RSS Parrot

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmowpwmt7v2o

Published: May 25, 2026 16:50

‘Although they never managed Roman-style conquest – hemmed in by geography, revolt and circumstance – the Ptolemies and their citizens held on for three centuries. They were the last of the Hellenistic kingdoms to succumb to Rome.’ Robert Cioffi: …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmoub65d3x2z

Published: May 25, 2026 16:06

‘When Trump entered office it was on a platform that included getting the US out of Afghanistan. But he ended up introducing another 3000 troops and increasing the rate of airstrikes.’ @tomstevenson.bsky.social on the US’s forever war. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmops4wcbe2a

Published: May 25, 2026 14:46

‘According to Scanlon, morality does not emerge when we take an impartial, impersonal perspective on humanity; it emerges from the one-to-one relation each of us has with each other individual.’ Thomas Nagel on T.M. Scanlon’s moral philosophy. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmokpexwfe2u

Published: May 25, 2026 13:15

‘Freeports and bonded warehouses, free-trade zones and forged bills of lading, under-invoicing and over-invoicing: all these things provide opportunities to camouflage the flow of illicit money.’ John Lanchester on money laundering. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmoi6xivp72r

Published: May 25, 2026 12:30

‘Donald Barthelme and Harrison drank heavily and bickered like lovers; my father recalls Barthelme tearfully knocking on his door to ask if he knew where Harrison had gone.’ Alex Cocotas remembers producer, cinematographer and screenwriter Harrison Starr.…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmofxfas7p2j

Published: May 25, 2026 11:50

‘The book resembles a tired music-hall act, though it takes a Beckett to drain all the obvious vitality out of a vaudeville routine while leaving it with the ghost of a snap.’ Adam Mars-Jones reads George Saunders’ new novel 𝘝𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmodpw3cvp2b

Published: May 25, 2026 11:10

‘Such was Æthelstan’s stature that leading Continental families sought (and gained) alliance with him, establishing an unprecedented network of foster-sons and in-laws, from Scandinavia to the Alps.’ Nicholas Higham on England’s first kings. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmo6xway4l2b

Published: May 25, 2026 09:45

‘Marlen Haushofer’s tone of frozen horror is no less autobiographical than her hymns to her rural childhood (she often remarked that all her work was autobiographical).’ Becca Rothfeld on the Austrian novelist. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmnzwxpyno2z

Published: May 25, 2026 08:15

‘In a few cases, enslavement opened the way to wealth and power. These social trajectories were also mediated by race, since they were reserved for the most fair-skinned.’ @youssefbens.bsky.social on a new account of slavery in the Islamic world. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmmoxwcmdt2a

Published: May 24, 2026 19:26

‘Their curiosity brought Egypt to the Greek-speaking world and, by extension, to scholars for generations to come.’ Robert Cioffi on the achievements on the Ptolemaic dynasty. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/robert-cioffi/pharaoh-in-all-but-name

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Published: May 24, 2026 18:20

‘Catholic Christian rulers did their best to impose Christianity on their subjects. No religious rivals survived in western Europe, apart from circumscribed and vulnerable communities of Jews.’ Diarmaid MacCulloch on pre-Christian religious practice. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmmiiicgkc2p

Published: May 24, 2026 17:30

‘A man who killed another man for no reason is convicted for the wrong reason. How could this happen? In their way, the novel and François Ozon’s film both invite another question: how could it not?’ Michael Wood watches 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmmg3k74ch2j

Published: May 24, 2026 16:47

Can they be made, by the Neo-Mineralists, Say? Can they be struck and struck at the heart, With the light? There is a ray from nowhere The artist depends on; the lover, too, to make You most beautiful ‘Rosarita’, a poem by @tricialockwood.bsky.social. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmmdvskgz42p

Published: May 24, 2026 16:08

‘The war in Afghanistan wasn’t “wasteful” so much as an efficient vehicle for the transfer of public funds to arms companies and contractors.’ @tomstevenson.bsky.social on America’s forever war. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmmbruci7g2r

