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Viv Marsh

@vivmarsh.bsky.social
217 followers 212 following 1.4K posts

Scribe, hack, recovering academic, pianist, linguist, European, Blackpudlian. Was China media (my book tinyurl.com/mr349579), now revisiting East/West Germany. Here for language(s), cats and catastrophes.

PostsRepliesMedia
Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Public service announcement. There appear to be two categories of posters on here - North Americans and Europeans (in which I include Britain, and yes I know). I really don't get 90% of the Americans' cultural references. Is this just because I don't have Netflix, or is it a thing for us in Europe ?
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think those of us who like this sort of thing have a duty to post about it, as a counterweight to the muskratification of the other place. This speech doesn't address everything, by any means, but it's a start. There are things here that will help. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Burnham vows to seek new ‘long-term’ relationship with EU in emotional Labour conference speech
PM also confirms plan to end pensions triple lock to pay for national care service and pledges to put electoral reform in Labour’s manifesto
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I feel you, Daniel L
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Decided to read the collected tales of @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social 's dad in his latest newsletter and now am in an utterly helpless state with tears rolling down my cheeks. I knew some of them already, but their cumulative effect is deadly. tomcox.substack.com/p/31-notes-i...
tomcox.substack.com
31 Notes I Have Made About My Dad In My Notebook
My dad has come to an arrangement with the public pool in Nottinghamshire where he swims: after everyone else has got out of the pool, he is permitted to do a somersault before he gets changed.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I think I have had enough of pompous people for the night, or quite possibly ever.
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 20/09/2026
Latest - and possibly final - numbers out of Mecklenburg Vorpommern now a true catastrophe for the CDU which looks like it won’t make it into the regional parliament at all
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Fell down an internet rabbit-hole and discovered that there's a Scottish Wikipedia. sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampelm%...
sco.wikipedia.org
Ampelmännchen - Wikipedia
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
If JJ Gabriel doesn't want to play for ManUtd, that's fine. Let him go. For as long as I've been supportinng ManU, everyone in the team has loved playing for them. It's a shame that someone has influenced a child (yes, at 15 you are a child) but there we are. Onwards.
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Luke Ontario @coolhand.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I’ve been fiddling with this etymology project for like five years, and I need to get it and its research companion finally finished. Go break this public one for me? I’m finishing up the fancy academic version.
diachronica.com
Diachronica — Word Stories
Every English word is an immigrant. Open one and follow its journey.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Bit late now tbh www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
bbc.co.uk
Referees body admits error of judgement over Erling Haaland derby winner
The Premier League refereeing body Pro Ref admits an error of judgement in awarding Erling Haaland's winner in the Manchester derby.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Why was Johnson at this conference ?
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Fruit flies are the antichrist ! I have tried everything. Today was the ultimate clean of every receptacle, yet they are STILL THERE. Suggestions please ?
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Things I was frightened of as a child: 1. Death 2. The Black Friar (see Death, above; lived in wardrobe, obvs) 3. Quicksand 4. Ouija board going rogue 5. The Chinese wobbler, who I dreamt held my cousin and me on long strings from his fingers 6. The Murderer (suspected, almost certainly innocent)
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Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
On this day, five years ago...
2021 chart showing the Covid fatality rate for each age group, with a much higher death rate among the unvaccinated.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I love it when the algorithm is spot on.
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Sean Jones KC @seanjones.org · 07/09/2026
Astonishing to hear people say they'd rather asylum seekers drowned than be saved by the RNLI. Next comes letting people die in burning hostels rather than be saved by the fire brigade and letting people get kicked to death in the street rather than be saved by the Police. Don't platform this hate.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Enough Sachsen-Anhalt for the moment. Anyone want to read about the Trabi - the emblematic East German car ? I have dredged up what I wrote about it in early 1989 when I was in Berlin if you're interested... plus a bit more since then vivienmarsh.com/the-trabi-th...
vivienmarsh.com
The Trabi – the symbolic vehicle of East Germany - Vivien Marsh
One positive product of the division of Germany was a simple but highly distinctive family car – the jewel of Zwickau, the Trabant. Its name was reputed to come from Middle High German drabant, meanin...
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
“My profession smiles at hard-right figures when they walk into a TV studio and are given a disproportionate amount of air time to make their fact-free assertions while nodding along to their scapegoating of the weak.” ✍️ Patrick Howse
bylinetimes.com
The BBC Is Just Nodding Along
The corporation's news coverage has lost its soul as a bulwark against unaccountable power and extremism, writes a former BBC News producer
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The BBC still doesn't appear to have an official account on Bluesky, but I will offer this nonetheless: TWO Reform headlines mithering about the revelations about them. NO headlines about the revelations themselves. Get a grip, BBC - this would have been an easy spot a few years ago.
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Daniel Moser @dmoser.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
Map showing Lower Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
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Adrian Littlejohn @yorksfella59.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Another one Facebook memories reminded me of... 👍
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Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Did he then take it with him, download it to his system, and then have it shredded
