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Little Journey helps children prepare for hospital procedures and clinical trials. Check out the 12-slide deck it used to raise $3.1 million.

• London-based Little Journey has raised $3.1 million for its children's health platform. 
• The startup helps children and families prepare for hospital procedures and clinical trials.
• Check out the 12-slide deck Little Journey used to raise the fresh funds.

A startup that has developed a platform to support children and their families during hospital procedures and clinical trials has just raised $3.1 million.

London-based Little Journey aims to support all children in the personalized delivery of care, according to cofounder and CEO Dr Chris Evans, who is also an anesthetist. Evans often witnessed how distressed and uncertain children were when they came in for surgery.

This uncertainty can lead to anxiety "which leads to worse health outcomes for children," he added.

"We were giving out adult leaflets to children. I had seen my nieces and nephews interact with technology — and I thought, why can't we do the same for children coming into hospital?" he told Insider.

Little Journey has developed an app that makes children aware of who they're meeting and where they're going and also incorporates animated characters that explain what happens during surgeries and clinical trials. 

Little Journey makes children aware of who they're meeting and where they're going and gives them coping strategies before their clinical procedures. It provides children with coping methods to relax as well as guidelines on how they can keep track of their medication. 

The startup has also developed a platform for management staff at hospitals and clinical trials. Healthcare staff can personalize a patient's pathway on the app, and the platform is currently deployed across over 50 National Health Insurance (NHS) trusts. 

The cofounders decided to tackle pediatric clinical trials because a key issue is a shortfall in recruitment, with many children dropping out — often due to the emotional pressures involved in being a part of a trial . 

Families and carers of children are also regularly kept in the loop, and provided checklists and guidelines to help support patients. The startup claims its platform has reduced anxiety in children by 32%, recovery time by 30%, and, same-day cancellations by 42%.

Amid a drought in the UK's health tech funding landscape since 2022, with pediatric care being an especially neglected sub-sector, Evans found that expanding Little Journey's client base beyond a single market to pharma companies helped cinch the funding. 

"We know in the NHS, there's not a lot of money for patient experience, so there's challenges getting in there," he said. "By working with pharma, keeping a patient in a trial to enable that data collection is of much higher value." 

As a B2B product, the startup licenses its platform to healthcare organizations; its end play is to use that data for personalized care and move that data for use within the life sciences sector. 

The $3.1 million round was led by Octopus Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm that has backed the likes of Cazoo, Depop, and Elvie. 

With the fresh funding, the startup will look at how the data collected from these procedures and trials can drive better-personalized care, based on children's behaviors and needs. 

Check out the 12-slide deck used to raise the funding:

• Main content

Little Journey

Check out this  poster case study with additional information about what Little Journey achieved during their time on the Accelerator programme.

NHS problem

75% of children attending for healthcare procedures experience significant anxiety. This leads to worse patient experiences (e.g. use of restraint, post-anaesthetic emergence delirium) and mental and physical outcomes (e.g. increased reporting of post-operative pain and behavioural disorders including bed-wetting, separation anxiety and nightmares). Peri-procedural anxiety also results in adverse financial implications for the NHS, such as increased pre-medication use (£22 per benzodiazepine dose), unplanned admissions (approximately £1900 per patient) and on-the-day cancellations (approximately £1200 per patient).

The solution

Little Journey is a digital eSupport platform designed to reduce peri-procedural anxiety in children. It consists of a patient-facing smartphone app and a hospital-accessed web portal. The app delivers engaging and interactive content tailored to the age of child, procedure type and local hospital. This includes virtual tours, explaining what will happen and who they will meet in hospital, relaxation animations aiding development of positive coping strategies and therapeutic/distraction games. A parent section includes information articles (delivered at specifics times according to date of procedure), checklists, hospital contact details and fasting guidelines. The web portal enables hospitals to customise content to local patient pathways and policies, ensuring the provision of up-to-date and relevant information.

Little Journey is currently configured to over 50 NHS organisations; the app has had over 37,000 historic users to date (97% satisfaction rating on the app store). Early trials indicate approximately 30% reduction in anxiety plus improved quality of life through return to normal function post-surgery (1.74% Quality Adjusted Life Year improvement). In 2019, an independent health economic evaluation of an early version, supporting children undergoing elective operations, demonstrated cost benefit evidence of £3.50 for every £1 invested plus a further £6 in social benefits. This was achieved through 30% faster recovery times and a 42% reduction in on-the-day cancellations. The analysis modeled that introduction of Little Journey to 145 (50%) NHS hospitals in England would lead to approximately £12million cost benefit to healthcare and society.

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Little Journey Raises $3M in Funding to Improve Healthcare Experiences for Families.

April 17, 2023

London, United Kingdom - Little Journey , a digital eSupport platform designed to psychologically prepare, support, and inform children and families before, during, and after healthcare interactions, has raised $3,075,000 in funding from Octopus Ventures , a leading European venture capital firm.

The Little Journey smartphone app enables families to access information and support tailored to their child's age, procedure type, and hospital at a time and location convenient to them. The app features virtual tours using 360-degree images of the actual rooms families will visit, which explain what will happen and who children will meet during their hospital journey. Relaxation animations and therapeutic/distraction games further help to reduce anxiety and improve experiences. A parent information section includes articles, checklists, and hospital guides that healthcare organizations can configure via a web portal.

Little Journey's founder, Chris Evans , believes the company's mission is to support all children to better health. He said, "We believe that, through the provision of engaging, interactive, and age-appropriate content, we can improve healthcare experiences and health outcomes for all."

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UK-based Little Journey raises €2.8 million for its app reducing hospital anxiety for kids

Little Journey , a startup aiming to reduce anxiety for children undergoing healthcare procedures, has just secured €2.8 million. The UK-based team now plans to push forward its international growth plans.

