iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

One of the proudest things on my CV from my former life is working on a Venom release. A terrible week for Geordies who were more famous out of Newcastle than in the Toon.

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 01/10/2026

The chairman of Manchester City was granted diplomatic immunity in 2020. The investigation into the club began in December 2018. www.ft.com/content/1256...

ft.com

Manchester City chair shielded by diplomatic immunity

Khaldoon al-Mubarak was granted immunity six years ago, protecting him from potential legal proceedings in the UK

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Bringing all the news and sports headlines to the north east on BBC Radio Newcastle all morning.

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Ash @queerash.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

what if we just get Man City to pay for the National Care Service

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Going to send this photo to the doctor who wouldn't diagnose me with ADHD because my school reports were all written in Welsh and he couldn't read them.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Do you want some news and sport in the north east this morning? Cos that's what you're getting from me on BBC Radio Newcastle today.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Look at the crowd getting up with him. Amazing. Like when there's a scoring chance at the football.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Today Slipknot announced their biggest ever UK headline show at Wembley stadium next year. Marilyn Manson - who's been accused by 16 women of abusive behaviour and sexual assault - is main support. Slipknot's long-standing UK PR firm is owned by women. They made a glaring omission today.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I've loved wrestling my whole life, but I never saw it live until I was 18. That show was 20 years ago next month. I had travelled from Preston to Doncaster to see an event where a young Geordie lad stole the show. Absolutely devastating news.

bbc.co.uk

Wrestler Benjamin Satterley, known as 'Pac', dies aged 40

His death was confirmed just a day after he participated in an AEW match in Chicago.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

It's two years since I became editor of The Teesside Lead. Since then it's become an award-winning publication and continued to fill a gap in the local news landscape that nobody else is doing. To celebrate there's a 20% discount on an annual subscription until the end of this month.

teesside.thelead.uk

Two years of The Teesside Lead

We need your support for another two (and many more)

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The Lead @theleaduk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

And @leighsus.bsky.social reflects on two years of The Teesside Lead. Thanks to everyone who reads and is supporting us.

teesside.thelead.uk

Two years of The Teesside Lead

We need your support for another two (and many more)

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The Whale Pod @thewhale1851.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

🐳 EPISODE 30 🐳 An important message for American listeners! But also a great discussion about what whales eat and the sociology and reproduction of knowledge.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

teesside.thelead.uk

Two years of The Teesside Lead

We need your support for another two (and many more)

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Imagine showing the sea your naked body and a pod of 40 distressed whales surfaces later that day.

A BBC article from 20th September describing a sunrise skinny dip at Druridge Bay in Northumberland which took place that day.

A BBC article describing six pilot whales which died after stranding near Amble in Northumberland on Sunday afternoon.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

On BBC payscales it costs the same to employ ten "normal" journalists as it costs to employ one Chris Mason. Unrelated: there's an all-staff call tomorrow for BBC Local to find out where the next round of cuts are happening.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

An insane post in an insane thread.

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Evans The Crime @evansthecrime.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The leader of Neath Port Talbot Council Steve Hunt has stepped down after drinking too much alcohol at the Welsh Local Government Association's annual conference and falling over. The independent councillor said he should have “exercised better judgement". www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politic...

walesonline.co.uk

Council leader steps down after getting drunk and falling over

Neath Port Talbot council leader Steve Hunt apologised for his behaviour and said he regretted his actions

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This graph is really stark, isn't it?

