@defrein.bsky.social
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I don't really post anymore, but I would like to carry on writing books at some point in the future.
Hate to be annoying, but any chance you could retweet so old twitter followers can find me if they want to? Going to delete my twitter, or at least abandon it on lock and let it die a slow death.
Hate to be annoying, but any chance you could retweet so old twitter followers can find me if they want to? Going to delete my twitter, or at least abandon it on lock and let it die a slow death.
December 11, 2025 at 5:31 PM
I don't really post anymore, but I would like to carry on writing books at some point in the future.
Hate to be annoying, but any chance you could retweet so old twitter followers can find me if they want to? Going to delete my twitter, or at least abandon it on lock and let it die a slow death.
Hate to be annoying, but any chance you could retweet so old twitter followers can find me if they want to? Going to delete my twitter, or at least abandon it on lock and let it die a slow death.
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A great thread by my friend, the peerless @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social - a must #follow on foreign affairs.
As (intimidatingly) brilliant as always.
As (intimidatingly) brilliant as always.
It's New Year, so time to look back and forward. These are 10 things I think we need to recognise in 2026. It’s a response to what I think are profoundly damaging mistaken assumptions I’ve heard and read from practitioners, journalists, and analysts in 2025. Warning: very long🧵
January 1, 2026 at 11:09 PM
A great thread by my friend, the peerless @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social - a must #follow on foreign affairs.
As (intimidatingly) brilliant as always.
As (intimidatingly) brilliant as always.
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"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command"
Trump denies what we've all seen with our own eyes -- that he regularly falls asleep during on camera events -- instead saying he's just "blinking."
“Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.” (4/6)
“Sometimes they’ll take a picture of me blinking, blinking, and they’ll catch me with the blink.” (4/6)
January 1, 2026 at 7:28 PM
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command"
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Letter to the FT that stingingly sums up Brexit and the shit creek we now find ourselves in.
A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.
A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.
December 24, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Letter to the FT that stingingly sums up Brexit and the shit creek we now find ourselves in.
A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.
A terrible idea (naive, prejudiced and uninformed) that has deeply divided us and left us poorer and less secure… but unwilling to face up to the damage we’ve done to ourselves. While the EU moves on.
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Having to watch a bootlegged copy of a video from another country because my country censored it is making me feel as if I'm living in 1980s Eastern Germany.
December 23, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Having to watch a bootlegged copy of a video from another country because my country censored it is making me feel as if I'm living in 1980s Eastern Germany.
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This WaPo piece weaves together an incredibly powerful story about the way Trump has devastated government and the dedicated people who wake up every day to serve the public. wapo.st/4b14KAy
The year Trump broke the federal government
How DOGE and the White House carried out a once-unthinkable transformation of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.
wapo.st
December 21, 2025 at 12:40 PM
This WaPo piece weaves together an incredibly powerful story about the way Trump has devastated government and the dedicated people who wake up every day to serve the public. wapo.st/4b14KAy
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December 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
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It's also vastly easier and cheaper for media outlets to produce culture war content than policy stuff.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
This chart (which applies even more to social media than it did to TV) lives in my head rent free.
Social media enveloping traditional media means everything and everyone is now competing in the entertainment market. Boring stuff like policy that affects millions of lives doesn’t stand a chance.
Social media enveloping traditional media means everything and everyone is now competing in the entertainment market. Boring stuff like policy that affects millions of lives doesn’t stand a chance.
November 23, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It's also vastly easier and cheaper for media outlets to produce culture war content than policy stuff.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
With policy, you have to find actual experts that are available and willing, then pray they're good entertaining communicators.
On culture shit, you start with a talking head and work backwards.
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Interesting to see so many great British patriots right now begging an American president to bankrupt one of Britain’s last remaining truly national institutions.
November 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Interesting to see so many great British patriots right now begging an American president to bankrupt one of Britain’s last remaining truly national institutions.
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1/ If you target me with tariffs, that's bad for your consumers who have to pay more to buy my products, and it's bad for my producers who will probably sell you fewer things.
For my government, the negative impact on your consumers is irrelevant unless it changes your behaviour.
For my government, the negative impact on your consumers is irrelevant unless it changes your behaviour.
July 28, 2025 at 11:32 AM
1/ If you target me with tariffs, that's bad for your consumers who have to pay more to buy my products, and it's bad for my producers who will probably sell you fewer things.
For my government, the negative impact on your consumers is irrelevant unless it changes your behaviour.
For my government, the negative impact on your consumers is irrelevant unless it changes your behaviour.
