I wrote about how two religious revolutions inadvertently rewired how England and Ireland drink postliberal.substack.com/p/the-drying...

This is superb. Been thinking how Scotland fits into this - there's to be a particular pathology here that comes from the intersection with a Presbyterian puritanism making drinking something to be not enjoyed & drinkers a class of people to be punished. Which paradoxically pushes harder drinking.

I wrote about how two religious revolutions inadvertently rewired how England and Ireland drink postliberal.substack.com/p/the-drying...

The binge-drinking problems of England and Ireland aren’t ancient traits, they’re the unintended consequences of religious revolutions that reshaped when, where, and how people drink. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

The binge-drinking problems of England and Ireland aren’t ancient traits, they’re the unintended consequences of religious revolutions that reshaped when, where, and how people drink. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Did I mention that I had written about the specific historical conditions that produced the binge-drinking cultures of England and Ireland? I probably forgot to mention it. postliberal.substack.com/p/the-drying...

I wrote about the specific historical conditions that produced the binge-drinking cultures of England and Ireland open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

I wrote about the specific historical conditions that produced the binge-drinking cultures of England and Ireland open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Ive written about the specific historical conditions that produced the binge-drinking cultures of England and Ireland. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Ive written about the specific historical conditions that produced the binge-drinking cultures of England and Ireland. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

The Scottish Parliament, which has no lords, has rejected assisted suicide. The Welsh Senedd, which has no lords, has rejected assisted suicide. David Lammy, who is not a lord, has withheld royal assent to the Isle of Man assisted suicide legislation.

New Substack from me. Ive written about the drinking cultures of England and Ireland. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Long read on how the English Reformation in the 16th century and Ireland’s Devotional Revolution in the 19th century changed their drinking-cultures open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Long read on how the English Reformation in the 16th century and Ireland’s Devotional Revolution in the 19th century changed their drinking-cultures open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

New Substack from me. Ive written about the drinking cultures of England and Ireland. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

New Substack essay from me. Ive written about English and Irish drinking cultures and tried to explain why they are the way they are. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

New Substack essay from me. Ive written about English and Irish drinking cultures and tried to explain why they are the way they are. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

this graph about southern ireland is something else no wonder they are having fuel protests in the roi

The case for bundling substacks www.edwest.co.uk/p/the-case-f...

The kids are alright statsandsociety.substack.com/p/how-bad-is...

Labour have been in government for just over 18 months. They still have no form of vaguely achievable, credible or realistic health policy, which seems like a problem. www.healthpolicyinsight.com/cowpers-cut-...

On this Epiphany Eve, the Armenian Chapel of Dzordzor, in north-west Iran, where, over centuries, Armenian Christians looked up at the same night sky into which the magi gazed.

So, maybe not the phones? www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

In other news look at councils projected cumulative deficit just on special needs costs over the next few years. Yikes.

Ive written about drug-death epidemics on my new Substack. How they begin and how they end. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

The worst you can accuse Panorama of doing is making a misleading edit – and I’d dispute that! – to make *a point that was true*. The programme aired without anyone seeing any issues with the edit. It was on iPlayer for a year without complaints. Donald Trump *did* incite Jan 6th.

I suspect being sued for a billion dollars by Donald Trump, who is about as popular as cholera in Britain, for saying something true about what Trump did (albeit with a bad edit) will probably do the BBC's public trust and approval ratings quite a lot of good in the end.

New essay. I use the 18th century gin craze as a template to trace the trajectory of modern-day drug-death epidemics and to discern how the American opioid crises and the Scottish drug-death problems are likely to peter out eventually via generational turnover. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Ive written about drug-death epidemics on my new Substack. How they begin and how they end. open.substack.com/pub/postlibe...

Goffman in the digital age www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The private sector is supposed to be better value for money because it has a profit incentive. But if not regulated properly - and often it's impossible to regulate properly - the profit incentive makes it less efficient to the state.

Also highlights a point I spend a lot of time on in my book - the government is woefully bad at managing private contractors who endlessly rip us off. This is not more efficient.

Unpaywalled for the next couple of hours: my latest column, which looks at why Labour’s health policy thinking is so remarkably bad. www.healthpolicyinsight.com/cowpers-cut-...

Smartphone use in a large US adult population: Temporal associations between objective measures of usage and mental well-being www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....

We mustn't forget the capacity of football to bridge divides in Israel. There are many sports-based peace initiatives in Israel eg Football for Peace. Hapoel Tel Aviv has had Israeli Arab players throughout its history & has a large Israeli Arab fanbase This doesn't deny racism in Israeli football

Good result for Yorkshire in the Turkish League

67% of the goals Arsenal have scored in the Premier League this season have come from set plays - the highest proportion in the division.

Fundamental features of social environments determine rate of social affiliation www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

More null results in relationship between smartphone usage and mood (US adults) www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Next time somebody asks me what Bluesky is like, I'll send them this

he's going to do another moronic speech isn't he

This is so good from Cory Doctorow on all the tricks Amazon uses to get both consumers to pay more, and how businesses on the platform end up paying it 45-51 cents on every dollar. Plus he rightly calls for regulatory change, not just individual consumer action www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Nottingham Forest's first home game in Europe since 1996 ends in defeat. It means after six games in charge, Ange Postecoglou is still looking for his first win since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo.

Hollow words when almost every weekend in London protestors shout 'globalise the intifada' and 'Khaybar, Khaybar ya yahud' and nothing is done by your police to address antisemitism and extremism.

21% of men under 30 say they've placed an online sports bet in the past year, up from 9% in 2022. 16% of women under 30 have done it too, up from 6%.

In @theguardian.com - drop in support for digital ID since summer & govt announcement. From 54-18 support to 31-45 opposed, a real shift: suggests govt didnt get comms on use right, opponents did; but also risk govt unpopularity means they have reverse Midas right now theguardian.com/politics/2025/…

Declan Rice has scored four goals in his last four Champions League games at the Emirates Stadium. #ARSOLY

Comparison of points versus last season's results in corresponding fixtures. +5 Tottenham +4 Liverpool +4 Man City +2 Chelsea -1 Arsenal -2 Newcastle -4 Man Utd -10 Aston Villa

Arsenal (3.28) and Newcastle (2.55) have the two lowest Expected Goals Against tallies in the Premier League this season. Next weekend is going to be a fun watch. #NEWARS