Healthcare procedures induce anxiety in the vast majority of people – young and old. But, for children, the impact is even more extreme. It’s currently reported that about 75% of children will experience significant anxiety before a procedure. As a result, they often need sedative medication for the procedure to go ahead.

As well as causing stress and anxiety for children and their loved ones, it also has negative implications for clinical trials, where adherence to the protocol is hindered by the impact of having multiple repeat procedures.

Little Journey is setting out to change this outlook. The startup has developed an app that helps children and their families prepare for medical interventions, reducing stress and anxiety. The UK-based team has just secured €2.8 million to scale.

The round was led by Octopus Ventures.

Dr Chris Evans, Founder: “We’re passionate about improving the experience of children coming to the hospital and providing data-driven personalised care. This investment will help us support more children undergoing a wider range of procedures all over the world.”

Founded by anaesthetist Dr Chris Evans & human-centred product designer Sophie Copley, The Little Journey app is designed to prepare, inform and support children and their families before, during and after healthcare procedures and interactions.

Joe Stringer, Partner, Health, Octopus Ventures:  “Chris, Sophie and the Little Journey team have developed a platform that not only has a hugely positive impact on the kids it’s built to help but reduces costs for hospitals delivering paediatric care and smooth the creation of new, better treatments for children.”

The app features animated characters that explain what’s going to happen alongside relaxation animations to help children develop positive coping strategies and games to distract them during their time in the hospital. It also includes modules to help families understand who they will meet throughout their journey, take virtual hospital tours and track adherence to their medication.

Launched in 2021, the app has been co-created with children, parents and carers to tailor the experience and ensure it meets the specific needs of children. It’s built on research underway since 2018. For parents and carers, information is fed into the app at key moments along the journey with checklists, support information and guidelines to help the family and child prepare mentally and physically.

Little Journey claims that the end product can reduce anxiety by 32%, recovery time by 30% and on-the-day cancellations by 42%.

The platform also includes management portals for hospitals and for clinical trials. For hospitals, Little Journey provides healthcare staff with a portal to choose the content in a patient’s app, build virtual patient pathways and instantly edit key information so they can give each patient personalised end-to-end support throughout their hospital journey.

Whilst the app has been built to remove children’s distress during medical procedures, it also has a beneficial outcome for clinical trials.

It’s estimated that 25-40% of paediatric clinical trials fail to establish the right data to determine the safety and effectiveness of the treatment – and that’s largely because of the anxiety and stress placed on children that results in dropouts. By using the app, research staff and contract research organisations can configure content relevant to the trial and monitor progress through the management platform, while benefitting from improved recruitment, better adherence, a better patient experience, reduced withdrawals and faster trial delivery.

Sine launched, Little Joruney has joined the NHS Accelerator and taken part in the LEGO Foundation’s Play For All accelerator. It’s now working with the LEGO Foundation to tailor the Little Journey app for autistic children and children with ADHD.

This new funding will be used the further develop the product and boost international expansion.

Nicolaus Henke, a Senior Partner Emeritus of McKinsey:  “It’s impressive to see what Little Journey has built already, with many important wins. Early studies show that pediatric patients have reduced anxiety by 32% throughout their hospital journey. Parents gain a new channel for advice and information, a significant unmet need in pediatric care. Providers of pediatric care see more effective operations, and clinical trials with pediatric patients in rare diseases see more effective operations.”

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Little Journey

Our products

Little Journey is a psychological preparation and support tool that engages and supports children and their family undergoing a healthcare procedure as part of standard care or a clinical trial.

Peri-procedure anxiety is common and affects 75% of children and 33% of adults. Psychological preparation and support of children and their families is an integral component of high- quality care. Pre-procedure anxiety (PPA) has been linked with worse psychological and physiological outcomes - affecting both children and adults alike. PPA also applies to clinical research, acting as a barrier to participation, adherence to medication and trial retention. Psychological preparation has been shown to be effective at reducing PPA but requires significant staff time commitment and therefore cost.

Telemedicine and PPA interventions delivered in the patient’s own home can provide a cost-effective method of delivering peri-procedure support. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has further highlighted the need for such interventions.

About Little Journey

The Little Journey platform was founded by Dr Chris Evans, an NHS doctor and academic, based on his clinical and research experience. Little Journey is a co-designed multi-faceted behaviour change intervention developed to support children and their parents or guardians end-to-end through a clinical trial.

It consists of a mobile app delivering multi-faceted preparation and support for children and their parents, a web-based hospital portal enabling healthcare and research organisations to configure the mobile app to their own local patient pathways and trial protocols, and a research management tool to monitor individual trial participants progress and engagement.

Core modules and functionality

The platform consists of configurable modules designed to engage, prepare and support families from first awareness of a clinical trial to trial completion.

PROCEDURE PREPARATION: age tailored virtual reality tours help to familiarise and desensitise participants and their families to different trial procedures remotely. Each tour is configurable to the local hospitals' patient pathways.

TRIAL INFROMATION: Interactive timelines outline the trial protocol with information about what happens at each stage to keep families informed of upcoming trial appointments.

MEDICATION MONITOR: A gamified tool to promote adherence to the trial medication with interactive rewards, buddies and achievements.

DISTRACTION TOOLS: Age-tailored relaxation exercises and distraction games to support children through stressful procedures (including games played using a virtual reality headset).

TRIAL OVERSIGHT: A research management oversight tool enabling research staff to monitor and support families

LOCALISATION:The current app content is available in 16 languages with new content localisable to any language

Current Progress

• adopted by over 50 NHS and international organisations to support children through routine healthcare procedures

• supporting a large global CRO in trial with complex design, multiple procedures and extended medication adherence

• 30% reduction in anxiety in children with Autism/ADHD

• 97% satisfaction rate

• 42% reduction in on-the-day cancellations

We are using data to better understand participants behaviours to identify the ideal research participant and modify the behaviours of others to support them to become the ideal participant

Useful Information

Little Journey web portal demonstration video

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Little Journey

Little Journey is a health behaviour modification tool designed to reduce children’s anxiety before a healthcare procedure by using a smartphone app that provides age-tailored immersive and interactive content.

