Sign in

Shabanah Fazal

@sfazal.bsky.social
382 followers 1.4K following 48 posts

Interests: literature, film, arts, languages, education, culture & ideas, feminism, history, politics & society, and many other things…

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
I’m so glad to hear Tom has had a job offer from Asda after Waitrose behaved appallingly. But it shouldn’t take a national backlash for disabled people to be treated decently. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Asda hires autistic man who was let go by Waitrose after years of volunteering
Waitrose asked Tom Boyd not to return when he asked for a few hours of paid work after years as unpaid shelf stacker
1021946
Shabanah Fazal @sfazal.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
This cause is close to my heart. Please sign and share to re-open this community arts centre in Halifax, where until recently you could enjoy fantastic theatre, cinema, music, poetry, talks, and much more: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/sa...
megaphone.org.uk
Save Square Chapel for the people
Square Chapel has a strong history of supporting community events and professional performances and is a popular venue in the local community.  Square Chapel was a popular arts centre with good ...
030
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
DamsonEd @damsoned.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Children’s reading enjoyment falls to lowest recorded level in UK
Annual survey of young people’s reading habits which began two decades ago shows its lowest-ever result, most pronounced among boys aged 11 to 16
258
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Adrian Bethune @adrianbethune.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
🧵 One of the biggest myths in education since I started teaching in 2010 is this: The knowledge-rich curriculum The myth is that knowing more will improve the quality of children's lives. It's built on the lie that knowledge = grades = good job = happiness. It's a lie.
188321
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Kathrine Richter @krichtercph.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Wow, what a brilliant discussion of the modern Manosphere, how it preys on male insecurity and how men prey on men while blaming women. Is the male loneliness epidemic in fact self inflicted? Thanks @thenewworldmag.bsky.social & ❤️ @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social www.podbean.com/ea/dir-z4zpp...
podbean.com
Down and out in the manosphere - with James Bloodworth
The Matts are joined by author James Bloodworth whose new book Lost Boys is a brilliantly insightful exploration of misogyny and conspiracy rife within groups of young men today. James does what many ...
152
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
James Bloodworth @jamesbloodworth.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Had a great conversation with New Lines magazine about the manosphere and how it ensnares young men newlinesmag.com/podcast/the-...
newlinesmag.com
The Online Movement Ensnaring Young Men
Reporter James Bloodworth joins New Lines’ Faisal Al Yafai on The Lede to discuss how developments in technology have left young men vulnerable to online personalities from Andrew Tate to Jordan Peter...
012
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Dr Ella Hawkins @ellamchawk.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Today is National Biscuit Day, and it’s about time that I populated this account with biscuit (cookie) sets from the past few years. Here are some of my favourites. 🧵 First up, a set inspired by the delicious designs of William Morris and John Henry Dearle.
A set of eight rectangular cookies arranged on a square white plate against a dark wooden background. Each cookie is inspired by a wallpaper design by Morris & Co. The patterns represented feature different floral and leaf shapes in shades of baby blue, soft pink, leafy green, mustard yellow, cream, and dark grey.
33884431885
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
David Challen @davidchallen.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Happy publication day to… The Unthinkable!!! 📚 🎉 🥂📚🎉 🥂 My mum killed my dad, I helped free her from prison. This is the story I walked, and what it cost. I never thought I’d write it and now, it’s out in the world! 🧍🏼👫🧍🏼‍♂️🏠 🚨 Order NOW! ➡️ www.hachette.co.uk/titles/david...
23916
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Rachel Hewitt @rachelhewitt.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Amazing! From a C21st viewpoint, it’s tempting to assume that C19th sportswomen were all cowed victims of patriarchal fashion, with no choice but to exercise in long skirts & corsets. Nope! Sportswomen were ingenious at adapting & creating cutting-edge garments to balance their complex requirements
152
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch calls for end to windfall tax on oil/gas companies. They have been making record profits, fuelling inflation & poverty. Tory silence on tackling poverty, no remorse for two child benefit cap, austerity, privatisations, destroying the NHS and public services.
bbc.co.uk
Kemi Badenoch calls for end to windfall tax on oil and gas companies
The Conservative leader said the windfall tax on the oil and gas sector should end and new drilling licenses are needed.
4427181
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Languages Direct @languages-direct.com · 13/06/2025
Spanish overtakes French as the most popular foreign language for GCSE students | The Independent buff.ly/6ruiQWg #langsky #xl8
buff.ly
The foreign language that is now the most popular among GCSE students
The overall number of entries for this summer’s exams for both GCSEs and A-levels has decreased
1146
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
So… does Iran have a right to defend itself?
68487911388
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Helen Lewis @helenlewis.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Wrote this before the Iran strikes but it still applies. "Netanyahu is taking advantage of the Trump presidency to prolong the Gaza conflict, keeping his extremist coalition partners in the fold and himself in power." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
theatlantic.com
The Settlers With Their Sights on Gaza
A hard-line Israeli movement, featured in a new BBC documentary, expects to benefit from the current war—and meets no resistance from the U.S.
3569
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Sky News @news.sky.com · 13/06/2025
British crash survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh describes escape from plane in India
news.sky.com
British crash survivor Vishwash Kumar Ramesh describes escape from plane in India
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh was able to escape from the crashed passenger plane in Ahmedabad - the only person to do so.
161
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Sky News @news.sky.com · 13/06/2025
Air India plane crash: Families in Ahmedabad endure agonising wait for victims' bodies
news.sky.com
Air India plane crash: Families in Ahmedabad endure agonising wait for victims' bodies
Families just want the bodies of their loved ones.
2117
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
NPR @npr.org · 13/06/2025
