@seanflang.bsky.social
Only in Cambridge ... A couple of gardeners outside the University Library in earnest discussion about the ethical rights and wrongs of slavery reparations. (One, who seemed to be from the Caribbean, was strongly opposed).
September 25, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Only in Cambridge ... A couple of gardeners outside the University Library in earnest discussion about the ethical rights and wrongs of slavery reparations. (One, who seemed to be from the Caribbean, was strongly opposed).
The logic of saying the result of a ten-year old referendum should stand forever because it represents the will of the People is the same as saying the result of an election should stand for ever for the same reason.
September 23, 2026 at 11:56 AM
The logic of saying the result of a ten-year old referendum should stand forever because it represents the will of the People is the same as saying the result of an election should stand for ever for the same reason.
Memories get less sharp over time, not more. It's thirty years since Diana's death. The time to speak out has long passed. The world has moved on, the royal family has moved on, Earl Spencer should move on, and stop milking his sister's death for his own gain.
September 19, 2026 at 7:28 PM
Memories get less sharp over time, not more. It's thirty years since Diana's death. The time to speak out has long passed. The world has moved on, the royal family has moved on, Earl Spencer should move on, and stop milking his sister's death for his own gain.
Meet Liesl: played by Kirsty Smith. Strong. Formidable. She decides her daughter’s university plans and her husband’s career. Liesl was a nurse in a hospital during the war. Or was she? LOSS OF POWER at the Corpus Playroom, Cambridge www.adctheatre.com/whats-on/pla...
📸 by Polina Poganovska
📸 by Polina Poganovska
August 22, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Meet Liesl: played by Kirsty Smith. Strong. Formidable. She decides her daughter’s university plans and her husband’s career. Liesl was a nurse in a hospital during the war. Or was she? LOSS OF POWER at the Corpus Playroom, Cambridge www.adctheatre.com/whats-on/pla...
📸 by Polina Poganovska
📸 by Polina Poganovska
You know, I would have so much more respect for an outgoing prime minister who just announced 'I have handed my resignation to HM the King, who has been graciously pleased to accept it. Thank you very much.' and went back inside. No sentiment, no tears.
June 22, 2026 at 12:38 PM
You know, I would have so much more respect for an outgoing prime minister who just announced 'I have handed my resignation to HM the King, who has been graciously pleased to accept it. Thank you very much.' and went back inside. No sentiment, no tears.
The Shawshank Redemption is basically The Count of Monte Cristo with fewer horses.
May 10, 2026 at 7:20 PM
The Shawshank Redemption is basically The Count of Monte Cristo with fewer horses.
What has become clear these past few days and weeks is that Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III have two things in common:
a) they both combine religious and political supreme authority
b) neither is afraid of Donald Trump
Both of these set them apart from just every other world leader.
a) they both combine religious and political supreme authority
b) neither is afraid of Donald Trump
Both of these set them apart from just every other world leader.
May 1, 2026 at 11:16 PM
What has become clear these past few days and weeks is that Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III have two things in common:
a) they both combine religious and political supreme authority
b) neither is afraid of Donald Trump
Both of these set them apart from just every other world leader.
a) they both combine religious and political supreme authority
b) neither is afraid of Donald Trump
Both of these set them apart from just every other world leader.
I'm not clear why a war crime in Ukraine - deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure - is somehow all right if the US President threatens to do the same in Iran.
April 7, 2026 at 8:34 AM
I'm not clear why a war crime in Ukraine - deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure - is somehow all right if the US President threatens to do the same in Iran.
The three Unforgivables:
1. Beginning an email "I hope you are well". ( And if I'm not? Just tell me what you want to say)
2. Using "Y'all" for You. This is deserving of summary punishment.
3. Calling Mandelson a "US Ambassador". He was BRITISH ambassador TO the US. Get it right.
1. Beginning an email "I hope you are well". ( And if I'm not? Just tell me what you want to say)
2. Using "Y'all" for You. This is deserving of summary punishment.
3. Calling Mandelson a "US Ambassador". He was BRITISH ambassador TO the US. Get it right.
April 1, 2026 at 7:46 AM
The three Unforgivables:
1. Beginning an email "I hope you are well". ( And if I'm not? Just tell me what you want to say)
2. Using "Y'all" for You. This is deserving of summary punishment.
3. Calling Mandelson a "US Ambassador". He was BRITISH ambassador TO the US. Get it right.
1. Beginning an email "I hope you are well". ( And if I'm not? Just tell me what you want to say)
2. Using "Y'all" for You. This is deserving of summary punishment.
3. Calling Mandelson a "US Ambassador". He was BRITISH ambassador TO the US. Get it right.
It is worth reminding those who need to hear that the 'special relationship', if there is one (and there probably is) is with the United States, and not with any individual or administration.
March 31, 2026 at 9:31 PM
It is worth reminding those who need to hear that the 'special relationship', if there is one (and there probably is) is with the United States, and not with any individual or administration.
Master and Commander is an absolute masterpiece of a film - intelligent, superbly historically accurate, exciting, poignant at times and funny at others. It doesn't have a theme tune, yet it makes beautiful, sometimes haunting use of music and sound.