Published: May 24, 2026 15:30

‘Money laundering is a little like drug cheating in sport, where the current state of legal enforcement always lags behind the current state of malfeasance.’ John Lanchester follows the money. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmm7bfdgxd23

Published: May 24, 2026 14:45

‘Scanlon shows that there is a tension between the values that guide individuals in leading their own lives and the more abstract and general values that figure in accounts of morality and justice.’ Thomas Nagel on T.M. Scanlon’s moral philosophy. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmm2ahk3bd2z

Published: May 24, 2026 13:15

‘The US has declared it will investigate Mexican consulates for organising protests against Trump, ICE and the genocide in Gaza. The goal, it seems, is to fabricate evidence of links between Morena and “terrorism”.’ Forrest Hylton on US intervention in…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmly6dqdxz2a

Published: May 24, 2026 12:38

‘The early press was like a great vertical vice, operated by a screw. This technology was centuries old, having been developed for the pressing of grapes to make wine.’ @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social on William Caxton and the story of the English printing…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmlvijptak23

Published: May 24, 2026 11:50

‘One may not think of Wales, with its “rain and interminable mist”, as having a particularly vibrant palette, but Lynette Roberts’s radiant images show otherwise. Light infuses her work, sometimes to an otherworldly degree.’ Emily Berry on the Welsh…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmlt75emc623

Published: May 24, 2026 11:09

In the distant halls of power wealth flows from afar, accumulates like sediment as laws are passed, maps redrawn, hierarchies maintained. To buy or sell a person is illegal. To buy or sell the place that they call home is sound investment A poem by Tarn…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmlqzhhher2a

Published: May 24, 2026 10:30

‘This samurai suit is in the lighter 𝘥ō𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘶 (body-wrap) style. Originally worn by lower-rank samurai, it became increasingly common in the 16th century as warfare grew more mobile.’ Ben Walker at the British Museum. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmloiy4lve2a

Published: May 24, 2026 09:45

‘He was the first person I told I wanted to be a writer. I was 22. “I suspected as much,” he replied after a long pause. “People like us, we follow the path of the heart.”’ Alex Cocotas remembers producer, cinematographer and screenwriter Harrison Starr. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmlji24lt724

Published: May 24, 2026 08:15

‘For several generations, the nascent English state was only a defeat away from disintegration, and that was the preferred outcome among many sections of the nobility. Partition was a normal means of managing inheritance.’ Nicholas Higham on England’s…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmk6q4xzjd2r

Published: May 23, 2026 19:30

‘Ozon’s reading releases a lot of wit in the text. None of this would work without his restrained and unloaded direction, and, above all, Voisin’s amazing performance.’ Michael Wood watches François Ozon’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmk4d7jkhc2z

Published: May 23, 2026 18:47

‘Amie Barrodale’s first novel, 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘱, is about consciousness, karma and retribution, but it’s also silly and your enjoyment of it may depend on your tolerance for this (mine is medium to high).’ Nicole Flattery: …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmk2b2dnsl23

Published: May 23, 2026 18:10

‘Circumstantial evidence (defective internal logic, uncontrolled tone, bizarreness for its own sake) suggests that 𝘝𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭 is an attempt at a comic novel by someone without much of a sense of humour.’ Adam Mars-Jones reads George Saunders’ new novel. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjxqkzvyg23

Published: May 23, 2026 17:25

‘Part of what makes the Ptolemies fascinating is that there is a profusion of evidence – papyrus documents, inscriptions, archaeological remains – but no single ancient narrative that pulls together the history of their regime.’ Robert Cioffi on the…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjvryopz42u

Published: May 23, 2026 16:50

‘Sinaloa isn’t the only state whose governor is on the long list of those the US would like to prosecute. More indictments will follow.’ Forrest Hylton on US intervention in Mexico, from the blog. https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/may/checkmate-in-mexico

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjtkhvah32u

Published: May 23, 2026 16:10

‘Amid constant official efforts to impose Catholic or Protestant uniformity, the “unchristianised” were assiduous in prudently adapting Christian elements or practices into their lives.’ Diarmaid MacCulloch on pre-Christian religious practice. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjosi4tek24

