James Forrester

25 years ago, on 15 Jan 2001, Wikipedia was founded. We've grown a bit, via values of neutral knowledge for all. Thanks for the work by so many volunteers globally who devotedly make it; to the donors who make it all possible; and to our readers who make it worthwhile. To the next 25! #Wikipedia25

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 296 hours); BBC Newscast (220 hours); The News Agents (170 hours); BBC Radio 4 Six O'Clock News (158 hours); The Times's Politics Unpacked (149 hours); The Vergecast ($, 133 hours); The Bunker (133 hours); Quiet Riot (124 hours); and The New Statesman Daily Politics (123 hours). At the bottom, it states that I have listened in total to 5857 hours' of podcasts in Overcast in 2025.

My overall #podcastswrapped for 2025 is rather high, I imagine. A focus on both US and UK politics means a lot with which to keep up! Thanks to Overcast for the summary feature.

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, December 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 23 hours); BBC Newscast (18 hours); Unspoiled! Podcast($, 13 hours); The News Agents (13 hours); The Vergecast ($, 12 hours); The Rest is Classified (12 hours); The New Statesman Daily Politics (12 hours); The Times's Politics Unpacked (11 hours); and Oh God, What Now? (11 hours). At the bottom, it states that I have listened in total to 493 hours' of podcasts in Overcast in December.

December: A bugfix means the overall counts are now rather higher; otherwise, just my standard listening. #podcastswrapped

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, November 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 26 hours); BBC Newscast (19 hours); The Vergecast($, 18 hours); Unspoiled! Podcast($, 15 hours); The News Agents (14 hours); BBC Six O’Clock News (13 hours); The Daily Show Ears Edition (12 hours); The New Statesman Daily Politics (12 hours); and The Bunker (11 hours). At the bottom, it states that I have listened in total to 145 hours of podcasts in Overcast in November.

November: Back up to mostly normal; more politics and less fun, it seems. #podcastswrapped

Updated my portfolio site of my shots published since June: jdforrester.myportfolio.com Of the ~180 shots, I think this one, “Mudlarking under Blackfriars’ Bridge” from June is my favourite.

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, October 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 22 hours); The Adam Buxton Podcast (18 hours); BBC Newscast (17 hours); The Rest Is Classified (14 hours); Get Into Gate (14 hours); BBC Six O’Clock News (13 hours); The New Statesman (12 hours); The News Agents (12 hours); and The Times's Politics Unpacked (12 hours). At the bottom, it states that I have listened in total to 138 hours of podcasts in Overcast in November.

October: Still a fair bit less, as I’ve been busy with some real-world things; I foresee that it’ll ramp back up in November though. #podcastswrapped

A shot of a holding screen saying welcome to WikiConference North America

Excited for the kick-off of #WikiConferenceNorthAmerica

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, September 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 22 hours); BBC Newscast (20 hours); THe New Statesman (17 hours); The News Agents (15 hours); Unspoiled! Podcast ($ 15 hours); BBC Six O'Clock News (14 hours); Vergecast (13 hours); The Times's Politics Unpacked (13 hours); and The Bunker (11 hours). At the bottom, it states that I have listened in total to 143 hours of podcasts in Overcast in September.

September: Slightly less listening, as after > 100 hours of the amazing @unspoiledpodcast.bsky.social I deleted and migrated my listening to be the Patreon podacst feed. #podcastswrapped

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, August 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 24 hours); The Times’s Jane & Fi (20 hours); Digital Foundry (19 hours); Vergecast (18 hours); BBC Newscast (18 hours); The Adam Buxton Podcast (15 hours); Origin Story (15 hours); Spoil Me’s Vorkosigan Saga (14 hours); and The News Agents (14 hours). At the bottom, it states that I have listened in total to 160 hours of podcasts in Overcast in August.

August: Another month of five hours’ listening a day. #podcastswrapped

I shall! Of all the flights in all the world… :-)

A shot of an empty stage in a session at Wikimedia Nairobi. The screen has the name, dates, and slogan of the event, in blue-green hues with art around. There is a podium to the left, similarly adorned.

Delighted to be at #Wikimania2025 in Nairobi. Our 20th Wikimania!

A three-by-three grid of labelled podcast icons, titled “My Top Podcasts, July 2025”. The entries are The Economist ($, 29 hours); BBC Newscast (19 hours); The News Agents (18 hours); Hello, Crawlers (16 hours); The New Statesman (14 hours); BBC Six O’Clock News (14 hours); The Times’s Politics Unpacked (14 hours); Vergecast (13 hours); and The Bunker (13 hours). At the bottom, it states that I listened in total to 155 hours of podcasts in Overcast in July.

July: Back to normal listening patterns; catching up on Hello, Crawlers about the superb Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. #podcastswrapped

A three-by-three list of podcasts represented by their icons, titled "My Top Podcasts, June 2025". The entries are The Economist feed ($, 22 hours); Kermode & Mayo's Extra Takes (4, 16 hours); BBC Newscast (14 hours); The News Agents (12 hours); The Times’s Politics Unpacked (11 hours); The Daily Show (10 hours); Today in Parliament (9 hours); and The Vergecast (9 hours). At the bottom, the graphic shows that I've listened to a total of 117 hours of podcasts in June 2025 in Overcast.

