Steph Boland
@stephanieboland.bsky.social
Writing, editing and tech | Formerly New Statesman, Prospect | One of those cycling types stephanieboland.co.uk
Tickled by these photos for NA-KD where the shoot concept was “woman finds office air con too cold”
November 20, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Tickled by these photos for NA-KD where the shoot concept was “woman finds office air con too cold”
Reposted by Steph Boland
November 19, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Steph Boland
(And here's the Transatlantic Sessions performance I mention, which includes a young Rufus Wainwright, his mother and aunt, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and Emmylou Harris.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Bo...
Wild Mountain Thyme - Dick Gaughan | Transatlantic Sessions | TG4
YouTube video by TradTG4
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:12 PM
(And here's the Transatlantic Sessions performance I mention, which includes a young Rufus Wainwright, his mother and aunt, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and Emmylou Harris.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Bo...
Reposted by Steph Boland
There were 92,400 Lego cutlasses inside the shipping container that fell off the Tokio Express back in 1997. This one was found in August by Laura Dale on a beach near Newquay some 28 years after it plummeted into the ocean.
Photo: Laura Dale
Photo: Laura Dale
November 16, 2025 at 8:17 PM
There were 92,400 Lego cutlasses inside the shipping container that fell off the Tokio Express back in 1997. This one was found in August by Laura Dale on a beach near Newquay some 28 years after it plummeted into the ocean.
Photo: Laura Dale
Photo: Laura Dale
Reposted by Steph Boland
Uh
this is
enormous
this is
enormous
British and Australian chemists have discovered a powerful new antibiotic called pre-methylenomycin C lactone, hiding in a well-known soil bacterium. This molecule kills drug-resistant bacteria without triggering resistance. buff.ly/YlXaONo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
#ShareGoodNewsToo
Scientists find hidden antibiotic 100x stronger against deadly superbugs
A team of scientists discovered a hidden antibiotic 100 times stronger than existing drugs against deadly superbugs like MRSA. The molecule had been overlooked for decades in a familiar bacterium. It…
buff.ly
November 16, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Uh
this is
enormous
this is
enormous
Reposted by Steph Boland
Hadn't clocked until this tweet that this is true of every defeated Labour government other than New Labour: more votes in defeat in 1951 than in victory in 1945, more in 1970 than in 1964. And frankly, whether they win or lose next time, would bet large amounts will get more votes than 2024.
Labour got more votes in 1979 then they did in Oct 1974.
November 15, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Hadn't clocked until this tweet that this is true of every defeated Labour government other than New Labour: more votes in defeat in 1951 than in victory in 1945, more in 1970 than in 1964. And frankly, whether they win or lose next time, would bet large amounts will get more votes than 2024.
Reposted by Steph Boland
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
Reposted by Steph Boland
The birth of the author
November 12, 2025 at 11:31 AM
The birth of the author
Reposted by Steph Boland
Clever move by Camilla to stop the opposition Queens lipreading her tactics
November 9, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Clever move by Camilla to stop the opposition Queens lipreading her tactics
Reposted by Steph Boland
❄️🍣 All supermarket sushi salmon is frozen. Why?
A) food safety laws. Freezing kills pathogens
B) frozen fish is easier to cut.
Here’s the machine which ensures every salmon slice for nigiri is 7g 🧵2/5
A) food safety laws. Freezing kills pathogens
B) frozen fish is easier to cut.
Here’s the machine which ensures every salmon slice for nigiri is 7g 🧵2/5
November 8, 2025 at 7:52 AM
❄️🍣 All supermarket sushi salmon is frozen. Why?
A) food safety laws. Freezing kills pathogens
B) frozen fish is easier to cut.
Here’s the machine which ensures every salmon slice for nigiri is 7g 🧵2/5
A) food safety laws. Freezing kills pathogens
B) frozen fish is easier to cut.
Here’s the machine which ensures every salmon slice for nigiri is 7g 🧵2/5
John Cooper Clarke is living a fine old life
November 6, 2025 at 8:04 AM
John Cooper Clarke is living a fine old life
Reposted by Steph Boland
Reposted by Steph Boland
I’m so glad to announce that my campaign has been a success, and the £318 fee that survivors of domestic abuse needed to pay to keep their address private when seeking financial assistance has been SCRAPPED 🎉
Thank you @sarahsackman.bsky.social
Thank you @sarahsackman.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I’m so glad to announce that my campaign has been a success, and the £318 fee that survivors of domestic abuse needed to pay to keep their address private when seeking financial assistance has been SCRAPPED 🎉
Thank you @sarahsackman.bsky.social
Thank you @sarahsackman.bsky.social
Reposted by Steph Boland
Toggled on Apple’s “Personalised Volume” and now when my boss talks to me, my music automatically turns up
October 24, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Toggled on Apple’s “Personalised Volume” and now when my boss talks to me, my music automatically turns up
Reposted by Steph Boland
Rome seems to be where Paris was 10-15 years ago, but on steroids. Cramped & completely car-choked, hot (& getting hotter), with dirty air & noise, resting on its laurels & not doing much to improve things “lately.”
What if Rome had a Mayor like Anne Hidalgo in Paris? Bikes, greening, place-making.
What if Rome had a Mayor like Anne Hidalgo in Paris? Bikes, greening, place-making.
In so many ways, Rome is a uniquely extraordinary city.
But did everything that’s good about Rome happen a LONG time ago?
