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Nick Hubble

@thehubble101.bsky.social
5.7K followers 955 following 2.4K posts

Aberystwyth-based writer, researcher & critic. Author: Culture Wars in Britain (May, 2026). Columnist at Vector. Incoming editor of Foundation. Nonbinary (they/them)🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️. linktr.ee/nick_hubble

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Reposted by Nick Hubble
Lorraine Wilson @rainewilson.bsky.social · 21h
BEHOLD me posting a video! Take pity on me - I'm gen X & I hate videoing myself, so this is my not-having-to-record-myself unboxing video for all you introverts out there equally allergic to this! It's clunky but it exists, so I am taking that as a win!
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Neil Williamson @neilwilliamson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm really looking forward to this! If there's anyone that can make talking about myself as fun and uncringe as it's possible to be, it's definitely Ruth!
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Ruth EJ Booth (she/they) @ruthejbooth.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Join me at PictCon on 17th October in Perth! I'll be interviewing Guest of Honour Neil Williamson, plus appearing on panels about AI and Masculinities in SF. Click below for more about the day's shenanigans: ruthbooth.com/2026/09/pict... @pictcon.bsky.social @neilwilliamson.bsky.social
The PictCon Logo - a celtic symbolic creature with the words Pict Con above it, enclosed within a circle.In this black and white photo, Neil Williamson is a white bald man with a short cropped beard. He is wearing a dark coloured top.
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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 30/09/2026
My third novel, HERO COME HOME, officially has a cover! Preorderable from the usual places us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
The cover of my third novel, HERO COME HOME. Four human figures centred, the main image being that of a bearded man looking back over his shoulder (that's Oro, the protagonist), with a circle of symbols behind him. We can see a swan and a key. In the foreground are three people: two women, one with a mysterious marking? scar? who knows!? on her cheek and the other carrying a sword, flanking an older, balding man holding up a pistol. The possibly-scarred woman looks ever so slightly amused, and that is certainly very like her. Everybody else is not happy to be here, or indeed, anywhere
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Burnham speech. To me, it was all the 'cheque's in the post' and maybe it turns up 3 years from now. But equally telling for all the things he didn't talk about, eg. global economy. But the coverage from the centre-left commentariat! That would have been over the top for the second coming. (1/2)
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
In which Romance takes over the world and saves us all. I think it's interesting how these narratives are circulating below the surface of the public sphere. It's a sign of a wider shift in subjectivity. Also the fact that all these guys also want to write tells us about changing identity.
theguardian.com
The secret lives of men who read romance books: ‘My life is full of love, so I’m drawn to them’
It’s often assumed straight men are not interested in romantic fiction – but many are sharing their passion in forums online
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I've always fancied a pint in the Pony.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My Lord of the Rings reread is becoming an epic quest in its own right. Here, find about Boromir's choice of the M1 over the M6, more on the politics of Fairyland and everything you probably didn't want to know about the Galadriel-Celeborn-Celebrimbor love triangle.
prospectiveculture.wordpress.com
50-Year Reread of The Lord of the Rings – 8: The Fellowship, Boromir, Hollin and the Galadriel-Celeborn-Celebrimbor Love Triangle
A blog series in which I reread LOTR 50 years after I first read it, age 10, over the winter of 1975-76. (I seem to have spent months writing this post, which has once again spun off at some length…
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ACLU @aclu.org · 27/09/2026
The conditions in President Trump and Stephen Miller’s detention facilities remain inhumane. Demand immediate action from our elected leaders to prevent further loss of life at aclu.org/stop-ice_killings
"1 person died in ICE detention every 10 days from January 2025 through August 2026. Source: NPR." Image of a barbed wire fence against the sky. ACLU logo.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
WTF are they on? This has become a weird preoccupation for the G following their editorial on Szalay winning last year. I can tell you that The End of Everything (the only one I've read on the shortlist), despite its virtues, has fuck all to say on what it 'takes' to be a man. This is unhinged.
theguardian.com
The Guardian view on the 2026 Booker shortlist: what it takes to be a man | Editorial
Editorial: All the contenders for this year’s prize are a reflection of the crisis in masculinity
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Which will be in 2029 according to what he said this week. He's just making this up as he goes along.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Fantastic turnout on the march in Aber today. Historic moment as Rhun ap Iorwerth tells marchers 'We have, for the very first time, a First Minister for Wales who believes that it is only as an international, interdependent, independent state that we will be able to fulfil our potential as a nation'
First Minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth speaking in Aberystwyth today at the rally after the Yes Cymru march. A sea of flags under the blue sky. Today's March for independence along the seafront at Aber, looking back across the bay towards Consti. Independence March through Aberystwyth today.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
That was a good race. Demi deserves her rainbow jersey.
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Council of Europe @coe.int · 24/09/2026
The Council of Europe has adopted its first Strategy for Equal Rights for LGBTI People! 🏳️‍🌈 The Strategy (2027–32) sets out a common framework for upholding the dignity and equality of LGBTI people.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
And now in response to my dream, Burnham has ruled out an election before 2029. Or maybe I just haven't woken up. Seems like an overreaction to shut down his room for manoeuvre like that. Makes me think they might choose to break manifesto pledges on tax this autumn because otherwise straightjacket.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Oh, it's that time of year again.
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Emma Monk @monkemma.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
🧵 As front-page headlines go, this has to be one of the most misleading I've seen in a long time It's an out-and-out lie But notice the trick they use to get away with it...👀 *They're* not lying - they're just quoting someone else who is👍🏻 In this case, the leader of the opposition🙄 1/33
Daily Express headline:

