Kat Brown

@katbrownwrites

Freelance journalist and editor in London, hello! Only Connect Jilly and servant to v entitled animals. My books are on ADHD and infertility, but I’m 99% fuelled by The Archers and horse riding. www.katbrownwrites.com

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Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 11d

The Wiggle Pig (957 other nicknames also available) wishes you a very happy weekend when it comes

Sybil, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DOGGY IN SOUTH LONDON AND PROBABLY THE WORLD, a golden retriever with every allergy in the known universe and the most beautiful Galaxy Minstrel eyes, grins up at the camera, most probably because the person taking the photo has treats in their pocket.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 13d

I'll admit it, this is a bolder summer look than I was expecting from M&S.

A window at Marks & Spencer in High Street Ken. The model is wearing sunglasses and long white linen belted shorts. Oh, and a little black bag. It looks like a heatwave stress dream I had last month.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 14d

The community notes on his video are pleasingly sarcastic

Community notes on Chris Philp's X video:

1)No need to publish notice when you practice 9mm HK USP on an empty can from the rear deck.
And warning shots are made 100 yards in front of the ship warned, after VHF warning.

2)The video shows the French boat firing behind itself with gunshots seen landing above the waves.

The video does not show the French boat firing directly at/towards the boat with Philp on it.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 15d

This matters even more given the British Medical Association is now campaigning against shared care agreements. www.bma.org.uk/our-campaign...

From 1 July, collective action focuses on new invitations to provide shared care. Shared care arrangements should only be agreed under a locally commissioned agreement with the LMC, with clear clinical responsibility and adequate resource. Without clearly commissioned pathways, new invitations to provide shared care should be declined.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 20d

WAS THINKING EXACTLY THE SAME THING

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 22d

The report describes three turning points that changed the landscape. In 2024, it highlights a "polycrisis convergence" (science-speak for "omnishambles") in which narratives converge. So, immigration/foreign aid/health care etc are all weaved in together. Anyway, this is your real fake news.

February 2022; Ukraine war: Conflict-related false and misleading information
shifted from intermittent to permanent. Narratives around staged attacks, alleged
biolabs (e.g., claims that the country hosted covert biological weapons facilities),
and political corruption became continuously present rather than event-driven.
● March 2023; Mainstream adoption of generative AI: The emergence of AI
introduced a new production infrastructure:.
○ AI-generated content rose from marginal presence to 97% of months
tracked post-2023. It evolved rapidly from novelty images to targeted
political manipulation (e.g. voice cloning, synthetic speeches).
● 2024 onwards; Polycrisis convergence: Previously distinct domains (health,
conflict, immigration, climate, gender, AI) began operating simultaneously and at
scale, creating what can be characterised as a “polycrisis information
environment”, in which these domains not only co-exist but increasingly interact,
with narratives crossing boundaries (e.g., public health risks being attributed to
migration, particularly in immigration debates)

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 22d

That report is quite dense (as am I, after weeks of heatwave), but basically, it covers 2020-2025. Over that time, misinformation about health (inc. Covid, I'd be interested to hear about eg ADHD, ASD etc) was present every time. Misinformation about gender: >75%.

Table 4.3 Prevalence of False and Misleading Information by Category
Category Months
present
Prevalence Classification
Health-related (incl. COVID-19) 56/56 100% Constant (present every month)
Ukraine conflict 52/56 92.9% Constant (present >90% of months)
Immigration 50/56 89.3% Constant (present >90% of months)
Climate change 47/56 83.9% High (present in >80% of months)
LGBTQ+ & gender issues 43/56 76.8% High (present in >75% of months)
AI-generated 40/56 71.4% High (rapidly growing from March 2023)

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· 26d

I really love this for Sadiq. He's been a brilliant mayor, and, as the son of a bus driver, he really deserves this.