Hospital-based care Mental health

The challenge

Pre-operative anxiety is common, affecting 50-75% of children, and is the leading complaint in adults before surgery. This anxiety is associated with worse physical and mental outcomes, as well as adverse financial implications for healthcare organisations and society as a whole. Fifty percent of children develop negative post-hospital behavioural changes such as bed wetting, separation anxiety and nightmares at two-weeks after an operation, which are ongoing in 8% at one year.

Research has shown that psychological preparation reduces anxiety but is time consuming and costly to perform. Currently patients are supported through single face-to-face pre procedure interactions and/or paper information leaflets.

The solution

Little Journey is a health behaviour modification tool designed specifically to support children and their family network through a potential stressful and anxiety provoking healthcare procedure. It uses varying active behaviour modification mechanisms tailored to the end user to support them through their treatment. From familiarisation through interactive games, desensitisation using virtual reality tours to coping skills education via child narrated animations, Little Journey engages and empowers families in their care.

Little Journey can prepare and support both children and adults during any healthcare interaction, whether a single blood test or a complex research trial protocol. Through medication adherence and research support tools – as well standard preparation and support for a clinical procedure – Little Journey promotes trial recruitment, reduces early withdrawal and supports adherence to the medication under investigation. Overall, by nurturing positive health behaviours, Little Journey reduces anxiety and distress while engaging families in their care.

The app helped as he was very relaxed. It helped seeing where he would sleep. We could have a look before the day and we felt ready. It helped reduce the stress of coming to hospital as we were unsure how to prepare our son for what was going to happen and it helped encourage him to talk about it . Parents of Freddie (aged 5), service user

• 30% reduction in pre-operative anxiety levels of children with autism and ADHD*
• 97% user satisfaction rate
• Accessed by 71% of patients before surgery**
• 42% reduction in on the day cancellations before surgery**
• £3.50 cost benefit to healthcare organisations and £6.00 to society for every £1 spent on Little Journey**

*Quality improvement project performed in Royal Belfast Children’s Hospital.

**Identified by independent health economic analysis performed in 2019, supported by Eastern ASHN & performed by Kent, Surrey, Sussex AHSN.

REAL TIME VC & PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS AND NEWS

Little Journey Raises €2.8M in Funding

Little Journey , a London, UK-based child healthcare startup, raised €2.8m in funding.

The round was led by Octopus Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to expand internationally and further develop the product.

Founded by Dr Chris Evans and Sophie Copley, Little Journey provides an app which aims to help kids reduce hospital anxiety. The app provides engaging, interactive and age-appropriate content designed to psychologically prepare and support families throughout healthcare interactions.

The company also offers a web portal, accessed by healthcare staff, which enables organisations to configure the app content, building virtual patient pathways and editing key information in near real time.

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Taylor Swift’s Best ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Lyrics: ‘So Long, London,’ ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,’ ‘LOML,’ ‘The Black Dog’ and More

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

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The torture is over for fans who waited weeks and months for Taylor Swift ’s “ The Tortured Poets Department ” to arrive. But the truly faithful still have some work ahead, in trying to decode what or who is the subject of each of the 16 songs (plus four bonus tracks). Even without immediately solving all those mysteries, though, the album is filled with lines that are bold and striking (and sometimes funny).

Here is our guide to the most quotable lyrics from every song on the standard edition of “The Tortured Poets Department,” plus some of the bonus tracks. (Additionally, we’ve broken down some of the lyrics of the surprise double album .)

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Ask about the weather Now you’re in my backyard Turned into good neighbors Your wife waters flowers I want to kill her

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT

A fairly blissful love song — destined not to last, in the overall arc of the album. Speaking of things that people don’t get over, Charlie Puth may never get over this shout-out.

You smoked then ate seven bars of chocolate We declared Charlie Puth should be a bigger artist I scratch your head, you fall asleep Like a tattooed golden retriever

The singer brightens at being considered marriage material, even if it’s only hinted at in a toying way.

At dinner you take my ring off my middle finger and put it on the one people put wedding rings on And it’s the closest I’ve come to my heart exploding

The first of the album’s many F-bombs appears, albeit in a sweet way in this first instance.

Who’s gonna hold you like me? Nofuckinbody

MY BOY ONLY BREAKS HIS FAVORITE TOYS

The first of the true breakup songs has the singer feeling like Weird Barbie.

I felt more when we played pretend Then with all the Kens Cause he took me out of my box Stole my tortured heart Left all these broken parts Told me I’m better off But I’m not

Crying at the gym Everything comes out teenage petulance Fuck it if I can’t have him

SO LONG, LONDON

Anyone who’s spent years in an ultimately failed relationship, maybe especially women, will have a line to relate to here.

I’m pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free

The singer references an altar where she was never joined… and rues having to break up with a city as well as a bloke.

You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days And I’m just getting color back into my face I’m just mad as hell ‘cause I loved this place For so long, London Had a good run

BUT DADDY I LOVE HIM

One of the album’s most comical and upbeat songs has her quoting the title line lifted from “The Little Mermaid,” and faking her folks out with some good/bad news.

Now I’m running with my dress unbuttoned Screaming “But daddy I love him” I’m having his baby No, I’m not, but you should see your faces

Things get more serious as the narrator spits fire at anyone who clutches pearls and judges her for hooking up with a bad boy.

I’d rather burn my whole life down Then listen to one more second to this bitching and moaning I’ll tell you something about my good name It’s mine alone to disgrace I don’t cater to all these vipers dressed in empath’s clothing

Another serious keeper, along those same lines:

God save the most judgmental creeps who say they want what’s best for me Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see

FRESH OUT THE SLAMMER

The title phrase is comical, but Swift’s description of a long prison sentence, i.e. years spent with a fickle jailer, sounds dead-serious.

