If there’s one thing Joburg still does well, it’s winter sun.

One of the great sources of humour is listening to things like the NYT’s The Daily podcast describing US democratic socialists as “extreme” when they’d barely make it to centre-left in Europe.

Alfredo Alcala, master of the art AND master of the putdown

Me : I cannot bear children Them: oh, I'm so sorry Me: Yours are particularly awful. Get them away from me 🤢

‘The fact is that in the past Americans generally greeted emerging technologies with optimism.’ By @pkrugman.bsky.social

Screaming

This headline is a real roller coaster

omg same same same

Another day, another stupid Excel chart.

Really thought I’d be a better student than I was the first time round circa the rinderpest yet here I am again up before dawn to do my overdue homework 😑

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 244 of The Continent Goons, les miliciens, baltagiya: different names, same job. Across Africa, muscle-for-hire helps politicians wield power through intimidation and violence – all while maintaining plausible deniability. bit.ly/244_TC

I’m nervous that money will spoil Elon. Let’s hope he doesn’t become rude!

religion ain't done with you yet... futurism.com/artificial-i...

Papageno/Papagena to the tune of the Macarena.

📚Introduction free to download📚 It's the official release day of my book and OUP has made the Introduction chapter free to read. academic.oup.com/book/62722/c... Take a look if you're interested in... why do I want to study ideas of 'the west' from without, why do I want to theorize the postliberal

Oh look a live-action prequel to Secret of Nimh just dropped. Like Rise of the Planet of the Apes but squeakier. 👀

If the Nobel committee won’t give Trump the Peace Prize for ending the most number of wars… maybe they’ll give it to him for ending one war the most number of times.

Not now Seth. Maybe tomorrow.

He also wore this while recording Lower Decks.

BREAKING NEWS: Mariner and Tendi have dropped out of the Freedom 250 celebration. #LLAP

Social Skills Training, by Solmaz Sharif

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 241 of The Continent Africa loses $90bn a year to illicit financial flows. Cameroon officially exported just one suitcase worth of gold in 2023 — but records abroad showed more than 15 tonnes, mostly heading to the UAE. bit.ly/241_TC

New: The Atlas, newspaper from the makers of @codastory.com and @thecontinent.org. With nice photos too! Sign up for delivery via Signal or WhatsApp www.theatlasnewspaper.org

It's true. When I was a kid in the 80s reading Asterix or Enid Blyton I was constantly frustrated by having the narrative trance broken by the conspicuous lack of fax machines, Pepsi, MTV, Sony Walkmans and the neoliberal modal shift of capitalism to the accumulation of profit through disposession.

"“I’m here to tell you the mission of your generation is to destroy AI,” said Chieng." news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Part of being an AI user in creative works is convincing yourself that everyone ELSE uses it too, because otherwise you have to confront the reality that you're a faker and a fraud

Good morning.

GenX would like a word.

All right but why's everyone on the research team called Tav?

a horse walks into a bar and says to the barman, "on a right angled triangle with sides x, y and z, if x and z are perpendicular which side is opposite the right angle?", and the barman says "y, the long face"

The Atlas. A new global newspaper. By @thecontinent.org and @codastory.com. In the inaugural issue: let's talk about the 24-millennium news cycle. Download your copy here. No logins, no passwords, no fees. www.theatlasnewspaper.org

Can’t believe it’s 2026 and we’re all still watching He-Man and reading papal encyclicals.

If you like the cut of @codastory.com’s jib and wit of @thecontinent.org’s jibes, please consider adding their new team-up crossover newspaporial extravaganza to your diet. The Atlas is a vibe. And newspaporial is totally a legit word, thank you very much.

cc @mattduplessis.bsky.social

Two of my favorite media are combining to produce this new publication, The Atlas. 👌 The Atlas is a publication launched by the independent journalism organization Coda Story, operating in collaboration with the pan-African newspaper @thecontinent.org.

This paper explicitly linking bilingualism with sex hormones in the study of cognitive decline was… unexpected.

Say a few words from an old TV commercial that some of us will remember. “Hi. I’m the loo from Jayes Blue - the simple toilet cleaner with germicide and a *sniff* smashing fresh fragrance”

David Attenborough is 100. He’s a beloved natural historian & defender of wildlife but let’s be honest, this was a woefully misconceived project on every level.

Wow. And I fell over getting dressed this morning when my foot got stuck in my leggings.

So, friends: I promised I'd tell the story. Now I shall. Let a (former) psych nurse tell you the true (gods help us) story of a night in a big-time NYC emergency room: and the arrival of The Man With The Bloomingdales Bag. (1/n)

Happy 13th anniversary to that terrible misunderstanding at a WI meeting.

ME. COMPLETELY ME.

I’m reading this week’s now. The Continent is one of the best weekly reads there is. Fast, broad, intelligent, analytical, factual. Hell of a deal, to be shown a continent in an hour for free in your inbox.

Someones are hammering, Lord.

Someone’s chiseling, Lord.

Bluesky Carousel: What goes around comes around.

Makes you wonder if Keats and Yeats were ever really on our side.

21h later....

I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record.

And if you're underread on the subject and also am not feeling up to the task of exposing yourself to a pretty gory list of atrocities, I feel like this IG reel perfectly captures Asian foreign relations re: Japanese war crimes www.instagram.com/reel/DPIpNyq...