtrack and a marching band louderthanwar.com/zea-in-in-li...
Zea: In In Lichem Fol Beloften
Zea aka Arnold de Boer of The Ex, draws on his roots with this set of brilliantly crafted songs, backed by a Frisian marching band.
louderthanwar.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Me & Arnold de Boer go back a long way. His new lp is all kinds of wonderful : Frisian poetry to a light jazzy soundtrack and a marching band louderthanwar.com/zea-in-in-li...
Reposted by Richard James Foster
5 of 5 stars to Set My Hand Upon the Plough by E. M. Barraud
www.goodreads.com/book/show/51...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/51...
November 7, 2025 at 12:30 PM
5 of 5 stars to Set My Hand Upon the Plough by E. M. Barraud
www.goodreads.com/book/show/51...
www.goodreads.com/book/show/51...
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Online later this week 😄
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Online later this week 😄
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
IDF soldiers tell documentary of opening fire unprovoked and arbitrary designations of who was an enemy
Israeli soldiers have described a free-for-all in Gaza and a breakdown in norms and legal constraints, with civilians killed at the whim of individual officers, according to testimony in a TV documentary.
“If you want to shoot without restraint, you can,” Daniel, the commander of an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank unit, says in Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War, due to be broadcast in the UK on ITV on Monday evening. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Israeli soldiers speak out on killings of Gaza civilians
Reposted by Richard James Foster
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
Tee in the shop! It looks great. Do consider buying one from @weare1of100.bsky.social
Saturday shift’s on! Open 12–5 with loads of new bits you won’t find online yet. Vinyl heads, book lovers, coffee drinkers, style hunters, we got you. Spinning classic albums all day, come hang out and have a dig. ✌️
November 10, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Tee in the shop! It looks great. Do consider buying one from @weare1of100.bsky.social
Ok; Le Guess Who? highlights: Fiery Furnaces, DJ Marcelle, Destroyer (unannounced set), Jabu, Gina Birch, Lido Pimienta, Mohammad Mustafa Heydarian, Merope w Shahzad Ismailly, Bhajan Bhoy, Heinali & Adriana/Yaroslava Sainenko. And the lovely boho bits of Utrecht.
November 10, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Ok; Le Guess Who? highlights: Fiery Furnaces, DJ Marcelle, Destroyer (unannounced set), Jabu, Gina Birch, Lido Pimienta, Mohammad Mustafa Heydarian, Merope w Shahzad Ismailly, Bhajan Bhoy, Heinali & Adriana/Yaroslava Sainenko. And the lovely boho bits of Utrecht.
Reposted by Richard James Foster
The attention the Tory party in the media and in the Commons are giving to this story is a reflection of just how far off the deep-end both have gone in recent times. Sure, they have a long-term vested interest in trying to undermine faith in the Beeb. But this is such a non-issue for most voters.
The BBC is apologising for its Panorama edit. It shouldn’t. First, the narrative is true: Donald Trump *did* incite the Capitol riot. Second, the apology won’t appease those attacking it. So why not at least stand for something?
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
Wrote this on it earlier this week:
inews.co.uk/news/world/b...
The BBC was right about the Capitol riots. In a sane world, Trump would be in jail
The US President faced impeachment over the violence, and in a world where Republicans had more courage, he would have been found guilty
inews.co.uk
November 9, 2025 at 7:51 AM
The attention the Tory party in the media and in the Commons are giving to this story is a reflection of just how far off the deep-end both have gone in recent times. Sure, they have a long-term vested interest in trying to undermine faith in the Beeb. But this is such a non-issue for most voters.
Fiery Furnaces and Dj Marcelle today: two old favourites.
November 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Fiery Furnaces and Dj Marcelle today: two old favourites.
Reposted by Richard James Foster
All set up Derby Book Festival with our own books and a carefully curated selection from across the indie presses and some writers I absolutely love!!
@drewgum.bsky.social is popping by to sign a few copies of 🦩🏩 as well - so looking forward to catching up with him!!
Here until 4pm!! #booksky
@drewgum.bsky.social is popping by to sign a few copies of 🦩🏩 as well - so looking forward to catching up with him!!
Here until 4pm!! #booksky
November 8, 2025 at 9:56 AM
All set up Derby Book Festival with our own books and a carefully curated selection from across the indie presses and some writers I absolutely love!!
@drewgum.bsky.social is popping by to sign a few copies of 🦩🏩 as well - so looking forward to catching up with him!!