British Museum held private viewing of Bayeux Tapestry
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Rob Davies @byrobdavies.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"I want your children's lungs to be smaller and less functional" is a bold electoral strategy.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
You can distinguish a Jerry Dammers song from non-Specials covers within 10 seconds #BBC4 #Specials
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The colossal emptiness of Duran Duran’s Save a Prayer (minor key, 4ths and 5ths if you’re interested) so reminds me of the early 1980s. Painfully reminiscent of a hard time for many people. #TOTP
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Captain Sensible with trousers of shredded Emu #TOTP
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Fab Friday night looking up who’s dead #TOTP
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
BBC headline-writers: this isn’t ’controversial’ - it’s illegal under international law.
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Richard Sambrook @sambrook.eurosky.social · 16/08/2026
BBC’s coverage of Reform’s welfare plans is frankly bizarre. Headlines in Ten, leading on some radio networks. Reform are not even the official opposition and the plans have less credibility than Count Binface. Will BBC News do the same for Lib Dem and Greens policy two years out from an election?
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Damian Barr @damianbarr.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
We *can* all do something (not spark wildfires, for example). But asking individual citizens to solve systemic problems is peak neo-liberalism. Not watering our gardens isn’t going to fix pipes or build reservoirs. Government needs to do more than ban barbecues and send scary alerts. NOW.
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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Good BBC piece by Sarah Rainsford on what we do & don't know about the causes and consequences of the flashpoint crisis in Ceuta She opens with the 72 deaths: a death toll of this scale has been largely treated as an incidental detail in a news event + political clash www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
How Spain's migrant crisis created a political storm - whipped up by social media
The Ceuta crossings have shaken Europe politically, exposing divisions over the sensitive issue of migration, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford writes.
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Hugh Sykes @hughsykes.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
#Spain #Morocco #Ceuta migrants. @BBCNews.com Nearly 24 hours after posting this headline, & long after most of the migrants have left, BBC creates the impression that they're still there. It would be so easy to change this to: Thousands of Migrants Arrive In Ceuta & Most Leave
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Rishi Dastidar @betarish.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Burnham could extend his honeymoon by nationalising Thames by the end of the week.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
It's Friday in the UK, if anyone needs to know
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
People survive a boat accident, including some people from other films. (NB boringLY)
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I didn't know this payment had happened until I read this post. I thought I got across most news every day.
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Chris Kendall @ottocr.at · 08/07/2026
It can be hard to access non-anglophone TV in the UK, so let me share a recommendation: @artefr.bsky.social have a smart TV app giving free access to their amazing library of documentaries etc, mostly in FR and DE with EN subtitles available. apps.apple.com/gb/app/arte-...
apps.apple.com
ARTE.tv App - App Store
Download ARTE.tv by ARTE.TV on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips and more games like ARTE.tv.
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Jana Zikmundova @jzk55.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
#OTD #RedDevils #Belgium🇧🇪
Dessin dans le style du peintre belge René Magritte
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
This is well worth examining in detail (and there is plenty of detail - see the link). Also, look at the map.
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WifiMarxist @wifimarxist.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
“The generously eared crisp enthusiast” is a fine @secondmentions.com www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...
theguardian.com
Half-time report! It’s the 11 best TV moments of the World Cup so far
From Merlin the duck to Thierry Henry’s panic and the goalie who broke the internet, here are the tournament’s most glorious TV moments
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Put a sock in it, Helicopter of Filth Patrol - it’s midnight and everyone’s windows are open
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GylesNaMopaleen @gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
credit to Sally Nugent who just, in normal circumstances, brought Nigel Farage's political career to an end. If polls don't plummet after this, I will be truly astonished.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
A long read and well worth your time.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
A former BBC programme editor/reporter/writer writes: this is absolutely mad, given the dangerous situation Europe is in. The correspondents being jettisoned have years, decades of experience. Tech bros don't get it.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Not at the moment, thanks.
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Ah, it's Friday evening in the UK again.
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Morgan J Freeman @mjfree.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
I'm posting this video every day so we NEVER forget what insurrectionist Donald Trump did on J6 Instead of accepting defeat and honoring the peaceful transfer of power, Trump unleashed a deadly mob on the U.S. Capitol in a last-ditch attempt to stay in power THIS is what an insurrection looks like
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Viv Marsh @vivmarsh.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Why is this write-up predicated on criticism of the Labour government by someone sacked by them (several times) ? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
'Bereft and beleaguered' - stark criticism revealed in Mandelson messages
Newly published documents show Lord Mandelson and ministers' concerns about the prime minister and Labour MPs.
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Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
It has now been 10 weeks and three days since Nigel Farage last turned up to vote in the House of Commons
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