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Jackie Kirkham

@jackiekirkham.bsky.social
2.6K followers 839 following 481 posts

Author (The Calm Place, The Wizard of Flanders Moss), research nurse, nerd, Scotland. Into books and nature. Lefty. Appreciates a good rant. books2read.com/thecalmplace

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Reposted by Jackie Kirkham
Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
“GOTTA LEARN AI OR BE LEFT BEHIND.” Good. Fuck off! Leave me behind! Enjoy your artbarf rapture, your janky Temu future. I’ll be back here looking at real birds and writing weird, also real, books.
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KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 25/09/2026
Brilliant human artistry makes us see humanity in nonhuman things. So does sticking googly eyes on a pencil. We are an easily confused species in this respect.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Heartbroken to hear of Joe's death. The world needs more like him. RIP.
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James Harvey @keepof4worlds.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
They are not only terrorising volunteers, but actively potentially endangering those in need of assistance at sea. This terrorist activity and needs to be proscribed.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
I am full of a cold (Snot! Splutter! Woe!) and feeling supremely sorry for myself, so Nature's Acre by @gardeningwell.ie has been a lovely comfort read to take me out of my snottiness for a while. I'd have liked to have lingered longer in that lovely space. I also now have garden envy :)
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Holly 🇺🇦🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🇵🇸 @mxhollyclara.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I am still (11 years later) unable to grasp how the images of little Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a beach wasn’t the final word on treating refugees with compassion and dignity. How we are we having attacks on the RNLI for saving HUMAN lives being encouraged by our media. I weep for our world.
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Charles Fourier @charlesfourier.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Bill Bryson’s words seem appropriate to post right now
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I have an mp3 player to listen to podcasts (I don't want to use my phone for that, because I listen in bed and don't want my phone on overnight). Windows legacy media player enables me to sync to the mp3 player, but it is increasingly buggy/clunky/crap. Can anyone recommend alternative to WMP pls?
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 15/08/2026
I know you're not allowed to say this during the current debate, but the reason the left dominates academics, art, comedy, and music is that the right has stupid, discredited ideas, they're not funny, and dull resentment does not make for good art. No grand conspiracy required.
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Sam “The Great Pumpkin” Thielman @samthielman.com · 15/08/2026
I’m less curious about how Jason Arday got his appointment at Cambridge than I am about how Noah Carl, who published in Nazi pseudoscience journal Mankind Quartetly, got his, and how Nate Cofnas, also fired for being a race science crank, got his.
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Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This is appalling and tragic. Cambridge University, the media, and those far right 'scholars' and hangers on who sought to capitalise on this case for social media clout surely bear responsibility for what feels like an entirely predictable outcome. www.lbc.co.uk/article/jaso...
lbc.co.uk
Former Cambridge professor Jason Arday found dead aged 41 | LBC
Mr Arday is understood to have been found "unresponsive" at an address in Battersea on Friday afternoon
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Ethan Kocak @ethankocak.com · 13/08/2026
Life is a constant balance between the primal need to create things and the primal need to nap for 4 hours.
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Parody Nigel Farage @parodypm.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Today is the day! If I lose, my grift is over and look a right dick. Whereas if I win, my grift continues and I look a right dick.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
I am writing bits and bobs of poetry at the moment, and thoroughly enjoying it. Today I redrafted one, which mostly consisted of crossing out the pretentious bits. I suspect there's a life lesson in there somewhere.
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James Ball @jamesrball.com · 09/08/2026
The short answer is: "no, honest" The slightly longer, and more worrying, answer is: "...because they don't even *need* to" And this post is one of the best longform explanations as to why that I've seen.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
This week I travelled on the Lumo Stirling direct London service for the first time. Outbound: lovely staff, but short staffed and only 1 functioning toilet. Return: short staffed and not stopping anywhere north of Crewe. Honestly, impressed with the staff, but service is rubbish, won't use again.
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Tim Worthington @outonbluesix.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Meta have used this without permission to train their AI, and as it's self-published they've essentially stolen from me directly. So if you could see your way to spending a couple of quid on a legitimate copy, I'd be extremely grateful. 15% off code BEACHREAD15. timworthington.org/books/the-ca...
timworthington.org
The Camberwick Green Procrastination Society
The Camberwick Green Procrastination Society – a collection of columns and features by Tim Worthington.
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Amy Elizabeth @amyelizabeth.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Another reason to wear a mask in public.
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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
This BBC story on the Buchanan Street demo is like a tutorial on ill-faith framing, btw. Thousands on one side and dozens on the other, but it's the dozens to whom the headline and photo give agency, and who they suggest won a tactical victory here.
BBC headline "Anti-racism rally disrupted by masked group in Glasgow", with a picture of a bawling penis in a balaclava.
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Thomas S Brown @tomsbrown.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Joy!!
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Ilana Masad @ilanaslightly.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
A week or so ago, I was looking for a couple books by an author from 10 and 15 years ago and my library didn't have them. I requested them via a library form. Today I got a notification in Libby that they purchased both titles. Asking your library for writers' books is an amazing way to support us.
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Rachel Cunliffe @rmcunliffe.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Classicist here to inform you all that this is ancient Greek for summoning a cat
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womensartbluesky.bsky.social @womensartbluesky.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Marjane Satrapi (1969-2026), the French-Iranian author and illustrator behind the popular graphic novel series and film “Persopolis,” RIP 🙏
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 04/05/2026
"For this focus group, conducted shortly before a sustained green glow began emanating from the station’s superlaser array, we spoke with residents who said they had backed Emperor Palpatine but now felt conflicted."
buff.ly
“They Would Never Use the Death Star on Us”: Alderaan Residents Reflect on Their Support for the Empire as a Large Imperial Installation Enters the System
