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devpanda.uk
@devpanda.uk
9 followers 47 following 17 posts
late 40s gay nerd
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Reposted
eidyngray.scot
The BBC de-platformed a science communicator for refusing to be silent in the face of hatred.

Our public broadcaster at work.
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 19d
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 1:11 AM
devpanda.uk
Very sad and very angry about this. More power to you Robin, but no way the BBC should have forced this on you.
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · 19d
Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.
This is the saddest day of my professional life. Today is not only the final recording of the latest series of The Infinite Monkey Cage, it is my last ever Monkey Cage. I never thought that I would have to leave the show. I always imagined going on until | dropped dead under the studio lights due to a brain aneurysm caused by my final attempt to understand notions of quantum gravity or the shock of being told about fly maggot infestations in the sacks of macaque monkeys. I resigned in September, after sixteen years of dedication to the show, A show that I named and helped develop over all those years. Unfortunately, my opinions outside the BBC have been considered problematic for sometime, whether it has been voicing support for the trans community, criticism of Donald Trump, numerous other outlandish opinions, including once gently criticising Stephen Fry. These things were considered to conflict with being a freelance BBC science presenter In a recent meeting where BBC Studio executives again voiced problems with me, I realised my choices. Obedience and being quieter to remain making Monkey Cage, or 'Resign and have the freedom to speak out against what I believe are injustices'. • I chose the latter. It broke my heart. I love this show and I love the audience, and it is because of the audience in particular, that this decision was so difficult to make. I kept thinking about all the extremist voices promoting hate and division. They are being given so many platforms, while voices that represent kindness, open mindedness, empathy seem to be scarcer and scarcer. I felt I couldn't pamper myself with the luxury of silence. One of my many privileges is that I am able to resign and I can speak out even if it is to the detriment of my career. I have thought a lot about my heroes, Sinead O Connor, James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and so many more. I think of Sinead's words, "the job of an artist is to be themselves at any cost". James Baldwin said prejudice was really just a word for cowardice. Audre Lorde, viewing her life, wrote that her only regrets were her silences. I think of my father as I resign, he brought me up to believe in fairness , justice and kindness. Though my heart is broken, it is also full of fire. I apologise to our incredible listeners for my departure, your love of the show means a great deal. I am so sorry to let you down. I hope that you can understand my reasoning. I have to accept that I am not what the current BBC expects of their freelance presenters. Despite this I should add that I have always worked far more than my contracted hours to try and ensure the show was always the best it could be, as well as making myself accessible and responsive to the audience wherever and whenever I met them. Every night, we have recorded, I have been filled with determination to make the best show possible. This was not "just a job" I hope that with my departure I can be a better ally to the LGBTQ community, to the neurodivergent community, to activists fighting against those who aim to brutalise society, to those currently in prison on hunger strike, and to all those who fight for a more inclusive world. From many conversations, I know there are many Monkey Cage listeners who support these communities and activists too. The strawberry is dead. Long live the strawberry. B
December 13, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Reposted
kentindell.bsky.social
No.
Octopus could be the next commercially farmed seafood. Should it be? — Fast Company
They’re clever, they’re otherworldly, and if a growing band of companies and scientists have their way, they’re going to be raised for human consumption. Inside the birth of a new and controversial in...
apple.news
December 9, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Reposted
tjstamp.co.uk
For the first time ever I won’t simply be muting Eurovision and doing something more interesting like counting paper clips while the genocidal apartheid state’s entry is performing…

I won’t be watching it at all, not a single second. Despicable decision to allow such a state to continue to compete.
December 4, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Reposted
jamieandlion.bsky.social
I wrote a little about one of my favourite neurodivergent brain hacks… a well timed ‘productive distraction’.

It’s a good way to transition from one big thing to another… with a carefully chosen little thing in the middle.

Here’s a post about em: spacedoutandsmiling.com/blog/2025-11...
Spaced Out & Smiling
spacedoutandsmiling.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
Would be great to spread this far and wide so we make as much money as possible in COLCHESTER tomorrow
robinince.bsky.social Robin Ince @robinince.bsky.social · Nov 22
This SUNDAY - COLCHESTER!!
A solo show for @samaritans.bsky.social

Tickets here

www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/poet...

Tell your friends
November 22, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
This SUNDAY - COLCHESTER!!
A solo show for @samaritans.bsky.social

Tickets here

www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/poet...

Tell your friends
November 22, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
A little piece about mental health #suicideawareness #mentalhealth #poem @samaritans.bsky.social
GIG FOR SAMARITANS 11am COLCHESTER SUNDAY

www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/poet...
November 21, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
www.redlionbooks.co.uk/product/poet...
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Reposted
edent.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
OMG! It has arrived! @mattround has created a thing of beauty. And look - it me!

You can buy the magazine from https://vole.wtf/doctype/
Page from a magazine. My finger is pointing to a block with my photo in it. HTML code is on the page.
November 17, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
If we don’t signal our virtue every now and again - then so many believe they are utterly alone - “virtue signalling” is not there to say “aren’t I good” but “there are more of us than you might imagine” and “fuck you for demanding that only the brutal and the bullies may speak”
November 17, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Reposted
edent.tel
New blog post: OpenBenches 💖 OpenStreetMap

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/11/openbenches-%F0%9F%92%96-openstreetmap/

When Liz and I created the OpenBenches website, it was just designed to be a fun way for people to record memorial benches. Since then things have got out of hand and we now have …
OpenBenches 💖 OpenStreetMap
When Liz and I created the OpenBenches website, it was just designed to be a fun way for people to record memorial benches. Since then things have got out of hand and we now have over thirty-nine thousand benches recorded! Our plan was never to compete with something like OpenStreetMap. The OSM project is vast, complex, and brilliant - we are small, simple, and differently brilliant. But, over…
shkspr.mobi
November 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM
devpanda.uk
Was good to get out for a ride. Shake out a few cobwebs. No, you missed the coffee stop and had to loop back...

www.strava.com/activities/1...
Lunch Ride | Strava
View Chris Bannister's ride on September 27, 2025 | Strava
www.strava.com
September 27, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted
purserhallard.com
A polydactylic cat walks into a bar.
It says, "I would like, in pursuance of my desire to have a drink, to buy a drink."
The barman asks, "Why the unnecessary extra clause?"
September 21, 2025 at 11:21 AM
devpanda.uk
@tjstamp.co.uk Just a heads up, your linktree points to the wrong (no longer existing) bluesky account.
September 15, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Family of Southport stabbing victim criticise plan to reveal ethnicity of suspects
Exclusive: Michael Weston King, grandfather of Bebe King, warns government against ‘kowtowing to the likes of Farage’
www.theguardian.com
August 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Reposted
robinince.bsky.social
I hope everyone who voted for this is enjoying how great America is again

www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cv...
Los Angeles protests live: National Guard to arrive in LA in 24 hours, as governor calls Trump's move 'inflammatory'
The US president says he's sending in 2,000 troops to deal with unrest over raids on undocumented migrants.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 8, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted
laurakbuzz.bsky.social
The Hori Flex is supported on Switch 2 on launch day.

This makes the Switch 2 the second console to ever launch with support for an accessibility controller on day one, following the Xbox Series launch.
A hori flex controller with 20+ inputs for 3.5 mm input switches.
June 5, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Reposted
foone.bsky.social
PSA:

1. If you are not silly, it is vital you become silly

2. If you are silly, you must stay silly

2. If you used to be silly but have stopped, you must make all efforts to return to silliness
January 29, 2025 at 2:52 AM