Steph Boland

For the first time in about 70 years, net immigration to America could be zero. Beneath the noise of tariff and budget fights, migration may well be the biggest economic story of 2025.

My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America

Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...

🧵 below

Ukraine’s New Strategy for Keeping the Lights On Through a Winter of War Top-secret sites house rows of batteries designed to support the country’s power grid during bombardments.

Absolutely fascinating.

www.wsj.com/world/ukrain...

An amazing role has appeared on LinkedIn posted two days ago by @lidltrek.bsky.social

Head of marketing!

How I wish I had the qualifications and experience for this as it would be an absolutely incredible position to have. Based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Closes October 17th.

Think some people really underestimate how much value there is in a) a national language spoken worldwide and b) a time zone slap bang between the US and Asia

“Using a large-scale controlled resume correspondence experiment, we find that LLMs consistently prefer resumes generated by themselves over those written by humans”

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

A photo realistic illustration of a woman in overalls, hoovering and deep cleaning the fabric seats of a railway carriage

The modern world in old Ladybird books.

"Carriages get very dirty inside from all the tobacco ash"

(On the Railways, 1972)
Artist: John Berry

Young people’s favourite politicians? Farage, Burnham and Trump New polling from Merlin Strategies shows that Britain’s youth are desperate for radical change

That's the power of pod?

"As regards media figures, more teens know of @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social (37 per cent) and @rory-stewart.bsky.social (26 per cent) than they do @owenjones.bsky.social (24 per cent)."

46 re

We worry about Very Online Kids much more than their Very Online Parents, and I'm not sure that's wise

Death of the superfan: how young people discover music on TikTok A global study has found that 16-24 year-olds are no longer falling in love with artists like previous generations, but prefer to follow them on social media

This is fascinating on how “sound-on” social media could mean fewer young fans discovering artists.

Or to put it simply: if you’re watching TikTok, you’re not listening to music

www.thetimes.com/article/c20e...

A horrifying sticker of a robot face on a floor-cleaning robot.

My animus for him is unbounded

A.A. Gill on the English and ‘sorry’

Babies brought out for some sun by their nurses at the Duchess of York's Hospital for Babies at Burnage, Manchester, June 1939 (Getty/@manchestereveningnews.co.uk).

Warren Zevon, Raspberry Beret, David Letterman Show, 1990 HD Warren Zevon from 1990, on Letterman, playing a Prince Song that was featured on his new album, entitled Hindu Love Gods (which was also the name of his new band, formed with REM minus Michael Stipe).

Did everyone know about this or…

How “unserious” became Britain's favourite put-down A close reading of Keir Starmer’s favourite word.

Why so unserious?

This is great from Anoosh Chakelian on the latest political put-down

www.newstatesman.com/politics/202...

The rise and fall of the British cult that hid in plain sight The long read: Philippa Barnes was a child when her family joined the Jesus Fellowship. As an adult, she helped expose the shocking scale of abuse it had perpetrated

Amazingly proud of my friend Barbara for telling this story with such nuance and compassion. A brilliant read. www.theguardian.com/news/2025/ju...

Perfection www.irishtimes.com/news/cruiske...

‘Look how well-read I am!’ How ‘books by the metre’ add the final touch to your home – or your image It’s never been easier to build an impressive-looking library, especially if you’re mostly interested in the colour and size of your books. Is this necessarily a bad thing?

Life, once again, imitating Myles na gCopaleen

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

In writing this (and discussing it with @popeconor.bsky.social over a sneaky hotel bar drink before a delayed train) I wonder: are The Bear’s strongest episodes those which take us away from the restaurant?

Make characters witty again There are two types of comedy character in the world.

There are two types of character in the world stephanieboland.substack.com/p/make-chara...

Pavement yachting, Stretford, August 1963 (photo: Tom Stuttard/The Guardian).

Parental leave and pay for new parents to be reviewed by ministers Campaigners say the UK's system has been

Review of parental leave and pay is great, but the framing is all wrong: it is not about being "generous and supportive," it is (or should be) about basic equality, and addressing what is currently flagrantly sexist government policy.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’m hiring a reporter for London Centric, looking for someone smart who can use a phone, knock on doors and wants to cause trouble. Don’t care if you’ve got qualifications, just want evidence of caring about news. Initial six month contract, pay above national rates. www.londoncentric.media/p/jobs

It’s like a magic trick, when you start drawing portraiture and watch the model’s face morph into your own. I think journalist’s profiles of celebrities are the same.

Can’t walk through a gallery without thinking of AA Gill’s line about all the portraits in the NPG having the same projected expression of focussed attention

Canal at Diggle, Saddleworth, by Oldham-born Russell Howarth, 1927-2020. #NorthernArt

Aren’t most of the baby shoes for sale unworn, though

A woman and man smiling together on an escalator at a train station.

A smiling man on a train in Europe.

A woman and man pulling over-the-top puzzled faces outside a museum with a display saying “who the **** is Hegel?”

A German cycling magazine on a bunk bed in a sleeper train.

I’m enjoying InterRailing, but does occur to me I have booked us less “a holiday” and more “a 12-day premarital team building activity”

The economic scourge of small print Non-compete clauses may look employer friendly but can stifle labour force fluidity and competition

“[To] see stringent non-competes as straightforwardly pro-employer would be a mistake. It would be better to say that they are pro-incumbent employers.”

on.ft.com/4l7NgEp

I disagree! I think it’s incumbent on the person who wants to listen to something to use headphones