Matt Steinglass

Yes, I think it was your interview for DN that I came across this morning and got me on this thread...

Of course, but Saltykov-Shchedrin's use was I think deniable. Or other examples: Shvarts claimed his children's play "Drakon" was about Hitler when it could clearly be applied to Stalin

In Tsarist Russia writers developed the art of "Aesopian language", using cultural references to deniably communicate subversive messages. In Russia today singing "I want to watch ballet" can get you arrested.

YouTube video by Jermilia #Russian people sing a forbidden song in St Petersburg.

Bit of nostalgia: I arrived in Leningrad in June 1988, walked into this square and listened to people debating politics openly. This is last November, St Petersburg kids singing MC Noize's protest song "Swan Lake Collective". The band was arrested and now lives in exile. youtu.be/r_8PdHH4v4s

Limited-nuclear-war planner and famous pipe smoker James Schlesinger

Tbc in the Ukraine war it went to 4x and later 6x the current level

Government-aligned pollsters show Fidesz with a 6pt lead while opposition-aligned and neutral pollsters show Tisza with a 13pt lead. It's the first time since Orban came to power that there's been such a clear split between pollsters

Yes I listen to this occasionally

U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus Advocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military

EXCLUSIVE: At more than 30 installations, U.S. commanders told troops the war on Iran is a Christian war.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been “inundated” with more than 110 complaints.

One NCO said they were told the U.S. war is to bring about Armageddon and the return of Jesus…

No! Thanks, will try them out. Philippe Collin’s is recommended by Le Monde but I found it hysterical and overproduced

What are the good French politics, history and intellectual affairs podcasts? I like Le Nouvel Esprit Public but it’s always the same people and they pontificate rather than exploring or providing evidence.

Ding-dong! The Dutch Fish Doorbell needs you to help migrating fish A Dutch lock is closed for the spring, and its employees want you to tell them when migrating fish come knocking by ringing a digital doorbell

Well, in more pleasant news, the Fish Doorbell is back... 🧪

Gas prices soar as Iranian attacks force shutdown of Qatari production Saudi Arabia also closes an oil refinery after strike

First Ukraine, now Iran. For Europe relying on gas is starting to look like foolish nostalgia. It should electrify and shift to renewables everywhere possible, as fast as possible, as a matter of economic survival. www.ft.com/content/dac7...

For those of us who have never been good at reading facial expressions, Botox has really helped level the playing field

So the point is that the overpricing of the underpricing is overpriced, or that the volatility is less likely not to be volatile

(AXIOS) - No president in the modern era has ordered more military strikes against as many different countries as Donald Trump.

@axios.com
www.axios.com/2026/03/02/t...

How many more times do these people need to get hit in the face by the reality before their publishers finally begin noticing?

Yet it’s us voters ourselves who create it, so we can hardly complain I guess

That said Amsterdam is a pretty well run city imho so maybe it’s all working great!

Arguably the local parties add more outside the big cities, where they can provide non-ideological platforms for local issues that don’t have a voice in the national parties. One in Haarlem was quite good on transit and housing. But I’m just not sure we can cope with this level of complexity

I think he may be more concerned that they are killing national leaders now than that it was his ally

There are municipal elections coming up in the Netherlands and nowadays a significant % of votes go to local rather than national parties. This is supposed to be a win for democracy. For me it is information overload. There are 11 *national* parties represented in the Amsterdam council

OFFS. When Iran tried to interefere in 2020, researchers caught them and called them out. Then the Benz-Weiss-Taibbi-Musk-Jordan-Trump axis labeled those researchers "censors" ... and set about defunding them and dismantling their organizations.

Important announcement by the world’s biggest container shipping company. No more of their ships will be entering the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

This can hugely disrupt supply chains and fire inflation.

I thought this was the best/clearest evaluation in the piece

We tried to teach people like Farage the basic principle “No taxation without representation” 250 years ago, but some people never learn.

I would imagine so, if the straits close. Not sure Iran has the capacity to do that, and if so maybe not for long.

Insurers to cancel policies and raise prices for ships in Gulf and Strait of Hormuz Brokers say cost of cover to increase by as much as 50% after conflict erupts

Apart from energy costs I’m not sure Europe has much at stake in the Iran conflict. Curious what a 50% bump in insurance costs for a tanker does to oil prices, seems pretty modest www.ft.com/content/2dc1...

Ali Khamenei grabbed power and held it, at bloody cost Iran’s supreme leader died on February 28th, aged 86

“The man who kept Iranians isolated from the world for more than three decades, who ruined their economy and who, when they dared speak out against his misrule, ordered them slaughtered by the thousands, is gone.”
economist.com/obituary/202...