Handcuffed to the spell I was under For just one hour of sunshine Years of labor, locks and ceilings In the shade of how he was feeling But it’s gonna be alright I did my time

She sings about ignoring good advice from those who wanted her to go for parole a lot earlier:

My friends tried but I wouldn’t hear it Watched me daily disappearing For just one glimpse of his smile

Not a love song, but a song about escaping bad or boring circumstances by relocating (metaphorically or otherwise). Here comes the album’s single funniest line…

My friends all smell like weed or little babies

…which is soon followed by the album’s second funniest line, shared as a twin lead vocal with Florence from Florence + the Machine:

Fuck me up, Florida

GUILTY AS SIN?

It’s not clear if Swift deliberately means to reference her own song “Mine” here, but the sensual fantasy that she’s bringing to life works either way:

What if he’s written ‘Mine” on my upper thigh only in my mind?

Religious imagery comes to the fore as she looks for redemption in perceived sin.

WHO’S AFRAID OF LITTLE OLD ME

In one of the few non-love songs on the album, Swift harks back to songs where she riffed on the bad image people have had of her, from “Blank Space” to “Mad Woman.”

I was tame I was gentle till the circus life made me mean Don’t you worry folks, we took out all her teeth Who’s afraid of little old me? Well, you should be

Moving on from the circus, she proudly paints herself as the town witch:

I want to snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me So all you kids can sneak into my house, with all the cobwebs I’m always drunk on my own tears Is that what they all said? That I’ll sue you if you step onto my lawn That I’m fearsome and I’m wretched and I’m wrong Put narcotics into all of my songs And that’s why you’re still singing along

I CAN FIX HIM (NO, REALLY I CAN)

Swift references a lover known for his inappropriate humor. Sound like anyone in her past life we know?

The jokes that he told across the bar were revolting and far too loud They shake their heads saying, “God help her” when I tell ‘em he’s my man But your good Lord doesn’t need to lift a finger I can fix him (no really I can) And only I can

Her argument about being able to rehabilitate a guy falls apart with one nearly tossed-off final line:

Woah maybe I can’t

Before she gets into a relationship that has more recently devastated her, she looks back to a previous one, in which she feels she sacrificed deep romance or passion for stability.

I thought I was better safe than starry-eyed

With this newer guy, she cleverly mixes language usually reserved to describe mutually getting drunk with language about the promise of marriage and family.

You shit-talked me under the table talking rings and talking cradles

And then come accusations of cowardice and casual ghosting:

Oh what a valiant roar What a bland goodbye The coward claimed he was a lion I’m combing through the braids of lies “I’ll never leave” “Never mind”

I CAN DO IT WITH A BROKEN HEART

The most upbeat track on the album is about smiling through tears — presumably meaning the giant smile that was the Eras Tour, during which, it’s clear, she was nursing a broken heart for at least part of the early going.

I’m so depressed I act like it’s my birthday Every day

She finds a reason to be cocky as well as depressed in the song’s big finish.

You know you’re good when you can do it With a broken heart And I’m good Cause I’m miserable And nobody even knows! Try and come for my job

THE SMALLEST MAN WHO EVER LIVED

The details get remarkably specific in the song that may count as her most dramatic cut-down of an ex ever.

You tried to buy some pills from a friend of friends of mine They just ghosted you Now you know what it feels like

And I don’t even want you back, I just want to know If rusting my sparkling summer was the goal

Looking for motives of a hit-and-run lover, she can only imagine ulterior ones.

Were you writing a book? Were you a sleeper cell spy? In 50 years will all this be declassified? And you’ll confess why you did it And I’ll say “good riddance” Cause it wasn’t sexy once it wasn’t forbidden

The fusillade continues:

You crashed my party and your rental car You said normal girls were “boring” But you were gone by the morning You are what you did And I’ll forget you But I’ll never forgive The smallest man who ever lived

THE ALCHEMY

Back to love songs, she makes a curious reference to possible past drug use, in setting up a common play on words.

He jokes that it’s heroin but this time with an “E”

But then come sports team metaphors… if not written more recently than a lot of the rest of the album, then possibly coincidentally prophetic.

Shirts off and your friends lift you up over their heads Beer sticking to the floor Cheers chanted cause they said There was no chance Trying to be the greatest in the league Where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me

The entire lyrics to this song are set off in quotes, coming from the points of view of people who look up to starlets but demand they be non-stop dazzling. Swift references silent screen star Clara Bow in the first verse and Stevie Nicks in the second before finally getting around to name-checking a third superstar.

“You look like Taylor Swift In this light We’re loving it You’ve got edge She never did”

BONUS TRACK: THE BLACK DOG

Thanks to shared location tracking that never got turned off, the narrator gets evidence her recent ex has just entered a bar called the Black Dog, where, apparently, they would have memories of hearing songs by the 2000s pop-punk band the Starting Line.

And I hope it’s shitty in the Black Dog When someone plays The Starting Line And you jump up, but she’s too young To know this song that was intertwined In the tragic fabric of our dreaming Cause tail between your legs You’re leaving

BONUS TRACK: THE MANUSCRIPT

The singer quotes a sweet-talker who was equally good with promissory bedroom talk and baby talk.

He said that if the sex was half as good as the conversation was Soon they’d be pushing strollers But soon it was over

An age difference is brought up, as it’s clear this song is describing a relationship that happened in youth, in the narrator’s case. She’s still trying to figure out how inappropriate the disparity was.

Then she dated boys who were her own age With dartboards on the backs of their doors She thought about how he said Since she was so wise beyond her years Everything had been above board She wasn’t sure

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The Metropolitan Police in London face accusations that they capitulated to radical pro-Hamas activists last weekend by threatening to arrest a British Jew because his presence was deemed provocative to a mob of anti-Israel protesters.

