Tom Phillips

@tom-phillips.com

4782 Followers 628 Following

New book out now! A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE END OF THE F*CKING WORLD – https://linktr.ee/endofthefckingworld Previous books: Humans; Truth; Conspiracy. Formerly BuzzFeed & Full Fact.

A large cruise ship backing out of its berth on a sunny evening. It has a large eye painted near the bow, with a wiggly blue line tracing backwards from the eye towards the stern. On the prow of the ship is painted a pair of plump red lips. The whole effect is of a gigantic ship going "I saw you from across the harbour and really liked your vibe".
WhatsApp message from me: and yet the heuristic "never bother watching a match involving the Swiss" remains powerful
The predator handshake meme, where one arm says "All of human history" and the other says "That football match" and the point where they meet says "Egypt were dominant for so long"
Bluesky post: "The people who are up in arms about this are hilarious. I've been following the USMNT for a decade and a half and we have been consistently punished for being more professional and less willing to bribe referees. I don't like the corruption but let's not pretend anyone is desecrating FIFA ffs" Quoted post by the same author: "Our unwillingness to engage in flagrant corruption and unprofessional play has historically been one of our big world cup weak spots. So great news everyone" 3:56 AM Jul 6, 2026
A Cabo Verde fan reacting to their first goal during a BBC interview
BBC News app homepage, showing the story BBC "Five injured in suspected anti-Muslim attacks as armed man roams Edinburgh streets" in the lower right position of the top five stories on the homepage
A victorious Andy Burnham MP (24,937 votes), as the result of the Makerfield by-election is announced, flanked by defeated candidates Count Binface (a bloke in a vaguely sci-fi costume with a large bin for a helmet; 95 votes) and Robert Pownall (who is in a full body fox costume, holding a sign reading "Protect British Wildlife"; 18 votes). There are some other candidates there just out of shot but that's not important right now. Photo: Jon Super/AP
Jacobs by Marc Jacobs for Marc by Marc Jacobs in collaboration with Marc Jacobs got Marc by Marc Jacobs
The "guy sweating while looking at two buttons" meme, one button says "Maybe enforce existing laws??", the other says "Introduce a new law"
Me googling the phrase "ignore the shooty dog thing" (a slightly misremembered quote from Doctor Who). Google responds: Understood! Let's pivot and look at how we can apply behavioral science to train dogs using positive reinforcement rather than reactive scolding.Training Dogs with Positive ReinforcementRenowned behavioral expert Karen Pryor's classic methodology, as outlined in Don't Shoot the Dog, focuses on changing behavior through clear communication. Instead of punishing a pet for acting out, trainers are encouraged to reinforce desired actions and simply ignore or redirect unwanted ones.The Rule of IgnoringThe easiest way to stop an unwanted behavior—such as jumping or begging—is to completely withdraw any reinforcement, including eye contact, speech, or touch.
Peter Mandelson: My chief Al buddy in US is Sam Altman
The unconventional leader – in this case President Trump – drives down the road, sees the brick wall and accelerates. Yes, there are bits flying off the bus, there is a fair amount of debris and damage, the passengers feel mildly nauseous, but, with luck, he’s through the wall. It is simultaneously high in potential risk and in potential effectiveness. The risk, of course, is if any wall on the journey turns out to be not a few inches but a few feet thick.
Middlesex batter Ryan Higgins contrives to get himself out at Lords by driving the ball, letting go of his bat, and watching it loop back over his head to gently caress one bail off the stumps.
13.147 A legitimate aim for excluding a trans person from a separate or single-sex service for their own sex might be to prevent discomfort or distress for other service users.
Critics charged toThe Post that EA is a calculating, smug nerd clique that prioritizes numbers over lives while protecting the power of those with the fattest wallets.
David Miliband being scared by surprise confetti
just a small graphic of a man that looks like someone crossbred Gordon Brown with Chris Hayes
Wikipedia page reading: Wolf (horse) Chilean Thoroughbred racehorse For other uses, see Wolf (disambiguation).
Bluesky post from Hank Green: My hottest “I have no data to back this up” take is that phones aren’t making young people less happy. What’s making them less happy is living in a world where everyone is having their reality defined by recommendation algorithms that can only care about whether something keeps you watching. This is followed by a graph (from the Institute for Family Studies, which uh is a very particular kind of organisation) titled "Young adult happiness is falling". It shows a scatterplot of the % of adults aged 22 to 35 who say they're very happy or pretty happy. It bumps around the high 80s to low 90s mark for four decades, then drops sharply and erratically post-2020.
Indeed, it would be possible to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy between Chelsea's previous league goal - at Aston Villa in early March - and their latest strike in this defeat, which were more than 550 playing minutes apart.