Published: May 23, 2026 14:45

‘One notable innovation concerned the status of enslaved women who bore their master’s children: these women, known as 𝘶𝘮𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘥 – “mother of the child” – were not allowed to be sold.’ @youssefbens.bsky.social on a new account of slavery in the Islamic…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjjrknenn2i

Published: May 23, 2026 13:15

‘The merits and demerits of state-building were much debated. But in 2002 the US wasn’t willing to spend much on Afghanistan (the easy money didn’t start flowing until much later).’ @tomstevenson.bsky.social on the forever war. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjhb47o3e23

Published: May 23, 2026 12:30

‘Scanlon points out correctly that the main motive for seeking a condition of free will is that retribution makes no sense if a person’s character is not under his own control.’ Thomas Nagel on T.M. Scanlon’s moral philosophy. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjelbmpbr2w

Published: May 23, 2026 11:42

‘Far beyond the powers of national authorities to control. That is a truly astonishing state of affairs. The fact is that a great deal is being done to combat it. It’s just that none of it works.’ John Lanchester on money laundering. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmjcrzvs7h2h

Published: May 23, 2026 11:10

‘He loved horses, machines, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “short cuts” which took twice as long as the main roads, the adjectives “smashing”, “tremendous”, “marvellous”, “sophisticated”.’ Alex Cocotas remembers producer, cinematographer and screenwriter…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmja5zb7lv2w

Published: May 23, 2026 10:23

‘There aren’t too many ways you can just walk across the border with 100,000 pounds in value, no questions asked. But you can do that in the form of a watch. And you can do that in the form of handbags.’ John Lanchester on money laundering, on the…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmj623a7x72a

Published: May 23, 2026 09:45

‘We might have supposed a unified English kingdom existed in the seventh century, but diverse evidence reveals that the passage from competing regional kingships to a single king was neither speedy nor predictable.’ Nicholas Higham on the first English…

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Published: May 23, 2026 08:15

‘The alienation of Marlen Haushofer’s adult characters is personal: most of them fondly recall a childhood like their author’s, “a round, integral world that no longer exists”.’ Becca Rothfeld on the Austrian novelist. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmhocxq4ir23

Published: May 22, 2026 19:31

‘The book’s cosmology doesn’t harmonise with its message, and even contests it. If the Earth is not our only home then the viability of the planet recedes in importance.’ Adam Mars-Jones reads George Saunders’ new novel 𝘝𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmhkjfn7ac23

Published: May 22, 2026 18:23

‘Octavian wasn’t alone in dismissing the Ptolemies. They came too late for many histories of Greece and Egypt and too early for Rome. Alexandria, their capital, has disappeared beneath the sea and the modern city.’ Robert Cioffi on the Ptolemaic dynasty. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmhhkn7bx52p

Published: May 22, 2026 17:30

‘Voisin doesn’t fret or frown; his almost handsome face has no expression. He enjoys the world sometimes, hates it mostly, but none of this is to be seen. Well, we see that we don’t see it. This is a movie.’ Michael Wood watches François Ozon’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmhfd2v67b2u

Published: May 22, 2026 16:50

‘The idea that there was a real American attempt to avoid war is challenged by all serious scholarship. The US never entertained any option other than a full attack on Afghanistan.’ @tomstevenson.bsky.social on the forever war. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmhd3kepdf2z

Published: May 22, 2026 16:10

‘As Muhammad stood there, leaning on his crutches, I didn’t know where to look. At the place where his leg used to be? At his face? Should I pretend nothing had changed?’ Hassan Ayman Herzallah plays beach volleyball in Gaza, from the blog. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmh6obsl342u

Published: May 22, 2026 14:51

‘Why should Europeans be the only ones to feel guilty? The idea that Muslims did it first and did it worse has been used more broadly to contextualise European colonialism.’ @youssefbens.bsky.social on a new account of slavery in the Islamic world. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgzcqvyvp2w

