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John Speakman

@speakman.bsky.social
1K followers 2.2K following 312 posts

And yet, here we are. I like data and technology, and therefore people and policy. Also unfunny jokes and mild snark. A bit of a political junkie, I’m afraid. Trying to let that go. Slightly American (or slightly British?). He/him. 📍United Kingdom

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Reposted by John Speakman
BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 17h
there's a pretty strong case to be made for abolishing fraternities just on a comparative basis with other countries. in the UK, to the best of my knowledge, no examples of the kind of campus gang rape cases that happen with depressing regularity in the US.
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ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 21h
This is a good example of why I am not a fan of the pivot to podcasts/audio articles. It says it takes 6 minutes to read (actually about 3 mins max), but 9 minutes to listen to. Audio is just such a SLOW way to consume words.
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 23h
So sad to hear that the iconic, trailblazing, Apollo 11 moon landing software engineering lead, Margaret Hamilton, is no longer with us. Love this image of her, standing next to a print out of the software that landed Buzz Aldrin and Neil Amstrong on the moon! 👩‍🔬🔭🛰️🧪 ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
A woman looking very cool in a 70's dress standing next to a massive pile of very thick books
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Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
In case you were wondering, they STILL haven't managed to fix the Reflecting Pool, six months after work began
Livestream image taken from the Washington Monument, showing the Reflecting Pool still empty
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David Burbach 🇺🇸 @dburbach.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Jupiter just entering and just leaving occultation by the Moon on Tuesday morning. Io, Callisto, Europa to the right of Jupiter exiting
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David Burbach 🇺🇸 @dburbach.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Orion's belt & sword with the great Orion Nebula and other nebulosities. Single-image camera jpg with some contrast adjustment, hopefully the 30 RAW stack should be better
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Long_Painter @longpainter.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Driving Into Manhattan 8”x8” Oil on cradled wood panel . Available
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Mémoire2cité @memoire2cite.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
USA NYC Lors de la construction du World Trade Center à la fin des années 1960, plus d'un million de mètres cubes de matériaux excavés ont été utilisés pour étendre le littoral de Manhattan dans le fleuve Hudson. Cette photographie immortalise une image du Lower Manhattan
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This old car is priced much higher than newer, fancier cars because it is 100% analog, spyware free and built to survive the coming apocalypse.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Sweet thread bsky.app/profile/kevi...
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Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · 04/10/2026
Come on
Hegseth cosplaying a NaziJudgement scene from Wolfeinstein.
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sianushka.bsky.social @sianushka.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
It’s the 90th anniversary of Cable Street. Today, as then, no paseran ✊
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Dr. Cate Peña @cate-cholamine.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This is the best Substack I’ve ever read open.substack.com/pub/inprepar...
open.substack.com
Opinion: I Miss When The NIH Payline Was 40% And We All Mouth-Pipetted Phenol
By Dr. Douglas R. Waverly, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Yale University
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Jason @nickmotown.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Hit singles from the 80s that haven't had breathy acoustic versions done for adverts "now down to last three or four", warn experts.
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John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
My teacher brother has just informed me that his primary school kids now refer to anything shit or old fashioned as "Brexit". Which has made my morning.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The decision making process that led to the inspired placement of a tea cosy - that’s what it is, right? Want to know more about that dialectic
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Micheal McLaughlin @michealpmclaughlin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Bleecker Street, 3pm #greenwichvillage #bleeckerstreet #w114 #faiccos #newyorker #streetphotography
Classic Mercedes on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I don’t think Kid Rock should continue to call himself Kid when he looks 102 years old
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Ryan "Footnote" Tatsu🌹 🏳️‍🌈 @elysiatatsu.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
🎃
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Martin Degville of Sigue Sigue Sputnik having breakfast in a Newcastle B&B, 1986, photo by Homer Sykes.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
(2) Unexpected popup on the phone in Google Maps via Carplay while driving "you are near a Waitrose, want to buy any [random list of three grocery items I have not purchased any time in the last two years]?" I had to take my eyes off the road and explicitly dismiss it. That's bollocks, it really is.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
(1) "mark all as read" seems to have disappeared from the "promotions" tab in gmail (still there on the primary) - if, like me, you need there to be no unread emails, you have to click on all the ad emails one by one - this means that I will unsub from the promo emails I have been tolerating
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Two exciting new enshittifications Google is trying on me over the last couple of days:
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Oh, and Schengen. I want that too. And fondue.
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Picture This Scotland @74frankfurt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Paul Haig of Josef K, 1980 Pic: David Corio
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Ruins of Despair @ruinsofdespair.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hello October, my old friend
Vilhelm Hammershøi:
Interior. Artificial Light (1909)