A shocking video published by the British Campaign Against Antisemitism from the pro-Hamas and anti-Israel march shows a Metropolitan Police officer ordering Gideon Falter, the CEO of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, not to cross a street because of his “openly Jewish” appearance. Falter was returning from a Saturday synagogue service and was wearing a kippah, or skullcap.

The London cop even threatened Falter with arrest. He accused Falter of “a breach of peace with all these other people.” Falter was with five other people, some of whom were also wearing skullcaps.

Falter told Fox News Digital, “What happened to me was a disgrace. Imagine what it felt like to be told by police officers that being ‘quite openly Jewish’ would ‘antagonize’ people, and so I must leave the area on pain of arrest.” 

Critics have argued that the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, is incapable of imposing order on the streets of London and there are now growing calls for his dismissal. 

“You are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro-Palestinian march. I am not accusing you of anything, but I am worried about the reaction to your presence.” Enough is enough. It is time for a major change. On Saturday 27th April — the next anti-Israel march — we are asking you,… pic.twitter.com/lfJr7UZnif — Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) April 18, 2024

“The time has come for Sir Mark Rowley to go. He must resign or be removed by the mayor of London and the Home secretary,” Falter said.

Falter continued, “Nearly a week after the incident, Sir Mark’s assistant commissioner issued a statement calling my presence ‘provocative’ and saying that by making public what had happened, I had put a ‘dent in the confidence of many Jewish Londoners.'”

Falter said, “The ensuing outrage forced the Met to apologize yet again. This time, it was for their appalling, abject victim blaming, which had come from the top and showed that after six months, Sir Mark’s Met still does not get it and is not about to improve unless there is a change of leadership.”

Falter continued, “What happened to me was the inevitable conclusion of six months of inertia and contextualizing crimes away by a Met that has curtailed the rights of law-abiding Londoners in order to appease mobs rife with anti-Jewish racists and terrorist sympathizers.”

Rowley told Fox News Digital, “Every member of the Met is determined to ensure that London is a city in which everyone feels safe. We absolutely understand how vulnerable Jewish and Muslim Londoners feel since the terrorist attacks on Israel. Some of our actions have increased this concern. I personally reiterate our apology from earlier this week. Today, as with every other day, our officers will continue to police with courage, empathy and impartiality.”

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In a Sunday article published  in the Times of London , Falter wrote, “The march came towards us and after a few minutes the crowd got thicker, people stopping and shouting abuse at us: ‘Disgusting,’ ‘lock them up,’ ‘Nazis,’ ‘scum,’ There were people there, right there, who were expressing as loudly as they could how much they hated me for looking Jewish, and not a single person was saying: ‘You shouldn’t do that,’ or ‘I disapprove.’”

Falter wrote that the Metropolitan Police have created a “no-go zone” for Jews in central London, adding it is now a “police-enforced Jew-free zone.”

Falter told Fox News Digital that Rowley’s “failure to curtail the marches by using his powers under the Public Order Act 1986 has made it impossible to bring them under control and police them properly. As a direct result of that failure, countless antisemitic hate crimes and terrorism offenses have been perpetrated in broad daylight on our streets during marches, and those responsible have walked free as his vastly outnumbered officers are powerless to intervene and some frontline officers have even been hospitalized.”

The former British home secretary, Suella Braverman, who previously urged the police to ban the pro-Hamas marches, called for Rowley’s resignation in a Sunday Telegraph article. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fired the outspoken Braverman after her calls for the need to rein in the mass antisemitic spectacles unfolding in London.

She wrote in  the Sunday Telegraph,  “Either this is gross incompetence, or it’s a culture coming from the top, where thugs are free to intimidate and harass while the rest of us have to keep our mouths shut and stay out of the way.”

Braverman continued, “If the marches are so peaceful, why was an ‘openly Jewish’ man stopped from walking near them? Despite the apology and then the apology for the apology, the truth is chilling. Over the past six months, we’ve seen failure after failure by the Met.”

She said, “If the Met commissioner is incapable of or unwilling to ensure that his officers enforce the law, and[London Mayor] Sadiq Khan is happy with the soft approach to the hate marches, then the prime minister needs to get a grip.”

Fox News Digital reported last month that Israel’s minister tasked with combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, termed London the “world’s most antisemitic city.”

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the LA-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital that London’s “Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has made numerous positive statements against antisemitism, has contributed to an environment where British Jewish taxpayers are viewed as more of a threat to public order than pro-Hamas campaigners.”

Cooper, an international expert on antisemitism, added that the persecution of Falter “reflects the failure at the top from the police department and mayor.” He urged the mayor and the police to “talk less, and act decisively before it is too late.”

A spokesperson for Khan told Fox News Digital last month, “The mayor speaks with members of the Jewish community regularly, and despite their ongoing and real concerns, most don’t agree with the extent of the language used by the minister… The mayor continues to reiterate that with tensions running high, all Londoners have to be conscious of the language we use and how our actions make others feel – not inflaming divisions, but bringing communities together.”

The British Home Office – the equivalent of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – said, “We welcome the Met’s apology, and recognize the complexities of policing fast-moving public protests, but simply being Jewish – or of any other race or religion – should never be seen as provocative.”

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What's The Real Meaning Behind Taylor Swift's So Long, London? Here's What We Believe

The fifth song on Taylor Swift's albums has a reputation for being the saddest of the release, and "So Long, London" arguably follows the tradition. The track sees her bidding farewell to the beloved city she called home through her six-year relationship with British actor Joe Alwyn. In the first verse, Swift sings about how she singlehandedly carried the burden of the relationship because her beau was emotionally absent. It wasn't an easy feat for the Grammy winner as she detailed the subsequent exhaustion, "My spine split from carrying us up the hill. Wet through my clothes, weary bones caught the chill." 

