Beyond the ragebait of the manosphere lies a group of thinkers who want to turn back the clock on feminism. Far from being a fringe belief system, masculinism has become the single most important force uniting the American right. My latest for @theatlantic.com: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Note to podcasters, broadcasters and heck, a few colleagues, on how to say "Xi". iI helps to know that in the old romanisation system, it was spelled "Hsi", which is not a bad guide to the sound. Imagine English "she", but then advance your tongue towards the teeth so it's higher pitched. 1/

And America’s.

I feel like the crazy one: he very clearly says "acting attorney-general Carte Blanche" at 0:11 and nobody seems to be mentioning it!

"The U.S. administration has suggested that the troop withdrawal was meant to punish German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for criticizing Washington’s Iran policy. But in fact it punishes the pro-American German middle class" www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Pearson/Edexcel will allow students to use non-binary pronouns like French "iel" when taking their GCSEs; this has sparked an "international row", according to the inevitable moral panic. Only... the pronouns will not be taught or required. 1/ www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/05...

I'm even less objective, since Brendan has been one of my very closest friends for 30 years. But he *is* a great writer, he *is* lovely person, and he's poured years of work and passion into this book. I'm very excited to read it.

🇪🇸 Spain's electricity in 2000: 56% fossil, 2% solar & wind. By 2026: 44% solar & wind, just 17% fossil. The crossover came in 2023. Gas now sets the price only 15% of the time vs 89% in Italy. More in my forthcoming Substack newsletter 👇 janrosenow.substack.com

🗺️ Electoral Atlas of the Spanish Second Republic (1931-1936) Today we are publishing, in beta version and as a first phase (1936 only), the database so everyone can explore it 👇 tonirodon.cat/second-repub... (1/n)

Is the EU trolling Trump with this new ad campaign in my neighborhood?

We're hiring! It's only a fixed-term contract for maternity cover but the job—and the team—is interesting and fun infographics.economist.com/jobs/2026/in...

Good clear writing is *hard*. If all the angry eggheads here think it’s for dumb people, they should try it sometime.

Lots of noses out of joint around here over this, calling it anti-intellectualism, but it's basic in (for instance) journalism to speak in ways that will include everyone in your intended audience. A true intellect can speak plainly and intelligently at the same time. /1

You don’t launch a *leak* investigation if the reporting in question is purely false.

I don't think it's a profound misdiagnosis, but I do agree that the *main* problem with how politicians talk is not that they're academic; it's that they're too woolen, hedged and careful, which shares *some* ground with academia. Obama is very clearly right that ordinary people hate this.

Apologies 101. Trying to duck it with *If* anyone was hurt *[in the agentless passive]* I *would* like to say sorry for *any* harm that *might* have been done makes it worse, believe me.

A masterclass in the Spanish subjunctive. The archbishop begs an abuse victim "that this *not come out* in the papers" and apologies for the harm the victim "MAY have suffered or MAY be suffering" (que hayas sufrido o sufras). Not, note, "that you HAVE suffered and ARE suffering".

Five publishers (and Scott Turow) are class-action suing Meta over alleged IP theft for Llama. If they truly used pirate websites it looks a lot like the case which Anthropic settled for a lot of $. 1/ www.hachettebookgroup.com/articles/pub...

🔊New episode of THE BIG VIEW🎧: Talking about the US dollar's past and future with @bhgreeley.bsky.social, author of "The Almighty Dollar". A conversation about how money is created, why monetary sovereignty is overstated, and the ups and downs of global currencies. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w...

A good piece. "The Day After" is responsible for a sporadic but lifelong series of nuclear-apocalypse nightmares for me.

One of the few things you can find open on Sunday in Germany is the baker’s. They do take their bread seriously, and yes, it is surprisingly good.

This was a rich and thought-provoking read. Podcast with @bhgreeley.bsky.social coming next week.

This naturally set off everyone on Bluesky naming their (least-)favorites (and some good discussions among my favorite word people).

Your designated survivor would have been….drum roll please🥁 92-year-old Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. He was the highest-ranking official in the presidential line of succession not in attendance 👏👏👏

Clown-car stuff.

Babe, new cædmon's hymn dropped

I'll be on @thatwordchat.bsky.social tonight to talk to Mark about my language journalism, our Economist language videos, being a style chief and else whatever he (and you!) want to ask. See you there I hope—430pm EDT.

There are fantastically fun links in this month's Separated by a Common Newsletter. Have a look, and if you like it, subscribe! lynneguist.substack.com/p/making-a-n...

I think I remember first seeing this rule under @johnemcintyre.bsky.social's name. It has definitely shamed me out of an exclamation when writing for publication (though I use them to lighten email/instant messages...)

By the way, the whole of Mencken's "The American Language" is online, so judge for yourself! Jump to a random section and read. www.gutenberg.org/files/43376/...

I'm glad to see someone standing up for American English... but 1) HL Mencken's book on US English as interesting as your iPhone's T&C's? There is no way this guy has read it if that's his view www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

"We should resist efforts by this administration and its MAGA minions to use Saturday night as an excuse to criminalize political dissent, silence legitimate criticism, and curtail our civil liberties. Such efforts got underway within hours of the shooting." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Language writer and style chief @lanegreene.bsky.social joins #ThatWordChat on April 28! We'll dive into his work at #TheEconomist and his video series on the fascinating side of language. Grab your virtual seat: ThatWordChat.com #Language #Linguistics #Writing

Man Finally Good Enough At New Hobby To Understand How Bad He Is At It

Age is obviously an issue here. But Trump is perfectly vigorous when he's talking himself. He appears to be repeatedly bored to sleep by 1) other people and 2) public policy.

A nerdy post about American drinking habits. open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

An excellent column by @dsorennie.bsky.social. Trump is not the first president to fail to get into his adversaries' minds: it's long been a bad thing to "go native". But it's costly and stupid nonetheless, and Trump has put a malign new spin on it. www.economist.com/internationa...

RFK said, literally, that Trump “has a different way of calculating.” I'd say he's right! 2016 was a huge popular vote win 2020 was an outright win 2024 was a landslide the war is a resounding success America's economy has never been hotter and on and on. 1/

I know better than most to be a jerk about headlines, which it often falls to me to write. Don’t be a jerk, ever. Still, I’d tweak this one….

Heavier vehicles exert greater forces on the surface below them, say scientists

Our own unscientific poll of our subscribers: who won?

Apr 9 poll of 2,837 U.S. adults (+/-2.6 points) % who think [the U.S. | Iran] benefits more from their ceasefire U.S. adults 14% | 29% Democrats 13% | 29% Independents 12% | 25% Republicans 17% | 32% yougov.com/en-us/daily-...

I *gulp* tried to guess Susie Dent 3 language facts that she didn’t know before. Want to see how I did? www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMrY...

What happens when liberal-minded voters emigrate from their enshittifying countries? Sadly the evidence confirms that this usually strengthens the autocrats back home. www.economist.com/internationa...

In Marjorie Taylor Greene's Georgia district last night, the 11-point Democratic loss is a huge outperformance. Greene won it by 30 points last time, and Trump won it by 37 points.

Does anyone know about the Copymight Coalition, purporting to represent authors whose works have been sucked up into AIs? On one hand, interested; on the other I have been getting relentless e-mails despite my non-replies. And about half Mike Hodson's (re-)posts (on X) are for a sports-betting site

Today, April 7, is Kwibuka32, the commemoration of the 32d anniversary of the first full day of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. Past US presidents marked the date with stock statements of “never again.” Today the president instead echoed the language & threats of the perpetrators.