Today's the 250th anniversary of the publication of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. (I wonder how many of today's Economists have actually read more than, say, a dozen pages?)

It is hard, but today I have failed to be chosen *both* as Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran *and* as Best in Show at Cruft's.

On the 60th anniversary of the D Day landings I appeared on TV from the beach at Arromanches, credited as a military historian.

"None of that fits in a victory video, no matter how many totally badass clips from movies and video games you include. And none of it can be resolved by having your press secretary announce that you’ve decided you’ve won:" - terrific piece by @eliasisquith.blog:

Hate to be a killjoy, but this just isn't true. For most of their history universities have been about securing qualifications in law/medicine/theology and/or helping the careers of the upwardly mobile middling sort. The real question is whether we want to return to that world. (My answer is no.)

@woodscolt79.bsky.social I draw the attention of the Campaign for Heliacal Democracy to the local elections in France, whose first round is on 15 March and second round a week later on 22 March, with the Vernal Equinox falling in the middle on 20 March. This seems commendable. Formidable, even.

"To which Labour MP, or former Labour MP, are you married?"

Negronis—a seriously excellent drink, to mark a seriously excellent day in the history of Italian rugby.

My decision to sit on the sofa all afternoon has been thoroughly vindicated by events. Those were both super matches.

How splendid.

What a fantastic try.

Have been a bit frustrated by some of the conversation about Labour's voter coalition. I've written about who the "Hero Voters" actually were, how we won them, and what we need to do to earn their support next time. chriscurtismk.substack.com/p/who-actual...

As I was saying at half time.

Hard to beat the sound of a stadium spontaneously in full song.

I suspect that I have heard the words, "Penalty advantage to Scotland" more times this afternoon than on any other occasion in my life.

It is very hard to beat Scotland at Murrayfield, isn't it?

Attn @maxrothbarth.bsky.social.

Do we yet know how many of them are married to Labour MPs?

Congratulations @markpendleton.bsky.social & @suzitoole.bsky.social for smashing the UCU Vice-President (HE & FE) election! Overall results are great. EVERY single @ucucommons.org candidate was elected, as were the vast majority of candidates we endorsed! Forward! 💪 www.ucu.org.uk/article/1419...

Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’ https://theonion.com/netanyahu-these-so-called-genocide-experts-have-probably-never-committed-a-genocide-in-their-lives/

🇫🇷 Incredible acapella Marseillaise after Macron's nuclear speech at Île Longue. Almost makes you want to join the French Foreign Legion.

well I guess she’ll have to go back to fucking that guy on privately-funded planes

The fragmenting political spectrum is now consolidating around two new poles: those who think the role of government is to improve productivity and prosperity vs those who think it’s to proliferate religious war in the Middle East, hasten the time of tribulation & generate content for social media.

Might go out to have a drink to celebrate.

Some books I like (though don't necessarily agree with), because it's World Book Day

Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) La sonnambula (1831) La fille du régiment (1840) La traviata (1853) Tristan und Isolde (1865) Carmen (1875) Samson et Dalila (1877) Eugene Onegin (1879) Contes d'Hoffmann (1880) La bohème (1896) V difficult to only choose one Wagner and one Donizetti.

Ten favourite C19th operas, no more than one per composer Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) Der Freischutz (1821) Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) Rigoletto (1851) La belle Hélène (1864) Die Walküre (1870) Boris Godunov (1874) Carmen (1875) HMS Pinafore (1878) Tosca (1900)

Reminds me of Swift’s Modest Proposal.

New Welsh Government legislation has officially recognised the Eurasian beaver as a native species and granted it protected status ✍️ @emilypricejourno.bsky.social

If someone is going to bring me back as an AI construct to comment on the work of random students, it had better be as the full package: impatient with sloppy argument structure, sarcastic, obsessed with correct apostrophe use. thesphinxblog.com/2026/03/03/n...

How very Freudian.

Any centre left governing coalition is now: - Young people, especially graduates - Urban progressives - Minority groups - Working age people with low incomes - Educated Professionals If both your political and economic strategy is not geared towards these groups, they will find a party that is.

Great thing about this is it's a double mythology of sticking to the road towards doom while pretending the ones who don't want to are sticking to the road towards doom. Very Sophoclean:

Labour's likely response anticipated by Brecht:

On Prudential Liberalism, and the New International Order pt. III with a shout out to @chrisbrooke.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/digressi...

A couple of hours to kill in Woking so figured I’d look for the blue plaques

I finally gave up and admitted to myself that I hated it and everyone involved when Mishal Hussain left, I at least found her voice and manner bearable in the morning but all the others are just aggravating. Who wants to get to work in a foul mood every day?

I gave up on it some years ago and the positive affect on my life was such that I still have a burst of pleasure every morning when I recall that I'm not listening to it. In that sense I'm glad it still exists out there, so I can enjoy its absence.

We've had a Green MP for just over a day and there's already someone in the neighbourhood WhatsApp group complaining they haven't solved flytipping yet.

So far I've come up with one rational explanation for Labour's response, which is that maybe Reeves has placed a significant amount of Treasury funds on a very specific accumulator about this May's elections, including Labour losing all their London councils and finishing fifth on projected vote.

That article is a bit weird though. I agree Today is appallingly bad and its style, priorities, and biases have a deleterious effect on the country’s politics… so it was jarring that the author’s first complaint was “it has too much arts coverage”

I've barely listened to the Today Programme for twenty years, because it was so terrible for so long, but apparently it has more recently been getting *even worse*.

Labourites chasing Reform voters remind me of Democrats who couldn’t “imagine the Democratic Party without West Virginia”—historically a miners’ union state—even decades after it had gone hard Right based on race, culture wars, and anti-environmentalism. [more]

Reboot of the West Wing, but it’s just members of the Bartlet administration testifying about their appearances in the Epstein files.

Welcome back!

We were very sorry to learn of the death of political theorist William E. Connolly this week. He published six books with us. Here is our appreciation.

Not that anyone asks historians anymore, but I think my sense that the last GE was Labour's 1906 (they are the Liberals in this analogy) still might stand. What remains unique (and so without historical analogy) is that the Conservatives are being *successfully* challenged by a party to the right.

A good overview. Also includes sound advice for Labour should it wish to revive its fortunes. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...