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Cal McLean

@calmclean.bsky.social
222 followers 495 following 32 posts

Broadcast engineer, software developer, brew maker. Ex-vision mixer. Often found looking confused in front of a computer. Eurovision enthusiast, keen on tea. Liverpool-based. 🏳️‍🌈 📍 Liverpool, UK

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Reposted by Cal McLean
Aethia @aethiakink.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Memories 🥲
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Sic Transit PHL @sictransitphl.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I came up with some more inane bullshit for everyone to argue about!
(September 23, 2026 at 10:44am)
Fake opinions to argue over…
- Never turn left on a first date.
- Every kindergarten student should have an unpaid internship.
- The periodic table is too sexual.
- Bigfoot should be allowed to vote.
- Having a dream is the same as reading a book.
- You can wear a crop top to a funeral if the deceased person was hot when they died.
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Cal McLean @calmclean.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
🥯 macaron 🍺 saison 🖥️ blue screen of death 👀 booty call 🎭 jukebox musical
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 22/05/2026
As a science fiction writer I really fucking resent tech bros for ruining the phrase "artificial intelligence." 80 years of it being all about cool androids and interesting computers destroyed by five years of "Spicy autocorrect making everything shittier for money." NEVER FORGIVE.
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Cal McLean @calmclean.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Not bad for a first try. It feels like anything particularly saturated, especially in the greens, was more difficult...
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Dan Ancona @danancona.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
entirely unimprovable execution by the @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social social team
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Martin Nicholls @martinnicholls.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
In honour of the Sunday Telegraph's editor and offical maddest columnist, we have created the Allister Heath headline generator... stirring-fox-7e1fab.netlify.app
stirring-fox-7e1fab.netlify.app
Allister Heath Headline Generator
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Just done this and both my adult and child selves are delighted
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Garry @thegmcconnachie.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Robin Ince reveals to last night’s audience at a recording of Infinite Monkey Cage that the BBC has forced him to resign over his support of trans people
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life.
Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage.
I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys.
I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show,
A show that I named and helped develop over all those years.
Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry.
These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenterIn a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices.
Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'.
•
I chose the latter.
It broke my heart.
I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make.
I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer.
I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence.
One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career.I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more.
I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost".
James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice.
Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences.
I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness.
Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire.
I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal.
I am so sorry to let you down.
I hope that you can understand my reasoning.
I have to accept that I am not what the current
BBC expects of their freelance presenters.Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not
"just a job"
I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world.
From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too.
The strawberry is dead.
Long live the strawberry. B
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Cal McLean @calmclean.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Hang on... say that again?
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Final Friztination @frizfrizzle.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
STATLER; "This funeral is so boring, I'm jealous of the guy in the coffin! Ah ha ha ha ha!" [Statler turns to the empty chair next to him and sheds one tear]
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Matt "Kupo" Roszak 🌻🍉 Wishlist Find Matt's Cats! @kupogames.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Newgrounds' approach to verifying age is interesting and transparent.
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Cal McLean @calmclean.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
Did some Pride things today - even ended up in the parade. Fab to have been a part of it with Reece ❤️
Reece and I standing outside next to a Pride parade in Liverpool. The Radio City Tower is visible in the background, next to a large Pride flag in the foreground.
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TracketPacer @tracketpacer.com · 22/06/2025
how being ND affects my career 🪿 (i always hesitate to self diagnose but what i can talk about are my symptoms & how it shows up for me personally)
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Steve Klabnik @steveklabnik.com · 13/06/2025
SIGFUCK, SIGMARRY, SIGKILL
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Cal McLean @calmclean.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Bit late now mate.
A shop front, upon which is written several times, "SALE LAST WEEK".
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Scott Bryan @scottygb.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
god i love host Hazel Brugger so much #eurovision
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Nick Barlow @nickbwalking.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
The Papal conclave is expected to start between the 6th and 12th of May. Eurovision is between the 13th and 17th of May. Social media is about to get very confusing.
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Matthew Hodson @matthewhodson.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Section 28 didn’t come out of nowhere. It came from a society where 75% thought homosexuality was wrong. From a society that feared the sight of a man in drag would corrupt. From a society that believed ignorance was better for children than any knowledge of gay lives. 🧵 1/16
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Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Sad to learn of the death of BBC Radio 2 legend Colin Berry. Such a wonderful presenter who, for many years, announced the UK’s jury results at Eurovision Song Contests. Here’s my musical tribute to the man with one of the smoothest voices in radio.
youtu.be
Tribute to BBC Radio 2 legend Colin Berry (1946-2025)
YouTube video by Steve Rosenberg
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swearclock ⌚︎ @swearclock.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Earth, Wind And Fire? I Prefer Shit, Blood And Semen It's 11:00PM
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Matthew Hodson @matthewhodson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025
Keith Haring died of AIDS aged 31 on 16 Feb 1990. One of his last works, Unfinished Painting, was deliberately incomplete, reflecting the devastating, unquantifiable loss to the arts due to AIDS. #LGBTplusHistoryMonth
A square canvas. Only the top corner is filled with Harings distinctive figures, rendered in Lavender, the rest is blank.
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Cal McLean @calmclean.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Linnea bringing the first properly camp song of #melfest - this is what we're here for!
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