Workers are "terrified" as immigration agents sweep farms, the president of United Farm Workers says, adding that Americans should think about the "human loss" as well as "crops rotting" in the fields.
n.pr
Americans will feel impact of immigration enforcement on farms, union president warns
Workers are "terrified" as immigration agents sweep farms, the president of United Farm Workers says, adding that Americans should think about the "human loss" as well as "crops rotting" in the fields
1191928761
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
'I had no particularly strong feelings about the subject, mainly because I did not possess a time machine and was therefore unable to foresee the chaos and damage – particularly to women’s rights – that the genderists would inflict in the next 20 years or so.' tomharris2.substack.com/p/mea-culpa-...
tomharris2.substack.com
Mea culpa: my part in the rise of the trans cult
The Gender Recognition Bill looked harmless enough. If only I'd known. . .
4204
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Universities are starting to get their houses in order & uphold privacy & dignity rights for women as well as for those with trans identities. Courtesy of Prof Jo Phoenix over on X.
22811
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
The moderation and block tools on here are so advanced , if you see someone you don’t want to see on here, just block them. Don’t attack them. There used to be great give and take discussions on politics and news. Not so much any more. Doesn’t have to be this way
163103294
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
The lack of diversity of thought here is really hurting usage. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202... Opinion | Bluesky’s decline stems from never hearing from other side - The Washington Post
washingtonpost.com
Opinion | The Bluesky bubble hurts liberals and their causes
The social media network was doomed to fail as progressives tried to re-create old Twitter.
31091160114
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
46058255
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
The replies on here may not be as racist as Twitter, but they damn sure are hateful. Talk AI: FU, AI sucks go away Talk Business: Go away Talk Healthcare: Crickets. Engagement went from great convos on many topics, to agree with me or you are a nazi fascist We are forcing posts to X
29795779481
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
'The test results reportedly were carried out at Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi, which is accredited by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the Swiss-based International Organization for Standardization.' torontosun.com/sports/olymp...
torontosun.com
Leaked medical report states controversial Olympic boxer has 'male' chromosomes
A medical report from 2023 allegedly shows that controversial Algerian women's Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif is biologically male.
3298
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
'Imane Khelif’s sex-test results from the 2023 World Championships have been published for the first time, with the medical report appearing to indicate that the boxer is biologically male.'
1142
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
'Italy’s Angela Carini, the first opponent beaten by Khelif, described how she had been punched so hard that she feared for her life.'
1213
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Should not have played out on centre stage in global sport. Completely unethical for both female & DSD boxers. The IOC knew the test results. But permitted Khelif to punch women in the face on the world stage. Early sex screen essential. www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2025/...
telegraph.co.uk
Leaked medical report ‘proves Imane Khelif is biological male’
Sex-test results published online which debunk IOC’s stance on controversial Olympic champion
56612
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Sisters Salon Brighton #CreatingWomensSpaces @sisterssalon.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Please share ♥️ #TimeToAct #AbortionIsHealthcare Please write your MP & ask them to protect women's access to reproductive health care & remove abortion from criminal law. Please sign the petition ♥️ you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/de... Email template ♥️ brightonsisters.wordpress.com/abortion-rep...
you.38degrees.org.uk
Decriminalise abortion and make it a protected human right.
Women’s rights are under threat from the far right. Nigel Farage just called our current abortion provisions “utterly ludicrous” – and others in power are paying attention. A vote in Parliament could ...
0129
Shabanah Fazal @sfazal.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
120
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Sonia Sodha @sonia-sodha.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
As organisations like Unison flout the Supreme Court ruling on sex & gender, leaders can’t continue to hide behind judges and regulators. They need to explain to detractors why protecting women’s rights is so important. Including Keir Starmer My column in the Times www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
thetimes.com
Unions and bosses are flouting trans ruling
Implementing the Supreme Court’s judgment that ‘woman’ means female requires Keir Starmer to speak up for the law
04713
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
MoMaBreastfeeding @momabfing.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
All our support is free to access for breastfeeding mothers, but not free to provide. All donations will help fund our local meetings and breastfeeding support and the background costs that make them possible.
094
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
MoMaBreastfeeding @momabfing.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
See our website for our current groups. We will be adding more soon and increasing our reach as and when we can sustainably do so. We are currently a not-for-profit Community Interest Company with plans to convert to become a charity as soon as we can. momab.org.uk
momab.org.uk
MoMa Breastfeeding – Mother to Mother Support for Breastfeeding
184
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
MoMaBreastfeeding @momabfing.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
MoMa Breastfeeding is a new mother-to-mother breastfeeding support organisation. We are volunteer run and rely on donations to offer local support and meetings around the country. Please help us by donating and spreading the word. momab.org.uk/donate/
momab.org.uk
Donations – MoMa Breastfeeding
22212
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
"University: A Good Idea". Excellent piece by @patporter76.bsky.social, reasserting the humanist idea of the university as a place to think, grow and argue; not as a consumer experience providing employable skills. thecritic.co.uk/university-a...
Extract from article by Patrick Porter: "Sure, careers and money matter. But so do citizenship, war, justice, faith and the common good. You can think about such things without paying academics, of course. Yet thinking about them beside scholars who study them is a good place to start, and is another kind of value for money.

