Sign in

JoelTaylorhack

@joeltaylorhack.bsky.social
524 followers 630 following 1.6K posts

Ink-stained hack, writer, dad Politics, cricket, music, food, travel, books… not necessarily in that order Bird hellsite - @JoelTaylorhack Substack - joelbtaylor.substack.com

PostsRepliesMedia
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 3h
Is this an Asian hornet? About 2.5 cms?
000
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Took a silly amount of time to write this, but a new piece by me on how the anti RNLI protesters don't know Britain at all joelbtaylor.substack.com/p/critics-of...
joelbtaylor.substack.com
Critics of the RNLI don’t know Britain
Every coastal community knows the sea doesn’t judge
084
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 20h
Thank you
001
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 23h
Well that didn’t go too badly apart from the brief moment in the Gershwin when nervousness took over me and left hand shook uncontrollably But first public performance in at least 30 years
100
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Showtime
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
In a moment of madness, I somehow agreed to take part in a local concert today This, for the first time in over 30 years I’m playing the piano on a stage to hundreds of people this afternoon And I’m a bit terrified
140
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If he’s half as good as his da he’ll be very good indeed Steve Harmison’s delivery to Michael Clarke is probably my favourite ball of my life, knot just for its match significance but I heard it on the radio whilst frying a steak on a Trangia as I camped with my wife
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Absolutely
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It’s excellent but unbelievably grim Read a lot on it a few years ago and struggled to know how witnesses continue And they were, of course, very damaged Michela Wrong’s Do Not Disturb is excellent on Kagame’s corruption and atrocities too
120
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
What are you reading on the genocide?
100
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Heroes
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I know the charges aren’t new But I do feel it’s outrageous that Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church for the worldwide Anglican community, charges £18 to enter, or even walk around
020
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Took a silly amount of time to write this, but a new piece by me on how the anti RNLI protesters don't know Britain at all joelbtaylor.substack.com/p/critics-of...
joelbtaylor.substack.com
Critics of the RNLI don’t know Britain
Every coastal community knows the sea doesn’t judge
084
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Argh ‘afraid’
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is hopeless twaddle I’m agraid from the BBC www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Why Andy Burnham's about-turn on Manchester City matters
The prime minister's comments on Man City were revealing on several levels - and leapt on by many in football.
120
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
When picking up a red apple, does anyone, apart from me, twirl it from one hand to another like a finger spinner readying the first ball of an over?
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Imagine being wooed by Mnangagwa "...some say [Victoria Falls] is shared between Zimbabwe and Zambia, but that is not true" "If you are proposing love to a girl, you do not court her from behind but from the front. Victoria Falls faces Zimbabwe and has its back to Zambia" Just wants an argument
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Maybe Elliot Anderson should have stayed at Forest
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Had wondered what the most stupid take might be today Jury still out but this must be near the top
181
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It seems to have lost its senses in a desperate bid to be ‘balanced’ It’s very disappointing
041
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This could be very exciting for London media The CNJ would be an excellent independent voice www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Dale Vince plans London-wide news operation to take on ‘rightwing bias’ in the media
Green energy entrepreneur plans rescue package for the group behind the Camden New Journal, Islington Tribune and Westminster Extra
013
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Well this is an extremely important, if utterly depressing, read
0141
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
In a few months time, I turn 50 (somehow) & have just managed to arrange few days of escape with the family on Holy Island Randomly, I've picked up a Paul Theroux book of essays; the first chapter includes this segment from one of his own novels and it's really cheered me up
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
yep, think that's the only sensible way forward
100
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
My oldest daughter is turning 14 in a week or so She wants to get her ears pierced and I can't think of a decent reason to say no, other than I don't like the thought of it Instead, I'm going to emphasize how it's her decision and she will have to take full responsibility They grow up too quickly
100
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
You mean all those saying an early election would happen were talking nonsense? No, I won’t believe it
111
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I've struggled with Newport because of it's exceptionally awful station But it is slowly going up in my estimation
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For such an apparently clever chap, this interview doesn't seem wise archive.ph/YAHAD
archive.ph
001
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
no chance of an effective system ever getting up and running Will be a gift to organised crime and, I fear, petty pilfering will be encouraged too
0160
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is very sad to hear Mark Doyle's reports from Rwanda and Sierra Leone in the 1990s were extraordinarily brave and excellent pieces of reporting in the worst possible circumstances www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Veteran BBC Africa correspondent Mark Doyle dies
Doyle was best known for reporting on African conflicts in the 1990s and 2000s, notably in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
With her plan to block the jobless from buying cigarettes and alcohol, Badenoch appears to have picked a policy designed to give organised crime and other crimes a boost
2287
Reposted by JoelTaylorhack
Horatio Clare @horatioclare.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Come and talk about the story of our times: refugees, migrants, the small boats and how we can help, not hate each other. Cambridge library, 2pm Saturday www.library.live/calendar/we-...
library.live
We Came by Sea, with author Horatio Clare — Library.Live
Author/broadcaster Horatio Clare discusses his book and highlights stories of kindness and refuge in the UK. In conversation with Dr James Gardom of Pembroke College.
2175
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
you appear to be right, my tired, glasses-less eyes, misread first thing this morning Still, however, inexplicable reporting
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Feel this is devalued by a lack of Two Brothers' Mushroom and Wild Garlic flavour www.theguardian.com/food/2026/se...
theguardian.com
‘They smell of urinal cakes!’: 100 unusual crisp flavours, ranked – from truly awful to totally scoffable
Move over ready salted, salt and vinegar and cheese and onion. Gourmet crisps are everywhere, but which are actually worth trying?
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
But the sketches themselves are satire It’s self defeating censory
120
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
How much coffee are you making?
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Quite possibly But deleting is wrong
100
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This is stupid Almost as though the BBC doesn’t understand satire www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
BBC removes 11 Mitchell and Webb comedy sketches from iPlayer
The corporation said it had included "the ones that still work today and not the ones that don't."
110
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
William Rees-Mogg has a great deal to answer for
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I have an afternoon off So my first stop
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I know I shouldn’t but I’m finding what’s happening at Spurs endlessly funny
000
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Very sad to hear of Stephanie Cole’s death Cabin Pressure all the way this evening
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I cannot recommend the museum enough, it was marvellous
010
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Well, @jonnelledge.bsky.social we had a holiday in Denmark this year which included a trip to an excellent train museum run by volunteers in the town of Struer The first thing our guide said to us was Lord Palmerston’s remarks on the Schleswig-Holstein question
110
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
crikey, he's just appalling
1150
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
if you put it like that, it sounds fantastic!
020
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Another reminder, if one was needed, that Michael Palin continues to bring joy into the world www.thetimes.com/life-style/c...
thetimes.com
Michael Palin: ‘I confess to trying some powder in Studio 54’
He has a reputation for being the least provocative of the Monty Python team. But behind the affable exterior, Michael Palin, 83, is a man full of surprises
020
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My 11 year-old is a curious child She left for school today at 6.01am so she could try water polo This really wasn't what I expected
151
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This is one of the most stupid comment pieces I've ever read www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
thetimes.com
Labour class unit mustn’t gentrify trade jobs
If middle-class children are ushered towards vocational subjects, which careers will be left for the working-class kids?
100
JoelTaylorhack @joeltaylorhack.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Struggling to find Ben Delo’s convictions on the BBC Nor, indeed, his pardon from Donald Trump which is even more damning
002