That’s how I used to see Paris until 10-15 years ago.
Rome’s choking in cars. Everything great about it is being made worse by that.
So what’s getting better today in Rome?
But did everything that’s good about Rome happen a LONG time ago?
That’s how I used to see Paris until 10-15 years ago.
Rome’s choking in cars. Everything great about it is being made worse by that.
So what’s getting better today in Rome?
October 23, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Rome seems to be where Paris was 10-15 years ago, but on steroids. Cramped & completely car-choked, hot (& getting hotter), with dirty air & noise, resting on its laurels & not doing much to improve things “lately.”
What if Rome had a Mayor like Anne Hidalgo in Paris? Bikes, greening, place-making.
What if Rome had a Mayor like Anne Hidalgo in Paris? Bikes, greening, place-making.
Reposted by Steph Boland
You may have heard about UK ministers' plan to double to 10 years the time needed to reached settled status in the UK. But did you realise that it threatened access to pensions for the 180,000 people who came from Hong Kong on the UK government's visa scheme? My dispatch: www.ft.com/content/8b91...
UK Hongkongers rue the rockiness of their ‘lifeboat’ after threatened visa changes
People who fled Chinese territory are angry after London looks at doubling length of time required to gain citizenship
www.ft.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:21 AM
You may have heard about UK ministers' plan to double to 10 years the time needed to reached settled status in the UK. But did you realise that it threatened access to pensions for the 180,000 people who came from Hong Kong on the UK government's visa scheme? My dispatch: www.ft.com/content/8b91...
Thinking, again, of how I said something about the millennium dome to my mentee this week and after describing what and where it is she went, “oh, you mean the O2!”
October 19, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Thinking, again, of how I said something about the millennium dome to my mentee this week and after describing what and where it is she went, “oh, you mean the O2!”
Interesting time for Rapha on.ft.com/4ncwJjm
Cycling fashion group Rapha prepares for long climb back to profit
High-end British brand owned by Walmart scions plunges deeper into red as latest CEO embarks on turnaround
on.ft.com
October 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Interesting time for Rapha on.ft.com/4ncwJjm
Reposted by Steph Boland
For the first time in about 70 years, net immigration to America could be zero. Beneath the noise of tariff and budget fights, migration may well be the biggest economic story of 2025.
My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America
Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...
🧵 below
My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America
Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...
🧵 below
October 7, 2025 at 8:42 PM
For the first time in about 70 years, net immigration to America could be zero. Beneath the noise of tariff and budget fights, migration may well be the biggest economic story of 2025.
My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America
Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...
🧵 below
My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America
Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...
🧵 below
Reposted by Steph Boland
Reposted by Steph Boland
An amazing role has appeared on LinkedIn posted two days ago by @lidltrek.bsky.social
Head of marketing!
How I wish I had the qualifications and experience for this as it would be an absolutely incredible position to have. Based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Closes October 17th.
Head of marketing!
How I wish I had the qualifications and experience for this as it would be an absolutely incredible position to have. Based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Closes October 17th.
October 6, 2025 at 12:13 PM
An amazing role has appeared on LinkedIn posted two days ago by @lidltrek.bsky.social
Head of marketing!
How I wish I had the qualifications and experience for this as it would be an absolutely incredible position to have. Based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Closes October 17th.
Head of marketing!
How I wish I had the qualifications and experience for this as it would be an absolutely incredible position to have. Based in Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Closes October 17th.
“Using a large-scale controlled resume correspondence experiment, we find that LLMs consistently prefer resumes generated by themselves over those written by humans”
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
AI Self-preferencing in Algorithmic Hiring: Empirical Evidence and Insights
<p>As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools become widely adopted, large language models (LLMs) are increasingly involved on both sides of decision-maki
papers.ssrn.com
October 3, 2025 at 6:10 PM
“Using a large-scale controlled resume correspondence experiment, we find that LLMs consistently prefer resumes generated by themselves over those written by humans”
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Steph Boland
The modern world in old Ladybird books.
"Carriages get very dirty inside from all the tobacco ash"
(On the Railways, 1972)
Artist: John Berry
"Carriages get very dirty inside from all the tobacco ash"
(On the Railways, 1972)
Artist: John Berry
September 29, 2025 at 7:23 AM
The modern world in old Ladybird books.
"Carriages get very dirty inside from all the tobacco ash"
(On the Railways, 1972)
Artist: John Berry
"Carriages get very dirty inside from all the tobacco ash"
(On the Railways, 1972)
Artist: John Berry
Reposted by Steph Boland
That's the power of pod?
"As regards media figures, more teens know of @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social (37 per cent) and @rory-stewart.bsky.social (26 per cent) than they do @owenjones.bsky.social (24 per cent)."
"As regards media figures, more teens know of @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social (37 per cent) and @rory-stewart.bsky.social (26 per cent) than they do @owenjones.bsky.social (24 per cent)."
Young people’s favourite politicians? Farage, Burnham and Trump
New polling from Merlin Strategies shows that Britain’s youth are desperate for radical change
www.newstatesman.com
September 29, 2025 at 9:35 AM
That's the power of pod?
"As regards media figures, more teens know of @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social (37 per cent) and @rory-stewart.bsky.social (26 per cent) than they do @owenjones.bsky.social (24 per cent)."
"As regards media figures, more teens know of @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social (37 per cent) and @rory-stewart.bsky.social (26 per cent) than they do @owenjones.bsky.social (24 per cent)."