James Middleton

BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, English Olive Oil Leyla Kazim investigates the rise of the olive grove on English farms.

Leyla Kazim looks into the English farms planting olive groves in the hope of bottling their own oil. She meets a farmer in Essex who says English growing conditions are more suitable than you might think and discovers a producer in Cornwall who has already started pressing his own extra virgin oil

Why does Switzerland have more nuclear bunkers than any other country? – podcast Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But if the worst should happen, would they actually work?By Jessi Jezewska Stevens. Read by...

Faced with unrelenting Russian aggression and the simultaneous withdrawal of US military and diplomatic support, Europe is reinvesting in defence. But civilian protection – non-military measures for civil defence, including nuclear and air raid bunkers – has also emerged as a fresh priority

We saw how the world scrambled during a pandemic but what would happen if they faced a more ghoulish problem? As 28 Years Later hits cinemas, @jacobjarvis.bsky.social grills @dandrezner.bsky.social on how world leaders would respond to a zombie apocalypse 🧟‍♂️🧠🌍

Listen here: linktr.ee/bunker_pod

Bath's Industrial Past and Present - Footprints This month's episode explores Bath’s industrial past and the enormous changes in the landscape Bath has seen over the decades, since many of the facto...

Bath’s architectural landscape is often only viewed as Georgian or Roman and we forget that it has had an illustrious industrial past

How Europe dropped the ball on its own defence and was left fawning over Donald Trump – podcast The Conversation Weekly podcast explores what options the EU has now to bolster its defence capabilities.

The Conversation Weekly podcast reports from the Siena Conference on the Europe of the Future in Italy about how the EU dropped the ball on its own defence and what its options are. With Ana Juncos Garcia, Francesco Grillo and François Lafond

Inside the battle for truth – with Bellingcat’s Eliot Higgins This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler · Episode

I joined @gavinesler.bsky.social on @thisisnotadrillpod.bsky.social to discuss what's going wrong with democracy and how we can get out of this mess
open.spotify.com/episode/5L97...

Episode 281: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Douglas Adams — Imaginary Worlds When Arvind Ethan David was a student, he decided to adapt the Douglas Adams novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency into a play. Arvind didn’t imagine that Adams would show up to see the play...

Thanks to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we already know the meaning of life. (Spoiler: it’s 42.) This week, we ponder the meaning of Douglas Adams.

Why Real Biblical Angels Are Creepy, Beastly, and Hardly Angelic Nearly 70 percent of Americans believe in angels, at least according to a statistic often cited in recent years. But what, exactly, comes to their minds — or those of any other believers around the wo...

Why Real Biblical Angels Are Creepy, Beastly, and Hardly Angelic

Where Have All the Geostrategists Gone? The life and meaning of Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Polish-born strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski’s remarkable life is crisply retold by Edward Luce in his magnificent new biography, “Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet.”

Geothermal energy has lots of potential but still supplies less than 1% of the world's electricity.

Why are we not using more of it?

In this week's podcast we speak to Dr Marit Brommer, Head of the International Geothermal Association. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0rn0...

Millions more homes in Great Britain at risk of flooding, investigation finds Every constituency projected to be at greater risk, with many areas likely to be uninsurable * The flood-prone Worcestershire town being abandoned by insurers * Doors, drains and paving perils: protecting your home from flooding Millions more homes in England, Scotland and Wales face devastating floods, and some towns may have to be abandoned as climate breakdown makes many areas uninsurable, a Guardian investigation has found. New analysis from the insurance industry, seen by the Guardian, reveals the extent of concern in the sector, with bosses warning that large swathes of housing and commercial property in densely populated areas will be at greater risk. Every constituency in Great Britain is projected to have increased flood risk in future. In England, 69% of constituencies are likely to have an increase of more than 25% in the number of properties facing flood risk by mid-century. In Wales and Scotland, every area is projected to have a similar rise with many being much worse hit. Bermondsey and Old Southwark in London and Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire are projected to have about 90% of homes at risk from river and coastal flooding by 2050 – the highest proportions in the country. Overall London and Yorkshire and the Humber collectively represent more than half of the top 20 constituencies affected by river and coastal flooding, highlighting that the east of England could be most negatively affected. Surface-water flood risk is likely to be particularly acute in dense urban areas, with 14 London constituencies ranked in the top 20 Bournemouth East shows the largest projected increase in surface-water flood risk, with its low-lying topography and inadequate drainage making it particularly susceptible. Over the past decade, 110,000 new homes were built in the highest risk flood zones, equivalent to one in 13 of the new homes built. Aviva calculates that if this trend were to continue, 115,000 of the government’s planned 1.5m new homes would also be in the highest-risk flood zones. Continue reading...

