David Mair

President Macron: “Europeans, let's wake up!

We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.”

defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

Déplacement à Sarrebruck pour la journée de l’unité allemande. Le Président de la République et Madame Brigitte Macron se sont rendus à Sarrebruck en Allemagne ce vendredi 3 octobre 2025.

“Nous avons eu l'immense naïveté de confier notre espace démocratique à des réseaux sociaux qui sont à la main soit de grands entrepreneurs américains, soit de grandes sociétés chinoises, dont les intérêts ne sont pas du tout la survie ou le bon fonctionnement de nos démocraties.”

Macron yesterday

How to live a good life in difficult times: Yuval Noah Harari, Rory Stewart and Maria Ressa in conversation From superintelligent AI to the climate and democracy, three leading thinkers discuss how to navigate the future

“The most important thing is to rebuild trust in human institutions, in the media, in government.”

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Want more friends? A better social life? Be like my 85-year-old buddy Gerry Friendship falters due to the belief it should just happen on its own. The solution: make a conscious effort to be social

Similar point here - relationships inoculate you against disinformation.

www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...

@sarahsteinlubrano.bsky.social gave a great talk on her book "Don't Talk about Politics" today in the Commission.

Among many striking lines "Conversations don't change minds, relationships do".

Some important consequences for #scipol

Good news for democracy?

Proud to work for #JRC.

It’s goodnight Vienna as Paris sleeper train to Austria and Berlin hit by cuts Some Nightjet services suspended from mid-December after French withdrawal amid public budget crisis

Paris-Berlin sleeper: low carbon, 2 years old, constantly full, but currently losing SNCF a few million EUR/yr

Intl Jet fuel tax exemptions are 80 years old and cost the EU 22 million EUR/yr for the Paris-Berlin route alone.

And you're cutting... the sleeper?

www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/...

Accident mortel à Ixelles : un automobiliste percute un trentenaire à trottinette puis prend la fuite L'accident s'est produit vers 00h30 avenue de l'Hippodrome. Le chauffard a été retrouvé par la police sur l'avenue Louise.

2e usager vulnérable tué à Bruxelles ce mois-ci 🤍 Après Etterbeek, c'est le tour d'Ixelles.
Tué au même endroit que Romane, en 2023 - av. de l'Hippodrome. Comme elle, par un conducteur apparemment lui aussi alcoolisé. Délit de fuite ici aussi.

IL FAUT QUE CELA CESSE.

www.dhnet.be/regions/brux...

@profsanderlinden.bsky.social nails it:

“You may be able to find two people in your neighbourhood who feel the same way, but now you can connect with thousands of individuals who feel the same way as you in a matter of seconds, which leads to a misperception about what the consensus is in society,”

English translation planned?

Filosoof Simon Truwant over polarisatie: 'Feiten zijn niet altijd het belangrijkste' Met zijn boek De waarheid heeft vier gezichten schreef de Brusselse filosoof Simon Truwant een handleiding om constructief met elkaar in gesprek te gaan.

Excellent interview with @simontruwant.bsky.social on the limits to facts in resolving political debates. #scipol

www.bruzz.be/actua/samenl...

Lots of echoes in this piece for me of @will-davies.bsky.social analysis in “Nervous States”.

“the fate of our democracies is increasingly being played out in a kind of digital Somalia, a failed state as big as the planet, subject to the law of digital warlords and their militias.”

Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.

Nathan Gill is no fringe politician.

He was the leader of the Reform Party and before that UKIP in Wales.

A Brexit Party MEP.

A friend and ally of Nigel Farage, who in 2016 called him:

"terrific," and "as honest as the day is long."

This is a MASSIVE story

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Tune to this first of a kind event - a European Young Citizens Assembly.
A new step in democracy in Europe.

webcast.ec.europa.eu/launch-event...

Excellent épisode. If more people understood how these work in practice, they would take off.

The crisis of trust in democracy is in part because citizens feel they are not being listened to. But also politicians getting a false negative about Overton window. Such new channels tackle both issues.

Depolarization is not "a scalable solution for reducing societal-level conflict.... achieving lasting depolarization will likely require....moving beyond individual-level treatments to address the elite behaviors and structural incentives that fuel partisan conflict" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

@institutevidences.bsky.social #scipol

Case in point

bsky.app/profile/char...

Wild bird numbers continue to fall in UK with some species in ‘dramatic freefall’ Species index fell by 4% between 2019 and 2024 – although data shows woodland populations beginning to stabilise

A 7% decline in English birds in just 5 years is astonishing

The web of life is unravelling fast

Reality show: Why Europe must not cave in Trump’s culture war In today’s transatlantic relationship, Europe’s every concession on policy plays into Trump’s culture war—feeding an image of European weakness…

Interesting from @pawelzerka.bsky.social
ecfr.eu/publication/...

If you are taking suggestions, how about the role of science in keeping democracy and government anchored in reality rather than fantasy and distraction?

Good listen but surprised no mention of compulsory voting - future episode in the series @ppfideas.bsky.social ?

1. Bluesky doesn’t downrank links
2. You can choose your own algorithm from among thousands
3. The whole app is open source

This keeps it a free and open platform by design, leading to better click-throughs and traffic to your site.

We 💙 the open web.

Alaphilippe did his usual thing there too.

Spent that afternoon on the Smeysberg that they went up four times. Fantastic crowds and incredible noise.

À Bruxelles, plus de la moitié de l’espace public est réservée aux voitures - RTBF Actus

À Bruxelles, plus de la moitié de l’espace public est réservée aux voitures

Some Europeans Fear Trump Aides Want a Far-Right Takeover

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/w...

More of this and Brussels could become a great city and not just a very good one.