Is Esther Walker just as bad as Giles Coren?

[cousingregsgal]

There have been lots of threads about Giles Coren already, but I read an article on Ukraine written by his wife, Esther Walker, and I think she’s just as bad as him.

I know this was published last week but I’ve been catching up on news after a big work deadline and was totally shocked at this article Esther wrote about the “emotional labour” of talking about what is happening in Ukraine with her 8 year old. This is a week after Giles’ article about being totally bored of Ukraine. What is The Times thinking? It’s completely tone deaf and the worst sort of first world problem for Esther to complain about her “emotional labour” from the safety of one of the Corens’ multiple residences while Ukranian families are being shelled as they try to escape cities that are being bombed. Can’t she put Newsround on if she finds the “emotional labour” of it all so unbearable? Bloody hell, lady. Go and volunteer for the Red Cross or something rather than whinging on about your “emotional labour”!

When I read the article about her I thought it was an odd thing to write about and was surprised at the number of negative comments in The Times about it. I wondered what Mumsnet thought, but it seems that most people agree with Esther. And I don’t actually think she is as bad as Giles. I doubt she would publicly mock and celebrate the death of a 33 year old woman, for instance, and one of the other posters said they’d worked with her and she was nice. It must be hard and also embarrassing being married to someone like Giles too. On balance I feel sorry for her. I used to like her Recipe Rifle blog a lot. I never really got on with The Spike.

the rage boner a lot of MNers have for tattle life is hilarious.

Yes, there are a few mean spirited posts (same as on MN) but a lot of the threads over there are a just discussion of influencer ethics or to ask questions about what is presented vs the reality. A counterpoint to the echo-chamber of social media, if you like. A lot of the threads actually spin off into chats amongst members that aren’t about the influencers themselves (such as recommendations for products or just supportive chat), same as here. It is a community in its own right, it doesn’t just exist to troll poor, innocent influencers and celebs, it might just hold their feet to the flames every now and again.

I like the Corens. I like their podcast, and I like their writing. I don't agree with everything Giles says or writes, but his writing is funny and often very perceptive.

His writing is shite. But at least when he's spouting shite for the Times he's not calling people paedophiles, intruding on grief or threatening to rape children.

Op you like tattle
A lot
Post all this bitching on there
You’ll feel more at home
An you can screen shot to your heart’s content

I like MN and Tattle. I wasn’t aware that the two were mutually exclusive. Who are you? The bouncer of MN?

Presumably MN has a feature so that people can attach stuff so that people can use it to add stuff that they’ve screenshotted. If I’ve broken any MN rules you should report me. I thought Troll hunting was verboten though.

It’s your home

The thing I don’t like about MN is all the self appointed police of MN who tell people what they should and shouldn’t post.

Don’t know much about Esther other than a couple of blog posts that annoyed me about a decade ago, but you only have to look at Giles’ Twitter feed to see that satire doesn’t really wash. He is a genuinely unpleasant and petulant man. Satire punches up, not down.

@cousingregsgal

The thing I don’t like about MN is all the self appointed police of MN who tell people what they should and shouldn’t post.

Is that not what you’re doing about EC?!

She is a journalist and has a public platform. I started a thread on Mumsnet to discuss the fact I didn’t like her article and that a lot of the commenters on The Times didn’t either. I am surprised The Times published it, but I don’t for a minute think that EC should stop writing articles just because I disagreed with this one, or that this is an unacceptable topic for a MN discussion that should only be discussed on Tattle Life.

Neither Esther, nor Giles are journalists.🤣🤣🤣 They produce self obsessed witterings and get paid for it because of nepotism.

Dawn Foster was a journalist.❤

Genuinely interested why you name changed to start this?

Honestly I think your interest in them is a bit weird, OP. You don't like them, that's entirely up to you, but just... move on. He who angers you conquers you, and all that.

@LittleGwyneth

Honestly I think your interest in them is a bit weird, OP. You don't like them, that's entirely up to you, but just... move on. He who angers you conquers you, and all that.

Have you fallen into Mnet by mistake?

@LittleGwyneth

Honestly I think it takes a very unhappy, very cruel person to enjoy being on Tattle life. It's just wall-to-wall complaining that certain types of people have more than they 'deserve'.

Pay for journalism. Read the article. Form an opinion based on the actual article, then come back and complain about her if you've still got a problem.

This. I also don't understand why people who post on Tattle and like it, keep trying to bring it over here. Why don't they just stay over there with their misogyny and bile? Every time they try to rehash one of these 'woman in the public eye who earns money must be a witch' threads, I find myself thinking how badly is Tattle doing that it has to constantly try to poach from MN? Maybe I should look at it as a sign that Tattle is failing and it might disappear for good.

At least Esther got a house out of her relationship with Giles though. Small mercies.

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3447188/amp/Marry-man-house-Love-Money-No-s-new-way-pick-husband-s-bit-unconventional.html

I do pay for journalism. I have a subscription to The Times and I did read the whole article.

Looks like you're being raided by the Thread Police @cousingregsgal👮‍♀️😂

Lol at slating Tattle and being on MN. People in glass houses and all that.

Nee naw nee naw nee naw!

Also I know this is impossible for many to understand but her husband's columns are outrageous and sarcastic on purpose, it's Times' satire not the earnest Guardian telling you you're racist.

It's not satire, it's the rantings of a middle aged, mediocre, angry dickhead. Giles Coren fancied himself as a literary Enfant Terrible. Turns out he's just a manchild who was lucky enough to have a famous dad. If he had put the work in, instead of trading off his name maybe he'd have got somewhere, but he didn't and he hasn't got over it.🤷‍♀️

I would genuinely be interested to know how Esther Walker deals with her husband’s aggressive Twitter outbursts and anger issues towards those who have criticised him, and how she manages her children around these sort of behaviour traits, especially after their house was graffitied in the summer after he attacked Dawn Foster. He is obviously very thin skinned and I imagine they must be walking on egg shells. I couldn’t care less about her thoughts on the Ukraine conflict. As she points out in her article she got a 2:2 from Bristol University and isn’t a foreign policy expert.

Why do you care? Does it make you happy to be mean about a stranger?