The brutality of populist politics - Daily Friend Modern politics has abandoned the basic civility of recognising the humanity of all people. We will come to regret this.

The brutality of populist politics
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/21/t...
(My latest column. Modern politics has abandoned the basic civility of recognising the humanity of all people. We will come to regret this.}

Who can you trust, when all about you is vibe? - Daily Friend In a world where fakery looks real, tribalism is sold as truth, and engagement pays the bills, who can you trust?

Who can you trust, when all about you is vibe?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/17/w...
(In a world where fakery looks real, tribalism is sold as truth, and engagement pays the bills, who can you trust? Or, in defence of good old-fashioned journalistic principles.)

The bells of Hungary toll for... whom, exactly? - Daily Friend Does the fall of Viktor Orbán after 16 years of authoritarian rule signal the end of illiberal nationalism? Probably not.

The bells of Hungary toll for… whom, exactly?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/14/t...
(My latest. Does the fall of Viktor Orbán after 16 years of authoritarian rule signal the end of illiberal nationalism? Probably not.

Social media addiction verdict a dangerous wrong turn
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/10/s...
(My latest column. A recent jury trial found Meta and Google liable for causing a plaintiff’s mental health problems. That’s a truly bad ruling.)

What “peace through strength” means - Daily Friend There is a disconnect between the meaning of “peace through strength” and how US President Donald Trump appears to interpret it.

What “peace through strength” means
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/09/w...
(Today's column. After this was filed, Israel violated the ceasefire, Trump lied that Lebanon was never part of the deal, and Iran closed the Hormuz Strait again. Trump is being played by both Israel and Iran.)

Bring back the gatekeepers and the iconoclasts - Daily Friend It is already too late to avoid a full-blown, AI-driven epistemic crisis. We will need trust figures, but who will pay them?

Bring back the gatekeepers and the iconoclasts
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/07/b...
(My latest column. It is already too late to avoid a full-blown, AI-driven epistemic crisis. We will need trust figures, but who will pay them?)

Pigeonholing wrecks intelligent public debate - Daily Friend Labels are sometimes useful, but pigeonholing and binary thinking also undermine the conversations on which democratic debate depends.

Pigeonholing wrecks intelligent public debate
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/04/p...
(My latest column. Labels are sometimes useful, but pigeonholing and binary thinking also undermine the conversations on which democratic debate depends.)

What has the Iran war achieved, so far? - Daily Friend On Wednesday night, Donald Trump once again said that “the core strategic objectives” of the strike on Iran “are nearing completion”. Are they?

What has the Iran war achieved, so far?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/04/03/w...
(My latest column. Trump once again says that “the core strategic objectives” of the strike on Iran “are nearing completion”. They aren’t, really, but the world is headed for a deep and devastating economic shock.)

The fatal conceit of administered fuel prices - Daily Friend Tomorrow, a whole 32 days after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, South African fuel prices will finally respond. Finally!

The fatal conceit of administered fuel prices
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/31/t...
(My latest. Tomorrow, a whole 32 days after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, South African fuel prices will finally respond. It's high time to set the fuel price free.)

The disturbing rise of war as entertainment - Daily Friend One of the more unsettling aspects of the US-Israeli attack on Iran is the gamification, or trivialisation, of war by the Trump administration.

The disturbing rise of war as entertainment
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/27/t...
(My latest column. One of the more unsettling aspects of the US-Israeli attack on Iran is the gamification, or trivialisation, of war by the Trump administration.)

Enough talk about unemployment. Here’s what to do. - Daily Friend On the back of a high-profile media gabfest last week, everyone seemed to be talking about unemployment. Most were wrong.

Enough talk about unemployment. Here’s what to do.
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/25/e...
(My latest column: On the back of a high-profile media gabfest last week, everyone seemed to be talking about unemployment. Most were wrong.)

How Elon Musk's Hyperloop sucked up billions and delivered nothing It should have been obvious from the start that Elon Musk’s Hyperloop was just a boy’s own fantasy and could never work.

How Elon Musk’s Hyperloop sucked up billions and delivered nothing
techcentral.co.za/elon-musk-hy...
(A new series on tech that promised to change the world, but didn't.)

Rot in perdition, Paul R. Ehrlich - Daily Friend I don’t usually dance on people’s graves, but I’ll make an exception for a man whose misanthropy and dogged devotion to falsehood knew no bounds.

Rot in perdition, Paul R. Ehrlich
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/20/r...
(My latest column. I don’t usually dance on people’s graves, but I’ll make an exception for a man whose misanthropy and dogged devotion to falsehood knew no bounds.)

Pew, pew, you’re dead! - Daily Friend Watching Trump make war is like watching a child play pretend. He just can’t believe his target won’t lie down and act dead.

Pew, pew, you’re dead!
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/17/p...
(My latest column. Watching Trump make war is like watching a child play pretend. He just can’t believe his target won’t lie down and act dead.)

