Joel Budd

Emma! Also: Carr, Steeple Sinderby; Lodge, Trading Places; Smiley, Moo; almost anything by Wodehouse. I liked Moshfegh, My Year of Rest, maybe just because I like New York. The Sellout by Beatty is great (I like LA even more) but I didn’t find it funny.

Each year tens of thousands of Americans accidentally kill The psychological toll it takes is huge—and mostly hidden

Much attention is rightfully paid to the victims. But far too little is given to the tens of thousands of people struggling after unintentionally taking a life

Nonsense. The big news is Netflix / Warner Bros.

Uncovered Georgia O’Keeffe Letters Confirm Paintings Were Veiled Depictions Of Basset Hounds

Uncovered Georgia O’Keeffe Letters Confirm Paintings Were Veiled Depictions Of Basset Hounds https://theonion.com/uncovered-georgia-okeeffe-letters-confirm-paintings-were-veiled-depictions-of-basset-hounds/

Basically decided paranoia is a consequence of living through an era of consequence. www.economist.com/britain/2026...

Pretty sure he's right about this one:

Runner enters drain to help stranger retrieve keys in Derbyshire Lizzy Holywell halted her jog when she spotted the distressed woman by the roadside.

What Britain is actually like
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You Want a Lot of Iced Coffee? Dunkin’ Has a Bucket for You.

In the land of the free...

Europeans: 48 fluid ounces is roughly 2 wine bottles.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/u...

Farmers in England face losses under new cap on sustainable farming payments Environment secretary says payments will be limited to £100,000 per farm so ‘more farmers can benefit’

Jake Fiennes is right. It doesn’t matter to a bee whether the flower grows on a small farm or a huge farm. Trying to tilt the agricultural economy towards small farms is pointless and counterproductive.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A massive engineering project has changed the shape of the Thames It has given London a number of new public spaces

My piece on the strange little parks that have appeared in the Thames

www.economist.com/britain/2026...

It would have been even better if done in the official handwriting of the day. 1600 was the worst.

‘One in, one out’: what has happened to asylum seekers forced to return to France? In rare interviews, some of those sent back across the Channel after arriving in the UK on small boats describe what happened next – and the risks of a system organised to get rid of them

Interesting piece. Incidentally it shows two things, familiar to anyone who has interviewed boat crossers:

--Many, many of them have been "Dublined", ie, fingerprinted by another European country

--They are very confused and have little reliable information

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

How four years of war have changed Russia The fighting in Ukraine has reshaped everyday life

The mood in Russia

www.economist.com/briefing/202...

25% discount on my new book today and tomorrow, for anyone interested in an accessible overview of why immigration is difficult and unpopular

Bring back Heseltine's garden festivals! I do sometimes wonder if Ebbw Vale and other Valleys towns have in a strictly superficial sense coped better with the economic battering they received, which was often worse than anything seen in Durham or S Yorks.

Underdogs by Joel Budd | Waterstones Buy Underdogs by Joel Budd from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

For people who love pre-ordering paperbacks. There's a discount on my book until Friday--enter code FEB26.

Essential reading for the UK local elections in May, when much nonsense will be said and written about white working-class people.

www.waterstones.com/book/underdo...

Employment rates for non-EU born are now *above* those for the UK born.

Gap used be nearly 10 percentage points.

A tribute to the success of UK immigration/immigrants and labour market integration, especially in recent years.

Something government should celebrate..

🏭 The share of the UK public who say the country needs to reduce carbon emissions to net zero sooner than 2050 has nearly halved since 2021.

📉 29% of the public now say the UK should achieve net zero before the government's 2050 target – down from 54% in 2021, when this question was last asked.

"How much is a pint of milk?"
"The important thing is that people are rightly concerned about the price of milk. I am very angry about the price of a pint of milk."
"Yes but how much?"
"The last government lost control of the price of milk. My government has..." etc.

Have never been sure why politicians of all parties can get away with (indeed, are defended for) talking utter nonsense about some things, e.g. the level of net immigration, crime rates, but are pilloried for not knowing other things, like the price of a pint of milk.

Interesting piece, and admirable commitment to driving development folks mad, as we have yet another piece about foreign aid illustrated with a picture of a bag of food.

Migration revolution is over before it began Biggest casualty of No 10 upheaval will be the ability of Shabana Mahmood to take her reforms to the next stage

Poor Yvette Cooper, forgotten already. If the number of small-boat crossings is substantially lower this year (which is possible!) and you want to credit a British politician, she is the one to credit.
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Also "California incubates reactionary politicians"

The "TV is taking over our lives and making everyone crazy" stuff is a bit dated, surely.

My least popular opinion, even less popular than my belief that all street parking should be auctioned, is that Hertfordshire belongs with Essex.

What drives the wage gap between men and women? Surprise: it’s still motherhood

"Remove both motherhood and any decisions women might make while anticipating it, and the wage gap seems to vanish."

"[Women with MRKH] earn much the same as other women and men in early adulthood. Then...their wage trajectory is almost identical to that of their male peers."

How to solve the tenor shortage A voice that is made, not found

This week I tackle one of the world’s most vexing problems: the shortage of tenors. (I’m not, by the way.)

www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

Britain’s “Hillsborough law”, pledging candour, is avoiding it A bill to jail dishonest bureaucrats may result in a less honest state

The Hillsborough law is a noble, popular and bold idea: to make it a crime for the state to lie. The problem is it may make for a less honest and open state. My note this week on good intentions and unintended consequences

www.economist.com/britain/2026...

Depends on what kind of conservative. If socially conservative, yes it’s fine. If they like pacy blockbuster films, maybe not. It’s mostly in Korean, though with nice big subtitles!

Or “The War Game”. Nice relaxing evening’s viewing, if you’re not familiar with it.