James Ball
@jamesrball.com
Tech, policy, politics.
Political editor @ The New World
Opinion @ The i Paper
Fellow @ Demos
PhD researcher @ UCL Laws
newsletter @ techtris
Latest book: The Other Pandemic – How QAnon Contaminated The World. 🏳️🌈
https://www.jamesrball.com/
Political editor @ The New World
Opinion @ The i Paper
Fellow @ Demos
PhD researcher @ UCL Laws
newsletter @ techtris
Latest book: The Other Pandemic – How QAnon Contaminated The World. 🏳️🌈
https://www.jamesrball.com/
Pinned
James Ball
@jamesrball.com
· Aug 11
Techtris | James Ball | Substack
A weekly(ish) newsletter on technology, policy and society, from James Ball. Click to read Techtris, by James Ball, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
www.jamesrball.com
Enjoying my posts? (If not: sorry..?)
I have a newsletter here, plz do subscribe: www.jamesrball.com
Details of books I’ve written here: www.jamesrball.com/p/books
And all my writing for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social is here: www.thenewworld.co.uk/contributor/...
I often pop up elsewhere, too.
I have a newsletter here, plz do subscribe: www.jamesrball.com
Details of books I’ve written here: www.jamesrball.com/p/books
And all my writing for @thenewworldmag.bsky.social is here: www.thenewworld.co.uk/contributor/...
I often pop up elsewhere, too.
“If this analysis is correct, then the situation is actually more bleak…if diversification efforts generated a huge change, then the backlash to it might be acceptable…Instead, what appears to have happened is a lot of empty talk, no real significant change, and backlash that is causing real harm.”
Incredible what you find when you start looking for data on the "white men can't get jobs anymore" phenomenon
www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/12/17/w...
www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2025/12/17/w...
What Does the Census Data Say About “The Lost Generation”
Savage appears wrong, but the reality is potentially bleaker.
www.peoplespolicyproject.org
December 26, 2025 at 12:17 AM
“If this analysis is correct, then the situation is actually more bleak…if diversification efforts generated a huge change, then the backlash to it might be acceptable…Instead, what appears to have happened is a lot of empty talk, no real significant change, and backlash that is causing real harm.”
Reposted by James Ball
“Miss, do you agree with the sign?”
“Absolutely not. My great niece was 4 months pregnant and her fetus had no skull. And because of men involving themselves in women’s bodies she was forced to deliver the fetus… there’s a reason God created medicine.”🔥
#ForcedBirthNation
“Absolutely not. My great niece was 4 months pregnant and her fetus had no skull. And because of men involving themselves in women’s bodies she was forced to deliver the fetus… there’s a reason God created medicine.”🔥
#ForcedBirthNation
December 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
“Miss, do you agree with the sign?”
“Absolutely not. My great niece was 4 months pregnant and her fetus had no skull. And because of men involving themselves in women’s bodies she was forced to deliver the fetus… there’s a reason God created medicine.”🔥
#ForcedBirthNation
“Absolutely not. My great niece was 4 months pregnant and her fetus had no skull. And because of men involving themselves in women’s bodies she was forced to deliver the fetus… there’s a reason God created medicine.”🔥
#ForcedBirthNation
Loses points for not having Eric Adams as an answer
December 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Loses points for not having Eric Adams as an answer
Temporary restraining order granted in connection to the US State Department sanctioning five individuals working on researching and countering disinformation.
And… TRO granted!
A sweet Christmas present for @imranahmed.bsky.social, @counterhate.com--& for their mission of fighting antisemitism & protecting kids online. Also nice for our all-star legal team.
A lump of coal in the stockings of authoritarians & the merchants of disinformation
A sweet Christmas present for @imranahmed.bsky.social, @counterhate.com--& for their mission of fighting antisemitism & protecting kids online. Also nice for our all-star legal team.
A lump of coal in the stockings of authoritarians & the merchants of disinformation
December 25, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Temporary restraining order granted in connection to the US State Department sanctioning five individuals working on researching and countering disinformation.
The problem with bots/AI/etc is never confined to actual bot/AI/whatever content. It’s that people start accusing *everything* of being The Bad Thing.
So this is something I've been noticing more lately: people seeing an image, wrongly assuming it's AI, and then confidently raging about it being AI when it wasn't.
Example: the replies to this Pluribus-themed image Tim Cook posted on X.
Example: the replies to this Pluribus-themed image Tim Cook posted on X.
December 25, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The problem with bots/AI/etc is never confined to actual bot/AI/whatever content. It’s that people start accusing *everything* of being The Bad Thing.
