Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Apropos Andy Burnham's enthusiasm for electoral reform – is the Green Party still part of the progressive alliance? 000
Reposted by SamAndy Lewis @andylewis.bsky.social · 04/10/2026Best thing you'll read - and listen to- all morning 295
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 04/10/2026"None of the artists I had were attractive or slim or fit any pop role model. They were plump, fat, one was balding. Tina was the youngest one, but she was nothing like you’d imagine a pop star to be" @alwynturner.bsky.social's profile of Britain's disco king👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/04/b...thelionandunicorn.comBiddu: the albumALWYN TURNER on Britain’s first disco-king, with music from Carl Douglas and Geno Washington to the Playthings and the Electric Dolls. 121
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026"It’s quite daunting," remembered Biddu; "suddenly here’s this little kid from India and he’s got the BBC orchestra and he’s on Top of the Pops." @alwynturner.bsky.social on Britain's king of disco. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/04/b...thelionandunicorn.comBiddu: the albumALWYN TURNER on Britain’s first disco-king, with music from Carl Douglas and Geno Washington to the Playthings and the Electric Dolls. 073
Reposted by SamNick Cohen @nickcohen.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"Any Green member who participated in Jewish communal life could be denounced as a racist – as indeed could members of Polanski’s family. Needless to add, the Greens have no plans to denounce Muslims who attend mosques controlled by reactionary imams, or Christians who attend homophobic churches"nickcohen.substack.comZack Polanski and the shadow of antisemitismThe Jew will get the blame 52812
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"The lingering image of the prime minister this year will not be that of a ‘dead woman walking’ (as George Osborne called her, following the disastrous 2017 election) but of her mum-dancing at the Tory conference" #OTD in 2018 thelionandunicorn.com/2018/12/30/2... 021
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"I understand that Alex Horne and Greg Davies, the hosts of the show, are the subjects of a disproportionately large amount of slash fiction online. Each to their own..." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 012
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Coming soon to Lion & Unicorn, @alwynturner.bsky.social on Britain's first disco-king. 162
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"It’s a simple premise on the face of it. Five comedians being given silly/deceptively ingenious tasks to complete by a seemingly neurodivergent man with a beard." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 013
Reposted by SamAlwyn Turner @alwynturner.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I'll be at the Cuckfield Bookfest tomorrow, in conversation with the very wonderful Juliet Nicolson. It was sold out, but they've moved the event to a larger venue and tickets may still be available. cuckfieldbookfest.co.uk/event/alwyn-...cuckfieldbookfest.co.ukAlwyn Turner - Cuckfield BookfestAlwyn Turner on A Shellshocked Nation, his definitive history of 1920s Britain, from the General Strike to the rise of fascism. 052
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Politicians are very keen to acknowledge that people have legitimate concerns about immigration. Quite what those concerns are is seldom spelt out..." L&U explores the 58-year history of a political cliché👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 013
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It’s October. In America that means it’s National Sausage Month (not to be confused with National Hot Dog Month, which is in July). thelionandunicorn.com/2024/09/25/s...thelionandunicorn.comSausages: an anthologyALWYN TURNER selects some passages from British literature that concern sausages. 001
Reposted by SamSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"He may look like a seven-foot golem made of reclaimed chicken, but on stage he’s mercurial, giggly and has an appetite for self-abasement that would make the Marquis de Sade blush" It's @summers2theb.bsky.social on Greg Davies and TASKMASTER for L&U👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 143
Reposted by SamMatt @matthewblott.com · 01/10/2026I saw this at the Other Place. Brexit failure doesn't translate into fanatical EU support. 021
Reposted by SamBen Thomas @summers2theb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"Each to their own, but for me personally, that would be the Fermat’s Last Theorem of difficult wanks." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 111
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Nearly time for Taskmaster - but to keep you going, here's @summers2theb.bsky.social on when it went wrong... thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 001
