My YouTube channel has not seen traffic like this before:
That screenshot was taken at just after seven this morning.
This is also interesting:
And for those who say that looking at such data is simply for the sake of a dopamine hit (which it does, of course, provide), I'd suggest they think again.
I oppose Trump and all he stands for.
I loathe the far-right billionaire view of the world that treats the vast majority of people in the world as expendable means to achieve their ends.
If making videos is a way to challenge what they are doing, that is what I will do. Of course, it's pleasing in that case if they find an audience.
This is the way to fight back. And more than that, this is the way to help build change.
So to all those who have watched, I say thank you.
Thanks for reading this post.
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Buy me a coffee!
Thank You!
Demos Kratos:: People rule.
Not ruthless profiteering where life and the planet are reduced to profit maximisation and marketisation of everything.
(Nothing wrong with commerce BTW)
Great news Richard keep up the good work!!
Thanks
Congratulations to you and your team. Well done! And a blessed Easter. There is hope, but it requires our co-operation and effort.
Tyrants fall.
They do
You are clearly able to articulate (on the subject of Mango-man) in ways that appeal to Americans.
This is very good & goes to show that the blog has an appeal that extends outside of the UK.
Happy Easter – I hope the sun shines on you & your family.
What always amuses me is that almost every day Sydney is the city that has most watchers of my video. But Sydney might be pretty widely defined…
“You are clearly able to articulate (on the subject of Mango-man) in ways that appeal to Americans.”
You have a world view.
Yes, some of your topics may be UK specific but you fit them into the context of the “world” which is how I came to this blog (a google search) and why I bookmarked this blog in order to visit every day.
I set a reminder too for both the blog and YouTube!
🙂
Thanks
The numbers in your blog are powerful — no doubt due to what you write about. It’s not just the facts or the data, but the way you cut through the noise and speak to what really matters. You lay bare the scale of the crisis we’re living through — the injustice, the environmental damage, the slow erosion of dignity through austerity and neglect. What you write connects the big global emergencies with the smaller, everyday struggles that wear people down close to home. And I think that’s why it resonates with so many — because it reflects the world we’re living in, and the better one so many of us still hope we can build.
But as I read, I found myself asking something I can’t shake: how many of us — your readers, your viewers — actually act on what you write? How many of us are stirred enough to do more than nod along in agreement? To push back, to speak up, to challenge those in power and remind them that a compass doesn’t only point in one direction? That there are 360 degrees of possibility, and we are not locked into the narrow, destructive path they’ve chosen? How many of us truly believe that another way is not just possible, but necessary — and are brave enough to live, speak, and act like that belief matters?
Because while those numbers speak loudly, what stays with me is what happens in the quiet — in the spaces where policy meets pavement, and dignity is either quietly upheld or slowly chipped away.
It’s strange, this double life we lead. We wake to headlines about economic collapse, record-breaking temperatures, spiralling inequality — and then step outside and trip over the same pothole that’s been there for months. And somehow, both things matter.
There’s a crater at the end of my road. It became a bit of a local joke — people posted photos of it, someone stuck a plastic flower in it, the kids painted rocks and lined the edges. Then one day, the council filled it in, and I kid you not — someone actually clapped. From across the street. A pothole repair shouldn’t feel like a miracle. But it did. And that says something.
Same with the bins. One missed collection and the street starts to smell. You see people dragging bags down the road like recycling refugees. My neighbour, a retired teacher in her seventies, quietly clears litter every morning. No fuss, just a weary, “It’s not right, is it?”
And she’s right. It’s not about bins or roads. It’s about being seen. Feeling like someone is watching over things. That we matter enough for someone, somewhere, to care. Because when that care disappears, something inside communities — and people — starts to fray.
And yet… even in the cracks, something human pushes through. People help each other. They laugh. They get creative. There’s a fierce tenderness in it — a stubborn refusal to let things completely fall apart. And I find that incredibly moving. Even when systems fail, we don’t.
That’s why your writing matters. Because you never lose sight of the connections — between tax and teachers, between climate collapse and a child’s asthma, between austerity and the mould climbing up the walls of a cold flat. You make it clear: this isn’t abstract. This is now. This is us.
But we need reminding — over and over — that we’re not powerless. That there are still choices to be made. Because if we don’t act on what we know, if we don’t demand something better, then the future becomes whatever those at the top decide it is. And I don’t want to live in that world.
The numbers you give us are sharp, necessary, and honest — and they remind us that we are not alone. That across the planet, there are souls who care, who see what’s happening, who still believe in something better. But imagine — truly imagine — if everyone who read them took them to heart. If every reader stood up, even in small, quiet ways. What kind of world might we be living in already? A world with fewer potholes, yes — but also fewer people falling through the cracks. A world where care is not an afterthought, but the very foundation of society.
So thank you — truly — for keeping the spotlight on the big picture while never losing sight of the small things that make up our lives. Every broken pavement, every forgotten bin, every neglected person — it all matters. And every flower planted in protest is a reminder that we’re still here. Still caring.
Happy Easter.
Might I blush?
And thank you.
The small things matter to me.
So, too, do connections.
But most of all, people do.
What Bryan R said, and thank you
Blush away Richard, please, do.
🙂
A very small case in support. Every year, the last bin collection before Christmas, I wait at my gate to give a Christmas tip to the binmen. No-one else on the street does, though there used to be several. Presumably people now think of bin collection as a depersonalised service, rather than a dirty job done cheerfully by people. As you’ve said, it’s about noticing.
The “Meaningful Chocolate Company” makes themed “thankyou” chocolate bars which are great for this.
https://meaningfulchocolate.co.uk/
To reverse something I said earlier in the week: perhaps you are becoming the UK’s version of Lawrence O’Donnell and exporting our UK version back to many in the US who would appreciate it. Whatever it is, it’s excellent. And I hope acting as ‘spotter’ for MSNBC segments of potential interest helps from time to time. As the chorus line from an old Northern Soul tune goes: ‘You gotta keep on keeping on no matter how hot it is.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWYxTnxp6lE
Great song
Thanks
Hello Reichard,
This is a DM rather than for the blog, it is the only way I can see to contact you.
I have just watched Gary Stevenson’s last video of his present series. In it he is asking for more input from people who can help get the message out there and in particular of setting out policies to help reduce inequality in our society – The Taxing Wealth Report!?
I know you have said before you were going to approach Gary but wondered if you had managed to.
Anyway here is the link to the video, which I felt was encouraging : https://youtu.be/zIMtH8W7_Yc?si=7mvnRh5GeIbf_kY5
Many thanks for all you do.
Best wishes
Simon
I have left messages for Gary in every way I can for when he returns.