At the end of the verse, Swift has admitted defeat and given up on trying to spark joy in her partner's life. The chorus details how the singer felt her beau pushed her to the edge because he believed she could withstand unlimited sadness, but she was at the end of her limits. Swift once again admits defeat in the second verse as she compares their relationship to a dying person who is beyond resuscitation. 

As the verse draws to a close, she sings, "I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free." The line seems to be a reference to her TIME Person Of The Year interview, where she talked about how the aftermath of her Kim Kardashian and Kanye West feud caused her to retreat from the public eye with Alwyn. "Me locking myself away in my house for a lot of years—I'll never get that time back," she regretfully admitted.

So Long, London draws parallels to You're Losing Me

In the third verse of "So Long, London," Taylor Swift admits that she didn't know if Joe Alwyn wanted to continue their relationship, singing, "everyday breath feels like the rarest air when you're not sure if he wants to be there." She also candidly shares that she believes he harbored some resentment for her. The verse continues with Swift sharing that she discussed this experience with  her present-day squad, who rightly told her that true love shouldn't keep her on edge at all times. Despite all the red flags, though, she held on tighter than ever in the hope things would get better.

Perhaps the saddest line from the song comes in the bridge as Swift questions the validity of Alwyn's love by singing, "You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof." The line references "The Favorite" actor never proposing to her, which Swift also touched on in her 2023 release "You're Losing Me." In the "Midnights" vault track's bridge, Swift wrote, "I wouldn't marry me either, a pathological people pleaser, who only wanted you to see her." 

Similarly, a lyric about resuscitation on "So Long, London" could be a callback to the 2023 release as Swift previously sang, "How long could we be a sad song? Till we were too far gone to bring back to life." On this new song, Swift reveals that in the end, she "stopped CPR," meaning, she likely initiated their breakup. Production on "You're Losing Me" also featured a weakened heartbeat as a metaphor for Swift and Alwyn's dying love. In the aftermath of all the heartbreak of "So Long, London," Swift remains hopeful about the future as she wishes that she and her partner find a new romance.

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The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.

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Every Place Taylor Swift References in Tortured Poets Department , from the Black Dog to the Heath

Here's a dissection of the specific places Taylor Swift mentions in "The Tortured Poets Department" song lyrics, including The Chelsea Hotel

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Taylor Swift has processed her emotions around the world.

The pop superstar released The Tortured Poets Department on April 19, her eagerly anticipated album she described as an " anthology of new works " that reflect a "fleeting and fatalistic" period in her life that has ended.

After dropping the expected body of work at midnight, Swift surprised fans two hours later by announcing that TTPD is a secret double album . The second installment consists of 15 additional songs.

Within each of Swift's 31 tracks — with a total run time over two hours — are intricately detailed stories from past relationships laced with longing and heartache .

While the singer-songwriter explicitly mentions many of the locations in which she sorted through her feelings throughout those moments, she leaves it up to listeners to decode who the past lover is that she's referencing — in classic Swift fashion.

Fans have already connected songs to  her ex Joe Alwyn  and The 1975 frontman  Matty Healy , as well as  her current boyfriend Travis Kelce . Swift also name-drops celebrities like Charlie Puth , Stevie Nicks , and Jack Antonoff — in addition to singing about fellow "tortured poets."

Read on for all the real places Taylor Swift mentions in The Tortured Poets Department , including where she's experienced highs and lows, love and heartache.

Swift announced that “Fortnight,” featuring  Post Malone , is the first single off The Tortured Poets Department . The state of Florida is mentioned in the lyrics.

"Going to Florida by the car you won / But it won’t start up till you touch, touch, touch me," writes Swift.

When speaking with iHeartRadio, Swift said "Fortnight” is a song that "exhibits a lot of the common themes that run throughout this album, one of which being fatalism, longing, pining away, lost dreams." She said that she "always imagined" the song being set in an "American town where the American Dream you thought would happen to you didn't."

Florida is seemingly a recurring place of escape for the singer, at least metaphorically within TTPD album. In fact, the eighth song on the track is simply titled " Florida!!! " (featuring Florence + The Machines).

"'Florida!!!' is a song I wrote with Florence + The Machine, and I think I was coming up with this idea of like, what happens when your life doesn’t fit, or your choices you’ve made catch up to you," Swift told iHeartRadio of creating the track.

The singer highlighted how at times in life "you’re surrounded by these harsh consequences and judgment, and circumstances did not lead you to where you thought you’d be and you just want to escape from everything you’ve ever known," leading one to question "is there a place you could go?"

Swift also explained she is "always watching"  Dateline  and noticed how "people have these crimes that they commit, where do they immediately skip town and go to? They go to Florida."

The Chelsea Hotel

The album's title track, "The Tortured Poets Department," mentions The Chelsea Hotel in its lyrics.

"I laughed in your face and said / 'You're not Dylan Thomas, I'm not Patti Smith' / This ain't the Chelsea Hotel, we're modern idiots," writes Swift.

The Chelsea Hotel is a famed landmark in New York City. The 12-story Manhattan hotel, which was built in the late 19th century, famously housed writers, painters, authors and socialites. Thomas and Smith, both renowned writers in their own right, lived in the hotel.

It reopened in 2022 after a 12-year-long renovation and was just named one of the 21 best hotels in New York by Travel + Leisure.

Swift admits in "Down Bad" that she lets her emotions out in the gym. (She previously detailed her tour prep to  Time , sharing  she trained at Dogpound ).

"Now I’m down bad, crying at the gym / Everything comes out teenage petulance / F—k it if I cant have him," she writes on the album's fourth track.

The Heath in London

"So Long, London" is one of the most heart-wrenching tracks on TTPD . The song's lyrics detail Swift's attempt at saving a failing relationship and the loneliness she dealt with during that time.