Here until 4pm!! #booksky
@drewgum.bsky.social is popping by to sign a few copies of 🦩🏩 as well - so looking forward to catching up with him!!
Here until 4pm!! #booksky
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Ælberht, archbishop of York, died #OTD in 779/80. He established a curriculum at the minster school which, in its range, was the envy of Europe. He mentored Alcuin, who travelled to Rome to collect the pallium for Ælberht’s successor, Eanbald I. 📸Paul Lakin #medievalsky
November 8, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Ælberht, archbishop of York, died #OTD in 779/80. He established a curriculum at the minster school which, in its range, was the envy of Europe. He mentored Alcuin, who travelled to Rome to collect the pallium for Ælberht’s successor, Eanbald I. 📸Paul Lakin #medievalsky
Reposted by Richard James Foster
I hadn't heard about this - the BBC is restricting access to its written archives. It feels like part of the bigger picture of shutting down anything that is a positive for producing and preserving knowledge in the UK.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I hadn't heard about this - the BBC is restricting access to its written archives. It feels like part of the bigger picture of shutting down anything that is a positive for producing and preserving knowledge in the UK.
Reposted by Richard James Foster
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
At Le Guess Who? this week in Utrecht. Still a mind-blowing festival: this year so far one of my favourites (and I’ve been going since the late 00s).
November 8, 2025 at 7:34 AM
At Le Guess Who? this week in Utrecht. Still a mind-blowing festival: this year so far one of my favourites (and I’ve been going since the late 00s).
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Ok… this is a BIG DEAL.
Published back in 2020, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel by the unsurpassable @drewgum.bsky.social was our first novel… and as a consequence of us going to into hibernation for a while, it’s sadly been out of print.
NOT ANY LONGER!!!! IT’S BACK!!!!
Published back in 2020, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel by the unsurpassable @drewgum.bsky.social was our first novel… and as a consequence of us going to into hibernation for a while, it’s sadly been out of print.
NOT ANY LONGER!!!! IT’S BACK!!!!
November 7, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Ok… this is a BIG DEAL.
Published back in 2020, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel by the unsurpassable @drewgum.bsky.social was our first novel… and as a consequence of us going to into hibernation for a while, it’s sadly been out of print.
NOT ANY LONGER!!!! IT’S BACK!!!!
Published back in 2020, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel by the unsurpassable @drewgum.bsky.social was our first novel… and as a consequence of us going to into hibernation for a while, it’s sadly been out of print.
NOT ANY LONGER!!!! IT’S BACK!!!!
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Off to Derby today to sign some Flamingo Hotels. When it came out in 2020 it was lockdown. The box of books was left on my doorstep, collected. Now I get to do it at Derby Book Festival.
😊
🦩🏩
😊
🦩🏩
Ok… this is a BIG DEAL.
Published back in 2020, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel by the unsurpassable @drewgum.bsky.social was our first novel… and as a consequence of us going to into hibernation for a while, it’s sadly been out of print.
NOT ANY LONGER!!!! IT’S BACK!!!!
Published back in 2020, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel by the unsurpassable @drewgum.bsky.social was our first novel… and as a consequence of us going to into hibernation for a while, it’s sadly been out of print.
NOT ANY LONGER!!!! IT’S BACK!!!!
November 8, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Off to Derby today to sign some Flamingo Hotels. When it came out in 2020 it was lockdown. The box of books was left on my doorstep, collected. Now I get to do it at Derby Book Festival.
😊
🦩🏩
😊
🦩🏩
Reposted by Richard James Foster
Exactly 50 yrs ago tonight, the Sex Pistols' first gig, supporting Bazooka Joe at St Martin's College of Art.
Bazooka Joe's frontman was Stuart Goddard (later Adam Ant), but also in the group were Danny Kleinman (later director of Smashie & Nicey - End of an Era) and backing singer Arabella Weir.
Bazooka Joe's frontman was Stuart Goddard (later Adam Ant), but also in the group were Danny Kleinman (later director of Smashie & Nicey - End of an Era) and backing singer Arabella Weir.
November 6, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Exactly 50 yrs ago tonight, the Sex Pistols' first gig, supporting Bazooka Joe at St Martin's College of Art.
Bazooka Joe's frontman was Stuart Goddard (later Adam Ant), but also in the group were Danny Kleinman (later director of Smashie & Nicey - End of an Era) and backing singer Arabella Weir.
Bazooka Joe's frontman was Stuart Goddard (later Adam Ant), but also in the group were Danny Kleinman (later director of Smashie & Nicey - End of an Era) and backing singer Arabella Weir.