Sir Sadiq Khan has been made a peer in a list of 26 new members of the House of Lords issued by Downing Street as Sir Keir Starmer prepares to leave office.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jul 9

I've written about our enduring love for good old Marks and Sparks today (and @helenlohara.bsky.social's genius idea for a PR campaign), and AllBright made me this nice graphic which is very jolly! Read it here: theallbright.com/stories/life...

Every couple of years without fail, someone discovers M&S and writes a public service announcement about it as though they've found a second Bayeux Tapestry hidden in their Google searches.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 28

Lily Allen tonight - the most beautiful and sanity-protecting staging for an album that might otherwise be like hurting yourself every time. Looking out at everyone waving their phone torches felt like seeing an arena remembering their own terrible exes in tribute to her.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 26

Small pieces of apple from the fridge have also been judged acceptable.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 26

Husband has an infrared thermometer for husbandly reasons - the pavement outside our house is 45C. The tarmac is upwards of 50C. And that’s why the dog is basically a bored prisoner this week, bribed with chews and frozen yoghurt.

An infrared thermometer screen showing just over 45C. The battery is about to die, sorry if that gives you the raging heebs

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 26

Tesco is extending its Kids Eat Free scheme to 7 days a week over the summer, where children get a free meal with an adult purchase, but honestly, this detail about how small the adult purchase can be broke my heart.

The Café and The Coffee Shop in Tesco will be offering one free Kids Hot Meal Deal, Kids Breakfast or Kids Pick ‘n’ Mix deal with any full price adult purchase when they scan their Tesco Clubcard. **The adult purchase could be something as small as an apple costing just 65 pence.** And with no limit to the number of Kid’s meals you can redeem, families of all sizes can benefit too.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 26

Meanwhile, standards had slipped at the East India Club

A large fluffy calico cat gargles with joy on her numerous catnip toys which have been put away on the bottom of a shelf and in which she is now rolling around luxuriously

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 24

It's happened, the weather has broken PA

Screengrab from an email: PA Media: Alert: Weather: Hot

(This is just a little yolk, as my father would say, but I do hope their journalists are cool and have ice lollies).

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 24

We all handle the heat in our own way

My calico cat, Genevieve, presses her paws up against the skirting board, her tummy near the shelf with all her catnip toys. Please note there is a fan in the room next door which she is nowhere near.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 24

My rose gives about one flower a year but this time it’s given three so they’re all now inside before the heat wilts them to death

A Thinking of You red rose with a lovely appley scent.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 23

Wooble doesn't like paddling pools, splash zones, the sea, moving water of any kind, or swimming pools. She does adore a puddle, presumably because they're nice and shallow and reassuringly revolting.

A slightly shocked-looking golden retriever, a mix of pristine cream and grey-brown, stands up to her ankles in a muddy puddle on a south London common, muddy water all over her muzzle and face.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 23

Look at this cheerful little guy in the Pets as Home heatwave advisory email! (I bought Sybil a doggy paddling pool a few years ago, which she flatly refused to use due to being the world's most landlocked dog.)

A white poodly type dog with a clipped coat is cheerfully gargling on a garden sprinkler. Thank you Pets at Home!

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 23

This is so shit - West End Lane Books in West Hampstead was hit this morning by three tween boys who threw eggs in the shop, then ran off and did the same thing to the Sainsbury’s Local. They’ve done it before, apparently. This time it’s caused £800 of damage. Eggs! So pathetic.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 22

There was a flutter in my local cat group about a thin ginger cat lying under a car, so I took it some Felix (which he ignored until I cut it up for him) and some water. Anyway, it turns out his name is Garfield, he has a skin condition, and yes he’s old but he did also have breakfast this morning!

A scrungly, old, but well-loved cat daintily nibbles some of Genevieve’s cat food from atop a plastic container lid

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 22

Anyway, I’ve written about the coronation/leadership election for today’s Indy and asked why there’s absolutely no mention of any women running, despite the withering criticism of Starmer’s boys club, McSweeney, and Mandelson *barely six months ago*. www.independent.co.uk/voices/keir-...

