Top story in today’s Times and FT: possible commencement of civil war in Russia. Top story in today’s Guardian: one third of university exams in the UK might be marked a bit late this year.

This is a very interesting article on why AI is at the heart of the WGA Writers' Strike. open.substack.com/pub/colehaddon…

It's not too late to vote in the Teen Shortlist!

Watch below to hear why you should vote for The Summer We Turned Green, from author William Sutcliffe!

Vote now: shop.scholastic.co.uk/lollies/vote

The Guardian’s top story today is Fox News paying out $787m to settle an election lies defamation lawsuit. The Times’ top story is about milkshake.

Chloé Zhao will direct a film adaptation of ‘HAMNET.’

The film is based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, who will adapt the script along with Zhao.

(deadline.com/2023/04/chloe-…)

This takes the phrase ‘worker bee’ to a whole new level 🐝

As our government tries to distract us from their failures by fomenting hatred against refugees, a reminder that political rhetoric doesn’t have to be this way. This is the poem that was cast in bronze on the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS. I am restarting this project. Any state school may apply to me for money to buy not text books but reading books for school & classroom libraries. I will set up a dedicated email address and make it public on here soon. Please RT/pass on.

One of my favourite real Titanic stories is the tale of this guy, Chief Baker Charles Joughin, who really did end up on the stern of the sinking ship - but not after being kind of a badass 🧵

Effective thinking isn’t about ‘working hard’ in any brute or rote sense. It is about learning to spot, defend, nurture and grow our fleeting, tentative periods of insight. (Henri Matisse, Back to the Open Window, 1922)

I’m delighted to be part of this shortlist, and to see humour being valued as an important part of YA fiction. Many congratulations to my fellow shortlistees.

Season 2 of The White Lotus is just as good as Season 1, which, in my opinion, puts it up there with Succession as the best thing on TV.

If you’re interested in a residential YA/children’s writing course in January in a beautiful country house (Arvon at The Hurst), taught by me and the brilliant Emily Barr, then you are in luck. Please spread the the word to anyone who might want a place.

Really enjoyable event last night interviewing the peerless Jonathan Coe. If you want to understand the roots of the UK’s collective nervous breakdown, I can’t recommend “Bournville” highly enough.

The bizarre journey from paragraph 1 to 4 in this Guardian piece tells a revealing story about racism and capitalism.

RIP the European Research Group .RIP the Institute of Economic Affairs. RIP the Adam Smith Institute. RIP the Free Market Forum. RIP Lord David Frost and Allister Heath. RIP, in a few years time, Brexit. The long journey to a prosperous economy and sane polity can now begin.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney paid $2.5 million for the world's third-oldest football club.

But the team is in the 5th division of the English football pyramid and has almost no chance of making it to the Premier League.

Still, it was a genius move.

Here's why 👇

The SNP is setting out its plans to move to a new currency.

Here Glasgow University's Prof Ronnie MacDonald, our leading expert on currency matters, explains some of the challenges.

Scotland deserves a clear and open debate about the issues.

This is a very sad day for Edinburgh. A huge loss to the city.