iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Up and down the coast they raise alarms about 'small boats', but in Brighton ...

Lead headline from Argus (Brighton) news website: 'Fears that human poo and public sex could spike due to 100 day beach event' https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

they will not have time to adjust to weightlessness before kickoff this is why it's called sky news, right

Sky News report on England football team preparations says that Mexico City is more than 2200 *miles* above sea level

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Top Seven Nation Army chant, at a small number of 'patriots' kettled under Brighton Station in the middle of the Carnival Against Fascism yesterday: 'You're stuck in a tunnel'

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Update from the Eurostar terminal, train delayed 45 minutes ‘because of new border security arrangements’

Poster holding up cover of 12F magazine, headlined ‘F*ck it, I’m European’

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

The finale of Whitehawk Wind's legendary set at the Exeter Street Free Festival 2024

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

We're just coming up to the 6th anniversary of Brexit, and to the time I imagined, nearly 20 years ago, that it would happen. For my 2010 book Turned Out Nice, about how climate change would shape the British Isles, Brexit was in 2026/7. The future arrived faster than I expected. (See Alt text)

A photo taken in an Amsterdam bar at 23.07 on 31.1.2020, 7 minutes after the UK left the EU. It shows a scarf with the EU stars arranged on a candle-lit table, with a poster from Brighton's (and my) Club Europ Express pro-European project, showing the slogan 'Because we're still European and always will be'.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

The family's words do glow with the gold of sunshine. bobweir.net/bobby/

'For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road. A guitarist, vocalist, storyteller, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music. His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them. Every chord he played, every word he sang was an integral part of the stories he wove. There was an invitation: to feel, to question, to wander, and to belong.' Tribute to Bob Weir, https://bobweir.net/bobby/

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

don't suppose the menu at the Grenadier is as traditional as Google makes it look

screenshot of Google map showing location of fossil mammoth find overlapping symbol for 'restaurant', the Grenadier pub

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

The Belgian government is called Arizona. Central Brussels currently full of people protesting against it

Protesters in central Brussels: demo against government policies especially raising pension age to 67

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

'Are you writing in Polish?' No, Bluesky, I'm trying to reply to a post in English by @benstanley.eu , why do you ask? now let me get back to complaining about ios26 pls

Screenshot of automatically generated Bluesky app query 'Are you writing in Polish?'

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Splendid reconstruction at Tustan Fortress in the #Ukrainian #Carpathians – not of the fort, but of the camp made by the archaeologists who investigated it in 1970. Material culture and way of life authentically represented; Volga in surprisingly good nick #HillfortWednesday

Reconstruction of archaeologists' 1970 camp at Tustan Fortress, Skole National Park, in the Ukrainian Carpathians: tents, a campfire, clothes on a washing line in the background, a Volga car in the foreground.

A miniature model of the archaeologists' 1970 camp at Tustan Fortress, Skole National Park, in the Ukrainian Carpathians, next to the full-size reconstruction of the camp.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

The flag of St George tops the Bhangra Fusion outfit off perfectly, don't you think? Well done and thanks @bestfootmusic.bsky.social for yesterday's Summer Fusion Festival in Brighton yesterday ☀️

Bhangra Fusion performer at Summer Fusion Festival, Jubilee Square, Brighton, 7.9.25, with a St George's (English) flag decorating his drum.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

I bought some dried mushrooms in the Ukrainian Carpathians, but not the ones in the tub on the right, this isn't a fairy tale 🍄

Dried mushrooms on sale in Slavske, in the Ukrainian Carpathian mountains. The tub on the right appears to contain toxic / hallucinogenic fly agarics.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

A week ago I was eating grapes from a Ukrainian kitchen garden (= small farm in UK city terms) and thinking I should follow the example in my own small way back home so ... rose hip syrup (too early, but best I can do) soundtrack: The Ukrainian Shelf 5: Food www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwOD...

Picking dog-rose hips in Brighton garden

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

'These are not images of this reconstruction': renovation work in Lviv's old town confronts passers-by with a street screen showing the aggressor's destruction of #Ukrainian built heritage.