Published: May 22, 2026 13:15

‘Domestic and possibly sacred snakes were indications that centuries of diverse Christian missionary effort had made little impact on a substantial corner of the European continent.’ Diarmaid MacCulloch on pre-Christian religious practice. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgws7jw4q2b

Published: May 22, 2026 12:30

‘If you wouldn’t regret a villain suffering as a result of his crimes, wouldn’t you be inclined to acquiesce in his suffering, and decline to prevent it, even if you could?’ Thomas Nagel on T.M. Scanlon’s moral philosophy. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgvzz6rw225

Published: May 22, 2026 12:16

‘The Ebola crisis should serve as an object lesson and rebuke to those who tolerate anaemic state funding of, or even cutbacks in, public health and healthcare delivery. Without staff, stuff, space and systems, nothing can be done.’ Paul Farmer on Ebola,…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgukmrpwb23

Published: May 22, 2026 11:50

‘Caxton’s early interest in print was probably commercial rather than technical, that of a publisher rather than an inventor. But his interest in literature ran deep.’ @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social on the story of the English printing press. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgsd3yzv62u

Published: May 22, 2026 11:10

‘She was very much doing her own thing. How many women were writing war poetry in the 1940s?’ Emily Berry (@no1emily.bsky.social) on Welsh modernist poet Lynette Roberts. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/emily-berry/summons-from-a-witch

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgq3kty232z

Published: May 22, 2026 10:30

‘Praised by the White House for her co-operation in anti-drug operations, Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum has drawn the line at direct US intervention in Mexico. Yet her government is responsible for Rocha Moya’s flight.’ Forrest Hylton on US…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgnl6ss6s2b

Published: May 22, 2026 09:45

‘Isaac Bashevis Singer was a cheerful man. Kurt Vonnegut was a man you could get beers with. Donald Sutherland mooned his wedding party, or maybe it was Robert Duvall.’ Alex Cocotas remembers producer, cinematographer and screenwriter Harrison Starr. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgik6kemn2w

Published: May 22, 2026 08:15

‘The kingdom of England began in 1066. In other respects, it was already in existence. In the earlier Anglo-Saxon period, a king was determined by his people, not his territory.’ Nicholas Higham on the first English kings. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmgevxtiin23

Published: May 22, 2026 07:10

‘A lot of the outstanding value of euros is in the 500 euro note, wittily known as the Bin Laden. They stopped making it in 2019, but it’s still in circulation – it’s still legal tender.’ John Lanchester on money laundering, on the podcast. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmf7w6ysmp23

Published: May 21, 2026 20:08

There will be no shelter here tonight, only the long road to the land of strangers. Every house will be stripped and every roof caved in, as each man, woman, and child is made to bear on their back the sum of a life. A poem by Tarn MacArthur…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmf5xm4ogx2w

Published: May 21, 2026 19:33

‘The US has declared it will investigate Mexican consulates for organising protests against Trump, ICE and the genocide in Gaza. The goal, it seems, is to fabricate evidence of links between Morena and “terrorism”.’ Forrest Hylton on US intervention in…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmf3kqdy5h2h

Published: May 21, 2026 18:50

‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭 is not about isolation so much as the pleasures of non-human company. To stand beyond language, Marlen Haushofer reminds us, is not necessarily to stand beyond community.’ Becca Rothfeld on the Austrian novelist. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmezd73k4r2j

Published: May 21, 2026 18:10

‘The girl to my right fell asleep. The Frenchman to my left got out his phone and started to scroll silently on TikTok. A group formed towards the front of the hall. Some sat on the floor watching the stage; others danced, read, wrote.’ Rose Dodd on Max…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmex3szpzo2h

Published: May 21, 2026 17:30

It is expensive, for something left behind. Gold looks for it again, from its little rings And fingers. Was it live once, did it have Running blood, did it pump, was it a transfusion? ‘Rosarita’, a poem by @tricialockwood.bsky.social. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmeuu66rzi2b

