Stephen Bush
@stephenkb.bsky.social
Associate editor and columnist @financialtimes.com. Post too often about culture, public policy, management, politics, nerd stuff, Arsenal, wosoc. Try my UK politics newsletter for free here: www.ft.com/tryinsidepolitics
Pinned
Stephen Bush
@stephenkb.bsky.social
· Feb 22
I sat through that so when my column gets factchecked I can say “yes, that line is accurate”. Such is the FT’s commitment to bringing you our best understanding of the truth. Subscribe here: subs.ft.com/products
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Not Sam. Too obvious - misdirection by the producers? Ellie saying “they might think I’m a secret traitor” is either a massive red flag or massive misdirection. But what about Reese leaving Rachel and Stephen to get on with their task last night? Like he knew they’re traitors. Just asking questions!
January 4, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Not Sam. Too obvious - misdirection by the producers? Ellie saying “they might think I’m a secret traitor” is either a massive red flag or massive misdirection. But what about Reese leaving Rachel and Stephen to get on with their task last night? Like he knew they’re traitors. Just asking questions!
It’s Sam, IMV. I think so many of his lines to camera have that implication.
Surprised they’re blowing the Secret Traitor ruse so early to be honest. The show that delights in scrambling its contestants minds doing the same to the viewer and then giving up on it by episode four?
January 4, 2026 at 3:36 PM
It’s Sam, IMV. I think so many of his lines to camera have that implication.
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Frivolously cruel to those who lived in those places/times too: treating people who died & their living friends/families as mere filler for his morally and empirically junk argument
I guess one thing is consistent: no clue about how people actually live today in the UK or then in Belfast or Iraq
I guess one thing is consistent: no clue about how people actually live today in the UK or then in Belfast or Iraq
January 4, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Frivolously cruel to those who lived in those places/times too: treating people who died & their living friends/families as mere filler for his morally and empirically junk argument
I guess one thing is consistent: no clue about how people actually live today in the UK or then in Belfast or Iraq
I guess one thing is consistent: no clue about how people actually live today in the UK or then in Belfast or Iraq
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Not the main point of this but it isn’t “as many as 33% believe civil war WOULD happen”, if you follow the link it’s 9% very likely and 23% think it somewhat likely, which is 32% and I would say only the 9% are saying *will*
January 4, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Not the main point of this but it isn’t “as many as 33% believe civil war WOULD happen”, if you follow the link it’s 9% very likely and 23% think it somewhat likely, which is 32% and I would say only the 9% are saying *will*
I really feel like the Tate Modern might be turning a corner. After years of incredibly tedious and annoying captions alongside very poorly conceived exhibitions, both Nigerian Modernism and the Emily Kam Kngwarray (closes on 11 January) are a massive return to form.
January 4, 2026 at 2:09 PM
I really feel like the Tate Modern might be turning a corner. After years of incredibly tedious and annoying captions alongside very poorly conceived exhibitions, both Nigerian Modernism and the Emily Kam Kngwarray (closes on 11 January) are a massive return to form.
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Would backdate this to SDSR 2010 but yeah
Right. Today’s bad media round is the inevitable consequence of, frankly, bad decisions and optimism bias since Crimea was invaded.
January 4, 2026 at 1:38 PM
Would backdate this to SDSR 2010 but yeah
I know I go on and on about how good Hybrid Hate is, but one thing it captures that very few books about racism do is that racism is deadly, dangerous and can be very powerful- but it is also incredibly funny because it is a guaranteed way to become madder and stupider.
"Mad, stupid shit" is the perfect definition of racism.
Good article this. Racism really is the reverse of a performance-enhancing drug, the mad, stupid shit it leads people to believe in and to do:
January 4, 2026 at 1:35 PM
I know I go on and on about how good Hybrid Hate is, but one thing it captures that very few books about racism do is that racism is deadly, dangerous and can be very powerful- but it is also incredibly funny because it is a guaranteed way to become madder and stupider.