"More Freedoms Handed to New Arrivals than British Citizens"

Above an image of Kemi Badenoch

All with a Monk Debunked stamp on top
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I dreamt last night that Burnham called an election this autumn and that they went with rejoining single market/EU in the manifesto. (Note in my defence: I have had a weird virus this week and this was a feverish dream). However, I'm going to roll with it for a thread's worth. (1/-)
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NationCymru @nation.cymru · 24/09/2026
The Senedd has supported Plaid Cymru’s calls stating that the people of Wales should be allowed to determine Wales' constitutional future
nation.cymru
'Historic' Senedd motion backs Wales' right to hold a referendum on its place in the Union
Stephen Price Yesterday (September 23 2026), the Senedd supported Plaid Cymru’s calls stating that the people of Wales should be allowed to determine Wales’ constitutional future. The vote supports th...
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I was pleased with how this came out. The only snag was I got a bit too much of the noxious cleaning stuff on my hand, which altered the surface skin sufficiently that the laptop refused to accept my finger print. And because some of the numbers on keyboard no longer function, I can't enter the PIN
Newly cleaned Bosch electric oven
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
With Harrison's The End of Everything shortlisted for the Booker in a year when Priest's posthumous book on Ballard appeared, it seems appropriate to post this analysis of The Evidence and The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again.
prospectiveculture.wordpress.com
Amongst the Flotsam and Jetsam of the Postwar State: Christopher Priest, The Evidence (2020) and M John Harrison, The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again (2020)
It seems appropriate to post this discussion now given the prominence this year of Priest and Harrison, with the publication of the former’s posthumous non-fiction book on Ballard (completed by Nin…
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It might be Labour and Tories in first two places, but their combined votes are still under 50%. Meanwhile Restore are on 6% and the combined Reform, Restore & Tory vote is 51%. The Burnham bounce is from Greens - the overall story is England shifting further right.
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PictCon @pictcon.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
111 tickets sold. Just 6 to go to pass the total for pre-con sales last year.
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Wales Governance Centre | Canolfan Llywodraethiant Cymru @walesgovernance.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
👇 Wythnos nesaf / Next week 👇 Ymunwch â ni i ddathlu lansiad llyfrau newydd am y refferenda datganoli yn 1979 a 1997 | Join us to mark the launch of two books telling the stories behind two very different Welsh devolution referendums. #Wales #Datganoli #Devolution www.eventbrite.com/e/2000390604...
eventbrite.com
Lansiad Llyfr | Book Launch - Wales 1979 and 1997
Join us for the launch of 'Soul On Fire' that tells the story of the 1997 Referendum on Welsh Devolution, with John Osmond and Betsan Powys
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Domestique @domestiquecycling.com · 20/09/2026
🇨🇭 Marlen Reusser defends 🌈 Worlds ITT title in 🇨🇦 Montréal Full results 📰 www.domestiquecycling.com/en/cycling-r... 📸 Cor Vos
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Dr Cath Feely @cathfeely.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Last night, an exhibition I've been working on was launched at Cromford Mills in Derbyshire to mark 250 years since building of 2nd mill (blue print for cotton factories worldwide) and early industrial housing. It's open all weekend, with lots of activities. Critique my graphic design efforts!
Exhibition panels printed on cotton fabric hanging in pairs down a mill building from wooden ceiling beams. On the front panels the date 1776 and 'Why did cotton come to Cromford' are legible.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 17/09/2026
Every day, the stories from the UK read like a dystopian novel.
​Screenshot of a Reddit post from r/transgenderUK titled "Excluded from school for supporting a trans girl." A parent describes their daughter, who has Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS), choosing to use the boys' restrooms in solidarity with a trans classmate who was forced to do so, resulting in her being excluded from school.