Published: May 21, 2026 16:50

‘Our steps were no longer light. Still, we moved, jumped and laughed. And the sound of the ball cutting through the air, the feel of the sand shifting under our feet, took us back for a moment to the old days.’ Hassan Ayman Herzallah plays beach…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmesmmsmnh2h

Published: May 21, 2026 16:10

‘The illicit flows of money, “between 2 and 5 per cent of everything”, are such an important phenomenon in the contemporary global order that our current state of ignorance is indefensible.’ John Lanchester on money laundering. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmenun2vrg2i

Published: May 21, 2026 14:45

‘Although they are inclined to groupthink, self-importance, vengefulness, incuriosity and conformism, Labour politicians are not terminally stupid. Many are acutely aware that their seats are at risk.’ James Butler (@piercepenniless.bsky.social) on the…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmeittlzdz2w

Published: May 21, 2026 13:15

‘If George Saunders’s novel ever forms part of the vast swathe of writing used to train artificial intelligence then the robot scanners won’t learn much about organising a narrative, but I dare say that’s the least of our worries.’ Adam Mars-Jones reads…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmeggsotqg2b

Published: May 21, 2026 12:32

‘If the US goes after López Obrador the way it went after Maduro, it will cripple the Mexican government, which is presumably the ultimate objective.’ Forrest Hylton on US intervention in Mexico, new on the blog. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmee3ry3bx2h

Published: May 21, 2026 11:50

‘The development of English printing, in Caxton’s own telling, was merely a writer’s struggle to meet a deadline. But ever the marketeer, he went on and on with his sales pitch.’ @tomlukejohnson.bsky.social on William Caxton and the story of the English…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmebu6kaxy2u

Published: May 21, 2026 11:10

‘Harrison spent his childhood on a ranch in northern California shooting rattlesnakes, his adolescence selling marijuana and then working in the shipyards of the Bay Area during the war.’ Alex Cocotas remembers producer, cinematographer and screenwriter…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mme7mp66gm23

Published: May 21, 2026 10:30

‘In the UK, 91% of all transactions are non-cash. So why are there more banknotes in circulation than ever?’ John Lanchester on money laundering, on the podcast. Listen through your podcast provider of choice, or here: …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mme4rjfqca2b

Published: May 21, 2026 09:39

‘Life is about finding a way to bond with your son, but it’s also about listening to an unassuming conference attendee recount a story about meeting Robert Pattinson.’ Nicole Flattery reads Amie Barrodale’s debut novel 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘱. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmdy3bsknh2o

Published: May 21, 2026 08:15

‘The Teutonic Knights’ enterprise took three centuries to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. The knights had many enemies besides those identified with the lively pre-Christian religious practice that was their official target.’ Diarmaid…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmcnmbl4jy2a

Published: May 20, 2026 19:35

‘Said and Lewis agreed that the literature on slavery in Islam tended to be overly political, to the detriment of good scholarship. But they disagreed about which side was doing the politicking.’ @youssefbens.bsky.social on a new account of slavery in the…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmcl3uuxt72u

Published: May 20, 2026 18:50

‘How does the hero shift so quickly from tenderness to hatred? How can he have recognised so late in life that the world is tender and indifferent? Is it? The novel doesn’t answer these questions; neither do the films.’ Michael Wood on François Ozon’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmciucbylk2a

Published: May 20, 2026 18:10

‘Alexandria, founded by Alexander in 331 BCE, soon eclipsed Athens and Pergamon as a centre of intellectual culture. It was a key trading post that linked the Mediterranean and the Red Sea via the Nile and the desert.’ Robert Cioffi on the Ptolemaic…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmcgmxpom32o

Published: May 20, 2026 17:30

‘A group of us fixed an old net on the beach and collected money to buy a ball. None of us was in great shape. Our bodies weren’t what they had been, and our steps were no longer light. Still, we moved.’ Hassan Ayman Herzallah plays beach volleyball in…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmcgmvksu22w

Published: May 20, 2026 17:30

‘Marlen Haushofer’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭 begins with the end of time and concludes with the end of speech. The world is “young, untouched and very beautiful and terrible”. There is no longer anything to say.’ Becca Rothfeld on the Austrian novelist: …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmcefach472a