Reposted by SamRobert Shrimsley @robertshrimsley.bsky.social · 30/09/2026If Reform did something like this with mosques we might think they were a bit racist. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...thetimes.comJewish Greens face sanctions for belonging to ‘Zionist’ synagoguesThe Green Party rejected an amendment to protect Jewish members attending self-declared ‘Zionist’ organisations from reports of racism 1615441
Reposted by SamIvan @hellothisisivan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026That’s Life! was just incredible. Its two most famous moments are a man being movingly celebrated by the now grown Jewish children he got out of Nazi Germany & a dog saying “sausages”. No other programme has ever had that range. 812530
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"He may look like a seven-foot golem made of reclaimed chicken, but on stage he’s mercurial, giggly and has an appetite for self-abasement that would make the Marquis de Sade blush" It's @summers2theb.bsky.social on Greg Davies and TASKMASTER for L&U👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/10/01/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: TaskmasterBEN THOMAS takes exception to a below-par series of Taskmaster. 143
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Happy 65th birthday to Paul Hawksbee, part of "the best double-act on British radio, one of the few places where the likes of Victor Silvester and Old Mother Riley can get a mention, where Wilson, Keppel and Betty still mean something". thelionandunicorn.com/2024/07/14/c...thelionandunicorn.com‘Cathedrals are cathedrals’: the first 25 years of Talk SportFrom Caesar the Geezer to Covid, via the Two Mikes and the mighty H&J, ALWYN TURNER celebrates TalkSport radio. 122
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"I have to confess when me and my friends used to run through the fields of wheat, the farmers weren’t too pleased about that." Happy birthday to Theresa May, who reaches 70 today. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/07/13/i...thelionandunicorn.com‘I like my shoes’: The wit & wisdom of Theresa MayThe life and career of the former prime minister, in her own words. 134
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026In the latest from Lion & Unicorn, @summers2theb.bsky.social turns his hateful gaze on TASKMASTER👇 011
Reposted by SamBen Finlay @benfinlay74.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"Now it is autumn again; the people are all coming back. The recess of summer is over, when holidays are taken, newspapers shrink, history itself seems momentarily to falter" A timely repost of my Oct 2025 article that celebrates the 50th anniversary of The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury. #bookskythelionandunicorn.comThe (rest is) History, ManBEN FINLAY celebrates 50 years of Malcom Bradbury’s satire of fashionable left politics. 1142
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 01/10/2026A splendid new episode from Richard Johnson & @leedavidevansuk.bsky.social. I especially enjoyed Richard's vituperation at the PM's support for electoral reform and Rejoinerism: "The liberal progressive parasitical worm has burrowed its way into Burnham's head"! open.spotify.com/episode/4t8t...open.spotify.comMatters of Interest: Burnham's Big Speech & Labour's Missing Working ClassSince Attlee & Churchill · Episode 000
Reposted by SamFinlay McLaren @finlay24.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"I think David Attenborough should take a leaf out of Johnny Morris’s book and do a few funny voices when he meets those animals. Cheer us all up a bit." 031
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026"The face mask wasn’t just a shield; it was a gag. And Britain, it seems, still prefers the quiet" Andy Burnham spoke of Thatcher, who stood down 36 years ago. But not of Covid, which we forgot in 2021 @finlay24.bsky.social on the great omertà of our politics👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/11/d...thelionandunicorn.comDecade: Lockdown (2020)Do you remember the covid lockdowns? asks FINLAY McLAREN. Of course you do. So why have we chosen to forget? 001
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Trudging home from a real slog of a day at work, listening to this again to pep myself up — and it's working! 100
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026The prime minister "warned that there was 'a legitimate concern' about prospective immigration". Of course, that was 35 years ago. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 024
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Tonight on digital versatile disc, GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1946), David Lean's brilliant gothic adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel — also available on YouTube youtu.be/-C2ouPXAok8 351
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026What is a 'legitimate concern'? And how long have we been having them? Lion & Unicorn investigates👇 011