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Andrew S. 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ @parallax2112.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Yes, this 👇.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I did a little @massobsarchive.bsky.social historical trip this morning to see the commemorative plaque on the front of 6 Grotes Buildings in Blackheath. Charles Madge and Kathleen Raine lived here in mid 1930s and Mass Observation was headquartered here from 1937-39 although Madge relocated (1/2)
6 Grotes Buildings, Blackheath. A large, brick house with white window frames. Close up of blue historical plaque put up by English Heritage: 'the founding headquarters of Mass-Observation a pioneering social survey. 1937- 1939'View of the house from different Perspective. There is a large tree in garden with sun shining through leaves. View across the heath which would be visible from house. Church in mid-view and another spire in distance sticking up from horizon.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The Celtic summit has had an extraordinary cut through (surprisingly so for those of us who follow devolution and independence news). Visited my parents in London and my 86-year-old mum was making a joke that Wales might go alone - that possibility hadn't registered previously.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
BBC Wales struggling here with someone who is not quite so easy to place on their internal good-bad scale. I'm not sure the fact she voted Remain is going to create outrage.
bbc.co.uk
Senedd member who quit Reform voted Remain in Brexit referendum
Sarah Cooper-Lesadd has defected to Plaid and says her former party is "falling apart at the seams".
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Hardeep Matharu @hardeepmatharu.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
A new era for Byline Times goes to press! @peterjukes.bsky.social & I are proud to have worked on a print redesign with our new art director Sonny Dhamu. With your support, we continue to grow. This issue marks a story no one else can/will. Two Cambridge professors. Two very different narratives...
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Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
When I saw this I was going to invoke 'Went the Day Well', in which the landgirls, WVS ladies, evacuees, local poachers, etc in the village fought back against the Nazi invaders, and the local squire was the quisling. O tempora o mores. www.imdb.com/title/tt0035...
imdb.com
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Wini Davies @winidavies.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't there airmen from other countries fighting alongside Britain that day?
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I somehow missed until now that the vote was deliberately timed to coincide with 'Battle of Britain Day' which is 'celebrated' on 15 September. I also note that the government's response this morning has not been 'we're focusing on trying to make the cost of living better for ordinary families'
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
BBC News at 10 giving more (favourable) coverage to the Piddington independence vote than they have for any of the devolved nations recently. The report couched in folk-myth terms (English village, Domesday Book), with Rupert Lowe dancing around. Basically a Restore party political broadcast.
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The Herald @heraldscotland.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
'He probably knows deep down that just saying no to another referendum is anti-democratic. So he shifted ground. Then he had to shift back. He simply ends up looking weak, stupid and incapable.' www.heraldscotland.com/poli... @neilmackay.bsky.social
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Weird implication here that Wales don't teach reading through phonics. My youngest went through the school system from 2011 - the exact timeframe here - and of course he was taught to read via phonics (which I may add were well established in UK years before Gove became Education Secretary).
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Strange Horizons @strangehorizons.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The reviews are in! Beatrice the Sixteenth by Irene Clyde   reviewed by Elizabeth A. Allen Link ⬇️ strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
cover of Beatrice the Sixteenth by Irene Clyde featuring a woman with large hair with the symbol for female in it sitting on a throne with fire burning on both sides. 