Published: May 20, 2026 16:50

‘The British army redeployed to Helmand in 2006 in the hope that a reputation destroyed in Iraq might be rescued. But in the event they often ended up fuelling the violent conflict they were ostensibly there to prevent.’ @tomstevenson.bsky.social on war…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmcc5p5c4d2z

Published: May 20, 2026 16:10

‘T.M. Scanlon seems genuinely immune to the retributive sentiment of 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 the wicked to suffer (except perhaps in the case of wicked fictional characters, as he suggests at one point), but it is a feeling that I suspect is natural to most people.’ …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmc5fpoamz2b

Published: May 20, 2026 14:45

‘“I reckon the luxury watch trade is 80 per cent money laundering. Why wouldn’t it be? You can carry a huge, big bag of money and be very noticeable, or have the same value strapped to your wrist, and be completely anonymous.”’ John Lanchester follows the…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmc2vct3532b

Published: May 20, 2026 14:00

“It wasn’t until the mid-19th century, when American warships forced the reopening of Japan’s ports, that new suits of armour made their way to the West – a flow that accelerated after 1868.’ Ben Walker on the stories behind a samurai suit. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbypiwhc22b

Published: May 20, 2026 13:21

‘There is an opportunity to frame a coherent Green politics in response to this moment – an egalitarian politics of public affluence and energy sovereignty – but it cannot be a cargo-cult Corbynism.’ James Butler (@piercepenniless.bsky.social) on May’s…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbvucg7sc2u

Published: May 20, 2026 12:30

‘Frequencies rose as dawn approached: Grace Davidson’s voice slid up the scale, the strings crescendoed – the music told us it was time to wake up. The hall was lit orange as the rising sun crept in through the palace’s circular windows.’ On Max Richter’s…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbvd6poox2z

Published: May 20, 2026 12:20

‘The wrapping in lead of de Lucy’s body in Lithuania proved so effective in preserving the corpse that archaeologists opening his coffin in the Cumbrian priory ruins 45 years ago could look into his eyes and smell the pine pitch of his shroud.’ …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbtmtfhul2i

Published: May 20, 2026 11:50

‘The faint whiff of 𝘈 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭 that has clung to the book disperses, since no change of heart is expected of any of Jill’s charges, even a calcified Scrooge like Boone. It is more like an AA interaction.’ Adam Mars-Jones reads George Saunders’ new…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbriulz7b2u

Published: May 20, 2026 11:12

‘The status of the English as a single people wasn’t unproblematic. Archaeological evidence shows immigration from many parts of Northern Europe, and Bede supposed that several Germanic tribes were involved.’ Nicholas Higham on the first English kings. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbmncystn2u

Published: May 20, 2026 09:45

‘What unites Marlen Haushofer’s books about childhood and her books about adult disenchantment is the abrupt incursion of vicious men.’ Becca Rothfeld on the Austrian novelist. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbk4txym42w

Published: May 20, 2026 09:00

‘Six thousand amputation cases have been recorded in Gaza since the beginning of the genocide; the UN and its partners have been able to bring in only three hundred prostheses.’ Hassan Ayman Herzallah plays beach volleyball in Gaza, new on the blog. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbi6c742v23

Published: May 20, 2026 08:25

‘Islam did not introduce a new form of slavery. In the seventh century, the Quran codified existing practices of enslavement used in pre-Islamic Arabia and the Greco-Roman world.’ @youssefbens.bsky.social on slavery in the Islamic world. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mmbg7ovuhr2h

Published: May 20, 2026 07:50

On the podcast: John Lanchester joins @moonjets.bsky.social to talk money laundering – from its three classic stages (placement, layering and integration) to methods used to bypass banks entirely, via agricultural equipment, store cards and cash-only…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mma5paddcf2h

Published: May 19, 2026 19:45

‘Ptolemy V was styled a god – he was called the “Manifest One” – but he was all too mortal. His coronation in 196 BCE, celebrated on the Rosetta Stone, was an effort to put a good face on a bad situation.’ Robert Cioffi on the achievements of the…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mma3qnua6724

