Imagining Democratic Futures: The Western Balkans in 2040 Democracy is facing its most uncertain moment in decades, with global democratic anchors such as the United States and the European Union facing turbulence that weakens alliances and undermines long-s...

💡 What could democracy in the Western Balkans look like by 2040?

A new discussion paper by @internationalidea.bsky.social and BIRN Albania outlines 4 scenarios, showing how current signals could either strengthen or erode #democracy.

Read more here ⬇️ doi.org/10.31752/16088

Every Dark Corner ‘To believe in the talking cure, as I do, is to put one’s faith in something truly strange, but since when has any sort of faith not been strange?’

Deborah Levy on Freud "I can get a sense of how its founding father had to experiment, improvise, invent new techniques that also involved rearranging the furniture in his consulting room. Freud was essentially working from home."

granta.com/every-dark-c...

Amia Srinivasan · The Impossible Patient: Return of the Unconscious You may not wish to commit yourself ontologically to some thing called the ‘unconscious’, and you may reasonably...

‘The interesting question to my mind is not whether there is truth in psychoanalysis, but whether its truth will set us free. This might seem an odd question for a philosopher to ask.’

Amia Srinivasan on analysis, philosophy and politics, and their meeting-places:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst? Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...

There was, however, a frustrating aspect to these conversations, and to pretty much everything I read about AI. People seemed convinced it was going to be a huge deal. But they were short on details. It was easier to feel the heat than to see the fire.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Why Does A.I. Write Like … That? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/m...

45 meat and dairy giants emit more methane than EU and UK combined, study finds Global meat and dairy production's environmental footprint dwarfs that of all EU member states and the UK combined, according to a new report.

45 meat and dairy giants emit more methane than EU and UK combined, study finds

David Bowie in Japan. He's waling up some steps while wearing a long black coat and smoking a cigarette.

David Bowie in Japan. He's standing in front of a train while wearing a long light-colored coat.

David Bowie in Japan. He's riding a subway car while wearing a long dark-colored coat.

David Bowie in Japan. He's walking away from a train while wearing a long black coat, gray checked scarf, charcoal trousers, and black shoes.

most people don't want politics that hurt other people. we just want a long overcoat like david bowie and affordable housing

William Davies · Repeal the 20th Century: Pre-MAGA To understand the intellectual coordinates of Trumpism requires us to look in less conventional places and to pay more...

Repeal the 20th Century www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Adam Shatz · Berlin Diary Throughout my stay in Berlin, I kept hearing from Germans quietly critical of Israel that ‘cracks’ had begun to...

"Will anyone be left in Gaza to benefit from the supposed turning of the tide?" - Adam Shatz

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

My Brain Finally Broke Much of what we see now is fake, and the reality we face is full of horrors. More and more of the world is slipping beyond my comprehension.

Jia Tolentino writes about how Donald Trump and “his lieutenant content-generator Elon Musk” harness the internet to damage our sense of the real.

Inorganic City: A Living Autopsy of Tirana To a certain extent, living in a “cool” city was the promised land that allowed people to swallow the bitter pill of the 1990s neoliberal shock doctrine.

Barbara Halla on how Tirana became a commodified city, built partially for tourists— an inorganic city. "An inorganic city is a city whose urban transformations respond to needs that are not those of its inhabitants..." www.full-stop.net/2025/03/27/f...

Francisco Garcia | In Belgrade On 1 November 2024, a concrete canopy collapsed at the renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second city,...

‘100,000 people took to Slavija Square in Belgrade in the largest demonstration in Serbia for at least two decades. In January, students initiated a 24-hour blockade of the capital.’

Francisco Garcia on Belgrade’s Novi Sad disaster, from the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...

There was a time on social media when you actually had to scroll to find the doom but now you just need to open the app.

PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey after more than 40 years of conflict Kurdish militant group responds to call from its jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to lay down arms Outlawed Kurdish militants have declared a ceasefire with Turkey after a landmark call by the jailed PKK leader, Abdullah Öcalan, asking the group to…

PKK declares ceasefire with Turkey after more than 40 years of conflict

The Logic of Destruction And how to resist it

The logic of the coup that is going on now. And how to resist it.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-logic-...

A women-led team of 20, working remotely, is showing up a trillion dollar megacorp. Truly inspiring.

so here's the bsky starter pack that you didn't know you needed. wondering what grift kushner & ivanka tr*mp are pulling buying up property in the balkans? sarajevo on your mind? or just want some wholesome stories about an ottoman-era donkey? we have you covered! go.bsky.app/AcUhygT

‼️ Few more days to apply to this workshop on ontological security organised by @bscarvalho.bsky.social, Margo Vieira and myself at POLSIS, Birmingham. Participation support available.

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