"I stopped trying to make him laugh/ Stopped trying to drill the safe," she sings. (In her  Time  cover interview, Swift opened up about moving to a "foreign country" — likely the U.K., where she often spent time with Alwyn — amid her  public feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian .)

Later in the "So Long, London" lyrics, Swift makes a reference to "the house in the Heath" she left behind. A heath is technically an uncultivated ground where grass and small plants grow, but Hampstead Heath is also a notable London park and the adjacent neighborhood of Hampstead is home to many celebrities.

This isn't the first time Swift has made mention of the location in one of her songs. On "London Boy" off 2019's Lover, she sings "Like a Tennessee Stella McCartney on the Heath."

The Black Dog

The Black Dog 

The Black Dog is a real bar in London, and also the title of a TTPD bonus track. The lyrics tell the story of a person she watches enter the bar, a move that seemingly betrays her.

"I am someone who until recent events / You shared your secrets with / And your location, you forgot to turn it off," she writes in verse one. "And so I watch as you walk / Into some bar called The Black Dog / And pierce new holes in my heart," she continues.

Swift reiterates that this person "forgot to turn it off," likely in reference to their location tracking on their phone. In the chorus, she goes on to say, "I just don't understand how you don't miss me / In The Black Dog, when someone plays 'The Starting Line.'

"The Starting Line" is mentioned a few times within the album, possibly in reference to the band often covered by The 1975. Within the song, Swift writes about this person meeting a girl at the bar, but she's too young to know the pop-punk band from the early 2000s.

Central Park

Swift mentions the lake in New York's Central Park when singing "The Bolter," the last song on the album. She sings, "When it's all roses, portrait poses / Central Park Lake in tiny rowboats / What a charming Saturday."

The singer previously teased to the crowd during her Melbourne tour stop on The Eras Tour earlier this year. Swift told the crowd her latest work was something that she "needed" to make.

"It was really a lifeline for me — just the things that I was going through, the things that I was writing about ... it kind of reminded me why songwriting actually gets me through my life," she said. "I've never had an album that I needed songwriting more than I needed it on  Tortured Poets ."

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Little London: village with link to 1665 plague fears new exodus from capital

Residents say they are not nimbys but village lacks infrastructure for new homes most cannot afford

If the age-old story is correct, the Hampshire village of Little London gets its evocative name from the flight of fearful residents from the capital during the Great Plague of 1665-1666.

But today’s inhabitants are up in arms at the prospect of a 21st-century exodus from London to their tucked away settlement.

They are upset that wealthy newcomers are eyeing up homes that most local people cannot afford and are warning would-be neighbours that Little London offers little and lacks the infrastructure to cope.

The village, which is located in countryside north of Basingstoke, has precious few amenities apart from one pub, the Plough, and a population of only a few hundred.

Resident Carol Donner, 65, said: “We have got this sign that says: ‘Welcome to Little London.’ We were going to put a sign underneath it and say: ‘Twinned with Greater London.’”

Donner, a retired teacher, said she and other villagers were working together to try stop the overdevelopment of Little London.

“There’s quite a few of us that are getting together and we have met up and come up with ideas and things we need to do. None of them are what we call nimby, they are people that have their heart and soul in the countryside and want to protect that,” she said.

“It’s an ancient village, there’s not many houses and it’s got no infrastructure at all. They are coming from London because they want a country pad and they are going to concrete over here.”

Among the applications are plans for houses, battery storage facilities, and conversions of barns into business units and event venues.

Donner added: “It’s just ridiculous. There’s no infrastructure, even if you thought you could build affordable houses, it’s not the right place for them. It’s greed over need and it’s the wrong houses in the wrong place. Why can’t people go and build affordable houses on brownfield sites that people can afford to buy?

“I looked at all the houses for sale within a two-and-a-half-mile radius and I stopped counting … 25 houses all over £700,000. No sooner is the ink dry on one application than another one pops up.”

A plan to build three detached houses in Little London is one of the new applications that sparked a protest from residents.

Tom Cullum, a carpenter and joiner who has lived in Little London for 37 years, said: “It’s just horrendous. The village is being infilled by houses – really expensive houses – over £700,000 to £800,000, and they’re filling in the spaces. It’s just gone crazy in this village and the traffic has doubled.

“The type of houses that are being built, local villagers couldn’t afford them anyway. They’re [for] people from London, I would have thought, businesspeople who want to come and live in a rural village.”

Kevin Chatburn, 69, the chair of the Tadley and Pamber Rural Protection group , which takes in Little London, said: “All of the houses that are being proposed in Pamber are typically £750,000 to £1.25m, so they’re being purchased by people from outside the area.

“They are not providing dwellings for those who are already living in the area, particularly young people. I’ve got relatives in their 30s and they have all moved out of the area completely because they can’t buy anything here.”

Little London is close to Pamber Forest, which is described by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust as “a beautiful ancient woodland bursting with wildlife”.

Objecting to one of the proposals on the Basingstoke and Deane borough council planning portal, Gary Hills said: “The proposed development is another attempt to extend the village into the surrounding farmland.”

On behalf of Pamber parish council, Chris Gunnell, a clerk, wrote: “There is no local need. At present there are at least 17 properties for sale in the area, there are 13 properties under construction in the parish and 30 yet to be constructed that have planning permission granted.”

There are a number of villages called Little London. Some also think the name may stem from the arrival of seasonal workers from the capital to work in the fields. It may also be a corruption of a stream called Little Loddon.

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Disney World’s Newest Interactive Queue, Dodging Rain Inside Journey of the Little Mermaid

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Guests know that they must wait in line for rides and attractions when they get to one of the Walt Disney World Resort parks. But at some rides, waiting in line can be just as fun as getting on the attraction.

At the Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom, you can play with the ghosts and make their instruments dance while you wait in line. While at Expedition Everest in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, you can learn what it takes to climb one of the tallest mountains in the world.

