A correction for the ages (from The Guardian's review of 'Melania'):

The White House posted a digitally altered image of a woman who was arrested on Thursday in a case touted by attorney general Pam Bondi, to make it seem as if she was dramatically crying, a Guardian analysis of the image has found.

Wow, these maps... actually missed them when first published in August. The EU's challenge is absolutely stark here - global competitiveness. Which can't and won't come from domestic protectionism.

The FIFA Peace Prize used to mean something

I reviewed Anthony Gottlieb’s new biography of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the 20th-century philosopher, for the Financial Times. Over a brisk 165 pages Gottlieb captures both the logician and the mystic: www.ft.com/content/b5a1...

One of the strongest justifications for the ECHR and the Human Rights Act is that they provide (some) protection when a government wants to take punitive action against people it decides it doesn’t like - including for politically expedient, even irrational, capricious or ephemeral reasons

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Such an important point about how political discourse works today. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

William Blackstone called juries “the principal bulwark of our liberties”. Now David Lammy, the justice secretary, wants to curtail them. What should we make of his plans? I explore the past, present and future of jury trials in this week’s Economist: www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Britain’s government seems immobilised by its peril. Compounding earlier mistakes, its budget has failed utterly to lessen the country’s economic and political vulnerability econ.st/4rnW7px

Labour’s budget is unlikely to be inflationary. That, and the absence for the most part of actively harmful policies, meant that the market reaction was muted. But avoiding a bond-market tantrum is hardly enough

I've written for this week's edition on Labour's plans to tighten how courts interpret the ECHR. Leaving the convention would be mad. Renegotiating it would take forever. Doing nothing would be complacent. Tightening how it is applied might be best way through.

This is now outside the paywall, please do read and share

"Platforms built as public town squares for self-expression and connecting with others are now more like private property, where the loudest voices belong to those with power, or those with views that align with the views of people who control the algorithm." news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

I've been getting back into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series after many years, and the most relatable part is how everyday objects like doors and elevators have been imbued with artificial intelligence and it just makes them obnoxious and frustrating to use and everyone hates it.

When Disney temporarily suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” last month, about three million Disney+ customers and more than four million Hulu customers canceled their subscriptions, according to new data.

I was looking at Reform's policy again the other day. They're proposing a £60k salary for people on ILR keeping their visa. Which means pretty much every nurse on ILR would be a risk. It's insane.

I enjoyed David Edmonds' new book on Peter Singer and his influential thought experiment, the "shallow pond". Here's my review, for the TLS www.the-tls.com/philosophy/c...

In her lunch with the FT the OnlyFans CEO says her company pays more tax than the entire British fishing industry. Quite a stat.

The same changes in America’s media industry that have given Donald Trump more influence are also making it harder for him—or anyone—to control it

💯. Progressives have to stop franchising out their consciences to the courts. Politics is about moral choices. The problem with Reform's proposal isn't that "the courts won't allow it". It's that it's grotesque and inhuman. If we're democrats, we must believe that this argument can be won.

One of the world's finest editors is moving on. It was a privilege to work with Alan at Prospect. I can't wait to see what Philip Collins, another brilliant journalist, does with the title. Quality, independent journalism has never been more important.

I reviewed Brenda Hale's new book for today's Financial Times. The former president of the UK Supreme Court travels to courts around the country to examine how they work - and don't. www.ft.com/content/4c85...

LINK ROT: 38% webpages that existed in 2013 were no longer available 10 years later. Even among pages that existed in 2021, 22% no longer accessible just two years later. This is often because individual page was deleted or removed on otherwise functional website. Many implications for knowledge 🧪

This is moving in exactly the wrong direction! Education & meaningful activity in prison is crucial to reducing violence and improving outcomes

Really good piece, this

This is an excellent piece

Hansard's reporters record every word spoken publicly in parliament. How do they deal with sarcasm, heckles or semi-naked protesters? For this week's Economist I wrote a short piece about the nation's notetakers: www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Reform council’s Nottingham Post ban a ‘massive attack on local democracy’

'PoliticsHome analysis of Hansard shows that the phrase “I rise to speak…” has been used 601 times across the Commons and the Lords so far this year – compared to only 131 in the first eight months of 2024...' www.politicshome.com/news/article...

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Letter of the day (in the Times)

!

America has lost 116k manufacturing jobs over the last year—that's the fastest pace of job loss since the early COVID era and worse than any period from 2011-2019. Big drops in the transportation (-49k) & electronics (-32k) industries drive most of the decline

Good news for tractor production.

"The inadequate provision of aid to civilians on terrain that is, in effect, under occupation is a war crime." The Economist's leader on Gaza this week. The print headline is simply "Enough". www.economist.com/leaders/2025...

So now we know what the government's Ethics and Integrity Commission will do! I've had a look for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk - lots of positives here, but it's only one step along the way... www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/labo...

In England and Wales using technology better is a priority. More hearings could be virtual; creaking back-office IT should be upgraded

Last week Sir Brian Leveson unveiled controversial proposals to reduce the courts backlog. But how did the backlog get so bad in the first place? My analysis for The Economist: www.economist.com/britain/2025...

"What if our growth rate stays this low for the next 20 years? How is that going to shape life in the UK?" I spoke to Helen Miller, the new director of the IFS, about the UK's considerable fiscal challenges: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/people...

... - Thinking we spend more on out of work benefits than pensions! Just telling the public they're wrong doesn't work. But how can we get to a rational conversation about where we need to put resources, cuts, taxes when this is what the public believes is currently happening?!!

It is so hard to get good policy-making or public debate when public views are so wildly out of step with reality: - Massive over-estimation of spending on MPs expenses, migrant/asylum seeker costs & overseas aid. - Massive under-estimation of spending on pensions ...1/2

This is a good summary of Paramount's decision to settle with Donald Trump - and put corporate expedience before editorial independence. www.economist.com/united-state...

Why are people still so skeptical of the Haidt thesis about smartphones and social media? I’m open to all evidence pro and con, and please bring it. But it seems like by far the best explanation for so many things changing so quickly around the mid-teens.

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Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on. slate.com/technology/2...

Good, clear piece on the enduring commercial might of Murdoch inc: Even as the Murdochs bitterly feud, their empire thrives www.economist.com/business/202... From The Economist

Shocking.

Excellent thread

The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world. They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.