Reposted by James Ball
December 25, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by James Ball
"and Tiny Tim who did not die, never ceased to be amazed that his father could rent a family home in Camden on a salary of 15 shillings a week"
December 25, 2025 at 1:09 PM
"and Tiny Tim who did not die, never ceased to be amazed that his father could rent a family home in Camden on a salary of 15 shillings a week"
Reposted by James Ball
And Nicolae Ceauceacu ...
...who DID die!
...who DID die!
My father in law has done his traditional Christmas Day Facebook post to remind us of the true meaning of the day:
Reminding us of the greatest Christmas of all, December 25th, 1989, when they shot that bastard Ceaușescu
Reminding us of the greatest Christmas of all, December 25th, 1989, when they shot that bastard Ceaușescu
December 25, 2025 at 9:46 AM
And Nicolae Ceauceacu ...
...who DID die!
...who DID die!
And Tiny Tim, who rolled a natural 20 on a constitution save, did NOT ruin the DM’s plan for this session, because he totally had a contingency plan for this event. Definitely.
December 25, 2025 at 10:03 AM
And Tiny Tim, who rolled a natural 20 on a constitution save, did NOT ruin the DM’s plan for this session, because he totally had a contingency plan for this event. Definitely.
“George Bailey is a feckless, puritanical and self-serving tyrant, using his fellow townsfolk’s money – ineffectively – to impose his own morality upon them. The celebrated George Bailey is…saving townsfolk from their own selfish desires, such as for more housing or any viable nightlife.”
The truth about It’s A Wonderful Life
This supposedly heart-warming yuletide classic is the story of a NIMBY preparing to impose a radical moral agenda on his selfish neighbours
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 25, 2025 at 9:58 AM
“George Bailey is a feckless, puritanical and self-serving tyrant, using his fellow townsfolk’s money – ineffectively – to impose his own morality upon them. The celebrated George Bailey is…saving townsfolk from their own selfish desires, such as for more housing or any viable nightlife.”
Merry Christmas!
George Bailey is a puritanical, self-serving tyrant who belongs in jail.
Hope Santa’s been!
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-t...
George Bailey is a puritanical, self-serving tyrant who belongs in jail.
Hope Santa’s been!
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-t...
The truth about It’s A Wonderful Life
This supposedly heart-warming yuletide classic is the story of a NIMBY preparing to impose a radical moral agenda on his selfish neighbours
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 25, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Merry Christmas!
George Bailey is a puritanical, self-serving tyrant who belongs in jail.
Hope Santa’s been!
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-t...
George Bailey is a puritanical, self-serving tyrant who belongs in jail.
Hope Santa’s been!
www.thenewworld.co.uk/james-ball-t...
Reposted by James Ball
Merry Christmas! On my way to the butchers to get the biggest goose in the shop, been saving up all year. I assume nobody else will suddenly purchase it out from under me
December 25, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Merry Christmas! On my way to the butchers to get the biggest goose in the shop, been saving up all year. I assume nobody else will suddenly purchase it out from under me
Reposted by James Ball
This keeps happening. In yesterday's announcement about the State Dept pulling visas, a State Dept spokesperson claimed that they were stopping "Murthy-style speech suppression" leaving out that Amy Coney Barrett's ruling said there was no evidence of any such speech suppression...
I have the “In Covid’s Wake” PDF and this section floored me. Here is some of the surrounding content — and citations. The professors cited laundered Twitter Files claims in their discussion of the Murthy v Missouri case — they stuck the *outcome of the case* in a footnote while centering the lies.
December 24, 2025 at 11:12 PM
This keeps happening. In yesterday's announcement about the State Dept pulling visas, a State Dept spokesperson claimed that they were stopping "Murthy-style speech suppression" leaving out that Amy Coney Barrett's ruling said there was no evidence of any such speech suppression...
Politics is clearly a 24/7 job. 22:45 on Xmas eve! (Glass houses, stones, I am aware)
December 24, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Politics is clearly a 24/7 job. 22:45 on Xmas eve! (Glass houses, stones, I am aware)
Reposted by James Ball
Haha, this is either astonishingly dishonest or astonishingly incompetent (from an absolute bin fire of a book.)
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Haha, this is either astonishingly dishonest or astonishingly incompetent (from an absolute bin fire of a book.)
Reposted by James Ball
Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
Donate to Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025, organized by Rhodri Marsden
Unbelievably, it's the 15th year of this thing.
What is it?
Improbably, the nig… Rhodri Marsden needs your support for Duvet Know It's Christmas, 2025
www.gofundme.com
December 24, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Unbelievably, #DuvetKnowItsChristmas generates such good will on social media that over the years we've raised somewhere approaching a quarter of a million quid for homeless charities. If you can spare a bob or two, sling some to Centrepoint, and here's the link: www.gofundme.com/f/duvet-know...
Reposted by James Ball
BREAKING
The Department of Justice claims that over one million new documents have been uncovered as related to the Epstein case.