While waiting in line for a ride can be fun, sometimes the unexpected happens at Disney World. This week, guests found out that Disney World’s newest interactive queue wasn’t necessarily by design.

This week, guests waiting to ride Under the Sea—Journey of the Little Mermaid were greeted with an unexpected surprise while waiting in line. Part of the ceiling appeared to crack, and water flowed from it.

While the Little Mermaid ride takes guests into the ocean with Ariel, King Triton, and their friends, you are not supposed to be literally taking a sea journey.

The damage appeared contained to the area where Scuttle greets guests in the queue and attempts to tell Ariel’s story and her relationship with Prince Eric.

By the next day, the damage appeared to have been fixed using what looked like glue. Bits of glue could be seen dripping down from the ceiling, and cast members inserted a plastic disc into one of the cracks.

While there is no water inside the line, there is a waterfall just outside the area where the water enters the building. The dripping water most likely came from the waterfall above the indoor queue.

The Little Mermaid attraction has only been open since 2012 when Walt Disney World debuted the New Fantasyland, which included the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest Restaurant, and Ariel’s Grotto.

So, while guests expect some damage on some of the older rides at Disney Parks, a ride that is only 12 years old and showing signs of wear is a bit concerning.

Disney’s fix appears to be temporary, and a more permanent one is necessary before even more water starts dripping on guests waiting in line for the Little Mermaid attraction. After all, guests want to see a mermaid, not become one.

What’s the worst damage you’ve seen on a Disney World ride?

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Jonathan Tetelman recalls his journey from a nightclub DJ to an international opera star

In this image provided by the Met Opera, Jonathan Tetelman portrays Ruggero in Puccini’s “La Rondine.” Tetelman has transformed from nightclub DJ to international opera star. (Karen Almond/Met Opera via AP)

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NEW YORK (AP) — Jonathan Tetelman transformed from a nightclub DJ to an international opera star, a music detour that was quite, well, operatic.

He stopped singing in 2011 and mixed music for New York’s clubbers at Webster Hall, Pacha, Greenhouse and W.i.P. These days, the 35-year-old’s gigs are at posher places such as London’s Royal Opera House and the Salzburg Festival.

His career revived by a transition to tenor from baritone, Tetelman will be featured as Ruggero in a Metropolitan Opera performance of Puccini’s “La Rondine (The Swallow)” with soprano Angel Blue, televised live to theaters worldwide Saturday. Starting April 26, he sings Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly” opposite soprano Asmik Grigorian in her Met debut.

“I kept saying to people, ‘You know, I’m a DJ, but I’m actually an opera singer.’ And the more I said it, the more I was like: ’Am I really an opera singer?’” Tetelman recalled of his singing sabbatical.

So he gave himself six months.

“I just sold everything. I sold all my equipment. All my speakers, all my turntables — everything — and just focused,” he said.

Born in Chile, Tetelman was adopted at about 7 months and grew up in Hopewell Township, New Jersey. He got a degree from the Manhattan School of Music in 2011 and considered himself a baritone.

Tetelman moved on to the Mannes School of Music for a graduate program where he was told his upper register was his future but struggled with even audition standards. Overcome with frustration, he headed to the downtown nightlife scene in 2013.

“It just wasn’t — it wasn’t clicking. I threw it all away,” he said.

After concluding that club life wasn’t a future, Tetelman began listening to recordings of Luciano Pavarotti, Enrico Caruso, Franco Corelli and Jonas Kaufmann to understand how they used their voices. Working with Mark Schnaible and Patricia McCaffrey, a husband-and-wife vocal coach team, he began building his tenor technique in 2015.

“This young man is wildly talented,” Schnaible said.

By his mid-20s, Tetelman thought himself too old for professional training programs, so he found an agent. He sang Eisenstein in Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus (The Bat)” at the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s young artists program in 2016. He then paid a few hundred dollars to attend an open call casting audition. That led to the role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Bohème” at the Fujian Grand Theatre in China in 2017.

He was hired for “Bohème” in November 2018 at the English National Opera, where all performances are in English.

Tetelman prepared by singing in “La Boheme Warhola” — an adaptation of the classic that shifts to Andy Warhol’s The Factory studio — with Pittsburgh Festival Opera at the Falk Auditorium, a 360-seat school theater. Around the same time, agent Alan Green arranged for Tetelman to take over Rodolfo for a concert performance at the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival after Piotr Beczała withdrew to replace Roberto Alagna at the Bayreuth Festival’s “Lohengrin.”

That raised Tetelman’s profile before he headed to the London Coliseum for the revival of Jonathan Miller’s 2009 staging, a key accelerant of his career.

“The production and the theater are wonderful. ‘La Bohème’ in English is disgusting,” Tetelman recalled vividly.

A dashing 6-foot-4 with dark hair and a wide smile, he became an in-demand singer for Puccini.

“He has a very solid top. When he sings soft, which I always encourage, especially in the very intimate moments, there’s a tenderness,” conductor Speranza Scappucci said.

On the night of Tetelman’s Met debut on March 26, an audience member tossed a bouquet he caught on the fly.

“He’s certainly a very, very charismatic presence and the audiences are responding,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said.

Tetelman made his Salzburg Festival debut last summer in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s “Macbeth.” The staging opened in an obstetrician’s office with children wearing black and yellow patches warning of radiation.

“You had to be on like mushrooms or something to really understand it,” Tetelman said, quickly adding, “It was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had. ... I think working with him was actually a really inspiring moment for me.”

Future roles include Turiddu in Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and a title role in Saint-Saëns’ “Samson et Dalila” along with the heavier Puccini parts of Dick Johnson in “La Fanciulla del West (Girl of the Golden West)” and des Grieux in “Manon Lescaut.” He’d like to take on Strauss’ Apollo in “Daphne” and Bacchus in “Ariadne auf Naxos” one day.

“I’m trying to book actually less and less Puccini just because I’ve booked so much,” Tetelman said.