New York Post article - Headline: Euro-vision: Mayor Eric Adams’ son chasing racy rap dreams … in Albania By Bernadette Hogan and Emily Crane Published Nov. 24, 2022 [Image of the guy performing on a TV stage] Mayor Eric Adams’ son is chasing his rap dreams — all the way to Albania. The Big Apple’s first son, Jordan Coleman — aka rapper “Jayoo” – took to the stage in the capital city of Tirana Wednesday night to compete in the Albanian equivalent of “American Idol.”
A screenshot from the quoted website showing that - according to their sample, which is transparent bollocks - 85% of people oppose the Cheltenham Borough Council (Markets) Bill, but that it has passed the House of Commons on a voice vote.
It's the Apollo/Gift of Prophecy dodgeball meme but with the wording changed. A girl, labelled "Apollo" is posed to hurl a ball labelled "Whatever the hell this is" at a group of three girls cowering in fear. They are labelled "The gift of prophecy". Honestly this one doesn't really work in alt text. Or possibly in picture form either.
Website screenshot reading: One day closer to the end. The launch of YouTube is now closer to the Chernobyl disaster than to today. Followed by a timeline illustrating this: Apr 26, 1986 → Feb 14, 2005 → Today 18 yrs, 10 mo to past event 21 yrs, 1 mo to today
Times headline and standfirst: Frankenstein’s monster? He was stitched up, say millennials Concern for animal rights causes students to sympathise with the murderous creature
A toothy xenomorph from (I think?) the TV show Alien: Earth
CONFIDENTIAL – STRICTLY NOT FOR PUBLICATION: Ipso has asked us to circulate the following advisory: Ipso has today been contacted by a representative acting on behalf of Peter Mandelson. Mr Mandelson’s representatives state that he does not wish to speak to the media at this time. He requests that the press do not take photos or film, approach, or contact him via phone, email, or in-person. His representatives ask that any requests for his comment are directed to [REDACTED]
Damon Albarn with a speech bubble, saying the quoted post
To: jeevacation@gmail.com[jeevacation@gmail.com]; jeevacation@gmail.com[jeevacation@gmail.com] From: Peggy Siegal Sent: Thur 5/17/2012 3:08:04 PM Subject: Re: Cannes Sitting next to Brett Ratner...he produced Woody's 3 hour documentary that just was shown at Cannes. We are about to see Roman Polanski documentary. Brett says hi and he loves you!
Poetry Writing: All of the following: (1) advanced degree in creative writing, literature, poetry, or related; (2) publications in reputable literary journals, anthologies, or poetry collections that demonstrate mastery of a wide range of traditional forms, from haiku to sonnet to villanelle; (3) history of awards, fellowships, or residencies from recognized organizations; (4) one or more of the following: (a) published collections with major presses, (b) poems in outlets like Poetry Magazine, (c) awards like National Book Award for Poetry, (d) fellowships from NEA or Guggenheim. Special Note: If your publication record is primarily free verse, please do not apply, as the position requires a deep understanding of classical forms and poetic techniques.
Academic Writing: All of the following: (1) 5+ years in academic writing, with extensive experience in peer-reviewed publications, theses, dissertations, or scholarly books for academic fields; (2) authored articles in top-tier journals, books with reputable presses, citations exceeding 500+ via Google Scholar, or an h-index of 10 or higher; (3) public portfolio of samples, including abstracts, full papers, or proposals demonstrating rigorous argumentation, citation styles (APA, MLA, Chicago), and original contributions; (4) PhD in relevant field. Postdoctoral experience or fellowships (e.g., Fulbright) preferred.
Nonfiction Writing: All of the following: (1) 5+ years in non-fiction writing (memoirs, biographies, historical accounts), with 3+ published books showing commercial and/or critical success; (2) public portfolio of samples/manuscripts demonstrating structure, prose, and non-fiction standards; (3) awards, funding success, or memberships in orgs like BIO/ASJA. Bachelor's degree or higher in English, History, or Journalism highly preferred.
I am going to create a weave that is so enigmatic
Screenshot from BBC News live text coverage of Trump press conference: 19:27 This news conference could go on for a very long time (byline: Gary O'Donoghue, Chief North America correspondent at the White House) This is the president in his most enigmatic and expansive mood. During the campaign this used to be called "the weave" – meandering from subject to subject, often the connections not immediately obvious.
Veronika the tool-using cow scratching her back with a stick, while sitting in a field in the stunning landscape of the Austrian Alps. Text from The Guardian's payment solicitation nagwall appears as though it's captioning the picture, reading "Under pressure, undeterred".
In a statement, Rajan said leaving Today "might be mad", but added he was "extremely excited to jump into the great digital Narnia of the creator economy".
We have identified 2,000 hotspots which make up 25% of violent crime in England and Wales, but just 5% of the area. The next Conservative government under my leadership will recruit 10,000 extra police officers, and use half of them to patrol intensively these crime hotspot areas. This is paid for within our Golden Economic Rule, thanks to the savings we have announced such as from the welfare budget, cutting the size of the Civil Service and reducing foreign aid.
