Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 12d

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

1 4 21

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1h

Also, a howler.

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1h

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

1 1 1

Reposted by Helen Barrett

Lewis Baston @lewisbaston.bsky.social · 1h

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

1 3 25

Reposted by Helen Barrett

Josh Spero @joshspero.ft.com · 2h

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

22 7

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2h

Save the Omni Consumer Products HQ!

ghostly gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 13h

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

1 5

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 12h

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 · 1d

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

5 20

Reposted by Helen Barrett

The Onion @theonion.com · 1d

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/

85 2.8K 11K

Reposted by Helen Barrett

Dan Hicks @profdanhicks.bsky.social · 1d

Great to see this cross-community response to Mr Jenrick

1 5 27

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

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

3 18

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

"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

1 3 19

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 1d

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

Reposted by Helen Barrett

FreeLinkophant sHELLey B Woke - Living Saint of Purity🏳️‍⚧️🖤💜🤍 💛 @shelleybwoke.bsky.social · 1d

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 · 1d

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."

1 5 14

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks! Handy costume ideas for later in the month.

1 4

Reposted by Helen Barrett

Rabih Alameddine @rabihalameddine.bsky.social · Jan 15

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bank Officer and His Secretary in Manhattan, 1960

2 3 24

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Everyone always looks utterly miserable.

Thom Browne SS26 show in Paris today, featuring absurd alien models. The audience looks miserable.

4 1 9

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Fashion shows are such a strange ritual. What are they all *doing* there?

2 7

Reposted by Helen Barrett

the modernist @themodernist.bsky.social · 6d

The modernist book fair is back..
the-modernist.org/blogs/news/t...

3 5

Reposted by Helen Barrett

Andy Miller @iammilliam.bsky.social · 2d

RIP lovely Jilly Cooper, the only subject of a @backlisted.bsky.social episode to write us all thank you letters afterwards. ❤️

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 2d

Jilly Cooper, author of Rivals and Riders, dies aged 88

The author of 18 ‘bonkbuster’ novels including Riders, Rivals and Bella has died following a fall Jilly Cooper has died at the age of 88, her agent has confirmed. The author, whose 18 novels include Riders and Rivals, “defined culture, writing and conversation since she was first published over fifty years ago,” said her agent Felicity Blunt. “You wouldn’t expect books categorised as bonkbusters to have so emphatically stood the test of time but Jilly wrote with acuity and insight about all things - class, sex, marriage, rivalry, grief and fertility.” Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

15 66 350

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Oh yes. Might still have it.

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

"Helen, darling. Sweet of you, marvellous, what an honour. Can't possibly. Busy. Much love." <click, burr>

We had never met. 2/2

1 29

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Once, when I was editing the FT polo supplement, I emailed her to ask if she'd write a jokey column about the new season. I was junior and knew nothing about polo so took a scattergun, slightly panicky approach to commissioning. Seconds after I hit send, the phone rang. 1/2

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · Oct 19

Cracking Jilly Cooper interview in the New York Times:

1 5 19

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 2d

Major Major - Terry Major-Ball (John Major's brother)
Little Goes a Long Way - Syd Little

1 7

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 3d

Yes! Also baffled by the role of Caroline (is she the same producer mentioned by Lee in his letter, or a different one?). And the family relationships -- presumably Dominic is Justin's half-brother, not step brother.

Helen Barrett @helenbarrett.bsky.social · 3d

Intriguing story (though it needs a good subbing).

www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...

‘An unkind film’: letters reveal rift between director and writer of The Wicker Man

Exclusive: Documents show ‘hostile’ director and ‘self-indulgent’ writer were at loggerheads during production of 1973 cult horror film

www.theguardian.com

1 2 10