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I loved the first two series of THE CROWN, and the use of Max Richter's reinterpretation of Vivaldi as the soundtrack for the motorcycle scene, where Princess Margaret rides pillion behind Antony Armstrong-Jones, is electric youtu.be/BeBChOAqzpIyoutu.beThe Crown Margaret & Tony Motorcycle Scene Uncut HDYouTube video by Azeem Abbas 000
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Feeling rather disconsolate on this grey Autumn day in Nottingham So I'm listening to 'Piano Parchment' (1968), which is more famous as the theme to the BBC adaptation of ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL (1978-90) Was an opening theme ever more uplifting? youtu.be/V5fk9HwqnsMyoutu.bePiano ParchmentYouTube video by Johnny Pearson - Topic 120
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Man alive! It's @hellothisisivan.bsky.social! "Eventually we meet two particularly vivid characters: 82-year-old Cyril Fluck, who continues in the business in order to ‘keep me away from my wife, who hates the sight of me’, & the flashy Barry Quartermaine" thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 012
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I'm grateful we have journalists like Dorian, who still look past the distractions of the trees to discern clearly the wood 000
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Among my favourite sound gags is the 'tapping the camera lens/inside of the TV screen' effect👇 091
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 27/09/2026"Bad feeling is far more likely to occur if we ignore the legitimate concern of electors than if we have the courage to speak frankly. Most sensible people would agree that the limit to the number of immigrants which this country can absorb has now been reached" – Guy Wallis, 1968 🔗 below 101
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Trevor Philpott asks the pressing question: ‘Would you let your daughter marry a man who trod the streets crying “rag-bone”?’" In our latest article, @hellothisisivan.bsky.social goes deep into the Sixties👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 035
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Apropos Angela Rayner & Shabana Mahmood thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/18/i...thelionandunicorn.comImmigration: 60 years of manifesto pledgesThe pledges made on immigration by every incoming government from Harold Wilson to Keir Starmer. 013
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 27/09/2026When did people start having legitimate concerns over immigration? Well, let's go back nearly 60 years... thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/27/c...thelionandunicorn.comCalling all cliches: Legitimate concernsWhen did politicians start talking about legitimate concerns over immigration? 024
Reposted by SamSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 30/08/2026One of the small things that makes contemporary British TV drama feel like it's set in a parallel universe is that you so rarely (ever?) see any of the characters vape 031
Reposted by SamSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Stripper Annette dashes between four Soho clubs each night ‘with the expediency of a fireman answering an alarm’ in order to provide for herself & her boyfriend Colin, a ‘poet, painter & designer of Aztec jewellery’" NEW from @hellothisisivan.bsky.social👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 043
Reposted by SamSam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 24/09/2026It's Ben 'Basher' Thomas for Lion & Unicorn on THE WRESTLING👇 013
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 26/09/2026No podcast does more to lift my mood than @wheezingpod.bsky.social. The NHS should prescribe those three giggling twats for depression. 071
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"The match lasted seven minutes and six-and-a-half of that was filled with what could be called shenanigans. It had to be. Vader couldn’t safely take most of Ospreay’s offence without risking his life" Have you read the latest from @summers2theb.bsky.social? thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/23/h...thelionandunicorn.comHate watch: The WrestlingBEN THOMAS on shenanigans in ‘one of the worst UK wrestling matches of all time’. 001
Reposted by SamLion & Unicorn @lionunicorn.bsky.social · 26/09/2026COMING SOON at Lion & Unicorn: 'Calling all cliches' returns to look at the history of... 111
Sam @samkarlharrison.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Stripper Annette dashes between four Soho clubs each night ‘with the expediency of a fireman answering an alarm’ in order to provide for herself & her boyfriend Colin, a ‘poet, painter & designer of Aztec jewellery’" NEW from @hellothisisivan.bsky.social👇 thelionandunicorn.com/2026/09/26/l...thelionandunicorn.comLast night on YouTube: Man AliveIVAN KIRBY on the Britain of 1965-66, as revealed by the BBC documentary strand. 043