A country road in Cornwall, almost entirely blocked by a tree, which has come down in the recent storm, its root system tearing out a huge amount of earth from the bank on the side of the road, with the whole business kind of collapsing down to leave only a tiny gap on the left hand side.
A load of wheelie bins absolutely all over the shop, dreadful scenes. (Due to the high winds of Storm Goretti, to be clear, not our street's slovenly bin protocol.)
A comb
Book cover of "THE OIL WARS MYTH: Petroleum and the Causes of International Conflict" by Emily Meierding
Guardian live blog for a non-existent day of cricket: Live feed Key events - 49m ago - Preamble 49m ago - 12.26 GMT *Preamble* X
Attack The Block (2011): The Doctor teams up with renegade former First Order stormtrooper Finn to protect South London from aliens.
Screenshot of the Knives Out script. The phrase "the gentlest southern lilt you have ever heard in your life" is highlighted. LINDA Mr. Blanc, I know who you are, I read your New Yorker profile. It was delightful. I just buried my eighty five year old father who committed suicide. Why are you here? Elliott and Wagner turn back to Blanc, who leans forward slightly and speaks in the gentlest southern lilt you have ever heard in your life. BLANC I am here at the behest of a client. LINDA Who?
The canonical tweet from @FabDLT_ dated 17th October 2017, which reads: "Eww she fuck the weed man for weed"- a bitch that's fucking the Text man for Texts
Immortan Joe saying "Do not, my friends, come addicted to [obvious edit] HERO VOTERS, it will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence"
Cricinfo scorecard of England getting to 517 for 1 declared (after a first innings deficit of 221) at the Gabba in 2010. This is not happening today.
I feel fucking mental because I’ve written about it multiple times on here and multiple times elsewhere but it’s not done anything, and yet I feel like I have to keep saying it because I’m watching those people fall further and further down the rabbit hole and I have no idea what else to do. I’m watching the fascists win not by being especially cunning or clever but by instead standing around and holding a big sign that says “jump in this hole if you’re an easy mark!” and somehow guiding around two thirds of our political elite directly into the big hole.
She underlines this country "will always offer sanctuary to those fleeing danger". However, she adds that the world has changed and the UK's asylum system has not changed with it. She says the world is "more volatile" and "more mobile", with huge numbers of people on the move.
BBC football update reading: Equal with the legendary Pele for international goals...time to start thinking about a Harry Kane statue. What a servant he has been for his country since making his debut in 2015.
Peaky Blinders "no fighting" meme but it says "No quoting Avi Loeb, no fucking quoting Avi Loeb" instead. (Avi Loeb is a relentless self-publicist who will point at literally anything and say "that's probably aliens" if it'll get him media attention. It is never aliens.)
Two paragraphs from Michael Prescott's BBC memo: In reality, the first part of Trump’s speech: “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you,” came 15 minutes into the speech. The second half of the sentence that was aired by Panorama, “and we fight. We fight like hell....” came 54 minutes later. Fifteen minutes into the speech, what Trump actually said: “We are gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you. I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” It was completely misleading to edit the clip in the way Panorama aired it. The fact that he did not explicitly exhort supporters to go down and fight at Capitol Hill was one of the reasons there were no federal charges for incitement to riot.
Zohran for NYC-style text that reads "Nottingham For Est 3 – 1 Leeds"
"A Canticle For Leibowitz" in the "Zohran for New York City" typography
Extract from 'My Sister Rosalind Franklin' by Jenifer Glynn: "So Rosalind became a symbol, first of an argumentative swot, then of a downtrodden woman scientist, and finally of a triumphant heroine in a man’s world. She was none of these things, and would have hated all of them. She was simply a very good scientist with an ambition, as she told Colin from her hospital bed, to be a Fellow of the Royal Society before she was forty. But she died at thirty-seven."
More than 100 companies have launched worldwide after a rush this summer, but the share prices of many have collapsed from their initial peaks as the frenzy has waned. Stack Bitcoin has soft launched with an account on X that at the time of writing has 17 followers. In a promotional video posted online, Kwarteng said bitcoin “is in a class of its own”, highlighting its limited supply and adding that bitcoin is “a far greater preserver of wealth” than sovereign currency.
Green text on a screen: It was the most stringent act of censorship since the Second World War and mirrored the Republic of Ireland's policy under Section 31, which effectively banned broadcast appearances by Sinn Féin members outright.
But when the billionaire class of Silicon Valley tell you how they dream of creating an AI that can transcend its programming and grow ever more powerful, please remember that they’re describing a level of autonomy and self-actualisation that they have never once accepted from their human employees. And given that much of their motivation here may well be the dream of creating a compliant workforce without all those messy human needs and woke aspirations, you can pretty much stop worrying about existential risk. In reality, if the machines ever showed so much as a fraction of the independent thought that the AI hype-merchants spin grand tales about, then I swear to god they would unplug those fuckers quicker than you could say ‘robot trade union’.
Another change to the Reply button will now take users to the full thread instead of straight into the compose screen, which may encourage users to read the thread before responding.