Matt Potter
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mattpotteruk.bsky.social
Matt Potter
@mattpotteruk.bsky.social
2.1K followers 460 following 1.2K posts
Journalist, author, magpie, scriptwriter, nerd. Washington Post, BBC, Literary Review, Independent. Nonfic books WE ARE ALL TARGETS & OUTLAWS INC. Science, languages, virology, art, illicit networks, cyber, psychology, weird, prehistory, subculture. He/Him
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Reposted by Matt Potter
ottocr.at
Brexit reduced the UK’s GDP by between 6% and 8%. That is MASSIVE. #ProjectFear #wetoldyouso

www.nber.org/papers/w3445...
extract from the paper reads: “This paper examines the impact of the UK's decision to leave the European Union (Brexit) in 2016. Using almost a decade of data since the referendum, we combine simulations based on macro data with estimates derived from micro data collected through our Decision Maker Panel survey. These estimates suggest that by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%. …“
November 10, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
loreandordure.com
Wondering why everything seems shit and you have no money compared with 10 years ago?

This is a big part of why:
ottocr.at Chris Kendall 👊🇪🇺🧶 @ottocr.at · 16h
Brexit reduced the UK’s GDP by between 6% and 8%. That is MASSIVE. #ProjectFear #wetoldyouso

www.nber.org/papers/w3445...
extract from the paper reads: “This paper examines the impact of the UK's decision to leave the European Union (Brexit) in 2016. Using almost a decade of data since the referendum, we combine simulations based on macro data with estimates derived from micro data collected through our Decision Maker Panel survey. These estimates suggest that by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%. …“
November 10, 2025 at 9:24 PM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
The oi-where's-your-poppy policing is insane.

It was never like this before. Not when there actually were wars of conscription; nor when veterans of those wars were still alive.

Poppy-inspectors turning them into some culture war totem is the real scandal.

www.the-independent.com/life-style/w...
Performative poppy wearing has turned toxic – should we be wearing white poppies?
As two TV presenters and a politician have already fallen foul of the rabid ‘Where’s your poppy?’ brigade, and actor Mark Rylance has been branded ‘woke’ for donning a symbol of pacifism, Helen Coffey...
www.the-independent.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
vivmarsh.bsky.social
Guilty of reposting chives ! None of those words would have made any sense 20 years ago.
November 8, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
chriso-wiki.bsky.social
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
emilyhughes.bsky.social
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
brittanytrang.com Brittany Trang @brittanytrang.com · 2d
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
rufustsuperfly.bsky.social
Peter Cushing’s long friendship with Christopher Lee began on The Curse Of Frankenstein when Lee stormed into Cushing’s dressing room saying ‘I haven’t got any lines!’ & Cushing replied ‘You’re lucky. I’ve read the script.’
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
When your British TV interviewee says, "I'm just a kid from a council estate" but the transcription AI you're using is USA-coded, things can get apocalyptic pretty fucking quickly.
Screenshot of a transcription with the words, "I'm just a kid from a cancer state"
November 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
aristofontes.bsky.social
“I chose to repost chives”
mattpotteruk.bsky.social Matt Potter @mattpotteruk.bsky.social · 3d
Today’s ’Reddit sleuths unmask wrongdoing’ story is a little bit less spectacular than we are used to.
Screenshot of a Reddit update. Text reads: Chive Lord, a r/KitchenConfidential user who claims to cut chives every day, is accused of fraud after two separate posts are revealed to be the same pile of chives; moderators get involved. UPDATE: Chivelord has just posted an apology with the following text: Hey everyone. I would just like to come out and apologize for post the same pile of chives twice, I was having car problems yesterday and was unable to get and cut chives, and rather than being upfront and honest with you guys I chose to repost chives. I didn't want to give you guys another chiveless day. I see now that it would have been better to just be honest and say no chives rather than try and lie, th to goes against the whole point of the , I would like to thank all of you for holding me
November 8, 2025 at 6:55 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
barryfreed.bsky.social
Chivelord
November 8, 2025 at 6:27 AM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
Today’s ’Reddit sleuths unmask wrongdoing’ story is a little bit less spectacular than we are used to.
Screenshot of a Reddit update. Text reads: Chive Lord, a r/KitchenConfidential user who claims to cut chives every day, is accused of fraud after two separate posts are revealed to be the same pile of chives; moderators get involved. UPDATE: Chivelord has just posted an apology with the following text: Hey everyone. I would just like to come out and apologize for post the same pile of chives twice, I was having car problems yesterday and was unable to get and cut chives, and rather than being upfront and honest with you guys I chose to repost chives. I didn't want to give you guys another chiveless day. I see now that it would have been better to just be honest and say no chives rather than try and lie, th to goes against the whole point of the , I would like to thank all of you for holding me
November 8, 2025 at 6:12 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
ottoenglish.bsky.social
X is designed to radicalise people.

The algorithm promotes Elon Musk's agenda to promote racists and people who want violence bought - specifically - to the streets of Britain.

Members of Parliament, major institutions and the media should not be there.
news.sky.com/story/the-x-...
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
Elon Musk is boosting the British right - and this shows how
news.sky.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
edithcharles.bsky.social
Every year we get closer to this happening on the news
ME, CALLING INTO BABESTATION: hey beautiful what are you wearing BABE: just a thong baby ME: just a thong? BABE: yeah baby ME: where's your fucking poppy
November 5, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
fagankara.bsky.social
“The suspects, including two Ecuadorians, a Venezuelan and a Colombian, were remanded in pre-trial custody after their court appearance in the Azores on Tuesday, said police. “. & the sub was seized. It IS possible to do without blowing them up.
November 5, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
davidallengreen.bsky.social
This really the cracking of speeches: a banger.