March 29, 2026 at 11:10 PM
Master and Commander is an absolute masterpiece of a film - intelligent, superbly historically accurate, exciting, poignant at times and funny at others. It doesn't have a theme tune, yet it makes beautiful, sometimes haunting use of music and sound.
Thrilled and delighted to see my play THIS IS NOT A SHAKESPEARE PLAY performed by Neale Wade Academy in the Coram Schools Shakespeare Festival. It's about mystery and magic in a school production Macbeth, and it's to introduce children to the power and magic of Shakespeare.
March 20, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Thrilled and delighted to see my play THIS IS NOT A SHAKESPEARE PLAY performed by Neale Wade Academy in the Coram Schools Shakespeare Festival. It's about mystery and magic in a school production Macbeth, and it's to introduce children to the power and magic of Shakespeare.
Farewell to Call the Midwife: a beautifully judged final episode. This has been a consistently intelligent, sensitive and skilfully written series, capturing character and period, reflecting social change and attitudes accurately and realistically but always with hope. Thank you! @stephenmcgann.uk
March 8, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Farewell to Call the Midwife: a beautifully judged final episode. This has been a consistently intelligent, sensitive and skilfully written series, capturing character and period, reflecting social change and attitudes accurately and realistically but always with hope. Thank you! @stephenmcgann.uk
Donald Trump criticises this country, saying this is not the era of Winston Churchill. In 1940, when Churchill, faced with a triumphant Nazi Germany, appealed to the USA for help he got nothing. And he had a rather more compelling case than Trump has.
March 3, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Donald Trump criticises this country, saying this is not the era of Winston Churchill. In 1940, when Churchill, faced with a triumphant Nazi Germany, appealed to the USA for help he got nothing. And he had a rather more compelling case than Trump has.
Although 'fewer than six items' is correct, 'fewer' being the adjective attached to 'items', 'six items or fewer' should be 'six items or less' because 'less' refers to the number: 'six or a number less than six'.
The girl who corrected a supermarket's grammar was mistaken.
The girl who corrected a supermarket's grammar was mistaken.
February 11, 2026 at 7:43 AM
Although 'fewer than six items' is correct, 'fewer' being the adjective attached to 'items', 'six items or fewer' should be 'six items or less' because 'less' refers to the number: 'six or a number less than six'.
The girl who corrected a supermarket's grammar was mistaken.
The girl who corrected a supermarket's grammar was mistaken.
Talking of Mandelson wrongly as 'US Ambassador' when he was the BRITISH Ambassador TO the US is not just lazy journalism: it suggests Mandelson is somehow someone else's problem. No, he was a British ambassador and he is a British problem.
February 9, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Talking of Mandelson wrongly as 'US Ambassador' when he was the BRITISH Ambassador TO the US is not just lazy journalism: it suggests Mandelson is somehow someone else's problem. No, he was a British ambassador and he is a British problem.
@stephenmcgann.uk Call the Midwife was just masterly tonight.
February 8, 2026 at 9:01 PM
@stephenmcgann.uk Call the Midwife was just masterly tonight.
The words 'he/she is FINE, sister' in Call the Midwife are as fatal as wearing a red Security top was in Kirk-era Star Trek. @stephenmcgann.uk
February 8, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The words 'he/she is FINE, sister' in Call the Midwife are as fatal as wearing a red Security top was in Kirk-era Star Trek. @stephenmcgann.uk
Say it loud: Sometimes 'less' is right and 'fewer'is wrong.
February 8, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Say it loud: Sometimes 'less' is right and 'fewer'is wrong.
British actors who have played US Presidents, and US actors who have played British PMs: JQ Adams (Anthony Hopkins), van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne), Lincoln (Daniel Day Lewis). AND Wellington (John Malkovitch), Churchill (Rod Taylor, John Lithgow), Thatcher (Meryl Streep). Others?
January 27, 2026 at 10:19 PM
British actors who have played US Presidents, and US actors who have played British PMs: JQ Adams (Anthony Hopkins), van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne), Lincoln (Daniel Day Lewis). AND Wellington (John Malkovitch), Churchill (Rod Taylor, John Lithgow), Thatcher (Meryl Streep). Others?
So this is not a Board of Peace, it's a Board of Trump.
January 23, 2026 at 2:22 PM
So this is not a Board of Peace, it's a Board of Trump.
Normally you can rely on the Conservative-leaning press in Britain to support Trump against his critics, but now he is angering the right wing just as much as the left. He thinks he is immune to all rules, even those of politics, history and common sense.
January 23, 2026 at 9:16 AM
Normally you can rely on the Conservative-leaning press in Britain to support Trump against his critics, but now he is angering the right wing just as much as the left. He thinks he is immune to all rules, even those of politics, history and common sense.
Who on earth is this vile, odious Trump apologist on Any Questions? He's just denied the existence of international law.
January 9, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Who on earth is this vile, odious Trump apologist on Any Questions? He's just denied the existence of international law.
King Herod was French! At least, he is in my Christmas Crib scene.
December 25, 2025 at 8:28 PM
King Herod was French! At least, he is in my Christmas Crib scene.
I didn't realise we would have to act out the words in this game, or I wouldn't have suggested The Habsburg Empire.
December 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I didn't realise we would have to act out the words in this game, or I wouldn't have suggested The Habsburg Empire.