This is only going to fuel more conspiracies.
The Department of Justice claims that over one million new documents have been uncovered as related to the Epstein case.
This is only going to fuel more conspiracies.
December 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
BREAKING
The Department of Justice claims that over one million new documents have been uncovered as related to the Epstein case.
This is only going to fuel more conspiracies.
The Department of Justice claims that over one million new documents have been uncovered as related to the Epstein case.
This is only going to fuel more conspiracies.
The thing that jumps out to me here is that Bari Weiss thinks it’s been a “slow news week”.
Bari Weiss just sent this Christmas Eve email to the CBS News staff about "building trust," which includes her tripling down on spiking the CECOT piece "to make sure it's comprehensive and fair."
One CBS staffer tells me: "She really has no idea how insulting she comes across."
One CBS staffer tells me: "She really has no idea how insulting she comes across."
December 24, 2025 at 7:01 PM
The thing that jumps out to me here is that Bari Weiss thinks it’s been a “slow news week”.
Absolutely A+ 5pm on Christmas Eve stuff from LinkedIn here, nice work
December 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Absolutely A+ 5pm on Christmas Eve stuff from LinkedIn here, nice work
Reposted by James Ball
it requires an absolutely staggering lack of self awareness for chatterton to complain that he has lost elite opportunities because he has anti-woke views.
The Other Way the ‘Super Woke’ Left Discriminates
Race and gender aren’t the only categories that determine who gets special treatment.
www.theatlantic.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:16 PM
it requires an absolutely staggering lack of self awareness for chatterton to complain that he has lost elite opportunities because he has anti-woke views.
Only *slightly* ruined by the existence of the Mises caucus
December 24, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Only *slightly* ruined by the existence of the Mises caucus
Reposted by James Ball
This has led to theories that the game is deliberately bad: it was never supposed to be fun, it was supposed to spread an anticapitalist message
✏️ @jamesrball.com
✏️ @jamesrball.com
We've all been playing Monopoly wrong
The board game shouldn't go on forever if you stick to the real rules
www.thenewworld.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM
This has led to theories that the game is deliberately bad: it was never supposed to be fun, it was supposed to spread an anticapitalist message
✏️ @jamesrball.com
✏️ @jamesrball.com
“Republicans re-framed efforts by private companies and civil society to stop dangerous misinformation as a sinister conspiracy to silence conservatives and stifle free expression.
“Now, they have made the state-led censorship operation of their fantasies a reality, with themselves at the helm.”
“Now, they have made the state-led censorship operation of their fantasies a reality, with themselves at the helm.”
Trump’s grip on power is weakening – here’s why
His popularity is plummeting, his base is divided, and the days of his presidency are numbered
inews.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
“Republicans re-framed efforts by private companies and civil society to stop dangerous misinformation as a sinister conspiracy to silence conservatives and stifle free expression.
“Now, they have made the state-led censorship operation of their fantasies a reality, with themselves at the helm.”
“Now, they have made the state-led censorship operation of their fantasies a reality, with themselves at the helm.”
“Republicans’ very worst fears look to be happening: the Department of Justice has been accused of hiding evidence, while the Department of State is openly declaring war on the First Amendment – only it’s their guy in charge as it’s happening. Awkward.”
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
Trump’s grip on power is weakening – here’s why
His popularity is plummeting, his base is divided, and the days of his presidency are numbered
inews.co.uk
December 24, 2025 at 3:40 PM
“Republicans’ very worst fears look to be happening: the Department of Justice has been accused of hiding evidence, while the Department of State is openly declaring war on the First Amendment – only it’s their guy in charge as it’s happening. Awkward.”
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
inews.co.uk/opinion/trum...
Whatever the solution to ChatGPT is, returning to handwriting isn’t it. The future’s digital and it’s outright anachronistic to make schoolwork analog.
(Having spent years in remedial handwriting classes and despising writing subjects at school as a result may be biasing me here, ofc.)
(Having spent years in remedial handwriting classes and despising writing subjects at school as a result may be biasing me here, ofc.)
Does anyone else bristle at this framing? WSJ says blue books are “torturing” students with hand cramps, and “nobody likes them.”
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
They Were Every Student’s Worst Nightmare. Now Blue Books Are Back.
Cheating with ChatGPT has become a huge problem for colleges. The solution is painfully old-school.
www.wsj.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Whatever the solution to ChatGPT is, returning to handwriting isn’t it. The future’s digital and it’s outright anachronistic to make schoolwork analog.
(Having spent years in remedial handwriting classes and despising writing subjects at school as a result may be biasing me here, ofc.)
(Having spent years in remedial handwriting classes and despising writing subjects at school as a result may be biasing me here, ofc.)