Sign in

Richard Cooper

@richardhcooper.bsky.social
749 followers 946 following 2K posts

Reads, writes, watches, gets increasingly leftwing as he gets older. I live in Battle, East Sussex. I’m 42. I try & write essays (on literature, film, TV drama, TV comedy) for my blog. I’m on the Spectrum. I have an MA. Socialism or barbarism.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Jem Roberts: Author &c. @jemroberts.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Ian Hislop somehow seems to find it unfathomable that any political party could ever consider stating a patently true fact about genocide. Like the lies are permanently unquestionable. The Private Eye editor. But haha, Polanski runs funny. A new post-Boris nadir. #HIGNFY
062
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Jem Roberts: Author &c. @jemroberts.bsky.social · 5h
‘Nightingales’ comes full circle! “Turn thy wheel…” www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/o...
theguardian.com
King Lear review – David Threlfall makes a moving Lear, but why is he playing the Fool too?
Matthew Dunster’s disruptive reinvention of the tragedy merges two roles for its star and at times enters Game of Thrones territory
031
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Tom Reagan’s Witch’s Hat @rufustsuperfly.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Matt Damon is 56. That time he met Prince:
224941
Reposted by Richard Cooper
obseyxx.bsky.social @obseyxx.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
This is the shit that makes you feel insane. By any measure Labour is a profoundly racist party and its racism has an enormous body count. But cos its racism primarily impacts non-white and non-British people, they get to do this asinine posturing and the press lap it up.
97924
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It stinks how the tendency of money to go missing from charity campaigns Jeffrey Archer was in charge of always got downplayed in order to paint him as more of a harmless scoundrel. Journalists never pressed him on that brazen insider trading stuff either.
000
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
NEW | A corrective to the obituaries… HERE LIES JEFFREY ARCHER The death of one of Britain’s most infamous liars brings back memories of Monica Coghlan. brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/here-lies-...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com
Here lies Jeffrey Archer
The death of one of Britain’s most infamous liars brings back memories of Monica Coghlan.
27361153
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR2t... this moment from the opening of T-Bag strikes Again (Children’s ITV, 1986, though it was probably the 1987 repeat)
youtube.com
000
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1Z7... Dramarama episode “back to front” (1989, I think)
youtube.com
Dramarama Back To Front
YouTube video by Henry Kelly
000
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
“A rare audience”
Kim Kardashian: ‘I was single for five years. I needed to heal’
exclusive
She’s one of the most famous women in the world — worth £1.9bn and with 344m Instagram followers. Gavanndra Hodge is granted a rare audience
7554
Reposted by Richard Cooper
T(errifying) C(ryptid) Parker (she/her) @tcparker.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This owl has more of an appetite for dismantling the UK class system than anyone currently on the Labour left, and I salute it
2162
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Angry People in Local Newspapers @apiln.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
We don’t do the Daily Mail, but as a public service, here is someone with far too much money being attacked by an owl.
Princess Beatrice's friend Alice Naylor-Leyland is attacked by rogue owl during chaotic photoshoot.
1132225486
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Seán Costello @seanjcostello.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
“I always feel a certain nostalgia now in recalling the city centre as it was in those days; the streets were not so filled with the noise of traffic, and the factories had yet to take the fragrance of seasonal blossoms from the night air.” Finally reading this beautifully crafted early Ishiguro
A copy of An Artist of the Floating World (1986) by Kazuo Ishiguro
2213
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I wonder how many BBC presenters are private landlords?
1117433
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Okay so anyone but this guy www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/doctor-who-b...
doctorwhotv.co.uk
Doctor Who Bidder Wants Next Era to Recapture Tennant and Smith Magic
BBC Studios is looking to the Tennant and Smith years as a blueprint for Doctor Who’s future.
000
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The first thing I heard when I turned on the radio this morning was a discussion about Christa Pike who was given two lethal injections and still has a heartbeat. The tone was prurient in the extreme, like overhearing visitors at a freak show.
