Jon Birkett

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

Nigel Farage can give up trying to be PM as he already runs the government. He ran the last one too.

If everything has turned to shit, it's because he's been running things, it's not because he hasn't.

Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper The white paper sets out the government's plans to create an immigration system which promotes growth but is controlled and managed.

If, as Labour continues to do, for example with the language in their Immigration White Paper, you continue to reinforce this narrative, instead of combatting it and doing something to actually tackle deprivation, then of course you will strengthen the likes of Reform. 9/

www.gov.uk/government/p...

Syria's worst drought in decades pushes millions to the brink The drought has slashed wheat harvests by 40% in a country where nearly 90% of the population already lives in poverty.

Grim, and not one mention of what exacerbates drought and makes it more likely.

Syria's worst drought in decades pushes millions to the brink www.bbc.com/news/article...

This times 100.

Not wishing to sound like a member of Dad's Army, there were Britons struggling 100 years ago who suffered from real economic anxiety. And when they were called upon, they went off and fought fascists, rather than marched for them.

Given the context and the crowd, despite Musk’s weasel words, this was a call for violence against the British state, from a foreign national who controls a major propaganda engine, and has engineered it to monetise hate

Absolutely !!!insane!!! to me that the UK government, lobby and newspapers litigate at length every minor infraction by the BBC, rival newspapers, or what some random columnist has posted. But all of them just carry on not even commenting about this media owner. He’s not hiding, he’s telling you!

Good choice of station! Not so much on 6; but the Beebs use of vox pops and the perceived need for balance gives disproportionate airtime to a lot of bigots.

Yep, totally agree. The only episode of his pod I’ve ever listened to was with David Wallace-Wells.

The “small boat crisis” and migrant hotels have been the only domestic issue in town for months. Force fed to us by the national broadcaster and the right wing press. Bang the drum enough and people start to listen. It’s depressing to see flat out racism being mainstreamed.

Reform's stormtroopers in action

To be the candidate for British Prime Minister of both Donald Trump *and* the Taliban is not a pitch that has ever been tried before

It is objectively quite pathetic that politicians and pundits still treat these anti-asylum protests as if they are "the voice of the people". They have been amplified beyond any reason or sense, and yet we still even senior government officials saying we need to respect them as mainstream opinion.

This is just getting ridiculous. Nothing that has happened (or is reported below the headline to have happened) this weekend remotely justifies talk of an explosion or mass protests. The media are confecting a crisis, and, in some sections of it, hoping to provoke one. 1/3

A valuable thread pointing out that, despite wall-to-wall media coverage, Britain's far-right anti-migrant protests are mostly tiny, and some _don't even exist_.

Absolutely fire speech by @GhoshAmitav accepting the Erasmus prize.
erasmusprijs.org/en/laureates...

Three screens showing stressed out medical staff, "MIGRATION CRISIS" and an inflatable vessel full of people.

Same three screens as before but the middle one now shows "immigration has been falling".

The actual data being presented shows immigration is falling significantly. But if the visuals that precede it are "busy hospital", "MIGRATION CRISIS", and "full small boat" (in scary washed out colours) the opposite message has already been served up, absorbed, and is hard to dislodge. ~AA

Repeatedly dishonest/dangerous claims and creepy behaviour by racists, egged on by Jenrick/Farage/RW media, with no pushback from spineless govt/BBC

‘A climate of unparalleled malevolence’: are we on our way to the sixth major mass extinction? The long read: Churning quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at the rate we are going could lead the planet to another Great Dying

It bears repeating: choosing to double down and accelerate our burning of fossil fuels will kill off a substantial proportion of humanity

That is something we want to avoid - and can choose to avoid

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Ultima Thule Trump in Alaska

"In the ancient world, people spoke of 'Ultima Thule,' a mythical land in the extreme north, the end of the earth. By venturing north to Alaska to meet Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump reaches his own Ultima Thule, the arctic endpoint of a foreign policy dreamworld."
snyder.substack.com/p/ultima-thule

How Pretexts Work A manufactured crisis unfolds.

"Understanding what is happening when soldiers with machine guns start fanning out across American cities does not require any great expertise. All it requires is the ability to open your fucking eyes and be honest about what you see." @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/how-pretex...

I really do feel awful for Ukrainians watching this. Putin kidnapped 20,000 of their children and forced them through "re-education" camps and the future of their country depends on his ability to flatter the softest ego imaginable

Tinderbox Britain: How conservatives ended up praying for violence iandunt.substack.com/p/tinderbox-...

Wildfires rage across southern Europe as temperatures pass 40C The heatwave has led to red alerts being issued in parts of Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans.

Absolutely devastating but no longer headline news…
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Well, if you mean "Earth and humanity are going towards catastrophe of unforeseen scale and we have failed to even slow down."

So, I kind of agree, but "not success" seems like quite an understatement in current situation.

Can we all agree that this is not success.

I live in Britain; I grew up in Israel. It’s painful to say, but we need real UK sanctions to save Gaza | Yair Wallach Symbolic gestures and empty statements are no longer enough. In Israel’s globalised economy, here’s what will shift public opinion, says says senior lecturer in Israeli studies Yair Wallach

Sharing as promised. (@yairwallach.bsky.social wrote it before the occupation announced yesterday.)
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sunday at the garden party for Curtis Yarvin and the new, new right [FREE TO READ] What you learn at a gathering of neoreactionaries, Very Online rightwingers and the formerly cancelled

I spent the day with Curtis Yarvin and the "dissident right" at a garden party in Surrey and wrote quite a few words about it.

My cover story for today’s FT Magazine

on.ft.com/4ooXS4t [GIFT LINK! 🎁]

Au revoir, le Tour - it's for the best Big sporting events, like so much we hold dear, are at odds with a liveable climate

After months off social media l’m forced back by the deeply uncomfortable words of my colleague & friend @dancalverley.bsky.social

Through the lens of the Tour de France, Dan explores the destructive implications of our preference for wilful ignorance.

dancalverley.substack.com/p/au-revoir-...

And more & more of us getting old, too, drawing a pension, relying more & more on the NHS.

The country is absolutely NOT READY for our ageing population crisis.