Quote
Beatrice the Sixteenth is dreamlike because of its clarity of conversational moments, its wealth of set dressing, its combined sense of discovery and inevitability, and its odd distance between narrator and events.
reviewer: Elizabeth A. Allen

7 September 2026
Reviews 
Strange Horizons S H logo
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PictCon @pictcon.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
It's just four weeks left until PictCon2, at the Salutation Hotel Perth, Scotland.. We've sold 106 tickets. Can we match or pass the 117 tickets sold for PictCon1? For more details check out www.PictCon.com Guest of Honour, @neilwilliamson.bsky.social
pictcon.com
PictCon – A Scottish science fiction and fantasy convention about science fiction and fantasy in Scotland.
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The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Historic scenes in Cardiff as the leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein come together to sign a deal calling for a democratic route to constitutional change in Scotland, Wales and the north of Ireland 🚨
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Relations with the EU was always going to be one criteria on which to judge Burnham. This further delay is not a good sign: 'EU-UK reset talks delayed again amid tension over ‘Made in Europe’ rules' - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
giftarticle.ft.com
EU-UK reset talks delayed again amid tension over ‘Made in Europe’ rules
Summit pushed back until late November against backdrop of challenges facing UK industry
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Gasp! Shock! Horror! You can tell the Guardian are not impressed because they are labelling Plaid, the SNP and Sinn Féin as 'separatist parties' (a particularly bizarre designation in the case of the latter). Maybe we might try for a change to have a functional constitution for a supposed 'union'.
theguardian.com
First ministers at Celtic summit to affirm right to seek independence from the UK
Call for ‘constitutional change in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’ likely to challenge Burnham’s devolution agenda
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Crowsa Luxemburg @quendergeer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
just one more transphobic dem politician bro. i promise bro just one more transphobic dem politician and it'll fix everything bro. bro. just one more transphobic dem politician. please just one more. one more transphobic dem politician and we can fix this whole problem bro. bro cmon. i just need on
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Speculative Insight journal @speculativeinsight.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Just over two years ago, we published Joyce Chng's fascinating examination of how medieval and Renaissance poets constructed both fictional and IRL lady knights. And now you can read it for free! www.speculativeinsight.com/from-the-vault
Purple background, white text, which says the lady knight of the late medieval and Renaissance epics was the subject of contention. Her body became the battlefield where mostly male writers and poets debated her validity as a warrior. "Rendered Harmless: Strategies to Tame the Lady Knight" -- Joyce Chng
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
No cheating. Share your last photo of the sky from your camera roll.
Sky over Aberystwyth getting on towards sunset with the sunlight reflecting off the underside of the clouds.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I have a feeling we will be coming back to this moment at some point in the next couple of years. They are trying to walk it back but I don't think it can be walked back because it is the only logical position given the current UK constititional crisis that has been playing out over the last decade.
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Mic Wright @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A detail missing from The Times story… the woman who took the photo shared it to a Facebook group called ‘South east patriots’.
Facebook post showing the photo of three white women on a train with a group of black-clad, masked men being shared to a group called ‘South east patriots’
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Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
As @thehubble101.bsky.social doesn't quite say in the replies, blimey there's a lot going on in this.
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Nick Hubble @thehubble101.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
It's not just the product of economic factors.
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