Simon Tyler

Today is the birthday of my best friend Gary, who died in October 2023. Here is a piece I wrote for the Guardian in honour of his beautiful memory. theguardian.com/film/2026/mar/…

A shame to hear of the end of Gentleman’s Relish. I wrote about it many moons ago for Vice: vice.com/en/article/thi…

"I said opening up the Strait of Hormuz would be highly beneficial and would help facilitate a de-escalation of this conflict so that further negotiations can take place. What did I say, Roy?" "You said 'Open the fuckin' strait, you crazy bastards, or you'll be living in hell'."

Isabel Oakeshott stares out of her window in Dubai wishing she was back in the UK shouting at jars of marmalade in Waitrose.

My book Gizmo comes out in May with Laurence King - lots and lots of illustrated gadgets that shaped how we live. I’ve been turning some of the illustrations into prints on axisophy.com plus there’s currently 20% off everything with the code FEB20!

@vamsibatchuk That’s really cool - bravo!

i keep making map apps and it's so much fun. one another ai studio experiment that shows dinosaur fossil sites around the world. pick your favorite dinosaur, get a vintage-style map to see where they've been found across the world, the full field survey record with weight class, bite force, the works. aesthetic i was going for = a 1920s expedition archive.

@HarrySword And don’t forget his substantial cookery oeuvre, inc Len Deighton’s Action Cookbook : How To Seduce With An Omelette!

1980’s embossed font Len Deighton (‘DEIGHTON’) airport bricks were always called i.e THE BUTCHER, THE BAKER, THE CANDLESTICK MAKER and the blurb would always be from The Scotsman - ‘taut’ - or The Daily Mail - ‘A master of thrillers’ etc

@trq212 mxwll.io

Anyone build something cool with Claude Code over the holidays? I wanna see 👀

"I once told a Jewish boy that Hitler was right, then blamed It Ain't Half Hot Mum"

I’ve held back from commenting on the revelations about Nigel Farage’s past racism. Not because the story shocked me. For many in this country, it merely confirms what we’ve suspected for years. But some will be hearing these allegations for the first time, and it’s to you that I want to speak. Most of us have said or done things when we were young that we look back on with regret. That’s part of growing up. We make mistakes, we cringe at our former selves, we learn, we change. Some of those early attitudes fall away. Others become the foundations of who we later become. What’s now emerging about Nigel Farage isn’t a single stupid comment or one heated moment. Former classmates are describing a pattern of behaviour. Not just a bully. A racist bully of the ugliest kind. That doesn’t automatically mean he holds every one of those views today. But look at his politics. Look at his rhetoric. Look at the company he keeps and the division he trades in. It paints a picture of a man whose worldview didn’t appear to grow out of those foundations, but grew from them. So what does that mean now? If you already oppose Farage, this only hardens your resolve. If you adore him, nothing I say will shift you. But there’s a group of people I do want to reach: those considering voting Reform. I’m not going to patronise you. I understand why many are thinking about it. If you’ve watched your pay stall, your bills rise, your community decline, and your politicians shrug for years, you might well think: what have I got to lose? Why not give the system a kick? Why not try something different? And you may feel the country has taken a wrong turn. That we’ve lost something precious and need to put it right. Those instincts aren’t wicked. They aren’t racist. They come from frustration, disappointment, and a desire for dignity and control in your own life. But here’s the truth that cannot be dodged. Most people in this country are good, decent, fair-minded. They don’t want to see hate imported into the heart of their politics. They don’t want their children growing up in a country defined by fear and division. So ask yourself this, quietly and honestly: is Nigel Farage a changed man? Has he shown any sign that he regrets the person he was? Or has he built a career by sharpening those same instincts into a political weapon? Because if he hasn’t changed, then every vote for Farage isn’t a protest. It’s permission. It hands real power to a man whose teenage cruelty seems less like a phase and more like a blueprint. This country is far from perfect, but it is worth fighting for. And once a politics of hatred takes root at the top, a country doesn’t easily come back from it. You know this in your gut. We all do. Nigel Farage is not fit to lead this country. A vote for him, or for those who still cheer the views he held as a teenager, would stain the country we love with something we may never fully wash away. And to the Reform diehards who will now pile into the comments with abuse: crack on. You’ll only prove the point.

@ZackPolanski Many years ago, the TV critic in The Guardian reviewed a soft-porn BBC production of some mildly sapphic work in which a lady pleasured her maid with a polished truncheon. "It's not every day one sees a leatherclad dildo on the BBC - unless it's Jeremy Clarkson" made me chortle.

@tobi axisophy.com/products/mamma…

Best gift ideas for curious teens? Drop links. Ideally Shopify ones ✌️

@harleyf @Shopify axisophy.com

Every year I find new brands I love through this post. If you’re a @Shopify merchant, drop your store and your favourite product. I’ll be shopping this week.

@thisisgrey That was my thinking when I found this: erkinkaramemet.com/modena/

A good idea for a brand is to keep it simple and spend a lot of time finding an expensive understated typeface that kills. Frost has just that. The Loro Piana of typefaces. [Link↓]

A Summer Poem B̲ronzed & tanned a burnished gold, O̲n his Summer holidays, R̲esting his sap filled conkers, I̲mbibibing merrily with teats on display, S̲paffing furiously on fungi stained sun loungers. 🇬🇧

Letter of the day (via @arusbridger)

@campbellclaret I find it truly astounding that you feel fit to comment at all.

strong ‘warm hearted Richard Curtis directed/James Graham scripted comedy drama set in ‘the britpop era’ starring S.Coogan and B. Mortimer as ‘a couple of middle aged Mancunian dreamers determined to dust off the guitars for a last shot at the big time’ energy from Z Starkey here

@Keir_Starmer Meanwhile, this child can’t wish her father anything anymore.

Video of the Day: GR8 Harrier patrols the London Underground to assist Transport For London catching #FareDodgers as part of Operation Crusty Soapdodger and The War Against Ticket Slackers Every year Fare Dodging costs tax payers £800.85bil Filmed from a Canberra