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This is it right? I could somewhat understand someone who has not been to London spouting this nonsense, but he works at *KCL*! Even by London-standards it's not exactly at place where you would find tension to be palpable
January 4, 2026 at 1:12 PM
This is it right? I could somewhat understand someone who has not been to London spouting this nonsense, but he works at *KCL*! Even by London-standards it's not exactly at place where you would find tension to be palpable
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Imaging his students - at KCL! - listening to their lecturer rant that the city the just commuted through is about to become 2008 Baghdad
January 4, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Imaging his students - at KCL! - listening to their lecturer rant that the city the just commuted through is about to become 2008 Baghdad
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You do get the impression that some of the people 'warning' of civil war, actually desire one huh
Good article this. Racism really is the reverse of a performance-enhancing drug, the mad, stupid shit it leads people to believe in and to do:
‘Once whispered, now discussed’: the rise of dubious claims of civil war in the UK
Dystopian warnings once reserved for the far right have found a wider audience – but there are good reasons for scepticism
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:57 PM
You do get the impression that some of the people 'warning' of civil war, actually desire one huh
Reposted by Stephen Bush
It’s the thing that proves the Clinton era ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ adage wrong. People in the U.K. have acted against their economic self interest on many occasions because of racism, xenophobia, and toxic rhetoric about migrants.
January 4, 2026 at 12:57 PM
It’s the thing that proves the Clinton era ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ adage wrong. People in the U.K. have acted against their economic self interest on many occasions because of racism, xenophobia, and toxic rhetoric about migrants.
Good article this. Racism really is the reverse of a performance-enhancing drug, the mad, stupid shit it leads people to believe in and to do:
‘Once whispered, now discussed’: the rise of dubious claims of civil war in the UK
Dystopian warnings once reserved for the far right have found a wider audience – but there are good reasons for scepticism
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 12:54 PM
Good article this. Racism really is the reverse of a performance-enhancing drug, the mad, stupid shit it leads people to believe in and to do:
Reposted by Stephen Bush
The thing with a lot of these early 2000s ones is just how incredibly dense they are, both with games I personally loved and played a lot, but also massively influential titles in their own right.
January 4, 2026 at 12:19 PM
The thing with a lot of these early 2000s ones is just how incredibly dense they are, both with games I personally loved and played a lot, but also massively influential titles in their own right.
One of the things that Naguib Mahfouz’s “The Cairo Trilogy” captures perfectly is how time moves differently in childhood than it does as we grow older. This experience can also be recreated by discovering that “The Sims” came out in the same year as Spyro: Year of the Dragon and Final Fantasy IX
Quote this with your favourite game from 2000 NOW, and what your favourite was THEN (if you had one)
Localisations count, remasters/ports don't. Remakes depend.
Two-way ties count.
For a fuller refresher: backloggd.com/games/lib/po...
Localisations count, remasters/ports don't. Remakes depend.
Two-way ties count.
For a fuller refresher: backloggd.com/games/lib/po...
January 4, 2026 at 12:13 PM
One of the things that Naguib Mahfouz’s “The Cairo Trilogy” captures perfectly is how time moves differently in childhood than it does as we grow older. This experience can also be recreated by discovering that “The Sims” came out in the same year as Spyro: Year of the Dragon and Final Fantasy IX
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Signed, Disgusted of Zone 1
January 4, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Signed, Disgusted of Zone 1
Reposted by Stephen Bush
This is why at venues I always go for prosecco, at least then the drink is tolerably bad.
January 4, 2026 at 11:41 AM
This is why at venues I always go for prosecco, at least then the drink is tolerably bad.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
Made this mistake at the Camden one just before Christmas, jesus wept.
January 4, 2026 at 11:33 AM
Made this mistake at the Camden one just before Christmas, jesus wept.
