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Joe

@idiotxque.bsky.social
71 followers 97 following 107 posts

(He/him) Woke moralist ✊ Music nerd 🎼 Bluenose 🔵 (for my sins)

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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
As today is International Women's Day, I've written about why all men should be feminists: open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
The Crisis of Masculinity; or, Why Men Need Feminism
This International Women's Day, I make the case for all men to embrace feminism.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
I wrote about my 25 favourite albums of 2025 open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
My Favourite Albums of 2025
Which 25 records made this year's list? Read on to find out...
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
I wrote something about Rory Stewart and Zack Polanski open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
Zack Polanski vs The Rest Is Politics
Rory Stewart's reaction to his Polanski interview wasn't just disingenuous - it shows us exactly how the mainstream media works to dismiss left-wing economics.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
I wrote a review of Deadbeat by Tame Impala open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
Tame Impala - Deadbeat Album Review
Tame Impala's first album in five years is a change of pace that will certainly divide listeners.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
I wrote about Thom Yorke's response to criticism over Israel and why it matters open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
Does it really matter what Radiohead think about Israel?
I take a look at the reasons why Thom Yorke has recently found himself embroiled in controversy over his stance (or lack thereof) on Israel - and whether it really matters what he thinks
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Good to see this equalities act guidance is being used to solve problems that definitely exist
Excerpt from a BBC News article saying "The new policy will apply to all competitive football in Scotland, including the grassroots game from under-13s and over. However, it is understood there are currently no transgender women playing competitive football north of the border."
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
One of my big takeaways from last night's Copa del Rey final is that Jude Bellingham has really had a big issue with his attitude since he moved to Real Madrid. The whole atmosphere around that club absolutely stinks in a way it really hasn't before and he's absolutely been caught up in that
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Obsessed
The album cover for A Complicated Woman by Self Esteem
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
When reading about Kilmar Abregl Garcia, it's important to remember that this is not new policy for the US nor El Salvador - the US have run a torture camp for innocent people on Cuba for decades, and Bukele has consistently disregarded human rights since becoming president
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
I've written a piece about Birmingham City's recent struggles ahead of today's cup final.. open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
The fall (and rise?) of Birmingham City
After more than a decade of decline, are Birmingham City on the rise again?
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
I reviewed the new Black Country New Road album open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong Album Review
The release of Black Country, New Road’s last album, Ants From Up There, marked the end of a chapter in the band’s history. In many ways, this album feels like one too.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Finally some fucking good news
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Quick one on the England game but the first half was genuinely some of the best football I've ever seen England play. Great positional rotations and control both in and out of possession in ways that we just didn't see under Southgate, plus a number of really good individual performances
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I don't think that a social media ban, and certainly not a gaming ban, is a realistic solutions to anything, and I'm not even sure it's desirable. We'd be far better investing in teaching children digital literacy skills so they're better equipped using the internet. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Adolescence writer wants 'radical action not role models'
The writer behind the year's most talked-about TV show discusses the changes he hopes it will inspire.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
I really think this is the biggest hurdle for gender equality in our society atm and it has the deepest and most damaging knock-on effects for women
Tweet from @jzux saying "not to be the Friend Who's Too Woke but i feel like the hate against sabrina carpenter doing campy sex stuff in her music and live shows is largely because a lot of people don't think women should find sex fun"
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
Just so we're clear, when the government tells you that something is "not working for the taxpayer" in the context of spiralling inequality, they really mean they're funding the super-rich's wealth increases by cutting things that actually benefit ordinary people
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
I wrote this on young men, and why we need to stop lying about why they're easy prey for reptiles like Andrew Tate. www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle-co...
irishexaminer.com
Séamas O'Reilly: We need to stop lying about what makes lost boys such easy marks for cons
Economically depressed young men are aggressively targeted with the oldest, most seductive pitch there is — money for nothing — by bad faith actors with enormous wealth
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
The overarching impression I'm getting from these Ratcliffe interviews is that he's not a great communicator, he's extremely ideological in his approach to all business and he just isn't really that knowledgeable when it comes to football
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
I wrote something about yesterday's Glastonbury lineup announcement open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
Why are Glastonbury line-ups getting worse?
For decades, Glastonbury Festival has been the pinnacle of UK contemporary music, with its Pyramid Stage headline slot the holy grail for musicians, not just from the UK but across the world.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
I actually don't think that it would have been that hard for Elon to turn Twitter into "X The Everything App" if he wasn't such a pathetic human being who insisted on being so publicly visible
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Why is it that every time Onana makes a mistake, people are calling for De Gea to be brought back? Yes, Onana has underperformed and made several huge blunders, but De Gea was consistently the biggest weakness in United's setup for years and he needed replacing about 5 years before he finally was
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Ah yes, the left should just use language that's easier for centrists to digest, that'll definitely stop the entire forces of the billionaire-owned press from smearing us on the front pages of every paper
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
I'm not really gonna go into it in much depth because I don't feel particularly strongly about this but I think the reactions to Kendrick's HT performance (both positive and negative) show how well he uses his songwriting and rapping ability to make simple ideas seem more complex than they are
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
Tells you all you need to know
Paragraph from BBC News: "When questioned after the session, the prime minister's official spokesperson did not specify what the "loophole" that needed closing was."