In-person study is valuable because it is done dialectically, that is, in conversation and argument, and collectively. To be a student alone is a contradiction in terms. It is one reason the recent global plague, forcing study online, damaged so many young souls. How much better it would be not only to imbibe the offerings of the web, but to argue about them with other people in the same room. Learning collectively, in an organic human setting, is the essence of the university".
712957
Shabanah Fazal @sfazal.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Loved reading and re-reading this beautifully crafted uplifting poem by Magi Gibson, and her explanation of the creative process behind creating an organic whole. Such a refreshing, human take on the theme of climate change. Link to her Substack: themagialipoetryshow.substack.com/p/the-girl-w...
140
Shabanah Fazal @sfazal.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Wonderful collection by Bradford poet Ralph Dartford. A variety of powerful, intriguing and moving poems in a range of forms. Loved his unashamed use of rhyme, his inspiring state-of-the-nation celebration of his home town Basildon, and beautiful sonnet tributes to his late brother.
010
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
UK Constitutional Law Association @ukcla.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Michael Foran: For Women Scotland: Is legal recognition of biological sex a violation of human rights? ukconstitutionallaw.org/2025/05/15/m...
ukconstitutionallaw.org
Michael Foran: For Women Scotland: Is legal recognition of biological sex a violation of human rights?
In For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers the UK Supreme Court rejected the contention that possession of a Gender Recognition Certificate changes an individual’s sex for the purposes of the E…
525224
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
'Overall, 75% of American adults say trans women shouldn't be allowed to play on female sports teams'. No surprise there. It's as clear as the day is long. It would be unfair & in some sports unsafe. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...
nbcnews.com
Poll: Most Americans oppose trans women competing in female sports, including 2 of 3 in Gen Z
Overall, 75% of American adults say trans women shouldn't be allowed to play on female sports teams, per the NBC News Stay Tuned Poll. Gen Z is the most supportive.
4335
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
The FA has had an ideological policy in place for years. That's because the FA was advised by 'Gendered Intelligence', a transactivist organisation that gave unlawful advice. Following the Supreme Court ruling, the FA's ideological & unlawful policy has been removed. Happy to help.
1255
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Cathy Devine @womensportfeminism.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
I cannot listen to this clip of Mara Yamauchi and Sharron Davies being interviewed on the BBC often enough. How many times did @marklowen.bsky.social try to get these superb female athletes to centre males in women's sport? No. Female sport is for females. x.com/i/status/192...
x.com
Nick Wallis on X: "An excerpt of a discussion between @mara_yamauchi, @sharrond62 and @marklowen on @bbcworldservice about male people/trans women (men) in women's sport. https://t.co/UmMVqn1v2j" / X
An excerpt of a discussion between @mara_yamauchi, @sharrond62 and @marklowen on @bbcworldservice about male people/trans women (men) in women's sport. https://t.co/UmMVqn1v2j
4297
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
The New World @thenewworldmag.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
Supporters of Kim Leadbeater’s dangerous bill should listen to young people who see it will cause significant harm
theneweuropean.co.uk
Assisted dying: the price is far too high
Supporters of Kim Leadbeater’s dangerous bill should listen to young people who see it will cause significant harm
322
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
The New World @thenewworldmag.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
A new documentary is a reminder that the film director and writer was a willing and eager propagandist for evil
theneweuropean.co.uk
Leni Riefenstahl, propagandist with a will to deceive
A new documentary is a reminder that the film director and writer was a willing and eager propagandist for evil
0198
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Big Green Books @biggreenbooks.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Simon Armitage. Poet Laureate! Simon has a new book out next month. "Dwell". I'll be getting SIGNED copies! Blurb in the ALT test. If you'd like one, you can order it HERE. www.biggreenbookshop.com/signed-copie...
The picture is the cover of Simon's new poetry collection. 