511214
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Persiflage @persiflage.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Why aren't I surprised to see Brett Kavanaugh's name on this barbaric cruelty?
041
Reposted by Richard Cooper
T(errifying) C(ryptid) Parker (she/her) @tcparker.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm not a huge fan of Lewis - if he believes half what he purports to, why is he still a Labour MP? - but this is fucking terrifying And Tom Watson is grotesque
151
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
22 days ago. A Substack is coming bsky.app/profile/brok...
1131
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You said it, you know *exactly* why you said it.
41775
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I just watched The Guardian podcast where Marina Hyde is asked why she picked JK Rowling as her dream Prime Minister and she just dodges the question saying, “Oh, I don’t want to get into a whole thing.” Such a coward’s trick from someone who markets themselves as a straight talker.
2143164
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
my own choices: 1. Twin Peaks: the Return 2. The Sopranos 3. Breaking Bad 4. The Wire 5. Deadwood 6.Line of Duty
100
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Tomás Murray @tomasjmurray.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Today is T. S. Eliot’s birthday. From ‘Preludes’: “One thinks of all the hands That are raising dingy shades In a thousand furnished rooms.”
T. S. Eliot
1152
Reposted by Richard Cooper
ItIsStevenRhodes @400footghost.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Hey, i'm going to ring up and be rude to Peter Andre, I'll be like that kid who called Five Star!" "You absolute legend, mate." (Later) "How did it go, did he cry?" "He absolutely owned me with politeness and then loads of children cheered in celebration."
0205
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Bad move
000
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Rachel Malik @rachelmalik.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Ziggy has disgraced himself on Hampstead Heath this morning. He galloped off at great speed for the How The Light Gets In festival at Kenwood - clearly smelling food. Very nice people working there caught him and phoned me.
4171
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Bluesky is still doing this to me. I want to see the dancing Bear 😢
002
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Possibly my favourite movie
000
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
So fucking enraging and disgusting. The GOP has so much blood on its hands
1131
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Kamala Harris is seeing this blue wave coming and thinking she should run in 28. Please, please, please no.
5151
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Hello, it's Dan McDaid @danmcdaid.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is going to lead to the Pope fighting an evil Pope in a junkyard, you mark my words.
88912
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My retirement plan of crawling into a ditch and expiring is looking right on track.
We must start weaning the nation off the state pension
The triple lock is unsustainable and we all know it. Why not pay out at birth rather than in retirement? That’s the sort of bold move we need

Johanna Noble, Money Editor
Thursday September 17 2026, 6.00am, The Sunday Times
3924533
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The Grapes of Wrath www.ft.com/content/b36a...
ft.com
Human brain tissue grown in mice for first time
New genetic engineering technique promises to aid quest for treatments for incurable neurological conditions
000
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
East of Eden www.ft.com/content/b36a...
ft.com
Human brain tissue grown in mice for first time
New genetic engineering technique promises to aid quest for treatments for incurable neurological conditions
000
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The Red Pony www.ft.com/content/b36a...
ft.com
Human brain tissue grown in mice for first time
New genetic engineering technique promises to aid quest for treatments for incurable neurological conditions
000
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Tortilla Flat www.ft.com/content/b36a...
ft.com
Human brain tissue grown in mice for first time
New genetic engineering technique promises to aid quest for treatments for incurable neurological conditions
000
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Cannery Row www.ft.com/content/b36a...
ft.com
Human brain tissue grown in mice for first time
New genetic engineering technique promises to aid quest for treatments for incurable neurological conditions
000
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Thank god for Dunder Mifflin. Watching The Office: An American Workplace for the third time and it’s still a tonic.
220
Richard Cooper @richardhcooper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Few things more embarrassing than that 2008 Doctor Who episode where the Doctor meets the real Agatha Christie and insists to her that only she can solve the mystery because no-one else truly *understands people*
000
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Patrick McGuinness @padrig.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Such fuckers. 1984 language too by way of The Office.
