Richard Young

Speaking as a person who invested £40 in a set of rods so I can clear our terrace's shared sewer of fatbergs and wet wipes every few months, I endorse this message.

(I only know about 3 cities in the Gulf… I was lucky!)

Prompted by seeing this, I opened it for the first time in ages. Got it in two. (I suspect lots will, first unzoom is pretty revelatory)

Well, I made it to the end. Glad it was enjoyed but inevitably (as a multiple times watcher) felt some of the nuance was slightly missed. A solid pod. Bar the spoiler.

5 minutes in and you blew the emotionally gut-wrenching denouement. Honestly. That's literally the worst spoiler I've ever heard. 😒

In memoriam...

Don’t worry I’m going to listen anyway. Fingers crossed!

The standfirst. 👏👏👏👏👏

This is one of my top ten films of all time, but every time WMT do something I really know and love, I just get angry with the podcasters. I'm torn!

Passcode and easy to remember, hard to break three part password?

and, of course, loads of people making exactly this point in the replies I hadn't bothered to read. Social media really is pointless isn't it. Going back to the Guardian and FT apps. Bye.

Theory: In the 1990s lots of people still rented a TV because buying a TV was expensive. To play music lots of houses had hifi. Stuff was more worth fencing. Now? Why would you buy a a second hand TV?! Equally, ID theft meant nicking people's paperwork. Now? Scam them via text!

I feel like I'm almost at a place where giving up on rationality and just buying into some cult or major interlocking web of conspiracies just feels easier. Must be nice to feel so certain about stuff that's obviously so wrong.

CNN, no I haven't wished those things. We should be re-learning the art of being present (ignore text messages for a couple of hours in a theatre!) and who needs coffee so bad in a place where coffee shops aren't obvious from looking? Smart glasses solve one problem: phones no longer evolving.

How university expansion split western societies, according to Janan Ganesh www.ft.com/content/9b071b7a-7cef-4244-ab2c-8d4394fd5abf

This is looking the likeliest although I’m still not really clear about the war aims at the outset and whether the result is conclusive.

Falklands loses on a technicality (not declared a war) and recently (GW1 was 9 years later). I’m leaning towards GW1 - Wikipedia is making me doubt the Azerbaijan more recent claims.

Slovenia wasn’t a sovereign nation state at the time arguably? Lots of Azerbaijan votes. Educating me!

I’d veto GW2 because it ended so poorly, didn’t even sort things out temporarily. GW1 though is a decent shout. AFAICR liberating Kuwait was the whole deal

Not a formal war?

I mean it’s a decent answer but I’m not sure why you need to mention Israel.

Hmmm. “War” more through branding than declaration, though?

Seems to be a popular choice.

Taliban weren’t a nation state. Arguable still aren’t.

Technically not a war? But that was the first one my mates suggested, yes…

I get what you means but I don’t think anyone see the conclusion of that war as successful

Paging War Movie folks @roberthutton.co.uk @duncanweldon.bsky.social who seem to have a handle on these things.

When was the last time a nation state conclusively won a war? As in, definitively achieved its aims at the outset?

Lessons in AI from a 60s classic.