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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

All these platforms were originally sold to us as being liberating tools of free speech and expression. Now they're being actively used by their owners to suppress it www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

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Gareth Davies @garethtbij.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

In-depth follow-up by the Teesside Lead, which has dug into our data on the use of illegal children's homes by councils including Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland. Great work by @leighsus.bsky.social & @sarahlsinclair.bsky.social

teesside.thelead.uk

Teesside councils spent almost £20 million on care linked to unregistered children’s homes

A new investigation has laid bare the amount going into homes without an Ofsted inspection

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I'm really proud of this work. TBIJ shared the data, and we've worked to look into the reasons behind why councils end up spending this money.

teesside.thelead.uk

Teesside councils spent almost £20 million on care linked to unregistered children’s homes

A new investigation has laid bare the amount going into homes without an Ofsted inspection

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The Whale Pod @thewhale1851.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Compare that "mechanical outline" of a whale to these pictures by Ambrose Garneray. Melville describes these two paintings in Moby-Dick. He wrote about how the French captured the essence of whaling. (we regret to inform you that Garneray worked on a slaving ship)

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Shayan Sardarizadeh @shayan86.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Thread: Two different versions of this AI-generated image purporting to show President Trump and his assistant Natalie Harp kissing went viral this week, generating millions of views across multiple platforms. Despite being fake, this wasn't a straightforward AI image to debunk. I'll explain why.

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george 💿 @deejaygeejaygee.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The byline photo on this really makes it

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Stuart Millard @franticplanet.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Firstly, a female Doctor, played by an older actress with a background in theatre/comedy. For an added frisson, let's make the sidekick character the husband. And we'll lose the whole 'Doctor' tag and reveal the birth name, which is spelled 'Bucket' but

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Elle @elleisanisland.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Pope Leo XIV has been gifted a massive green orb and honestly not now massive green orb

Pope Leo by a green glass orb the size of a med-large pumpkin

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Another early start today. Bringing the news all morning to Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Bringing all the news to Teesside this morning.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Piddington declaring independence and calling themselves "The Principality of Piddington".

Homer Simpson wearing his half-frame spectacles has an idea. The caption says "I think I'll make myself vice president. No, wait. Junior vice president"

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Cethan Leahy @cethanleahy.com · 15/09/2026

Pretty funny that Ed Sheeran seemingly only hired Irish people and yet didn't see this coming.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

There are probably about five musical artists in the world with enough clout to do whatever they want on their own terms and absorb any potential financial repurcussions. Ed Sheeran is one of them. The idea he is some smol bean against the power of a single venue is, quite frankly, for the birds.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

In the latest episode of my Moby-Dick podcast, we talk about Herman Melville talking about Jeremy Bentham's stuffed corpse.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

In today's Teesside Lead... How poverty and deprivation drives child criminal exploitation across the region. In 2023 the number of children in Cleveland known to be part of county lines drugs gangs was 72. In 2024 it had risen to 111.

teesside.thelead.uk

Child criminal exploitation is ‘hidden in plain sight’ across Teesside

A charity working with Cleveland Police warns that fear, distrust and overstretched services could mean warning signs of child criminal exploitation are missed

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This really sums up what has gone wrong with Teesworks. Six years ago Ben Houchen as leader of the Combined Authority authorised loans worth £420m to the Development Corporation (which he was also chair of but told to quit by govt last year). This week, both sides agreed paperwork for the loans.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

teesside.thelead.uk

Child criminal exploitation is ‘hidden in plain sight’ across Teesside

A charity working with Cleveland Police warns that fear, distrust and overstretched services could mean warning signs of child criminal exploitation are missed

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I think it's fair to say that the super rich are all terrified and insane.

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Enough Of That Now @andygilder.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Trump becomes the first orange man to support a united Ireland

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Chris McDonald is a Teesside MP. Teesside University has a globally renowned course for video game design. Around £8.8bn was spent on video games in the UK last year, and the industry supports around 73,000 UK jobs.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

FWIW the first time I met Ed Miliband he knew who I was and brought up work I'd been doing for a local newspaper and there is absolutely no way on earth he would have been briefed on that because even now two years later I am a minnow. He's across everything.

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Leigh Jones @leighsus.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

A new feature documentary is coming out next month about a Hartlepool fisherman taking on Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen after hundreds of thousands of dead crustaceans washed up on north east beaches. They've just released the trailer...

youtube.com

🦞 ALL RIVERS SPILL THEIR STORIES TO THE SEA - a film by Jeanie Finlay. OFFICIAL TRAILER 🦀

YouTube video by Jeanie Finlay

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