Did not think it was possible for the Labour leadership thing to get more annoying, but here we are.

crucial context: Peter Mandelson was sacked from the first New Labour government for having a £373,000 *loan* (not a gift) from a Labour colleague (Geoffrey Robinson) to buy a house

This is really worrying: “the nature of abuse in bookselling can be distinct… in many cases, it is… linked to the perception of what bookshops represent – including the books they stock, the values they promote and the communities they serve" www.thebookseller.com/news/rising-...

So, so, so much going on here.

As Wilde might have it: the incapable in pursuit of the inert.

I was kind of kidding?

I want it on a t- shirt.

I can’t believe I’m asking this, but: a parcel for me has allegedly been delivered to Middlesex University. I don’t suppose anyone here knows someone in admin there who might know whether it’s possible to find it?

Jaysis, how is even the possibility of a Labour leadership contest boring?

I gave an interview recently about the importance of making nightlife more affordable for young people, and some of the feedback was, what a woke interview. And I think: so much of the current moment is just indulging people who don't want anyone else to have nice things.

Inject it into my f***ing eye. How has this not been a thing before now?

Casting around for who could possibly lead Labour well, I’ve just realised we might finally get the long-promised Chaos With Ed Miliband. Though I suspect he doesn’t want the gig.

Today in “how Nick‘s head works”: I went to the fridge to get milk. There was an unpleasant odour. I need to clear the rat traps. (We have a rat problem. I hate that the traps kill them. I haven’t found an alternative. Cities, you know?) I need a bag to put the rat(s) in for appropriate disposal.

So this whole Labour leader thing has got a bit frothy again, ey?

I swear: I understand NOTHING www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Thought this was a model response from @celiarichardson.bsky.social to a pretty harsh article in the Spectator about the National Trust

Looks awesome.

Retractions never get proportional attention. This one should.

Modern-Day Oracles or Bullshit Machines? Jevin West (@jevinwest.bsky.social) and I have spent the last eight months developing the course on large language models (LLMs) that we think every college freshman needs to take. thebullshitmachines.com

I don‘t think that would help.

This went exactly how you’re thinking it did.

Just started @mollycrabapple.bsky.social’s remarkable book. So far: amazing.

Taking a break. Not sure if it’s the elections or *gestures at everything else* but the digital world is making me sad right now. See you soon x

Just went out for necessary shopping. Two entirely trivial, deeply positive social encounters later, I’m increasingly sure we underestimate both how important interactions like that are and how toxic some layers of social life have become.

Playing Dispatch. Good writing here.

Yeesh. Every so often I look in on the local council results hoping for a shift in the wind. Not a great day for meteorological positivity this far.

Here’s a chart using a selection of seats that shows you just how strong the gravitational pull away from the two traditional main parties has been in this election, a consistent pattern of flight from the Tories and Labour to ‘everyone else’.

I have an idea. With this whole hantavirus thing, why don't we overreact early, just a bit, and then we can calm down after it turns out it's fine?

Seriously starting to think this whole AI bullshit cycle exists because a combination of (cross-)cultural factors have made a huge portion of the world so fucking lonely they will literally talk to a lolly stick and too ashamed to acknowledge their own pain. gizmodo.com/roombas-crea...

Monogamous man tells wife and mistress he can "do better" on group call www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

I’m old enough to remember when I was mean about Anthropic and a bunch of people turned up in my mentions to tell me not to because they were the good AI company. www.anthropic.com/news/higher-...

Trevor Project released its annual LGBTQ youth mental health report. The results are shocking. 40% of trans youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Trans youth who wanted hormones but couldn’t access them were nearly twice as likely to attempt suicide than those who could.

Remembering bits of Starfleet Academy and giggling to myself. Loved S1.

I love how this cover challenges the eyes. It just takes a second to fix how you read it, but that tickle of your neurons is in such harmony with how @marissalingen.bsky.social's fiction works. I'm excited to read this book.

Yeah, if anyone hasn’t taken this on board, now’s the time.

Just did this. Pretty much seamless. help.eurosky.tech/collection/1...

Always bemused when one book in a series is allowed to go out of circulation. "Yes, 1, 3, 4, and 5 sell super well, but we're not so keen on 2." Oh, well, see, hm. I'm really only interested in reading 3, 4 and 5 if I can get my hands on 2 in some form. Because I gather stuff happens in 2?

Classic of the genre here. Researching church sanctuary law in Switzerland for a thing. Run a search: no obvious hits. "Assisted" Search box pops up: yes, here's a confident summary with two links. Behold: neither of the links has anything to say on the topic and they don't back up the summary.

The key thing about batteries -- and I have a whole-ass pod on this subject coming out soon -- is that electricity systems to date have been built for peak demand, which means a ton of generation capacity is sitting idle a ton of the time. With batteries, you can soak up that capacity!

As the #UNGA climate change resolution opens for co-sponsorship, I urge @coe.int states to step forward and turn words into action. Dependency on fossil fuels threatens global stability, our planet and lives. Current conflicts show the urgent need to accelerate a just, equitable transition. #UNGA👇

Effi o Blaenau is getting a UK release in June and I don't think you should miss it 📽️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

There’s a solidly interesting conversation to be had about the virtues of obscurantism vs cognitive offloading.

The total annual emissions from the gas-fired power stations *just to run Grok* will, once operational, be greater than the total global GHG footprint of all global streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+ (208bn hours) 🧐 ketanjoshi.co/2026/03/02/m... greenly.earth/en-gb/leaf-m...

Do we just not know who was running Carthage during the Third Punic War, or do we know but it’s considered deeply secret?

Fascinating.

Neuromuncher, that should be. Weekly podcast wherein I describe my favorite snacks and local snackeries.

This piece is actually more interesting than the pull-quote suggests. Though not less infuriating.

Did they just not bother to input complex words into the autocorrect system? “Immiseration“ is neither “immoderation” nor “immise ration” (?!) There’s quite an interesting piece to be written on how spellcheck which refuses to acknowledge terms associated with the critique of capitalism.

Stumbled into a discussion on the 2029 election. Thought about taking issue with one particular take, which seemed somewhat 8-bit. Checked bio. “Lexiteer delivering the hard truths every day.” Aaaaand nope. Nopety nope nope.

Hegemonies gonna hege. But one hopes for better.