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Helen Barrett

@helenbarrett.bsky.social

11K followers 2.2K following 5K posts

Features journalist - NYTimes, Financial Times, Telegraph. Writing a book about the Beatles, out spring 2027. Yes, we need another one. https://www.helenbarrettjournalist.com/ https://open.substack.com/pub/helenbarrett

www.helenbarrettjournalist.com

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 13d

I wrote about a rush of new nightlife memoirs and the death of nightclubs for this week's @ftweekend.com books essay.

www.ft.com/content/a4ed...

Memoirs from the dance floor — the nocturnal universes of New York, London and Berlin

Three very different accounts by Mark Ronson, Jodie Harsh and Liam Cagney create a history of club culture since the 1990s

www.ft.com

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 10m

Even Monday mornings are rammed with people trying to avoid crowds.

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 12m

It's not massive, but it's great fun. The other two shows - Boris Mikhailov and Rydet - are excellent, too.

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 13m

It's not huge, but it's a lot of fun. The Boris Mikhailov exhibition upstairs is excellent, too.

Reposted by Helen Barrett

Richard Blandford @rblandford.bsky.social · 1h

Got Kraftwerk tickets! Disappointingly, did not have to tick a box confirming I was a robot.

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2h

The Lee Miller show at Tate is so rammed it's hard to see. But as an alternative, a great exhibition at the Photographers' Gallery opens today on 100 years of photo booths.

Old photo booth photo of a Spanish man laughing

Old photo booth photo of a chic young French woman

Old photo booth photo of an American boy smoking

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2h

If fit off, I get them altered. If south, there's a fab, speedy, reasonably priced seamstress in Brixton market, the bit between Brixton Rd and Electric Avenue. But there are loads.

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2h

I've been at this for decades and never found better than Levi's - in sizing, quality and range. But I always go for a trying-on session (the Canary Wharf branch is empty so never hassly, ditto Battersea Power Station). And COS are well made, I think.

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 1d

On this day in 1940 John Lennon was born.

In 1946, following his parents' separation, he came to live with his aunt at Mendips in the Woolton area of Liverpool. We're incredibly proud to look after this house as a place for people to visit and experience where it all began.

Exterior of a suburban semi-detached house with a front porch and gates across a driveway

John Lennon's childhood bedroom. We see the bed, posters on the wall and a view from the window onto a street.

Interior of John Lennnon's childhood home. We're looking into the living room with a comfy, worn sofa and chairs, small desk and a fireplace. They are arranged around a patterned rug.

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

SI: Museum of African American History (Bot) @simuseumafro.bsky.social · 1d

Coverlet woven in a Pine Bloom pattern by an unidentified enslaved person https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2017.108.3

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 18h

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Man who appealed Pelicot rape conviction handed longer jail term

A French court increases by a year the jail term of the only man who challenged his conviction for raping Gisèle Pelicot.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 20h

Jilly Cooper on ageing.

The books on staying young are so dismal. They all tell you to give up booze and lying in the sun. I think that's junk, booze and sun make me jolly, and nothing ages one quicker than feeling miserable. They're always banging on, too, about the right diet and one's cholesterol level.

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

C20 Society @c20society.bsky.social · 1d

Happy 60th Birthday to the BT Tower!

Built 1961-65 to the designs of Eric Bedford, Chief Architect at the Ministry of Public Works, the 582ft telecommunications tower is one of Britain's most distinctive post-war buildings and after being sold in 2024, is set to be converted to a destination hotel.

BT Tower, Fitzrovia, London - Eric Bedford, Chief Architect at the Ministry of Public Buildings, 1961-65
Image credit: James Burbs (@londonfromtherooftops)

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

Also, a howler.

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

This is so interesting but marred by the absence of quotes from teenagers drawn to Manning. Why do they find him funny? It's left unexplained.

www.thenerve.news/p/bernard-ma...

Bernard Manning rides again: how TikTok and Instagram are promoting racist “jokes” to teens

Social media algorithms boosting N-word and P*k* jokes have been propelling racist comments into users’ feeds. One platform has deleted the videos after being approached by The Nerve

www.thenerve.news

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 1d

I was in Pézenas 🇫🇷 yesterday and there are a lot of fine doors scattered around town. This one was at the Museum of Doors so they had to put on a bit of a show. #AdoorableThursday

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

Josh Spero @joshspero.ft.com · 1d

In the creative industries/the media and want to mentor? @artsemergency.bsky.social is looking for enthusiastic professionals

Although we have lots of great potential mentors, we are still short of applicants in the Merseyside region and we could do with more applicants in London working in the following career areas:

- Gaming and animation
- Fashion design
- Broadcast journalism
- Visual arts: illustrators / people with illustration experience or any experience relevant to character design
- Performing arts: musical theatre performers or people with experience in the musical theatre industry
- Film & TV - on screen
- Architecture and interior design

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

Save the Omni Consumer Products HQ!

ghostly gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: I wrote about Dallas City Hall. Designed by I.M. Pei, it's an incredible feat of architecture that was meant to embody progressivism and a new start after the JFK assassination. At the end of the month, city leaders could vote to tear it down: www.chron.com/culture/arti...

One of Texas' architectural masterpieces could soon face demolition

The building was designed by foundational architect I.M. Pei.

www.chron.com

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

Absolutely loved this - a horror film about commuting.

Exit 8 | BFI London Film Festival 2025

A Tokyo subway commuter gets lost in an endless passage, in this inventive and claustrophobic adaptation of the popular 2023 adventure game.

whatson.bfi.org.uk

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Tomorrow: "More grammar schools!" "Expand Right to Buy!"

Next week: "Bring back National Service!"

On and on, forever.

inews.co.uk/news/politic...

Badenoch: Curb students taking 'rip-off' degrees such as English

The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

inews.co.uk

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

The Onion @theonion.com · 2d

Health Experts Recommend Standing Up At Desk, Leaving Office, Never Coming Back https://theonion.com/health-experts-recommend-standing-up-at-desk-leaving-o-1819577456/

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Reposted by Helen Barrett

Dan Hicks @profdanhicks.bsky.social · 2d

Great to see this cross-community response to Mr Jenrick

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

And the delirious Carlton Cinema, Upton Park, built in 1928, demolished 1996.

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

"Egypt: Influencing British Design" at the Soane museum, where these images of the Warwick Road Homebase superstore, built in 1988 and long demolished, are on show.

A Homebase superstore done out like an Egyptian temple

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Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

The perfect accessory: an empty 3/4 milk bottle.

Reposted by Helen Barrett

FreeLinkophant sHELLey B Woke - Living Saint of Purity🏳️‍⚧️🖤💜🤍 💛 @shelleybwoke.bsky.social · 2d

Just a nit pick, journalists don't "do the fucking news," they are supposed to gather, verify and report "the fucking news."

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 2d

Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."

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