Millions more homes in Great Britain at risk of flooding, investigation finds

The nuances of ‘coup,’ ‘mutiny,’ and ‘insurrection’ "Insurrection" and "rebellion" imply wider participation – ordinary people, rather than members of the elite or a military unit, are the drivers.

“Coup,” “mutiny,” “insurrection,” “rebellion” and “putsch” all refer to the same thing, roughly – a fight against an established authority – but they are not synonyms. Each has a different meaning in terms of how much popular support they garner, what their aims are and whether they succeed

Open Borders A border is an idea so powerful that we never even have to see it to believe it. Or believe in it. Global borders can be sites of peace and conflict, violence and celebration, opportunity and confinement. And borders as they exist today – which is to say, increasingly militarized and clearly defined – are actually a relatively recent political invention.

An immigration reporter’s chance encounter in the desert reveals how borders shape our actions, our beliefs, and the way we see the world around us.

Scrap stamp duty: there’s a new tax that could make us richer The tax expert warns that Kemi Badenoch’s plan risks handing a windfall to today’s homeowners without helping tomorrow’s… but there is a better solution

Replace stamp duty on homes with a land value tax bit.ly/474UkfC says @DanNeidle an idea as sensible as it is unlikely.

Who’s Afraid of Peak Mineral? A new study found that, in hundreds of clean-energy futures, the world fell short of key resources.

A new anxiety has started to grip energy policy: the possibility of peak mineral. Alexander C. Kaufman reports:

From Erasmus to Taith and back again: why a return to Erasmus+ can’t mean the end of Taith - Institute of Welsh Affairs Kirsty Williams tells us what Taith has achieved, and why it has done so much more for Wales than simply act as a stopgap for Erasmus+.

So this is a bizarre and fascinating story.

After #Brexit, Wales created a replacement international exchange scheme with amazing results.

#Taith has helped a more diverse group of people than #Erasmus+

This article is well worth a read:

www.iwa.wales/agenda/2025/...

105: Linguistics of TikTok - Interview with Adam Aleksic aka EtymologyNerd TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts are an evolving genre of media: short-form, vertical videos that take up your whole screen and are served to you from an algorithm rather than who you follo

Short-form videos served from an algorithm are an evolving genre, changing how people talk in them compared to earlier forms of video, and linguists are on it!

In this episode we talk with Adam Aleksic aka @etymologynerd.bsky.social about the linguistics of tiktok

soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...

You did no fact checking, and I must scream I'm neither a journalist nor a professional fact checker but, the thing is, it's has never been easier to check basic facts. Yeah, sure, there's a world of misinformation out there, but it doesn't take much effort to determine if something is likely to be true. There are brilliant tools like reverse Image Search which give you a good indicator of when an image first appeared on the web, and…

New blog post: You did no fact checking, and I must scream

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/10/i-have-no-facts-and-i-must-scream/

I'm neither a journalist nor a professional fact checker but, the thing is, it's has never been easier to check basic facts. Yeah, sure, there's a world of …

No evidence for Donald Trump’s claim about Sharia law in London – Full Fact Speaking at the UN, the US President appeared to claim London wants to “go to Sharia law” under its “terrible mayor” Sir Sadiq Khan.