An oil painting of a dark room with two burning candles on a table.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
At last! Yes, please, lets get on with it. All of it this time , the Euro, driving on the other side of the road, the lot. No take-backsies. What were we even thinking? Lets go. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
No 10 gathering evidence on public support for UK rejoining EU
Senior Downing Street officials reach out to thinktanks and pollsters as they look to test backing for reversing Brexit
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BBC Radio 6 Music Now Playing Bot (Unofficial) @bbcradio6musicbot.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
BBC Radio 6 Music Riley & Coe Now Playing Fire Engines Candyskin
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Ciaran Martin @ciaranm.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I was wrong. It’s happening
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thanks Tony. Sorry about Larry shit-talking you back in the day, you know what he was like www.washingtonblade.com/2026/09/28/d...
washingtonblade.com
Dr. Fauci ‘honored to be part of’ LGBTQ history
Equality Forum presents pioneering AIDS researcher with Int’l Role Model Award
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Thought that was the new cocktail list at the Hawksmoor until I saw what it was a reply to. I’d try them all.
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aDoseOfJungian @adoseofjungian.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
“Nations have their own peculiar psychology, and in the same way they also have their own particular kind of psychopathology.” – Jung, Civilisation in Transition Every nation carries a collective psyche, prone to both creativity and collapse. Recognizing this is crucial for self-awareness.
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Elizabeth Taylor @elizabethtaylor47.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This notion of bigoted beliefs being a protected characteristic like gender or race is just absolutely barmy. Those of us who’ve experienced genuine discrimination for who we are know there’s no comparison, and the political and legal collusion on this stuff is disastrous.
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The Corner Shop, Broughton, Salford, painting by Steven Scholes.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
HT @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social www.psychologicalscience.org/publications...
psychologicalscience.org
NIH Employees Lived in A Culture of Fear, So They Started Keeping Receipts
Sylvia Chou, former NIH program director, says “nobody’s OK” after massive disruptions to funding policies and infrastructure.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28/09/2026
scenes from Trumplandia -- Howard Lutnick furiously glazes Trump while Trump naps (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
Lutnick praises Trump while Trump sits in front of him with his eyes closed
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 28/09/2026
💡Did you know that on September 28, 1928, a Scottish physician named Sir Alexander Fleming discovered the antibiotic penicillin?
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I moved to Manhattan in 1991, so it was in many ways already a little bit moribund, but this album hits the spot. This is what it was like. Funny to be back in Leeds after all these years (it's a lot better than it was even though I'm not!). Thanks Marc and Dave (RIP) www.out.com/gay-music/ma...
out.com
Soft Cell's gay frontman: Homophobia has 'taken other faces' since '80s prejudice
"Tainted Love" singer Marc Almond reflects on bandmate Dave Ball’s legacy, the golden era of NYC nightlife, and Soft Cell's final album, Danceteria.
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This one raises a fascinating philosophical question: if you list your flat for £200k more than it is worth, have you really listed it, or are you just posting pictures of your home's interior online?
Georgia Dean and her husband recently took their property off the market.

He bought the two-bedroom flat in Haggerston, east London, for £470,000 in 2014. But the mortgage rate was due to rise from 1.6 per cent to 4.8 per cent: renting the flat out no longer made financial sense.

They listed it in June for £650,000, a below-inflation increase. An estate agent told them “no one would sniff around if the price stayed above £600,000”, said Dean, who works in product at a tech start-up.

In the two months before the couple pulled the listing, it attracted only two viewings.
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Dan of the Year @downwithdan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Ah yes the circle of life
• Dispatched
Sep 25 23:03 pm
In Transit
Sep 26 09:52 am
Delayed
Sep 26 10:57 am
Held By Carrier
Sep 26 15:07 pm
Destroyed
Sep 26 15:08 pm
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
#OtD 27 Sep 1936 1000 uniformed fascist Blackshirts led by Oswald Mosley in Leeds, UK, were confronted by 30,000 anti-fascist locals who attacked them, pelted them with stones, hitting Mosley, and drowned out speeches by singing The Red Flag stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9965...
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Andy Lewis @andylewis.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Every time someone links to this film, I have to repost it. It's one of the most significant bits of British 20th century art. Everything about it is incredible. Groundbreaking music production by Daphne Oram. Amazing camera work by Wolfgang Suschitzky (who later filmed Get Carter).-
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James Grimmelmann @jtlg.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
When someone arrives in my office on a job interview loop, I ask them if they need to use the restroom or need a drink. Sometimes I walk with them to go get tea or coffee. Sometimes they have their own already. I do this because I’m a normal human being and want normal human beings to feel welcome.
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Nigel Auchterlounie @n-auchterlounie.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Look at this horrible ad! AI people in an AI house selling an AI that'll write infinite AI books books for you.
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Mike Elgan @mikeelgan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Phrase of the moment: "the shape of slop" arxiv.org/html/2609.15...
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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Only the top third of a Fab ice lolly is actually fab, and it gets less fab the further you go down.
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Londonist: Time Machine @londonist.com · 26/09/2026
It was 57 years ago today... that the Beatles released Abbey Road. And it's 15 years since TfL opened Abbey Road DLR station near West Ham. Ever since, the station has displayed 'you are at the wrong Abbey Road' signs to help lost Beatles fans get back to St John's Wood
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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Some unintended consequences I suspect the rise of AI agents will create: 1. Restaurants that only take reservations by hand written letter, or more likely, don't take them at all. 2. Gigs where you can only buy tickets in person. 3. Businesses that operate without websites.
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John Speakman @speakman.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Scrap it, make a circular freeway with valet at every terminal and at a reopened Encounter. Call it the Zero (“I was stuck on the Zero for an hour”)
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Tim “Positive Subway” Smith @positivesubway.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A reminder about the tens of thousands of PA-registered vehicles in our city: as woefully insufficient as NYSDMV liability minimums are, PA’s are even worse. A car with PA plates is likely effectively uninsured—give them a wide berth and if you own a car, max out your un-/underinsured coverage
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