Josh Allan

Writer // Quillette || The Mallard || 3:AM || Antigone || The Oxford Review of Books || World Literature Today

[Theo Nash @theo_nash]

Humpty Dumpty, latine.

(From Arundines Cami, ed. Drury)

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@tmuxvim I can't believe they missed the 'u'.

[S. I. Rubinstein @si_rubinstein]

Whatever happened to "No Popery"? – I have written for @unherd about the Catholic Andy Burnham.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@zoecabina Counterpoint:

[Kristin Reid @KristinMReid11]

Sam Harris has written the perfect piece.

“Why does antisemitism matter? Well, for the Jews, it’s obvious why it matters, but why should it matter to everyone else? It matters because when you look at what antisemites also hate, you find they hate everything that makes culturally rich, diverse, open societies possible. Real antisemites bring with them more than just their hatred of Jews: they bring censorship, political repression, conspiracy thinking, and the politics of dehumanization and scapegoating. So decrying antisemitism is not an act of special pleading. It is a defense of the moral and institutional architecture that makes free societies possible.”

https://t.co/ECQk6P7KL1

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@Fremond_ Insolvent.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@Luftstalag14 @Valen10Francois Dorcas, Hester, Jabez etc.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@Luftstalag14 @Valen10Francois Anglican names in the 17th century included Praise-God and If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hads't-Been-Damned, not to mention a litany of other biblical names that are no longer popular.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

Lower productivity to blame for interest rate cuts, says Taylor Swift.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@ItsAndyRyan La Paz?

[MB @paxangloceltae]

1.5K applications.

I tend to not do personal anecdotes on the timeline but I will today. I’ve worked from the age of 17 up to now (late 20s) in a variety of jobs - from part-time roles during my studies to senior management positions - and have all manner of qualifications and skills.

I even have a degree which I got in the summer of last year - from a world top 30 university no less. I had to take time out of my degree due to care responsibilities and other life circumstances, and when I returned I had to teach myself the entire third year of my degree independently without tuition. I got a 2:1 and I’m bloody proud of it.

I’ve also committed thousands of hours over several years to voluntary work for good causes - not for reward, but because I believe in doing good (this is why I never tweet about voluntary work - a good deed shouldn’t be used to seek social validation).

I left my last role just before Christmas 2025 - the employer couldn’t afford to keep me on, and was so supportive and apologetic about the financial situation the company faced.

Since then I’ve applied to over 1.5K jobs and had 1 interview. I refuse to become a leech on the taxpayer despite having paid lots of tax in my lifetime thus far, and whilst my family are beyond incredible, they are working-class people of little means.

1.5K applications. I cannot put into words how demoralising a process looking for a job as a young person is. To make matters worse, I’ve come across a few jobs which are not open to White British applicants. This is insane. I am part of the group which is the most underrepresented in UK Higher Education and in corporate roles - white working-class boys. No firm which cares about social mobility and “diversity” would exclude someone like me on racial and ethnic grounds - and yet they do.

Still, that’s only a minority of jobs. Most don’t racially or ethnically exclude me. Yet still, 1.5K applications. 1 interview. 5 months.

Reading this report from the CSJ today and having first seen the 27:1 figure last night has made me only more dismayed.

And to the Boomers and Gen X people - particularly those on the right - who keep accusing young people of being lazy or not willing to do certain jobs (I’ve applied to everything from corporates to supermarkets to warehouses), please stop. It’s far from the truth.

Anyhow, in summary, it’s all so hopeless right now and I can’t see a way of this situation - mine and that of thousands of other young Britons - improving.

Oh, and when I do eventually find a job (Deo volente), I will have to pay an effective marginal tax rate of 37%. I am of the Plan 2 student loan generation, so I am especially screwed. 37% for public services I can’t even access. The NHS doesn’t work for me (as I’ve previously tweeted about), everything is broken, and I’ll never be able to access taxpayer-subsidised things like social housing (not that I’d want to - but then, like much of my generation, I’ll never own a home).

Who would want to be a Zoomer in Britain?

1.5K applications.

Lord, have mercy.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@ross_baglin @peterrhague @VeteranGamerUK The notion of a polity only makes sense if there are other polities.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@AntigoneJournal @TheShiftJournal I bet he reads Antigone too.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@SohrabAhmari The @SDPhq are the closest thing to that in Britain.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@ItsTaz1989 @zoecabina To be fair, the Iliad began as purely oral storytelling, and that's more preparation than many actors are willing to commit to.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@si_rubinstein His Holiness should consider submitting it for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@93vintagejones It's evil.

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@icaruslemaitre @1fenlon

[Josh Allan @JoshAllanTweets]

@maxdaniellawton Great collection. One of the stories is also the inspiration for the Maggie Gyllenhaal/James Spader movie, Secretary.