2026: the year in which I decide I might not be able to materially improve anything else, but I *will* obsessively fill out every Curzon customer feedback form I can find to improve the quality of the wine they sell:
January 4, 2026 at 11:24 AM
2026: the year in which I decide I might not be able to materially improve anything else, but I *will* obsessively fill out every Curzon customer feedback form I can find to improve the quality of the wine they sell:
👇 Today is “it is never comms” turned up to eleven. The UK (and most of Europe other than the frontier states) pressed the snooze button on the alarm in 2006, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Today’s “well, who is to say which way water flows?” media round is the least important of the bitter fruit.
I just don't think there is a good line. The reality is we're completely boxed in, especially given the priority is protecting Ukraine. You could try and point to that being the priority I guess + encourage viewers to make the connection.
January 4, 2026 at 10:55 AM
👇 Today is “it is never comms” turned up to eleven. The UK (and most of Europe other than the frontier states) pressed the snooze button on the alarm in 2006, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Today’s “well, who is to say which way water flows?” media round is the least important of the bitter fruit.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
I just don't think there is a good line. The reality is we're completely boxed in, especially given the priority is protecting Ukraine. You could try and point to that being the priority I guess + encourage viewers to make the connection.
January 4, 2026 at 10:30 AM
I just don't think there is a good line. The reality is we're completely boxed in, especially given the priority is protecting Ukraine. You could try and point to that being the priority I guess + encourage viewers to make the connection.
Weird thing that occasionally happens to me: I dream that I can’t sleep, and then wake up, fully rested but very confused.
January 4, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Weird thing that occasionally happens to me: I dream that I can’t sleep, and then wake up, fully rested but very confused.
Marvellous column by @edwardluce.bsky.social on Trump’s new world order: “no obvious rules, does not respect allies, celebrates the jungle and is almost always about money”:
Trump now owns Venezuela
The US president has a growing appetite for military adventure
www.ft.com
January 4, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Marvellous column by @edwardluce.bsky.social on Trump’s new world order: “no obvious rules, does not respect allies, celebrates the jungle and is almost always about money”:
Hilariously, they've put this exact statement out word for word on Facebook. At least on Twitter or on here, the 'there's a lot of noise' opener is bizarrely combative and aggressive, but on Facebook it is just gloriously out of pocket in how pointlessly belligerent it is.
Badenoch has a remarkable ability to be rebarbative in any context. The first sentence here is totally unnecessary.
January 4, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Hilariously, they've put this exact statement out word for word on Facebook. At least on Twitter or on here, the 'there's a lot of noise' opener is bizarrely combative and aggressive, but on Facebook it is just gloriously out of pocket in how pointlessly belligerent it is.
Reposted by Stephen Bush
De-alcoholised wine is looking like being another stumble down a blind alley for the wine trade. We’re basically building a pot-holed off-ramp. And it’s got me mixing my metaphors.
“My advice to wine drinkers wishing to cut down their alcohol intake is to find a non-alcoholic drink that they like”
“My advice to wine drinkers wishing to cut down their alcohol intake is to find a non-alcoholic drink that they like”
De-alcoholised wine is a poor substitute for the real thing. But there are one or two palatable alternatives.
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/how-drink-less-wine
@ft_weekend #jancisrobinson #noandlow #winealternatives #wine
https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/how-drink-less-wine
@ft_weekend #jancisrobinson #noandlow #winealternatives #wine
January 3, 2026 at 10:41 AM
De-alcoholised wine is looking like being another stumble down a blind alley for the wine trade. We’re basically building a pot-holed off-ramp. And it’s got me mixing my metaphors.
“My advice to wine drinkers wishing to cut down their alcohol intake is to find a non-alcoholic drink that they like”
“My advice to wine drinkers wishing to cut down their alcohol intake is to find a non-alcoholic drink that they like”
I am fully on board with the 'Ross and Ellie are a secret couple' theory, because the only way I can explain why Ross is playing the show like someone who has never seen a single episode is if he hasn't...and why would you apply for it in 2023 if you hadn't? #TheTraitors
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 PM
I am fully on board with the 'Ross and Ellie are a secret couple' theory, because the only way I can explain why Ross is playing the show like someone who has never seen a single episode is if he hasn't...and why would you apply for it in 2023 if you hadn't? #TheTraitors