The Cold Tap
I’m falling behind on all the posts I planned to write (not to mention the things I’m trying to write that aren’t posts), so I’ll kick myself back into gear with a site update or two.
A Maga Saga
Although I was early in calling Trump a fascist, and although I’ve even described his acolytes as Nazis, I’ve been growing dissatisfied with the lack of a more specific, bespoke label for Trump, Trumpers and the MAGA crew. But the perfect name is staring us in the face—unlike “Trumper”, which for a UK audience suggests staring at something else.
Artificial Flavourings
Recently I encountered a YouTube channel that brought together some intriguing themes—food, lost traditions and medieval history—in what seemed like interesting ways. It hooked me first with a video about old methods of curing bacon that were largely replaced in my parents’ lifetime by cheaper methods of pumping it full of water and relying on refrigeration to preserve it. Later, the algorithm served up a piece about some vegetables that fell out of favour because they aren’t easily mass-produced, can’t be transported long distances and won’t keep for weeks, such as skirrets, Alexanders and rampion. Finally, there was one on a tradition of growing cereals like wheat, rye and barley together in the same field to improve the soil and pest resistance and to hedge against crop failure. The blended grain, known as maslin (a word presumably related to “miscellany”), was ground together to produce flour, and maslin bread, the equivalent of an artisan wheat and rye sourdough, was what most people ate until the 20th century.
Strange Game
AI opted to use nuclear weapons in 95% of war games.
Gemini said they could only be together if he killed himself. He did.+
AI has killed a Japanese poetry competition.+
ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies.
War Crimes
By the end of week one of Trump’s and Netanyahu’s war on Iran…
Thug Life
Peter Mandelson, the Russian superyacht and the 2008 scandal we completely misread. “The Epstein files now reveal the full picture: a web of Russian money, paedophile kompromat and New Labour access that shaped a decade of British politics.”
“We’ve been paying for happy endings for Andrew for years.”
How Epstein infiltrated academia and preached master-race science.
Three scientists who said no to Epstein.
An American mother’s impossible choice.+
For Trump, far-right terrorism is a useful tool.
Trump is planning a November coup.+
The US has torpedoed the Geneva Convention.
Toppling a regime is only the beginning: The man who controls Libya and is answerable to no one.
Epic F-Words
Forty-three days after my ex and I moved to the UK, the world was shaken by an instant of terrible destruction. In the days afterwards, I wondered when we would next be able to go home—whether it would be years rather than months. Had we been trapped by the madness of a handful of zealots determined to attack their enemies whatever the cost to the world?
Movie Nights
My movie-watching in the first months of 2026 has all been from the couch, hiding from the cold under a cat-hair-covered blanket. Most have been on the older side, but so’s the cat.
Méliès et Mouton
A lost short film by pioneer Georges Méliès, Gugusse et l’Automate, has been rediscovered and restored (via Mefi). At 45 seconds, it’s definitely short, but it’s a complete story, and completely delightful.
When I was catching up recently on some Martin Scorsese movies I’d missed, I finally got around to his kids’ movie Hugo, which my kids had never wanted to watch. I’m not sure how it would have landed with them, but I was charmed by it, as it turned out to be an homage to… whoops, this whole paragraph is a spoiler. But if you love Méliès, give it a look. I’m sure Scorsese would have referenced this latest find in Hugo had he seen it.
Green Shift
Like the rest of Britain, I woke up last Friday to the glorious news that a by-election campaign portrayed in the media as neck-and-neck between Reform, Labour and the Greens had ended in a resounding Green victory. For a day, at least, I allowed myself to feel more optimistic about UK voters than I had in months.
