John Merrick
@johnmerrick.bsky.social
Deputy editor: @the-breakdown.bsky.social
"Leftist pseudo-intellectual", The Critic
[email protected] / [email protected]
https://www.johnmerrick.co.uk/
"Leftist pseudo-intellectual", The Critic
[email protected] / [email protected]
https://www.johnmerrick.co.uk/
A brilliant rejoinder by @philtinline.bsky.social to the increasingly consensus right-wing view of the modern British state. The state has been hollowed out and is failing many people––but the solution is not more privatisation or markets, but more democracy!
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
January 27, 2026 at 11:54 AM
A brilliant rejoinder by @philtinline.bsky.social to the increasingly consensus right-wing view of the modern British state. The state has been hollowed out and is failing many people––but the solution is not more privatisation or markets, but more democracy!
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
New George Scialabba!!
January 14, 2026 at 6:11 PM
New George Scialabba!!
The excellent Jack Common on the middle class Marxists of the interwar years
January 5, 2026 at 1:40 PM
The excellent Jack Common on the middle class Marxists of the interwar years
much better than the “knock it all down and replace with a car park” school of regeneration
December 26, 2025 at 11:38 AM
much better than the “knock it all down and replace with a car park” school of regeneration
Some excellent examples of the International Urban Regeneration Aesthetic in Crewe town centre
December 26, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Some excellent examples of the International Urban Regeneration Aesthetic in Crewe town centre
Including my personal pick, from the great @kgeorgew.bsky.social
December 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Including my personal pick, from the great @kgeorgew.bsky.social
This is my big fear: that i end up writing, unconsciously, like an AI
December 5, 2025 at 10:54 AM
This is my big fear: that i end up writing, unconsciously, like an AI
I love to catch up with the avant garde of Tory opinion
December 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
I love to catch up with the avant garde of Tory opinion
From the very same issue of the Sunday Times of 1994, here's John Gray
December 1, 2025 at 5:00 PM
From the very same issue of the Sunday Times of 1994, here's John Gray
All sorts of weird historical echoes from the mid-1990s are present if you look hard enough
December 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
All sorts of weird historical echoes from the mid-1990s are present if you look hard enough
I reviewed a few superb books, not least the recent publications of Holly Smith and Sam Wetherell www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
November 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I reviewed a few superb books, not least the recent publications of Holly Smith and Sam Wetherell www.newstatesman.com/culture/book...
The sterile glamour of Sandbanks is the focus, but more starkly drawn is the poverty of Poole
November 25, 2025 at 5:41 PM
The sterile glamour of Sandbanks is the focus, but more starkly drawn is the poverty of Poole
Grimly telling comment (well, the little of it that makes sense). for so many of these edgy rwers this is all a big fun game. Which would be fine if it wasn’t in the service of people with actual commitments — to white nationalism, antisemitism, and the worst kind of reactionary politics
November 25, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Grimly telling comment (well, the little of it that makes sense). for so many of these edgy rwers this is all a big fun game. Which would be fine if it wasn’t in the service of people with actual commitments — to white nationalism, antisemitism, and the worst kind of reactionary politics
Full details of how and where to pitch are on our website: www.break-down.org/pitching/
November 14, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Full details of how and where to pitch are on our website: www.break-down.org/pitching/
We're now open for pitches for Issue #3 of @the-breakdown.bsky.social, AIRBORNE, on the importance of air in the climate crises, its role in environmental history and activism, and its future on a transformed planet.
If you have ideas for a piece, send them our way www.break-down.org/pitching/
If you have ideas for a piece, send them our way www.break-down.org/pitching/
November 14, 2025 at 1:44 PM
We're now open for pitches for Issue #3 of @the-breakdown.bsky.social, AIRBORNE, on the importance of air in the climate crises, its role in environmental history and activism, and its future on a transformed planet.
If you have ideas for a piece, send them our way www.break-down.org/pitching/
If you have ideas for a piece, send them our way www.break-down.org/pitching/
We're at the Historical Materialism conference all weekend, selling issues (with a discount on our already cheap subscriptions!). Come through if you're here
November 6, 2025 at 10:38 AM
We're at the Historical Materialism conference all weekend, selling issues (with a discount on our already cheap subscriptions!). Come through if you're here
PLEASE WAIT A FEW WEEKS!!!
October 29, 2025 at 4:10 PM
PLEASE WAIT A FEW WEEKS!!!
The right have reached the "Is [pop star] a feminist? Is MasterCard a Queer ally?" stage of online derangement
October 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
The right have reached the "Is [pop star] a feminist? Is MasterCard a Queer ally?" stage of online derangement
I fear the overuse of the term "doom loop" is reaching crisis proportions
October 25, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I fear the overuse of the term "doom loop" is reaching crisis proportions
Every day i read the right-wing press in the UK i discover new ways to butcher the English language
October 24, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Every day i read the right-wing press in the UK i discover new ways to butcher the English language
All these spotty middle class boys who have spent far too much time online, memeing themselves into ethnonationalism, getting funny feelings in their tummies at the thought of race war
October 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
All these spotty middle class boys who have spent far too much time online, memeing themselves into ethnonationalism, getting funny feelings in their tummies at the thought of race war
Very much appreciate the NS's new line in reporting on the London and Home Counties Grotesque
www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...
October 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Very much appreciate the NS's new line in reporting on the London and Home Counties Grotesque
www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...
www.newstatesman.com/politics/the...