June: A significant reduction in podcast listening, as I spent more time reading and otherwise hiding inside from the heat. #podcastswrapped

A shot of a flowering bush (possibly a Winter-flowering cherry?) of vibrant pink, fuschia, and white flowers in front of a concrete and glass building labelled "Tata Innovation Center", a part of the campus of Cornell Tech in New York City. The shot is composed with a foreground trunk that splits most of the view into the low-colour structure to the left, and the richly-hued blossoms to the right, though some sneak through to interact with the corporate academia, as a contrast.

Updated my portfolio site of my photos published since February: jdforrester.myportfolio.com Of the ~100 shots, I think this one, “Flowers garlanding Cornell Tech’s Tata Innovation Center” from April is my favourite.

A three-by-three list of podcasts repesented by their icons, titled "My Top Podcasts, May 2025". The entries are The Economist feed ($, 30 hours); BBC Newscast (22 hours); The News Agents (15 hours); The Times’s Politics Unpacked (14 hours); Quiet Riot (14 hours); BBC Six O’Clock News (14 hours); The Vergecast (13 hours); BBC’s Strong Message Here (13 hours); and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (11 hours). At the bottom, the graphic shows that I've listened to a total of 150 hours of podcasts in May 2025 in Overcast.

May: A little retrenchment in my podcast listening rate, spending less time travelling and walking solo; I caught up on the excellent #StrongMessageHere. #podcastswrapped

This evening, at The King’s Head Theatre in Islington, a fascinating preview of a new play, #TheGangOfThree. Great writing, excellent acting and staging. Strongly recommended. I look forward to the press reviews after the screening tomorrow.

A three-by-three list of podcasts repesented by their icons, titled "My Top Podcasts, April 2025". The entries are Honorverse Today (47 hours); The Economist feed ($, 26 hours); the Rachel Maddow Show (16 hours); BBC Newscast (15 hours); the Daily Haow (13 hours); BBC Six O’Clock News (13 hours); The Vergecast (13 hours); The Times's Politics Unpacked (12 hours); and The News Agents (12 hours). At the bottom, the graphic shows that I've listened to a total of 167 hours of podcasts in April 2025 in Overcast.

April: Catching up on the “Honorverse Today” series, otherwise about the same. #podcastswrapped

Listening to the #BBCNewsCast retro episode about the 2007/8 financial crisis whilst having breakfast in the Pearl Diner off Wall Street gives a bit of a frisson of memories.

A three-by-three list of podcasts repesented by their icons, titled "My Top Podcasts, March 2025". The entries are The Economist feed ($, 26 hours); BBC Newscast (18 hours), The Vergecast (17 hours); the Rachel Maddow Show (16 hours); The News Agents (15 hours); Quiet Riot (13 hours); The Times's Politics Unpacked (13 hours); BBC Six O'Clock news (13 hours); and The Daily Show (12 hours). At the bottom, the graphic shows that I've listened to a total of 146 hours of podcasts in March 2025 in Overcast.

And now for March, with Quiet Riot’s discursive episodes expanding my listening further. #podcastswrapped

For February, the heightened pace of Maddow’s show bumps up, as does my catchup on the excellent Origin Story. #podcastswrapped

A view along a wooden bench curving away from the camera, with the view behind of New York City in the richly-warm, early morning sunshine. The near distance has a number of trees in green, orange, and red; the skyline features the Chrysler Building amongst others.

Have updated my portfolio site for the first time in six months: jdforrester.myportfolio.com — my favourite of the ~100 shots is probably this one, "Bench views at sunrise", posted in November.

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I thought it was brilliantly acted and shot/directed, and of course the source book was great. A gem; we'll see how well it does re. awards.

A three-by-three list of podcasts repesented by their icons, titled "My Top Podcasts, January 2025". The entries are The Economist feed ($, 24 hours); BBC Newscast (17 hours), BBC Six O'Clock news (13 hours), Welcome ($, 13 hours); The News Agents (13 hours); The Times's Politics Unpacked (12 hours); The Bunker (12 hours); The Daily Show (12 hours); and The Vergecast (10 hours). At the bottom, the graphic shows that I've listened to a total of 131 hours of podcasts in January 2025 in Overcast.

My top podcasts for January 2025; unsurprisingly, the excellent and extensive @economist.com full feed of podcasts top the list, like most weeks.

Keir Starmer appoints Chris Wormald as new cabinet secretary Wormald will take over from Simon Case on 16 December as the most senior official in the country

NEW: Keir Starmer has appointed Chris Wormald, a career civil servant who currently heads the health department, to become new cabinet secretary

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

BREAKING: Assisted dying bill passes its second reading by 330 votes to 275, after emotional four-and-a-half hour debate, meaning it now proceeds to its next Commons stage.

Keir Starmer spotted by MPs going through the ‘aye’ lobby.

Niche historic British media point, but I keep reading “bsky” (for BlueSky) as “BSkyB”, and wondering if I’m seeing only comments from Sky News people.

At some point, one wonders about being in breach of the ministerial code, using one’s office and staff for (effectively) non-governmental business. Of course there’s a tricky line as it’s ministerial-relevant, but…