iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Mark Blacklock

Private Eye reported on this last issue, but this is a remarkable stat which neatly shows what massive, fuck-off donations from interested capital mean in terms of practical reach, influence and visibility (and your regular reminder that you can say literally anything you like in social media ads)

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Nick Hilton @nickfthilton.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

For 'professional' reasons, I am a member of lots of small town Facebook groups. This bloke has been appearing in towns across Sussex (Horsham, Redhill, Crawley, East Grinstead) with no apparent explanation. This is precisely why I stay subscribed to these groups.

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Hari Kunzru @harikunzru.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Archer really epitomized the tawdriness of the Thatcher era in Britain. Terrible writer, worse human. I don't think Iain Sinclair's essay about going to his penthouse is online anywhere, but it's in Lights Out for the Territory and is well worth reading.

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The Fence @thefence.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Issue 28 is at Good News Soho

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PARIAH PRESS 🍷 @pariahpress.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Pleased to announce on #InternationalTranslationDay that Michel Butor's Passing Time [translated into English by Jean Stewart] has a new trade distributor... Antenne Books, London. Ships worldwide. www.pariahpress.com/product-page... 'The great, lost Manchester novel' #booksky #books #publishing

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 28/09/2026

aw man. luv this correspondent.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 28/09/2026

I can't say how much I enjoyed writing about Victor Lewis-Smith for this issue. Going back to his work was eye-opening - laugh-out-loud jokes alongside some that made me wince. Some brilliant interviewees in the piece. Special thanks to @mattmuir.bsky.social for invaulable assistance.

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The Fence @thefence.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Issue 29 Is Here 🌦️ With fiction from William Boyd; more writing from @drblacklock.bsky.social, @jimmymcintosh.bsky.social, Kate Spicer, Precious Adesina, @nivenj1.bsky.social, Leo Robson, Nell Whittaker, @williamasclarke.bsky.social & more, plus illos by @daveyjones.bsky.social. the-fence.com/shop

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 22/09/2026

excellent point. it's quite the reverse. Some who notably shouted the loudest still dine out on it very publicly. (my two pennerth - the behavioural scientists who took the zuck dollar really need to properly fess up to their betrayal of all scholarly ethics).

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 05/09/2026

““It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.” As Farage well knows, 2 people who’ve thrown things at him have been convicted of assault. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Victoria Thomas Bowen sentenced for Nigel Farage milkshake attack

The Reform UK party leader was drenched in liquid when he started his constituency campaign in June.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 28/08/2026

I have fantasised many times about vandalising turnberry specifically. It’s an obscenity that trump quite happily maintains a leisure facility for rich shitbirds in the UK. And if it’s terrorism to do this, then I daydream and applaud terrorist acts.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 20/08/2026

e.g. "Farage using Christianity 'to stir anti-Muslim feeling', says Robbie Williams"

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 20/08/2026

I can never read headlines about the former archibishop of canterbury Rowan Williams without thinking that Robbie is straying from his lane again.

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Matt Muir @mattmuir.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I wrote about the weird and vaguely-psychotic test you're asked to take when being recruited by Steven Bartlett - this is quite fun, even if I do say so myself: www.thenewworld.co.uk/matt-muir-ap...

thenewworld.co.uk

Applying for a job with Steven Bartlett – very odd and very revealing

The podcaster and digital marketing man has an unusual hiring style, during which a candidate will learn just as much about him as he does about them

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The Fence @thefence.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Huge new investigation from @coramazov.bsky.social on the Afghan trio who pioneered the model of the 'dodgy shop' that litter Britain's high streets. the-fence.com/article/grav...

the-fence.com

The Graveyard of Empires

Cormac Kehoe went shopping for a souvenir.

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Matt Muir @mattmuir.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Friday! Lunchtime! A special, commemorative Burnham Bounce edition of Web Curios! Share, enjoy, CLICK THE PAIN OF DEFEAT AWAY! webcurios.co.uk/webcurios-17...

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 13/07/2026

There’s a sweet naivety in the way that they assume any writers have money to spend on promoting their work. I guess they just believe absolutely in the authorial ego. Also: there must be a pyramid scheme and a manual somewhere behind it all!

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The Fence @thefence.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Issue 28 Is Here 🤭 With writing from @coramazov.bsky.social, James Ramsden, @heawood.bsky.social, @danielshailer.bsky.social, Lucy Peett, Clive Martin, Zara Meerza, @williamasclarke.bsky.social & many more www.the-fence.com/shop

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 08/07/2026

Down with the elitist binface. It’s clear that if this circus is to mean anything we will need a people’s binface. Is it time for General Waste to enter the fray?

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 01/07/2026

More than one, I’d say.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 01/07/2026

Eventful. That’s my analysis. There were events.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 30/06/2026

Farewell Humph. He remained Chairman of Samuel Smiths to the end. A version of my Long Read is in press for the print magazine, so it won't be able to record his death, but I'll raise a pint in The Sun Inn to toast the ending of one era and the beginning of another. Plannings barristers will be sad.