As the prospect of Keir Starmer’s resignation looms over the start of the coming week like the heatwave, one thing strikes me above all else. Whenever conversation does grudgingly turn to the prospect of a contest rather than a coronation for Andy Burnham, the key players are all men.

Notwithstanding Labour’s glaringly obvious reluctance to vote for women in leadership contests, let alone get behind one as leader, this feels like the Starmer drama has caused memory leaks in the PLP.

I know a lot’s been going on, but let’s try and cast our minds back a whole five months to February, when Labour was in the grips of the Mandelson scandal. Starmer met with the Women’s PLP to “discuss” the boys’ club culture in his government that had factored in Peter Mandelson’s appointment. Harriet Harman told the PM he needed to “transform the political culture in government around women and girls”.

Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, eventually resigned over Mandelson’s appointment. Yet, just four months later, The i Paper reported three Government sources as saying he was back, advising Starmer over the phone. And on Friday week Baroness Harman was back to say what we really should all be thinking: “There must be a woman in the contest”, she told Radio 4’s Today programme. “We cannot have a male beauty parade again.”

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 22

Sybil (6) is preparing for the fifth PM in her young life - but mostly keeping an eye out for Larry so that she can shout that there is a cat on the TV.

A golden retriever lies on the sofa with the fan on in the background watching Sky News coverage of Starmer’s resignation

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 20

What an absolutely extraordinary book, beautifully read by Jason Isaacs. I read it driving today via the BorrowBox library app. Thank you @patricknessbooks.bsky.social - and for anyone looking for something to read/listen to, get this. I’m v late to it but so glad.

A Monster Calls by Patrick NESs. Just wonderful.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 19

This is so interesting - and, as with so much negative happening in the US, the UK exported it wholesale the following year. Look at Google searches on the general topic of transgender from 2024 and the sudden rocket upwards in January 2023.

A Google trends search for the overall topic of “transgender.” The line is totally flat on 0 from 2004 to January 2023 when it rockets up to 40, peaking at 100 in 2025. Who made this happen? Why? And clearly, trans people are being used as the thin end of the wedge (not that they think that, not that we should even allow that)

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 18

I am mildly hysterical at the Guardian's idea of "corner shop wines" being from Asda, Tesco, Co-Op, Waitrose and M&S Simply Food www.theguardian.com/food/2026/ju...

Five corner shop dependables
Muriel Tempranillo Rioja £9.75 Co-op, 13%. Classic, fruity, sweet, spiced, young rioja – no drama.

Studio by Miraval £12.50 Sainsbury’s, 12.5%. Easy-drinking light rosé to fuel you through the summer.

Waitrose Loved & Found Carricante £9.50, 12%. Mineral and food-versatile. If your local has this, you’re in for a treat.

The Wine Atlas Fetească Regală £7 Asda, 11.5%. Great with a curry (and I know for a fact that Asda Express in Romford stocks it).

M&S Delacourt Champagne Brut £25 Ocado, 12.5%. Never a bad choice, if your “corner shop” is an M&S Simply Food.

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 17

It’s been seven years and she still hasn’t grown into her paws

My cat Genevieve, the cutest and the best, with her purring little personage and great big enormous hooves

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 12

For the weekend, I’ve written about what our obsession with #Rivals shows us - then and now - about ambition, career and trying really bloody hard: theallbright.com/stories/life...

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 9

Some quite impressive understatement coming out of Northern Ireland tonight

A police car has been set on fire in Portadown, with independent assembly member Doug Beattie describing the incident, which happened outside his constituency office, as "disheartening".

Kat Brown@katbrownwrites· Jun 8

Well, I’ve finally found a way for Genevieve to eat the food she’s been refusing for the past two weeks and that is apparently to empty it all out into a giant bowl while replacing it