Published: May 19, 2026 19:10

‘A man who killed another man for no reason is convicted for the wrong reason. How could this happen? In their way, the novel and François Ozon’s film both invite another question: how could it not?’ Michael Wood watches 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7zs2te5i2u

Published: May 19, 2026 18:35

‘Popes and bishops were forced to tolerate the intricate variety of the Baltic: they reluctantly countenanced Lithuanian cremation ceremonies and agreed to the equivalent of a preservation order on sacred forests.’ Diarmaid MacCulloch on the decline of…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7xualfce2u

Published: May 19, 2026 18:00

‘I saw Richter weaving through the crowd that had formed before the stage, heading for the back of the room, to watch us watching his performance. He moved like a ghost, unbothered by his audience who couldn’t, shouldn’t notice him.’ Rose Dodd at Max…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7vuxuzwn24

Published: May 19, 2026 17:25

‘Though the US is thought to have provided more than $130 billion to the Afghan state between 2002 and 2021, most of it went straight to security forces and much of the rest was siphoned off to accounts in the Gulf and Switzerland.’ …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7ty3rqx42w

Published: May 19, 2026 16:51

‘As Muhammad stood there, leaning on his crutches, I didn’t know where to look. At the place where his leg used to be? At his face? Should I pretend nothing had changed?’ Hassan Ayman Herzallah plays beach volleyball in Gaza, new on the blog. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7rorsadq2b

Published: May 19, 2026 16:10

‘Refusing help to a friend who has betrayed us does not entail an assumption that he is ultimately responsible for his character. It is just a natural consequence of his destruction of our friendship.’ Thomas Nagel on T.M. Scanlon’s moral philosophy. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7phbszlr2z

Published: May 19, 2026 15:30

‘By the middle of the 16th century, something like 112,000 cloths, or 2.5 million yards of woollen cloth, are passing through London.’ Vanessa Harding joins Rosemary Hill on our Close Readings subscription podcast. Listen to an extract: …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7n5wxzzf23

Published: May 19, 2026 14:49

This place was never yours, they’ll say, though years from now as she steps from factory floor to city street, the winter haar pouring in, muting the world, effacing everything, it’s here that she’ll be A poem by @tarnnation.bsky.social. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7j5uemuk24

Published: May 19, 2026 13:37

‘Like England, Greater Manchester has its richer south, the Cheshire fringes where the superstar footballers live, its main city of hedonism and sky-high rents, and its decapitalised northern towns.’ @jamesmeek.bsky.social on Andy Burnham’s Manchester,…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7hvuaj4f2i

Published: May 19, 2026 13:15

‘Far beyond the powers of national authorities to control. That is a truly astonishing state of affairs. The fact is that a great deal is being done to combat it. It’s just that none of it works.’ John Lanchester on money laundering. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7fffl3pu2u

Published: May 19, 2026 12:30

‘Only 5 per cent of people who voted Labour in the 2024 general election directly transferred their allegiance to Reform in 2025. Nearly a third of those Labour voters simply stayed away.’ James Butler (@piercepenniless.bsky.social) on May’s elections. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7d5wccey2r

Published: May 19, 2026 11:50

‘It’s​ a sorry situation when the most repeated fact about someone’s life is that a famous person was best man at their wedding. Dylan Thomas did the honours for Lynette Roberts.’ Emily Berry on the Welsh modernist poet. …

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm7awdpqra24

Published: May 19, 2026 11:10

‘He gained admission to the New School by showing the dean his poetry, befriended Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, supposedly knocked out Anatole Broyard during a bar fight.’ Alex Cocotas remembers the producer, cinematographer and screenwriter Harrison…

https://bsky.app/profile/lrb.co.uk/post/3mm746fm4l32u

Published: May 19, 2026 09:45

It is expensive, for something left behind. Gold looks for it again, from its little rings And fingers. Was it live once, did it have Running blood, did it pump, was it a transfusion? ‘Rosarita’, a poem by @tricialockwood.bsky.social. …