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Matt Muir @mattmuir.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Friday! Lunchtime! Something to read to distract you from all the very, very boring chat about What The Burnham Win Means! Web Curios! So many links, so little Tedious Westminster Psychodrama! Click! Share! Enjoy! webcurios.co.uk/webcurios-19...

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 03/06/2026

I’ve got a cracker for you. Lunch menu at coarse in Durham. Wine pairing for 17.50. www.coarse.restaurant/3-course-lun... The food is insane value as well - the decor’s a little spare but the cooking is top drawer. Short walk from the station so perfect lunch layover on a London- Edinburgh run.

coarse.restaurant

3 Course Lunch Menu | Coarse Restaurant Durham

Enjoy a seasonal 3 course lunch in Durham at Coarse Restaurant. Accessible fine dining featuring local ingredients. Perfect for a mid-day treat.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 28/05/2026

The White Hotel is a special and rare thing. DIY, avant garde, unapologetic, hedonistic and mischievous, everything corporate places can never be but would love to be. I was grateful to have the opportunity to celebrate its decade of achievement and to break the news of its mutation into new arenas.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 18/05/2026

wonder at the timing of the future king selling off 20% of the duchy of Cornwall. were I an incoming PM with a big debt bill and a desire to renationalise crucial services, I’d see the disputed duchies as a potential target. windsors not popular, their medieval income clearly unjust. Let’s have it.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 15/05/2026

I was very excited about The Groucho snapping up Breton Hall, which has been falling into ruin for years, and wrote it up for Off the Fence. But nothing has happened there, and this brilliant piece of reporting begins to explain why.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 14/05/2026

I love italy so much. I'm going to Bologna on 17th June and I've just had an email back form a restaurant at which i tried to book a table saying it was way too early to reserve and suggesting I get back in touch "a metà giugno"

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 14/05/2026

I do so enjoy a shit cocktail.

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PARIAH PRESS 🍷 @pariahpress.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

The 90s: Art & Fashion at Tate Britain Oct 26 — Feb 27 Featuring images by @stuartlindenrhodes.bsky.social As seen in the two Linden Archives publications so far. www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tat... #photography #photographyexhibition #booksky

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 25/04/2026

Oh deary me this thread has me cackling through tears

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Mike Bonsall @mbonsall.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

“How the World Declared War on America” In the wilderness of America, JG Ballard foresaw the gangster imperialism of Donald Trump By Mark Blacklock ( @drblacklock.bsky.social ) archive.ph/8T8qc

archive.ph

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The New Statesman @newstatesman1913.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

“How the World Declared War on America” In the wilderness of America, JG Ballard foresaw the gangster imperialism of Donald Trump By Mark Blacklock

newstatesman.com

"How the World Declared War on America"

In the wilderness of America, JG Ballard foresaw the gangster imperialism of Donald Trump

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 03/04/2026

I dread opening my institutional inbox because it is just jammed full of the rational. Irruptions of the irrational would be welcome.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 03/04/2026

Just read your blog post Toby. Strong agreement. I only ever really knew that Birkbeck and can't help but feel nostalgic for it. I shifted into teaching CW p-t in 2018 and have been there ever since. Because that's where the students are. MACCS felt in good health back then. All happened quickly.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 26/03/2026

well quite. And “a background in compensation claims“ translates as “holds sovereign citizen beliefs.”

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Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · 18/03/2026

Fantastic video podcast with @helenpidd.bsky.social and the Today in Focus team talking about Farage on Cameo. Really brilliant editing and presentation of the material we’ve analysed. www.theguardian.com/news/video/2...

theguardian.com

What Nigel Farage will say for money

The Reform UK leader has a lucrative side-hustle sending paid-for Cameo messages. But an analysis of more than 4,000 of them show they include videos for a neo-Nazi group and a rioter. Henry Dyer repo...

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 18/03/2026

whenever these stories come around i wonder what my former editor Jo lamb thinks. We identified Banksy in Bizarre magazine in 2001 in a piece by Jamaican snapper Peter dean rickards. @admiralbooth.bsky.social will back me up on this www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

theguardian.com

Banksy has been unmasked (again). But does this major Reuters investigation actually tell us something new?

British street artist’s ‘real’ name reported after an investigation stretching from Ukraine to New York and London. Kelly Burke explains all to Nick Miller

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 17/03/2026

@direthoughts.com has a rare gift for deadpan reporting which I think warrants special mention here. The “deez nuts” line really tickled me.

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Mark Blacklock @handle.invalid · 17/03/2026

“Nine of Farage’s Cameo videos appear to have been recorded on Christmas Day. Four were seemingly recorded on the day of the queen’s funeral, including one produced for a stag do, and another in which Farage made a vulgar sexual reference to “shenanigans” in a cabin and “Deez Nuts”.”

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Paul Prudence @mrprudence.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Guy Debord and Asger Jorn Mémoires, 1959 Famously wrapped in a détournement of sandpaper to rub any books near to it, up the wrong way.

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