Keir Starmer famously said there was "no such thing" as Starmerism. He was half-right: there is no such ideology. There is however an approach to managing and running the country that is core to so many of the government's difficulties that we probably should call 'Starmerism'. In tomorrow's paper:
Last week:
Read @mariusostrowski.bsky.social's surprise turn to pop psychology
And also @msumption.bsky.social making sense of migration policy
aveekbhattacharya.substack.com/p/readwatche...
Something like this will have to happen in this country once Trumpism is defeated. In the absence of accountability, the world will rightly assume that it will happen again.
Since graduating:
1. GFC
2. Austerity
3. Brexit
4. Covid-19
5. War in Europe
6. Oil/gas crisis
7. Global trade war
8. War in the Middle East
9. Another oil/gas crisis
these graphs should scare the shit out of you
It's release week for HOW WE THINK! So I thought I'd share an extra special little treat with you all.
Here's a sneak preview of the audiobook, which is out THIS THURSDAY along with the hardback!
It's the opening section of the introduction – give it a listen, hope you enjoy!
Reform fury as someone else wins by Our By-election Editor Tim Shipsink The losing candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, Matt Goodwhinge, has demanded an immediate re-run of the election on the grounds that he lost comprehensively to someone else. "It's totally unfair and rigged," said Goodwhinge. "I shouldn't be required to sit there and suck it up, just because I lost." Mr Goodwhine continued, *I can't believe that all those voters I demonised failed to back me. Especially after I was endorsed by Tommy Robinson and ten million Russian bots on X. "We have clear evidence of family voting, where people voted in order for me to stop deporting their families." Mr Badloser concluded. "I'm the victim of colour prejudice. They didn't vote for me simply because I'm not green." Reform leader Mr Farage, speaking from a sun lounger on a rock near the Chagos Islands said, "It's a tragedy that the people of Manchester won't see Matt in Westminster, but my constituents don't see me in Clacton either." PLUMBER DEFEATS MATT GOODWIN Photo of Hannah Spencer with speech bubble saying… I've stopped the cock
Beautiful from Private Eye on the massive toddler-tantrum that Matt Goodwin and Reform are having, because they got whooped in Gorton and Denton.
For anyone who doubts these processes -- or humanity's power to alter our planet -- consider this dispatch from the poles: Human-caused warming has already melted so much ice in Greenland and Antarctica that Earth's rotation has slowed and its axis has shifted, slightly altering the length of the day and disrupting the precision of satellite tracking, global positioning systems and timekeeping.
oh my god
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/o...
three possible AI-driven paths: - tech singularity end of scarcity, ai boosted growth, or complete human extinction
Referring everyone who asks me who’s going to win in Gorton and Denton to this chart
Today the "E5" (🇩🇪🇫🇷🇬🇧🇮🇹🇵🇱) agreed to launch an initiative to produce their own low-cost aerial defences - drones and the ability to shoot down drones - without American support.
The E5 is a relatively new term that we're going to be hearing a lot more of going forward.
First look at HOW WE THINK! Hugely excited to get some early copies today courtesy of @hachetteuk.bsky.social @hodderbooks.bsky.social
They're simply beautiful! (OK, I know I'm biased.)
3 weeks to go till HOW WE THINK is officially out! You can pre-order now: bio.to/HowWeThink
The thing about Casablanca being the greatest film of all time is people don't believe you and then they watch it
I just asked Claude about its selfhood in relation to narrative and neurons.
It doubts it is thinking and recognizes it has no metacognitive ability. So that was easy, saved you all a read.
I guess AI does save us time!
First time in the recording studio yesterday – had an absolute blast!
Laid down my bits of the audiobook for HOW WE THINK. I'm reading the Introduction, Conclusion, Epilogue, and Acknowledgements.
Here's some BTS footage from the Introduction!
HOW WE THINK also out in audiobook form on 12 March.
Also a good visual for why "global North" and "global South" don't quite capture what's going on in this dynamic.
The public really aren't buying this anymore...
Time is ticking down fast to the release of HOW WE THINK on 12 March!
Six weeks to go so I thought I'd give you a quick intro to the book.
What it says. Where it came from. What it can (hopefully!) do for you.
You can pre-order HOW WE THINK now!
bio.to/HowWeThink
@hodderbooks.bsky.social
🇨🇦PM Carney just schooled our cowardly European leaders at #Davos. This speech was clearly aimed at them:
"We must actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be."
"What does it mean for middle powers to live the truth? First it means naming reality..." (🧵1/6)
One thing most people don't understand is that we in the US enjoy greater wealth funded by other countries because they assume we are a stable and relatively friendly hegemon.
A prominent Royal Society fellow helped out with this
A nice bookend to a period of history that began with this speech (starts around 12:20):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kazp...
Nuclear energy is key to decarbonising Europe.
It is an essential component of a clean, reliable & diversified energy mix, helping to strengthen #StrategicAutonomy.
We call to:
🔸 boost innovative fuel cycle facilities;
🔸 align nuclear investment rules with renewables.
👉 link.europa.eu/CxmHYg
Everyone in the current Cabinet campaigned on the 2019 manifesto, which promised safe & legal routes for refugees, granting them the right to work & access public services.
Bunch of lying bastards.
How does a country work?
How do we describe what it has and does?
And how do we analyse it over time, and compare it with other countries?
That's what the paper on national capacities is about: the five factors a country mobilises to achieve national outcomes.
www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/pub...
How has the UK's approach to national strategy changed?
Were there times when it was clearer, more successful, more strategic?
What brought about these changes?
That's the theme of the historical paper: periods and turning points in UK strategic ideology.
www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/research/pub...
Delighted to share two new papers from my work at the @blavatnikschool.bsky.social this year!
They offer complementary perspectives on national strategy:
📜 Tracing the UK’s national strategy since the 1850s
⚙️ Modelling the capacities every nation must mobilise
www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/fellowship/h...
