Mark Robinson
Writer, researcher, adviser, coach etc. cultural sector and intersections. Thinking Practice. / www.thinkingpractice.co.uk
- Better people than me. I'd have just linked to a bunch of 'anonymous' accounts to entertain myself.
- In happier news I'm in a cafe in Deptford and they're playing this loud and it's proper cheered me up www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjRL...
- But cuts to PE. Make this government make sense please.
- We want to make sure tutoring isn't the preserve of a lucky few, but accessible to every child who needs it. AI can help us do that. Safe, personalised, one-to-one learning support to help every child achieve and thrive. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01...
- I will offer every adult in the country a 20 minute course in understanding and applying the possibilities of my own books. I'm as 'generous' as Microsoft.
- Channelled Swift for a minute or two… Poetry or policy, you decide. Five Modest Proposals for Preventing the Children of Rich People Becoming A Burden on the Arts stridemagazine.blogspot.com/2026/01/five...
- Been walking central LDN wearing my 1988 goggles wondering where all the cool things went. Yes, like old folk do. I used to exit Tnham Court Rd tube at 5.45am (to chef on Wardour St). - v.glad I wasn’t faced with this howge video wall. & I still can’t afford anything the remains of Denmark St.
- Museums helping the government (DCMS) not spend money. Hmmm. Puzzled by this tbh. What am I missing? I bet @tonybutler could make sense of it. (And spend that money.) www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/museums...
- Different world of course, but this idea has echoes of the semi-magical thinking in the Hodge Review that Arts Council should profit if an NPO has a big hit. (Even if funding was made as part of the generally 'required' mixed contributed/earned model rather than as guarantee against loss or equity.)
- I can see this is getting passed around so re-upping here ICYMI. "Who benefits, who feels more secure, and whether culture’s role in society (or indeed the economy) is more central or more marginal remains to be seen." tacticsforthetightrope.substack.com/p/rewindremi...
- 40+ years on I still vividly remember this happening to me on my very first night.
- A weekend full of Borderlands CPP dreaming. Started with a packed book launch on Friday where I got to close a brilliant night with 2 poems from a book I published 30 year ago. Then today hearing some great examples of works done in Borderlands Communities of Possibility
- Some thoughts on Hodge Review of @artscouncilengland.bsky.social A long one so make a brew first. Plenty of positives to play for. But if 'rebuilding trust' becomes a mantra, so should 'Whose trust?' to not lose those for whom Let's Create was a breath of fresh air. open.substack.com/pub/tacticsf...
- In other news, the rivers frozen over, almost.
- My mum made a few of these at one point In my childhood. (unlike her tbh so must have been v fashionable.) am I dreaming or were there ‘patterns‘ or instructions available, a bit like knitting patterns?
- Finishing up the Xmas @newstatesman1913.bsky.social I am returned to being 8 nearly 9 in my Nan Rose’s living room (council house I was born in, in fact) watching Frank Hayes of Lancashire get 106 on his England debut. I’d forgotten I remembered that. Excuse me while I reconnect with my inner child.
- Show me how your 2025 went…
- Sharing for anyone who has ever had fun inflicted upon them in a work situation in the name of Christmas. (Saw these support Field Music - amazing use of loops in a band context. Almost too clever at times maybe, but I like this song and the album a lot.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO_5...
- There's a whole lot in there that was around in diff form when Hodge was Culture Secretary in 2007/8. I read the regional boards as not being separate orgs as Charlotte Higgins suggests and more like the regional councils were 2002-2012, before areas. Regional bodies would need staff after all.
- Hodge review is up. Only had chance to skim but beyond the truisms it seems a bit unclear and cake/eat it at first glance. A few back to the future bits too. 2 community arts workers per priority place? Back to development workers as i was in my first job! www.gov.uk/government/p...
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- Am I the only one who increasingly often finds the headlines on AP a bit odd? Eg why 'claims' here? Is it up for debate what he thinks? (as opposed to what he things being debatable). Is it a clicks thing? Or just me being an old git? The articles are generally still good, though.
- A couple of my public poetry works on display at Stellar Projects #Nightfall25 event this weekend. Rather wet the night I went! Dance as if it's not chucking it down...
- Reposted by Mark RobinsonFor those of you in the UK, especially if you are a UK citizen, can you please take part in the consultation on changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain (Settlement) that were just proposed by the UK government. We need as many people as possible to reject these proposals. www.gov.uk/government/c...
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- It's Annual Birthday Girl by Microdisney Day here, to mark me listening to it when I walked home from hospital after the birth of my firstborn, 35 today. And every 13 November since. "She was tired, it was dawn, when she heard the nurse say 'it's a baby boy'" www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQpz...