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“Brexit means we can make our own agreements with the EU, as we pick and choose!”
- UK chooses to make agreement with EU on a handful of issues.
“Brexit Betrayed!”
- UK chooses to make agreement with EU on a handful of issues.
“Brexit Betrayed!”
May 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
“Brexit means we can make our own agreements with the EU, as we pick and choose!”
- UK chooses to make agreement with EU on a handful of issues.
“Brexit Betrayed!”
- UK chooses to make agreement with EU on a handful of issues.
“Brexit Betrayed!”
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Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal:
The mayhem of Mar-a-Lago is less effective than the boredom of Brussels, writes @gideonrachman.bsky.social @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com/44Uat8c
The mayhem of Mar-a-Lago is less effective than the boredom of Brussels, writes @gideonrachman.bsky.social @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com/44Uat8c
Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal
[FREE TO READ] The mayhem of Mar-a-Lago is less effective than the boredom of Brussels
on.ft.com
May 5, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Why the EU beats Trump at the art of the deal:
The mayhem of Mar-a-Lago is less effective than the boredom of Brussels, writes @gideonrachman.bsky.social @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com/44Uat8c
The mayhem of Mar-a-Lago is less effective than the boredom of Brussels, writes @gideonrachman.bsky.social @financialtimes.com
on.ft.com/44Uat8c
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Trump poses as the Pope in full holy garments and gets a pass.
Obama puts on a tan suit and they lose their frigging minds.
See how that works?
Obama puts on a tan suit and they lose their frigging minds.
See how that works?
May 3, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Trump poses as the Pope in full holy garments and gets a pass.
Obama puts on a tan suit and they lose their frigging minds.
See how that works?
Obama puts on a tan suit and they lose their frigging minds.
See how that works?
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Rubio publicly criticizing an ally for cracking down on right-wing extremism. And Germany hitting back. We are in a new world
May 2, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Rubio publicly criticizing an ally for cracking down on right-wing extremism. And Germany hitting back. We are in a new world
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Mark Carney, "The lessons of Brexit are beginning to be applied to the US"
"When you break trading relationships you end up with slower growth"
"When you break trading relationships you end up with slower growth"
April 29, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Mark Carney, "The lessons of Brexit are beginning to be applied to the US"
"When you break trading relationships you end up with slower growth"
"When you break trading relationships you end up with slower growth"
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Could you ever have imagined you would see a headline like this in your lifetime
April 27, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Could you ever have imagined you would see a headline like this in your lifetime
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Our cover this week.
April 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Our cover this week.
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OK, it's well past time to start a thread.
Welcome to Donald Trump's trade policy. Nobody. Knows. Anything.
1/n
Welcome to Donald Trump's trade policy. Nobody. Knows. Anything.
1/n
January 7, 2025 at 8:52 AM
OK, it's well past time to start a thread.
Welcome to Donald Trump's trade policy. Nobody. Knows. Anything.
1/n
Welcome to Donald Trump's trade policy. Nobody. Knows. Anything.
1/n
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If six months ago you'd told me that in autumn 2025 I'd have to go to Canada to get my annual COVID vaccine but I wouldn't do it because coming back through immigrations was too risky for someone who had criticized the government, I would have looked at you like you were having a stroke.
In what proportions is our new NIH Director a flaming ignoramus vs. a brazen liar?
![Jonny Paradise 🌱
@plantparadise7
·
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya on mRNA tech:
"The next step is [to halt] the mRNA platform itself... the manufacturer has no idea what dose they're giving, no idea where it goes in the body, and whether they are producing off-target antigens"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:q25tg5qy6kzwtuecpe6b4shw/bafkreie7wm23po34vcypd5357s2a2dgav7bhdzypwmkdjgb7jxsfijjf2y@jpeg)
April 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
If six months ago you'd told me that in autumn 2025 I'd have to go to Canada to get my annual COVID vaccine but I wouldn't do it because coming back through immigrations was too risky for someone who had criticized the government, I would have looked at you like you were having a stroke.
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"The rise of end times fascism" by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor is an outstanding work. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Recommended.
Recommended.
April 15, 2025 at 2:58 AM
"The rise of end times fascism" by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor is an outstanding work. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Recommended.
Recommended.
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congrats Niall. you're on my list of people to regularly check on here for fresh analysis.
And you're in my starter pack!
And you're in my starter pack!
April 20, 2025 at 9:25 AM
congrats Niall. you're on my list of people to regularly check on here for fresh analysis.
And you're in my starter pack!
And you're in my starter pack!