The Little Probe That Could: Why Voyager 1 Matters, and Why NASA Just Switched Part of It Off This week, NASA announced it had shut down one of that spacecraft's remaining science instruments — not because the mission has failed, but to keep it alive a little longer.

This week, NASA announced it had shut down one of that spacecraft's remaining science instruments — not because the mission has failed, but to keep it alive a little longer. n.pr/41HfdLS

McCartney: The Hunt for the Lost Bass The disappearance of Paul McCartney’s original Höfner bass over 50 years ago is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s great mysteries. This is the story of the iconic instrument and the quest to find it.

This is absolutely lovely. Not just a story of the missing bass, but about people involved in it going missing and finding it, getting old, and the changes and relationships people have over decades, all told through the medium of Klaus Voorman’s beautiful drawings.

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

💯 this ⬇️

(And the fabric of London is important too - architecturally it is not very child friendly, especially on public trasnport, so you are hugely reliant on kind and helpful people to get around).

Think this is right. With the exception of Calum Miller think they've also escalated too fast - once you hit 'should resign' you don't have anything new to add.

For what it is worth, I also think opposition parties have made a strategic error making their main line of attack on Starmer lying. They should be going on competence and inability to control the government machine. [3/3].

Technically, this was a “normal” process, as there are ways to get people who fail vetting into jobs (as Robbins outlined when he spoke to a Parliamentary Committee). [2/3]

Revealed: Mandelson failed vetting but Foreign Office overruled decision Guardian investigation uncovers decision by UK security officials to deny clearance before Mandelson took up role as US ambassador

Like everyone one here, we can only speculate at what happened at this stage, but my guess is Mandelson failed vetting after he was announced, so to clean up mess and avoid political embarrassment, Civil Servants decided to waive him through & kept it quiet [1/3]

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Exactly one year ago today:

Britain preparing for food shortages as Iran war bites — The Times and The Sunday Times Britain could face shortages of chicken, pork and other supermarket goods this summer if the war in Iran continues, a secret government analysis has found. Officials have drawn up contingency plans fo...

I looked up the 1979 timeline the other day… Iranian oil workers went on strike to protest the Shah in Dec ‘78/Jan ‘79. Petrol queues in the US peaked in May/June ‘79. So, in that case, a 4-6 month time lag before worst effects are felt.

apple.news/AAV3i5vj6Qm-...

Pretty rational imo. ABM performance in the 12 days and 3rd Gulf wars have both made it clear that you do need significant quantities of warheads for real deterrent value

…and if it absolutely had to be a chain, Pret was the best best, which I think is accurate, as it is probably the best from the big companies.

Although it was held up as evidence against her (as if more was needed) the one thing that allowed me to have any sympathy with Liz Truss was her instruction to civil servants that any coffee purchased for her should come from independent coffee shops…

This is terrible news… @polcomm.bsky.social

One of the most interesting interventions here was made by @labourlewis.bsky.social a few months ago, when he argued that a war state requires a parallel project for social solidarity. I'm not sure our current welfare system does that, but it is certainly not a case of warfare vs welfare.

The UKVI rejected the application, explaining that they were not satisfied the applicant was genuine given they had quoted the wrong founding year. The university subsequently confirmed that the applicant had provided the correct year and the UKVI caseworker was incorrect, but the decision could not be reconsidered. In another case a foreign student was rejected from obtaining a visa to study at the University of East Anglia due to a dispute over whether the university was in Norfolk. The applicant asserted correctly that it was, but the UKVI caseworker appeared to confuse Norfolk with Norwich, which is the capital of the county, and rejected the application - believing the applicant was wrong.

I hope the new Permanent Secretary at the Home Office is going to be able to look at the UK Visas and Immigration’s practices
www.thetimes.com/article/1644...

A genuinely nice story at not a nice time for the world. But it is strange to think - that for all the current excitement - come 2028, this mission will likely become a footnote for the more glamorous landing mission, just as Apollo 10 is remembered now.

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Rearming Germany: how a €10bn warship project turned sour The fate of the F126 frigate is a cautionary tale for an agency that buys everything from flip-flops to fighter jets

Here’s a good example of why European rearmament is going to be really hard and isn’t just a case of splashing the €s.

(🎁 link from FT)

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Rearming Germany: how a €10bn warship project turned sour

giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

I think you are probably right, although maybe the structures in this case really highlight it - the US military is an exceptionally capable organisation, and the US political leadership is exceptionally inept.

NYT headline “U.S. Rescues Missing Airman Shot Down in Iran, Trump Says”

It does seem one of the major problems of US media coverage is too easily being distracted by what are clearly very impressive feats of arms (see also Venezuela) but not adequately reflecting the complete strategic vacuum in which they are occurring in.

Breaking news about the naming of Storm Dave.

I fear they are running low on inspiration in the Met Office.

This seems an interesting moment of transition, where the Greens will very publicly have to chose between their environmentalism and their economic populism (given all we know about their current direction, I suspect it will be the latter that wins out).

Carter Era Party

This time with a link that actually works: open.spotify.com/playlist/0tj...

This is also the first presentation I have ever prepared with an accompanying playlist.

bsky.app/profile/nick...

Just heading home from #psa2026 after presenting my paper on the Political Communication of Jimmy Carter.

As a bonus, I used #spotify AI to create a Carter era playlist you can enjoy while thinking about stagflation, Iran & oil price rises.

You can download it here: bit.lv/MalaiseDisco

Picture of the LSE Press bookstand at the annual Political Studies Association conference in Oxford, March 2026

Come and stop by the @lsepress.bsky.social stand at #PSA26 to learn why we are the best option for your next #PoliticalScience book...

It is really clear no proper thought was given in principle or practice to what happens to children. Lots of work would need to be done to fix the consequences. But the bias to affluent children over working-class children is simply inherent in this hierarchy of status plan

bsky.app/profile/sund...

I don’t have quite as far to go, but with Sunday rail services you might still beat me!

On the train up to Oxford for #psa2026.

📣 New job at Oxford's Centre for Advanced Social Science Methods (CASSM)! 📣

The Departments of Politics & IR (DPIR) and Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) are hiring an Associate Professor of Causal and Experimental Methods.

Come work with me and amazing Oxford peeps! Deadline NOON April 27th.