Donald Trump, speaking at the UN, appeared to claim London wants to “go to Sharia law” under its “terrible mayor".

Exactly what he meant wasn’t clear, but there is absolutely no evidence either Sir Sadiq Khan or London wants to introduce Sharia law.

Good write-up this. Every bit of research shows that 'pre-buttal' (i.e. people don't see the misinformation or malinformation first) is much more effective than factchecking. Part of that is 'government should try and make it so that you can cover UK politics without being on X'.

‘We can leave knowing we left a mark’: how Corsica Studios transformed London nightlife – and why it’s closing The beloved south London club has announced it will shut next year as redevelopment of the site goes ahead. Founder Adrian Jones, DJs and promoters look back

‘We can leave knowing we left a mark’: how Corsica Studios transformed London nightlife – and why it’s closing www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

It’s out! I spoke to @zoejardiniere.bsky.social about migration, the realities, the challenges and how to confront the real threat of far right takeover of our country on a platform of fear and disinformation.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

What impact do contrails from aviation have on global warming? Is there a cheap and easy way to get rid of them? There might be.

In the latest episode of Solving for Climate we speak with Ian McKay, founder of Orca Sciences about this and much more.

Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4aMv...

What to Make of Trump’s Ukraine Diplomacy? | International Crisis Group This week on Hold Your Fire!, Richard speaks with Crisis Group experts Lucian Kim, Olga Oliker, and Stephen Pomper about battlefield developments in Ukraine, the Trump administration's diplomatic effo...

On the new @crisisgroup.org Hold Your Fire podcast, I join host Richard Atwood, @luciankim.bsky.social, & @stevepomper.bsky.social to talk Trump's changing rhetoric on Ukraine, how dynamics look from Kyiv, & airspace incursions in Europe. We don't figure it all out, but we cover a lot! Listen in!

Kennedy’s staff warn that he is dismantling US public health Health secretary is undermining decades of effective vaccine and prevention systems

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been so damaged by the ideological redirection instigated by RFK Jr that it is no longer capable of protecting America from the next pandemic, agency staff have told The Observer.

Read more now:
https://bit.ly/4mqrQ5H

Project 2025 gave Trump a roadmap for his authoritarian presidency, and with Reform UK on the rise we ask whether such a project could be undertaken here?
@petergeoghegan.bsky.social joins @alisonjourno.bsky.social and @jonnelledge.bsky.social to discuss 👉 linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnow...

Inside the Tony Blair Institute A former PM, tech tycoon Larry Ellison and Britain's data - what could go wrong?

Think the Tony Blair Institute looks sinister? You've not seen anything yet. Crucial investigation by @petergeoghegan.bsky.social and Democracy for Sale:
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-the...

Where is China in the energy transition?

In our latest episode of Solving for Climate we chat with @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social about all things China and climate.

Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/1FFO...

🚨NEW SHOW🚨
Regulars @rafaelbehr.bsky.social & @nndroid.bsky.social plus guest @steverichards.bsky.social rage at the uncontrolled power of the far-right press after Rayner's departure.
Plus: As Steve publishes a new analysis of Tony Blair, we look back at his reign ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod

The PD, in government, cracked down on immigration. With EU backing, it last year negotiated a deal with Libyan forces, supplying them with funds and equipment to keep people from crossing the Mediterranean, knowing full well what detention in Libya would mean for them. The number of people arriving from Africa on Italy's shores dropped dramatically, from more than 180,000 in 2016 to fewer than 120,000 in 2017, and under 6ooo so far this year. The PD's electoral dividend from this moral capitulation was nil (at best). People obsessed with immigration didn't vote for the PD; they voted for the Lega. Facts count for very little. Salvini insists on a connection between immigration and crime, even though statistics show that both overall crime, and crime committed by foreigners, have gone down over the last ten years, at the same time that the number of asylum permits issued has gone up.

Something I wrote in 2018. The UK Labour Party could learn a lesson here but won’t.

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/ma...