A “Berlin Wall” moment for Cuba? - Daily Friend Carlos Giménes, a US congressman, believes “this is not the time to blink; it’s time to finish the job”.

A “Berlin Wall” moment for Cuba?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/13/a...
(My latest column. Carlos Giménes, a US congressman, believes “this is not the time to blink; it’s time to finish the job”, but I’m not convinced his Berlin Wall metaphor is appropriate.)

The hypocrisy of South Africa’s friendship with Iran - Daily Friend To presume to influence global affairs, one needs credibility, neutrality, and moral clarity, which South Africa simply does not have.

The hypocrisy of South Africa’s friendship with Iran
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/10/t...
(My latest column: To presume to influence global affairs, one needs credibility, neutrality, and moral clarity, which South Africa simply does not have.)

The best laid schemes... or, how Iran could go awry - Daily Friend There are many ways in which the Israeli-US war on Iran could end in disaster, and very few in which all goes well.

The best laid schemes… or, how Iran could go awry
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/06/t...
(My latest. There are many ways in which the Israeli-US war on Iran could end in disaster, and very few in which all goes well.)

Wanted: a plan for Iran - Daily Friend While the left sheds a tear for the Ayatollah, let’s forgo premature celebration to look ahead to what needs to happen in Iran.

Wanted: a plan for Iran
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/03/w...
(My latest column. While the left sheds a tear for the Ayatollah, let’s forgo premature celebration to look ahead to what needs to happen in Iran.)

A reading on political foolishness - Daily Friend What is it that turns intelligent people into slogan-chanting devotees of anti-political, anti-scientific, anti-factual populism?

A reading on political foolishness
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/03/02/a...
(My latest column. What is it that turns intelligent people into slogan-chanting devotees of anti-political, anti-scientific, anti-factual populism?)

Don’t kick kids off social media - Daily Friend Everyone seems to be convinced that in principle, age-gating access to social media and other platforms is a good idea. They’re wrong.

Don’t kick kids off social media
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/27/d...
(My latest column. Everyone seems to be convinced that in principle, age-gating access to social media and other platforms is a good idea. I'm not. The kids will be okay.)

Trump lies like a rug - Daily Friend He spoke for a long, long time, but let’s fact check some of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address. Because facts matter.

Trump lies like a rug
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/26/t...
(My latest column, in which I start to fisk the Don's nearly two-hour State of the Union address, and quit only ten minutes in because almost all of it was false and I ran out of puff.)

This has “Powell at the UN describing Iraq’s WMDs” vibes

Defending your online privacy
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/25/d...
(A follow-up to yesterday's column about online age verification, detailing some of my own online privacy habits.)

Lawyers and lawmakers will destroy both privacy and fun - Daily Friend Online privacy is important. So is fun. Lawyers and legislators will destroy both, and the companies they target secretly won’t mind.

Lawyers and lawmakers will destroy both privacy and fun
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/24/l...
(My latest column. Lawyers and legislators, on false pretences, will ruin the internet, and the companies they target secretly won’t mind.)

Hmmm. What do you expect to hear when you ask people whether they get paid enough?

Why is racism bad? - Daily Friend Allow me to butt into the conversation on whether racism is bad by offering a reason why it is always bad.

Why is racism bad?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/20/w...
(My latest column: Allow me to butt into the conversation on whether racism is bad by offering a reason why it is always bad, and not only for the victim.)

There’s always one, isn’t there? - Daily Friend The project to return the famous steam train between George and Knysna to service has begun, but one lot are trying to put a stick

There’s always one, isn’t there?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/13/t...
(My latest column. The project to restore the famous steam train between George and Knysna has finally begun, but a bunch of cyclists are trying to put a stick in the spokes.)

Dion George’s new “non-partisan” conservation lobby is explicitly partisan - Daily Friend Fired environment minister Dion George launched a new conservation initiative to advance his activist agenda. Not three months since being booted out of government, Dion

Dion George’s new “non-partisan” conservation lobby is explicitly partisan
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/12/d...
(My latest column. Fired environment minister Dion George launched a new conservation initiative to advance his activist agenda. A deep dive into why he's wrong.)

Why did libertarians join the anti-globalisation movement? - Daily Friend Some of the arguments of the modern right echo those of the far left of not so long ago. I can understand right-wingers. I can

Why did libertarians join the anti-globalisation movement?
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/02/10/w...
(My latest column. Some of the arguments of the modern right echo those of the far left of not so long ago.)

The space scam industry is booming - Daily Friend Need some ready cash? Prepared to embellish creative lies? Then grab your 3D renderer and your generative AI, and join the space business! Eventually, many

The space scam industry is booming
dailyfriend.co.za/2026/01/30/t...
(My latest column. Need some ready cash? Prepared to embellish creative lies? Then grab your 3D renderer and your generative AI, and join the space business!)