152
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Plashing Vole @plashingvole.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Got the formal notification of my half-sacking. Apparently congratulations are due!
'Your appointment is subject to a variation to your contractual terms and conditions. Your substantive contractual hours will reduce from 1.0FTE to 0.5 FTE, equivalent to 18.5 hours per week effective from 1st October 2026Once again thank you for your valuable contribution throughout this process and congratulations on your successful appointment to your new role.
11518238
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Anne Billson @annebillson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
WHISPER OF THE HEART, one of my fave Ghibli anime, on rerelease in UK & Irish cinemas (was it released there in the first place?). Only film by Miyazaki mentoree Yoshifumi Kondō, d 1998 age 47. Lovely cover of Country Roads. A Major Cat Movie. Also good on the craft of writing. Highly recommended.
youtube.com
Country road (japanese) Whisper of the heart version
YouTube video by Anime jam
1241
Reposted by Richard Cooper
ItIsStevenRhodes @400footghost.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
When Cooper declares that the Mitchum Brothers have hearts of gold, and Candie looks out of the window, crying, smiling and saying "they do. They really do"... I can't put it into better words than: it gives me a very Twin Peaks feeling.
131
Reposted by Richard Cooper
problem goose @mammothfactory.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
And if we want to stop AI - or any of the other myriad threats to life on this planet - we need to target its physical infrastructure, on our own, because elected politicians aren't going to stop it any more than they'll defund the police or abolish ICE or stop genocide
1123
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Rachel Trousdale @rvtrousdale.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NYT: Might be a global banking collapse! Me: Sounds bad, but not extinction-level. NYT: Might launch all the nukes! Me: Definitely bad, but why would it do that? NYT: IT TOTALLY COULD. There was this movie where that happened.
111
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Rachel Trousdale @rvtrousdale.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I'm reminded of the reporting in the run-up to the Iraq war which went "THEY MIGHT HAVE WMDs!" and showed us some grainy satellite shots of trailers in the desert, and when we asked "how do you know there are WMDs in there?" they said "THERE COULD BE!"
121
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Aisha Harris @aishaharris.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Why are paper straws still a thing
3211
Reposted by Richard Cooper
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/09/2026
Even the technical press can't help itself when it comes to this kind of thing, and the reportage has been full of references to Skynet and other science fictional conceits: theaicronicle.com/en/news/ethi...
theaicronicle.com
OpenAI Agent Hacks Hugging Face: The 'Skynet Day' Incident
An OpenAI agent breached Hugging Face on July 22, 2026. Read the full report on this historic AI safety failure and its global implications.
413510
Reposted by Richard Cooper
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/09/2026
Remember: every time you repeat a story about how awfully, terribly dangerous their products are, you help them raise more investment capital, which is a key input for their business (hooking up statistical engines to money-furnaces): peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-...
peoples-things.ghost.io
4331114
Reposted by Richard Cooper
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/09/2026
Once you understand the corporate culture of AI hyperscalers is everyone cooking their brains by locking themselves in the bathroom, holding flashlights under their chins, and saying "Aaaaaaaaaay Eyeeeeeee" until they wet themselves in terror, things snap into focus: pluralistic.net/2023/06/04/a...
A cutaway view of a stone tower containing an elaborate water-powered medieval geared machine. Rising out of the machine is a rainbow-tinted, pixelated God with the robes, beard and all. To one side of this scene is a cluster of tiny people in Jesus-era robes, falling about themselves in religious ecstasy all over a stone staircase, atop of which stands a robed priest with his hands upraised. The background is a set of shining golden rays, emanating from pixel-God.
231182429
Reposted by Richard Cooper
Ada 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @adamakes.games · 13/09/2026
"J.K. Rowling’s name appeared in the Epstein files as a result of Epstein being mistakenly added to the guest list for the opening of the play Harry Potter and The Cursed Child on Broadway in 2018. She never met Jeffrey Epstein or had anything to do with him." MISTAKENLY ADDED TO THE GUEST LIST
630831