Worth reading in full.
peterwalker99.bsky.social Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 6d
The full transcript of Zohran Mamdani's acceptance speech is very much worth reading in full. Even if you don't agree with your politics, it's very beautifully put together.

archive.is/8VqQJ

[this is a useable link to the NYT transcript]
November 5, 2025 at 11:58 AM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
So having a few friends round for a small get-together is a crime now, eh.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Portugal: Narco-sub carrying 1.7 tonnes of cocaine seized in Atlantic
The semi-submersible vessel was bound for various European countries, officials say.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Matt Potter
davidheniguk.bsky.social
Good. We need to start realising that government trying to manage risks down to zero is impossible, and very expensive to try, and then think more broadly about what that should mean.

To replace existing deregulatory initiatives.
peterwalker99.bsky.social Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 8d
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, rules out metal detecting arches at stations, pointing out that with the number of stations and entrances to each it's basically impossible. She says that overall, UK trains are a pretty safe place to be.
November 3, 2025 at 9:25 AM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
I think I’ve maxed out on What Can Possibly Go Wrong, and i’m proceeding straight to Oh Fucking God.
Reddit post featuring the OP’s haul of wild mushrooms they have picked, and a caption about how they are letting ChatGPT identify the fungi for them.
October 28, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
peoriabummer.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
spavel.bsky.social
"Can't miss the boat"
"Embrace it or be left behind"
"You'll be replaced by someone using AI"

These are all marketing slogans that prey on FOMO rather than value propositions. Anyone making decisions based on this kind of shaky logic is just another layer in the pyramid scheme.
thorstn.bsky.social Thorsten Möhlmann @thorstn.bsky.social · 14d
“When someone says we can’t miss the boat, I ask: where is the boat going? What exactly will this technology improve? That’s rarely discussed. Since when did we become Big Tech's free PR department?”
— says Nicky DRIES, Future of Work Lab at the Catholic University of Leuven
October 28, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
glynmoody.bsky.social
#Chatbots parrot #Putin's propaganda about the illegal invasion of #Ukraine - www.theregister.com/2025/10/28/c... "Fake views from Moscow's pet media outlets appear in about one in five responses"
Chatbots parrot Putin propaganda about Ukraine invasion
: Fake views from Moscow's pet media outlets appear in about one in five responses
www.theregister.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:17 PM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
I mean I’m pretty jaded with marketing angles, but whoever at M&S decided to call Mac & Cheese “menacing” and market chipolata sausages as worms & severed fingers is basically my hero.
Packshot from M&S of ‘Menacing Mac & Cheese’ Pack of ‘Wriggling Worms’ (cocktail sausages) A breaded chicken ‘Box of bats’ ‘Zombie Bao Buns’ - bit of a stretch, this one
October 28, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Matt Potter
paleofuture.bsky.social
Trump is pissed about an ad that Canada recently ran in the U.S. showing Ronald Reagan talking about tariffs in 1987.

“Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED.”
Trump: The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement, which is FAKE, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about Tariffs. The ad was for $75,000. They only did this to interfere with the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, and other courts. TARIFFS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE NATIONAL SECURITY, AND ECONOMY, OF THE U.S.A. Based on their egregious behavior, ALL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS WITH CANADA ARE HEREBY TERMINATED. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT 1 ReTruth 3 Likes 10/23/25, 7:39 PM
October 24, 2025 at 2:43 AM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
Few experiences are more stressful, spooky, uncanny & disruptive for the Neurodivergent than international travel.

Here's why it's the stuff of nightmares, & how the travel industry can change that. (& may be starting to.)

This felt good to write, at last.
www.businesstraveller.com/insights/fea...
A spread from Business Traveller magazine, featuring the opening of an article. The headline is says: Neurodiverse Navigation: Growing awareness of conditions like autism and ADHD is changing business travel as we know it. Words: Matt Potter. Illustration: Eoin Ryan. The image is an abstracted, blurred and red-toned background of an airport with outlines of a morass of red signs overlaid on each other, for planes, no entry, crowd control etc., and looking at it in the foreground, the blurred and lone outline of a human with a suitcase. The figure is hollow, with light hining through it. The overall vibe is Radiohead-disassociative and futurist-dystopian.
October 24, 2025 at 1:27 PM
mattpotteruk.bsky.social
Oh no, not again.

Lawyer submits an argument to the court which is entirely hallucinated - including non-existent precedents & citations - by ChatGPT. Fallout ensues.

Please, for the love of Svarog, tell your friends & colleagues tonight that ChatGPT is not Google.

www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedd...
Screenshot of the intro to the linked Reddit post in which a lawyer gives his account of the opposition counsel submitting an argument that was entirely hallucinated (including non-existent sources in citation) by ChatGPT - and its dismissal amid the resulting fallout. Second page of a Screenshot of the intro to the linked Reddit post in which a lawyer gives his account of the opposition counsel submitting an argument that was entirely hallucinated (including non-existent sources in citation) by ChatGPT - and its dismissal amid the resulting fallout.
October 22, 2025 at 5:46 PM