“For this focus group, conducted shortly before a sustained green glow began emanating from the station’s superlaser array, we spoke with residents who said ...
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Did the ironing today while listening to an audiobook of Seamus Heaney reading his own poetry. Sublime (well, maybe the ironing wasn't quite sublime, although I do enjoy it!).
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Tim Clare @timclare.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
We're in a bizarre place at the moment where we can't access necessary timely support via the public sector yet papers run articles weekly insinuating there's a rush for autism & ADHD diagnoses to claim all sorts of benefits & special privileges that simply don't exist.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
If you're near Stirling, get yourself over to Made In Stirling for @cstrawbridgeart.bsky.social beautiful exhibition of paintings. What a talent! I think the hare painting was my favourite, and the wildflower miniatures. Stunning.
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BladeoftheSun @bladeofthes.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Dr Abu Safiya was kidnapped by Israel from the hospital he worked at in December 2024, he had been beaten, electrocuted, starved and denied medical treatment for over 15 months, he is on the verge of death. But he is still being held without charge in an Israeli torture camp.
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
It's just unreal how little thought or planning went into starting a new massive war in the Middle East.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Thank you @alcs.co.uk for the payment of secondary royalties. I love ALCS Day! What a great service.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I don't love train travel (anxiety re changes of train, mostly - still two changes to go 😬), but views like this definitely help.
View of Durham cathedral and castle from the train. Blue sky and wispy clouds. The best train view!
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The Glasgow Bell @glasgowbell.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
The Bell's weekend read is about the fringe communities that populate Union Street, from the unhoused, to the alternative traders. How are they regrouping after fire has forced them out? Read now.
glasgowbell.co.uk
Outsider lives on Union Street
Forced out by fire, the city’s fringe people are trying to regroup
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
What a joy to hear the lovely Al Ryan on Radio 3 breakfast this morning on my drive to work. Obviously he can't possibly ever leave the Shipping Forecast, but please BBC powers-that-be, give him his own show! #radio3
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Taking a brief Bluesky break after bereavement.
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Mark Grimshaw @markgrimshawtism.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
So, just to confirm, the BBC can’t keep Robin Ince on the air because his trans allyship brings the organisation into disrepute, but they can keep David Walliams, who performed Nazi salutes at the recording of this very show, on the air despite him being predatory towards women. Cool. Very normal.
ITV News: BBC to air Would I Lie To You Boxing Day episode featuring David Walliams
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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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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 13/12/2025
Heartbreaking news, Robin Ince is the best of us, and while the transphobes and neurodiversity-is-a-fad brigade rejoice and will consider this another victory, Robin is on the right side not only of history but also of the here and now.
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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Google defaulting all Gmail users to a setting that enables Google to harvest all your emails into chatbot training is straight-up evil and invasive. www.huffpost.com/entry/opt-ou...
huffpost.com
If You Use Gmail, You're Going To Want To Turn Off This 1 Automatic Setting ASAP
Plus: a quick guide to the two-step process for opting out.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 14/11/2025
From this minister's op-ed: "People wanting to experience God are more likely to meet the Divine trying to shut down the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility than we ever were in church...God does not live in our houses of worship, but...with those who are bearing the brunt of cruelty in this moment."
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Julian Hoffman @julianhoffman.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
Deeply grateful to @orionmagazine.bsky.social for giving @alexismarieadams.bsky.social and myself the opportunity to have a conversation about borders, belonging, writing, rivers, grief and resistance, as well as our shared love for the more-than-human world. orionmagazine.org/article/hear...
orionmagazine.org
Heart’s Home - Orion Magazine
A conversation about borders, belonging, and keeping the Kushners out
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Tits McGee @scientits.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
This might be of interest to a few people The Boring Fund: Small (£200) grants to UK non-profits, charities and voluntary groups who just need a bit of help to pay for boring running costs like web hosting, admin, insurance etc Apply by 30 November www.christinapoultoncreative.co.uk/boring-fund
christinapoultoncreative.co.uk
Boring Fund | Christina Poulton
Applications now open! £200 grants available for small charities, CICs and voluntary groups towards some of those boring but hard-to-fund costs.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
This was so witty and human. What an absolute hero. open.substack.com/pub/bestforb...
open.substack.com
A week before my wedding, I woke up with facial paralysis
‘Apart from having to drink my pints through a straw, occasionally needing to wear an eyepatch and the classical guitarist nobody could hear, I wouldn’t have changed a thing about the big day.’ - Nial...
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Going through dog's breakfast of homework instructions with 11yo. We're both close to meltdown. There will be Feedback. (I don't want to be that parent, but I am that parent)
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Dr. Lisa Corrigan @drlisacorrigan.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
In social movement studies, we talk about how marches and protests expand the threshold of acceptable risk so that people take more and bigger social risks IN PUBLIC, EN MASSE. This is extremely important for the bourgeois white folks holding signs and building social rapport.
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Jackie Kirkham @jackiekirkham.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Glasgow nursery: pls can you pick up 1yo, she's not well. Me: no, I'm at work in Edinburgh. Them: oh. Me: try phoning her dad, who brings her in and picks her up every day because he works in the office next door to you. True story (2014).
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Richard Smyth @rsmythfreelance.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Today I am mostly thinking about the popular inter-war literary genre 'animal stories written by fascists'. Join me.
Title page of a collection of animal stories by Henry Williamson: TARKA THE OTTER, SALAR THE SALMON, THE EPIC OF BROCK THE BADGER, CHAKCHEK THE PEREGRINE.
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Biblioasis @biblioasis.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Today is the official pub day for VOICES OF RESISTANCE, a collection of diaries from four Gazans, offering a rare, deeply personal window into daily life under genocide. It's an essential record of lives lived amidst terror—and their resilience in the face of it. www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-rel...
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