Here's the blurb. 

This gorgeously illustrated collection of poems illuminates and reimagines the ingenious, fragile dwellings of the living creatures around us. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage was inspired to write these poems by the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, an ambitious restoration project where history and mystery coexist. The reawakened landscape with its woods, meadows and 'jungle' offers a bustling, fertile realm for all sorts of creatures to inhabit.

Armitage uses elements of riddle and folklore to animate a series of dwellings: the 'twig-and-leaf crow's-nest squat' of a squirrel's drey, a beaver lodge's 'spillikin stave church' and a hive's 'reactor core'. Distinctions between human and animal, natural and cultivated, are blurred, emphasising commonality and creating a vibrant account of 'non-stop stop-motion life'. Dwell warns of the fragility of these spaces and their dwellers, exposed to relentless and sadly familiar environmental threats.

Just as a garden provides refuge for wildlife, so do these intricate poems offer lasting homes to those who dwell within their lines. This edition is beautifully illustrated by Beth Munro.
1238
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Faber Books @faberbooks.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
A poem for VE Day by Poet Laureate Simon Armitage. Commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces to mark the eightieth anniversary of the end of World War II. faber.co.uk/journal/a-poem-to-mark-the-80th-anniversary-of-ve-day-by-simon-armitage/
0156
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Mike O’Brien @zoomburst.substack.com · 29/04/2025
You can read two pieces of #poetry by Thomas Hardy and one by me in this weeks #60Odd poems. "Who was the old fellow standing stiffly at your side With his white moustache and balding head? O pray tell me! She cried" "There was no old man with me as I watched you" I replied
zoomburst.substack.com
2.21 Thomas Hardy's Ghost
Looking at Hardy's difficult marriage to Emma Gifford, and how he thought of her more fondly after she had died than he had for many years before.
021
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
French workers encouraged to arrive late in protest over pension age rise from 62 to 64. UK state pension age to rise from 66 to 67, lower pension than in France. Rich retire whenever they want. Work till drop for the rest. LL Britons need French lessons on resistance and protest.
theguardian.com
Disgruntled French workers encouraged to arrive late in protest over pension age rise
Artists created an AI ‘minister of latecomers’, who encourages people to compensate for years lost, and a tool calculating exactly how late to turn up
19502190
Reposted by Shabanah Fazal
Jo Hutchinson @jojohutchinson.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
There’s more than one way to handle a tyrant and win an election. And some of them don’t involve selling your soul to fascists and overseas enemies.
021