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
What a waste of time that all was. Glad justice has been done
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Well this is a bit disappointing
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Sky Sports stop getting fucking idiots on as pundits challenge (impossible)
YouTube video from Sky Sports titled ""Arsenal will buy him!" - Paul Merson on if Harry Kane could return to the Premier League"
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
For anyone subbed to The Athletic, this is a really interesting article you might have missed about footballers learning languages when they move abroad www.nytimes.com/athletic/610...
nytimes.com
Footballers and learning new languages: Adele, The Da Vinci Code and the delivery room
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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Starmer's own team are briefing that their man is a useless waste of space. The truth is Starmer did literally everything the Labour Right wanted him to do. That's why his government is a disaster. New post 👇 www.owenjones.news/p/keir-starm...
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
This whole thing is so fucked. Two drunk women got locked in a taxi by a male taxi driver, and instead of understanding that that's a pretty terrifying situation to be in, the male police officer who turned up wants them found guilty of hurting his feelings
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
I've written a review of the new FKA Twigs album on my Substack. Thoughts etc appreciated as ever open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
FKA Twigs - EUSEXUA Album Review
Whilst not hitting the same heights as her first two records, FKA Twigs' third studio album cements her position as one of the most interesting voices in alternative pop.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
This is basically spot on. The new format has meant 7 rounds of basically meaningless matches, then one confusing one at the end where only one result actually mattered anyway. It gives the illusion of drama, just without any actual consequence at the end
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
I've written a thing about Manchester United being terrible and why I don't think they will get much better. open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
Is there any hope for Manchester United?
They might be "the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United", but are they ever going to get any better?
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
I know Man Utd are targeting younger players but this is another level
Sky Sports update saying "Lecce would want at least £25.4m-£29.6m for 2-year-old full-back Patrick Dorgu"
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
As promised yesterday (I forgot to post on her oops) here are my albums of the year too. Enjoy! open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
My Favourite Albums of 2024
No prizes for guessing number one, but the other twenty-four are worth a listen.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
I've moved my yearly albums of the year post to Substack this year, but before that drops later on, here are my favourite songs of 2024. open.substack.com/pub/awaytobl...
open.substack.com
My Favourite Songs of 2024
From Charli to The Cure, and Fontaines D.C. to FKA Twigs, here are the 25 songs I've most enjoyed this year.
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
The adults are back in the room!
BBC News headline: "Starmer defends sandwiches as Badenoch says they are 'not real food'"
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Wild Geerters @steinkobbe.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
All jokes aside it's really fucked up to see so many people on here celebrating murder. No one here is the judge of who deserves to live or die. That's the job of the AI algorithm the insurance company designed to maximise profits on your health and no one else
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Everyone listen up, Keir Starmer has made a pledge! Surely this time he'll actually see it through!
BBC News headline saying "Starter sets out pledges on extra police officers, more housebuilding and fixing the NHS"
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
I saw Charli xcx on Friday and I still can't get over quite how much she's blown up this year. Obviously Brat summer has been a huge thing and the album has had a lot of hype and recognition, but when you've been in the kind of circles where she's a big deal for a while, it's hard to really judge
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Me except it's FM
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Honestly I would have thought Starmer responding to the news of an ICC-issued arrest warrant for Netanyahu with "Israel has the right to defend herself" was from some parody account on Twitter called Sir Kid Starver
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Michael Walker has always been a dweeb but this is bad even by his standards. Novara used to be a decent alternative media organisation that offered a real pushback to MSM bullshit - recently it's been moving very fast in the direction of Paul Mason's "Keir Starmer is advancing the class struggle"
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
Obafemi Martins playing for Birmingham CityKeira Walsh passing a football whilst playing for EnglandRonaldinho dribbling a football whilst playing for BarcelonaJude Bellingham controlling a football whilst playing for Birmingham City
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JP @jpbrammer.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
I briefly put principles and values aside to make a saltier, crankier case for leaving X: Elon Musk is uniquely insufferable holapapi.substack.com/p/x-out
holapapi.substack.com
X Out
A salty, cranky case for letting Twitter die
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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
A British pensioner whose bland sandwiches gained him unexpected fame in China has died. Keith Brown, a retired engineer known on Chinese social media as
"Old Dry Keith", became a hit when his Chinese wife Zhang Jian began to post videos of him assembling the ham and cheese sandwiches he liked to eat. Chinese observers were grimly fascinated by his dry, boring sandwiches, and his gentle, stoic manner - and he built up a cult following. "We go from questioning the dry old man, to understanding the dry old man, to becoming the dry old man," observed one cultural commentator.
"The old man is us, and his dry lunch is our dry life."
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
Seeing a lot of backlash to this on The Other Place from lots of people who could not be further from the point if they tried
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Huck Magazine @huckmag.com · 18/11/2024
In @emmaggarland.bsky.social’s monthly newsletter column, she explores whether social media and the culture industries have really created a “sex-negative” Gen Z, or is the reality more complicated? Mailing list signup: tcolondon.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=... www.huckmag.com/article/did-...
huckmag.com
Did we create a generation of prudes?
Has the crushing of ‘teen’ entertainment and our failure to represent the full breadth of adolescent experience produced generation Zzz? Emma Garland…
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
England only made the breakthrough in this game because of a moment of huge quality from Harry Kane. He has never been a striker who is good at running in behind, but he was the best goalscorer in Europe last season and if we can get runners from midfield/wide he is still by far our best striker
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Joe @idiotxque.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
He thought it was a real account 😭 daft prick
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