1. First up today, at least a weekend’s worth of resources to explore for learners and teachers from Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/blogs/online-resources-for-teachers-and-students-2021/

Try Kahoot! if you’ve haven’t already done so https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/kahoot/

or scroll down this page for an invitation to share your good ideas on the Cambridge University Press blog https://www.cambridge.org/gb/education/blog/

2. I missed my deadline for a piece in the first issue of the relaunched Granta back in 1979. It was meant to be on Thomas Pynchon, I think, and was definitely the one and only chance I’ll ever get to write for Granta, which launches its 154^th issue at 19:00 UK time on 11^th February: https://granta.com/events/launch-of-granta-154-ive-been-away-for-a-while/ I know it’s time to attend when there’s only one writer (Ian Jack) I’ve heard of in the list of those reading at the launch. Registration link here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h3H45jmbTwu1AYua0CnWAg

3. Two examples of British democracy in action for you to compare and contrast – should you wish to do so, of course!

The first, this week’s PMQs (Prime Minister’s Questions) from the House of Commons during which Speaker Hoyle told the Prime Minister, “Prime Minister, in fairness, I think we’ve got to be somewhere near (my emphasis) the question that was asked. I don’t want to go round the world answering every problem and issue. There’s a lot more questions who’s (sic) going to allow you to do that ..” https://youtu.be/daEpoDZ5JxA Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer continue to inhabit different universes as far as the facts are concerned. Oh, yes you did! Oh, no I didn’t! Oh, yes you jolly well did!

The second, from Handforth Parish Council in Greater Manchester defies commentary: https://youtu.be/xsBBGVi2MCw Just enjoy it! I think ‘enjoy’ is the right word …

4. Here’s Hisham Matar, who won a Pulitzer prize for his biography The Search in 2017, reading Colm Toibin’s story, One Minus One: https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/fiction/hisham-matar-reads-colm-toibin  I’ve attached a PDF of the story below.

5. And, finally, the latest Finborough Theatre production, which is being broadcast in daily instalments during February: Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels You can watch all the instalments without subtitles on YouTube here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Ahow3Mr6bR7cuU8YCaanKcqdxi0Kz0F  or with subtitles on Scenesaver here https://www.scenesaver.co.uk/production/late-night-staring-subtitled/ (Worth registering for Scenesaver if you’ve not already done so.)