Lviv, old town, Virmenska Street. A tarpaulin-type screen covering the front of a building undergoing works displays images of enemy attacks on Ukrainian heritage buildings. Texts: 'These are not images of this reconstruction', 'This is heritage destroyed by russ*a', 'Donate to stop the terrorists' (with QR code).

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Though we do have at least one account of a pagan fire ritual during the early Christian era. What they did in C4 France was basically the same as what Ukrainians have done in this century, only they didn't have car tyres to set alight.

Text from Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun, describing 4th-century account of pagans in SW France rolling a burning wheel down a hill to river.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Brains on speed. Deconstructing dopamine. A racing driver watches himself win a race, sitting on his own shoulders 👀 magazine.goodwood.com/issues/gwood...

Racing driver Andy Wallace sets a new speed record in a Bugatti Mistral.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Old-time NATO spirit lives on at the Titan (nuclear) Missile Museum in Arizona – US Air Force roundel t-shirt, Made in #Canada 🇨🇦 🤣

t-shirt with US Air Force roundel, made in Canada

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Flags in Flagstaff, Arizona, making a statement about US foreign relations – Stars and Stripes 🇺🇸 flanked by Greenland 🇬🇱, Canada 🇨🇦, Mexico 🇲🇽 and Ukraine 🇺🇦 – outside the Weatherford Hotel

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 27/04/2025

thank you, my sermon today will be on 'What Would Jesus Drive?'

Sign reading 'Preacher Parking Only. You Park, You Preach'. Bisbee, AZ

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

And huge fun too. Though the opening hours are a bit of an issue.

'Welcome to Bisbee' sign showing 'closed' for most of the week.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Down in southern Arizona, indie bookstore Bisbee Books & Music has put #Ukraine right at the front of the shop 🤍💙 #BookstoreDay

Display of books about Ukraine in Bisbee Books& Music, Arizona.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

US bombers destroyed 40%+ of Rothenburg ob der Tauber #OTD 80 years ago. Most of these houses are post-war, but visitors to the 'fairy-tale' old town don't know or care – and the rebuild covers up the town's darker history. Learn more: tinyurl.com/5n7bx9yh

Rothenburg ob der Tauber from city wall, showing buildings mostly reconstructed after WW2.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Where did #DopeGirls the TV drama get its name, you ask? Well, it's from my book Dope Girls, and I got it from this 1922 newspaper article. 'And then there entered the dope girl. I have never before seen such a change in the features of any man or woman.'

Headlines from 1922 newspaper article, Evening News (London) 13 March, 'A Cocaine Victim At 17'.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Three years on, my respect and admiration for the new #Ukrainian communities here is deeper than ever 💙💛 #Brighton #Hove #Sussex

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

There will be a gathering in Brighton on Sunday, and a rally in Trafalgar Square on Monday evening, marking the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion. We can stand with Ukraine at these too.

Poster for Ukrainian Memorial Day gathering, 23 Feb, Brighton Unitarian Church. 3.30–6.30pm

Poster for Trafalgar Square rally marking 3rd anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mon 24 Feb, 6.30pm

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

This from @uilleamblacker.bsky.social is outstanding in its scope, depth and empathy. Yes, perhaps someone should juxtapose images of 2025 Gaza and 1945 Warsaw. It crossed my mind too when I saw the images and the statistics of destruction, all so shockingly similar. substack.com/inbox/post/1...

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Asked yesterday whether it was the war or something earlier than drew me to Ukrainian culture. Should have said both: the war, and an upbringing around a Polish diaspora committed to sustaining the nation in exile through culture. But wasn't expecting that q at a talk about Dope Girls 😂

Flower crowns at Kupala Ukrainian midsummer festival, Brighton, 2023

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Meanwhile Brussels-bound on ICE thx to Zug Chef who got the connection held for us after usual DB delay 🙏

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Out today in paperback from @yalebooks.bsky.social, indie purchase option tinyurl.com/43vpezu9

Front cover of The Stories Old Towns Tell: A Journey through Cities at the Heart of Europe, paperback edition, featuring image of the Römer building in the post-WW2 ruins of Frankfurt.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

#OTD 1945: #Warsaw 's mayor puts heritage architect Jan Zachwatowicz in charge of organising the city's reconstruction. The Old Town, almost completely destroyed, would be at the heart of the project.

