I just want it to stop. There are so many much more urgent things going on. I refuse to spend any time thinking about it.

Picasso’s Guernica is the ultimate emblem of the horrors of war. It has no place in Spain's partisan squabbles | María Ramírez Forty years after the 1937 masterpiece returned to Madrid from its Franco-era exile in New York, it is again embroiled in politics, says Spanish journalist María Ramírez

This is a good article explaining the arguments over a temporary transfer of Guernica to Bilbao. But it also contains a wonderful snippet of a story about the return of Guernica from New York after the death of Franco, in the hold of a regular Iberia flight.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

'At the end of each module, students will engage in a “Socratic dialogue” with their AI tutor about the content to answer questions and reflect on their learning.'

On the one hand, studying Classics is passée, on the other hand, 'Socratic dialogue' is how you market AI tuition models. Hmmm. 3/3

Incredible life hack here for manuscript central

Remittance inflows, 2024, % of GDP

Collapsing remittances will compound Asia’s energy shock
economist.com/asia/2026/04...

Rare sighting of a column chart taking a dip at Hove Beach.

#dataviz

Can early public childcare reduce child penalties? Evidence from Germany This paper studies the effects of public childcare expansion for children under age three in Germany on mothers’ child penalties. Exploiting county-le…

I’m very happy to share that my first paper has been accepted for publication 🎉

Together with my great co-author Nayeon Lim we look at early public childcare in Germany.

More details and the paper link below 👇

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Iris Long, Scientific Mentor to AIDS Activists, Dies at 92

"She tutored the activists on immunology and virology and schooled them in the intricacies of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process and pharmaceutical research protocols."

[Gift article]

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/17/h...

My photo shows a dark brown, intricate, openwork Roman leather sandal for the left foot against a light grey display background. It is cut from a single piece of leather. It has a flat sole and the edges are cut into many narrow strips that have been pulled upward and inward to interlace over the top of the foot, forming a cage-like structure. The front of the sandal tapers to a rounded point. It measures 23.5 cm in length.

A stylish leather sandal worn by a Roman Londoner some 2,000 years ago!

This well-preserved ‘carabatina’ sandal was found under the City of London during excavations by MOLA for Bloomberg’s European Headquarters in 2010–2014.

London Mithraeum 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology

Our vets switched to a tablet treatment (not topical) for this reason. It seems to work ok?

Which Occupations Should Get Skilled Worker Visas? Informing the UK’s Visa Reform The UK’s 2025 immigration reforms will restrict Skilled Worker visas for many mid-skill jobs, raising questions about which roles should retain access given labour shortages and industrial strategy go...

New paper!

The UK plans to restrict visa access for ‘mid-skill’ occupations- except for those on the Temporary Shortage List of exemptions.

We ask: What effects would loss of visa access have for labour supply? Which occupations should be on that list?

Here are the projected vote shares for the Cambridge city council elections from the recent JL Partners MRP. The Greens are fractionally ahead of the Lib Dems, with Labour third on 22%. www.jlpartners.co.uk/polling-resu...

For the second day, the person engaging in the unlawful practice is not a lawyer or an immigration advisor. Yet this nuance is totally absent from the framing.

For the second day, the specific example on which the article is based makes un-evidencrd links to rising claims.

It's deplorable.

The 21st century will be won by the states that, in a developed world where skilled young people are increasingly in short supply, are able to overcome their own xenophobia to welcome the future

I’m a lapsed Catholic, but this is so incredibly disrespectful: “I think it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology."

New from me: No increase in global coal power generation after Hormuz closure - solar and wind growth covered the fall in gas-fired generation. The record buildout of clean energy in 2025 helped mitigate the impact of the Hormuz closure.

Lamppost
📷 Contax RTS w/Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.7
🎞️ Ilford FP4+
🧪 Caffenol
📷📲 Epson V600
#FridayFavourites
#FP4Party

Brilliant!

Mahmood’s migration changes will deliver fraction of claimed savings, data suggests Exclusive: Analysis of government figures indicates public finances will gain £600m not £10bn if migrants’ access to benefits is reduced

My analysis of the fiscal impact of the "earned settlement" proposals, based on government's own data.

The direct savings are a fraction of the Home Secretary's misleading claims, and likely to be offset by the substantial costs of lower work-related migration.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

This is Sadie. She was finally reunited with her human, astronaut Christina Koch, after her mom’s voyage around the moon took her the furthest any human has ever been from their dog. She can't wait to hear all about the universe. 14/10 (IG: astro_christina)

Thank you for this, I fully agree, and would add that the other key aspect of the university as a concept is that it includes all subjects (hence university), not just a sub-section.

Brilliant!

I did appreciate the Russian doll with Orbán on the outside and Putin inside at the Tisza party 😀

I need to see more joyful videos of Hungarians celebrating! Please post more.

Hungarians are singing ‘We Are The Champions’ in celebration of the landslide victory of Peter Magyar

for sure, congratulations to magyar. but the real heroes imo are those in civil society & journalism & rank-and-file opposition & academia who have fought against the disintegration of rule of law, the weaponization of the courts/media, & so much more for so long. 🇭🇺

I spent 16, SIXTEEN years fighting this crap.

I can’t believe it 😭

Congratulations! Absolutely wonderful news!

I think Chavez was first.

Did not know there was a cookbook 😳 I’m off to look.