Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 4h

Possibly the most shocking thing I’ve learned this week: Thomas Skinner is 34. Don’t do fascism, kids, it will age you faster than daily sessions in a high street tanning booth.

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Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Rhianna Pratchett @rhi.bsky.social · 2d

Dad’s books are full of empathy, common sense, and a healthy suspicion of the powerful. But at its heart his work is also about how systems keep people poor while pretending it’s their own fault. So I hope Kemi’s taking notes as well as reading the jokes.

Paul Haine @paulhaine.bsky.social · 2d

Kemi Badenoch claiming Terry Pratchett as her favourite author is wild

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Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Andy Mackenzie @andymack.bsky.social · 1d

Huge streaming news

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 1d

Even as a very small child, I recognised the importance of representation here. No idealised village, a tower block.

archivetvmusings @archivetvmusings.bsky.social · 2d

The first episode of Mary, Mungo and Midge was broadcast on this day in
1969.

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Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Andy Miller @iammilliam.bsky.social · 3d

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 · 3d

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

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 2d

My Instagram feed is full of writer friends posting picture of themselves with Jilly Cooper over the years at various events and festivals. Jilly always smiling and looking completely delighted to pose for yet another fan. A life well lived with joy, a delight to see.

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 3d

Didn’t they used to come to cinema every few years? Never on TV. So you probably weren’t five when you saw it.

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 5d

I’ve signed, will you?

Leo Greene (if you're nice) @leo-greene.bsky.social · 5d

If you're a cis woman with a UK postcode, please sign this to show that you don't think trans women are a threat to you

Not In Our Name (NION) Women @nionwomen.bsky.social · 7d

We expect to hit 55k signatures in support of our open letter this week, perhaps even today. Thank you to everyone who has signed or shared. Let’s keep this going:

notinourname.org.uk

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 5d

I’m never sure whether to listen to @backlisted.bsky.social before I read a book or after. Suspect the answer is both. Anyway, this is excellent. It makes me yearn for someone to say of my writing: ‘Oh, but her sentences.’

Backlisted Podcast @backlisted.bsky.social · Jul 8

New episode up now. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor, with guest Andrew Male in conversation with Una McCormack and Andy Miller. @andrewmale.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social
www.backlisted.fm/episodes/243...

243. Angel by Elizabeth Taylor — Backlisted

Angel  (1957) by the English writer Elizabeth Taylor, is the subject of this special episode - and, as you'll hear, the next episode of Locklisted too. Joining Andy and Una for a hotly disputed ...

www.backlisted.fm

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The Daily Tism @thedailytism.com · 5d

Fitzgerald said: “I thought that childhood was a game that I had to win, so I’ve been doggedly copying everyone around me. Now, everyone thinks I’m normal, except they all still seem to hate me a little bit, for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on.”

Autistic toddler hitting all developmental milestones realises she’s inadvertently fucked it

An autistic toddler who has hit all of her developmental milestones on time has realised she may have unintentionally shot herself in the foot. Lottie Fitzgerald, three, displays a number of typical…

thedailytism.com

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 5d

Want some trivial, frivolous good news? There’s been a breakthrough in sunscreen technology and if you know anyone with polymorphic light eruption (posh name for being painfully allergic to the sun), tell them THIS ACTUALLY WORKS. I’ve tried everything over the years, this is a genuine game changer.

Photo of sunscreen bottle Eucerin Sun Gel+Cream Sun Allergy Protect Factor 50

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 5d

In what way doesn’t it make sense though? ‘Dearly’ here means ‘with great intensity’. Or it is something else that doesn’t make sense? I’m genuinely interested!

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 6d

It does to me. ‘Dearly’ here is an intensifier. Same as ‘I would dearly love to…,

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 6d

Why not? (Have I missed some context?)

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Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Democracy Now! @democracynow.org · 6d

Happening now: Hundreds of rabbis and Jewish community members gather in Brooklyn for a mass public memorial service on Yom Kippur, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and for the U.S. to stop arming Israel.

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 6d

Protesting the genocide is not protesting against Jewish people and the continued conflation of the two leads directly to the Manchester attack. Labour bending over backwards to not seem antisemitic are putting Jewish lives at risk.

Anna Orridge @anna-orridge.bsky.social · 6d

The awful terrorist killings in Manchester, which of course must be condemned, don't have any bearing on whether a protest against genocide should take place. The shame for making that link lies entirely on Mahmood.

Kevin Schofield @kevinschofied.bsky.social · 6d

NEW: Home secretary Shabana Mahmood urges pro-Palestine protesters to consider not taking part in marches this weekend.

"Imagine if you lost a loved one to a terror attack in this country ... sometimes a little unity, a little solidarity, some love to other people is required"

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 6d

The new #Strictly #ItTakesTwo set is like a bad 1980s fever dream. I hate it.

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Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

Sebastian Dobson @sebdobson.bsky.social · 7d

Wait until Liz finds out what percentage of the UK mammal population are meerkats…

In a Tweet dated 2 October 2025, former DJ Liz Kershaw cites a Daily Mail survey to bemoan the fact that TV ads disproportionately represent black people.

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 8d

The pump is in. This is not a drill.

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 8d

Does anyone else get unreasonably angry when their hair is absolutely slaying and you’ve nowhere to go, no one to see it? Especially applies to curly hair which never looks the same two days in a row and every wash day is a throw of the dice.

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 9d

That is good to know

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 9d

Climate change or the concept of climate change? Because the former absolutely is the greatest threat to their nation and all nations.

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Reposted by Rachael Dunlop

dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · Jun 9

Dear USA

Deploying troops against civilians will not go well.

Yours
Great Britain and Northern Ireland

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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12d

Indeed. We need some big trees for privacy and anchoring. Small to medium shrubs then all the perennials in 9cm pots. Still ridiculous numbers. We’ve been whittling and minimum seems to be 1,500 plants. Not a typo.

Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 12d

(header pond also posted)