Plac Zamkowy / Castle Square, Warsaw 1945. Ruined buildings of the Old Town behind toppled statue and column of King Zygmunt III Waza.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

In Podkowa Leśna outside #Warsaw #OTD, 1945, Poland's top heritage architect had just got back from digging potatoes when captain Józef Sigalin showed up on the doorstep, asking him to help start the reconstruction of the capital. He went straight away ... (more 🧵 tomorrow)

Podkowa Leśna, fot. Paweł Jackowski - CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

#OTD 1945, communist officer / architect Józef Sigalin tours the ruins of #Warsaw. He later describes seeing what he thought was a corpse in Castle Square – the toppled statue of King Zygmunt. ‘He was lying on his back, with his eyes to the sky. I wept.'

Toppled statue of King Zygmunt III Waza, Plac Zamkowy / Castle Square, Warsaw 1945

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

German forces quit #Warsaw #OTD, 1945, and the Polish flag 🇵🇱 was raised in the city they had devastated. On the western side of the river, 75% of the buildings were destroyed, including almost all of the Old Town. The reconstruction project began the very next day ...

Polish soldiers outside ruined church in Krakowskie Przedmieście, Warsaw, after entering the city 17.1.45. Wikimedia

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Don't think I've ever seen a film so full of shouting and yet also of subtlety as #ARealPain. Also delighted #Lublin is at its heart. More on Lublin and why Grodzka Gate is 'the big hitter'🤣 in The Stories Old Towns Tell @YaleBooks tinyurl.com/43vpezu9

A backstreet in the Old Town of Lublin, south-eastern Poland.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

The scene in #ARealPain where the tragedy tourists go full juvenile at the Warsaw Insurgents' memorial reminded me that certain Poles are capable of it too, when it comes to the cult of the anticommunist guerrillas. A display in Kraków's market square, 2018.

Man posing with old machine gun at display about Poland's 'cursed soldiers', post-WW2 anticommunist guerrillas, Rynek, Kraków 2018.

Old weapons for visitors to handle at display about Poland's 'cursed soldiers', post-WW2 anticommunist guerrillas, Rynek, Kraków 2018.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

My book The Stories Old Towns Tell comes out in paperback on January 21, from @yalebooks.bsky.social. It won't tell you where we will find ourselves this year, but I hope it'll help us better understand how we got here.

cover of paperback edition of The Stories Old Towns Tell, by Marek Kohn

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

You know you're sitting on a goldmine there? £5 a go for a couple of rather sickly twigs in Sydney Street, Brighton 😝 Fortunately we have our own, better-quality supplies.

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

If you're not Ukrainian and you can get to #Brighton tomorrow afternoon, Friday, please come to this vigil, to show you still care about #Ukrainians here and in Ukraine during these dark times. 17.30 at the fountain in Victoria Gardens.

Vigil for Ukraine, 22.11.24, 17.30 Brighton BN2 9QA

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

It's all about introductions here, so please let me introduce you to Razom, the #Brighton gathering for #Ukrainians and friends at the Rose Hill arts place. And please come and introduce yourselves – we'd love to see you there! This afternoon, Sunday 17th, 2–6pm, free 💙💛

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

We've got another Razom–Together gathering of local #Ukrainians and friends at the Rose Hill arts place in #Brighton on Sunday afternoon (17th). Come for food, music, chat and also folklore 💙💛 2-6pm, free, all ages welcome

Razom, the Rose Hill, BN1 4JL, 17.11 2-6pm. An afternoon with the local Ukrainian community and friends, sharing music, food and chat.

Razom running order: Folklore presentation 2.45, Ukrainian Voices Choir 3.20, Dina, Polina and Joseph 4.20, open mic 5–6

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Marek Kohn @marekkohn.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

That ambulance was outside a church in Hove a couple of months ago, and now it's doing its job evacuating civilians in eastern Ukraine. Huge respect to Stand for Ukraine Brighton & Hove for getting it there. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

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