Tom Hadley | Exodus 25
@exodus25.bsky.social
Persuasion specialist. Cinephile. Autodidact. Dad rocker. Stoic.
https://exodus25.substack.com/
https://exodus25.substack.com/
Stokes & McCullum are/were gifted with huge natural physical talent. I'm not sure they understand how to coach players less gifted. Hence their insistence everything must be mental. Some people need to hone physical skills through match repetition. Aus had 4-day Shield games pre-Ashes. It shows.
December 7, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Stokes & McCullum are/were gifted with huge natural physical talent. I'm not sure they understand how to coach players less gifted. Hence their insistence everything must be mental. Some people need to hone physical skills through match repetition. Aus had 4-day Shield games pre-Ashes. It shows.
"44% believe not having a living room may have affected their mental health. Even so, more than a third (36%) of those living in a shared property said they would willingly forgo a living room in return for cheaper rent."
Dangerous if we've given up trying to fight for happiness against rentierism.
Dangerous if we've given up trying to fight for happiness against rentierism.
December 4, 2025 at 11:46 AM
"44% believe not having a living room may have affected their mental health. Even so, more than a third (36%) of those living in a shared property said they would willingly forgo a living room in return for cheaper rent."
Dangerous if we've given up trying to fight for happiness against rentierism.
Dangerous if we've given up trying to fight for happiness against rentierism.
Another absolute beauty of a column, the unhysterical, accurate analysis we need.
Column. British politicians do a lot claiming to face the world as it is, while their actions speak of yearning for the world as it was. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Fear of facing the future has British politics stuck in the past | Rafael Behr
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves claim to be dealing with the world as it is, but seem to yearn for a world that has disappeared, says the Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Another absolute beauty of a column, the unhysterical, accurate analysis we need.
I'm not sure I want to know...
YouTube introduces its own version of Spotify Wrapped for videos
YouTube introduces its own version of Spotify Wrapped for videos
Watch out for what you’ve been watching.
buff.ly
December 2, 2025 at 6:29 PM
I'm not sure I want to know...
4th August 1988. 13 year old me attends my first ever Test Match. My hero, Robin Smith, faces Marshall, Ambrose and Walsh and makes his first ever Test fifty (57), facing 162 bloody hostile balls. Remember it like it was yesterday, I cheered like a lunatic when he raised his bat.
December 2, 2025 at 2:10 PM
4th August 1988. 13 year old me attends my first ever Test Match. My hero, Robin Smith, faces Marshall, Ambrose and Walsh and makes his first ever Test fifty (57), facing 162 bloody hostile balls. Remember it like it was yesterday, I cheered like a lunatic when he raised his bat.
Me too, Judge excelled in an era of great fast bowlers. Imagine what he'd do to the current crop in Tests and T20. But blessed to have seen him in his heyday.
Just thinking about how Robin Smith would’ve been a better ‘Bazball’ player than any of the players currently playing it.
December 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Me too, Judge excelled in an era of great fast bowlers. Imagine what he'd do to the current crop in Tests and T20. But blessed to have seen him in his heyday.
I am beyond devastated to learn Robin Smith has died. As a cricket-obssessed kid in Hampshire in the 1980s he was my idol. I was at the Oval in 1988 and watched him score his first Test 50. Farewell Judge, I was never happier than when watching you bat.
December 2, 2025 at 11:48 AM
I am beyond devastated to learn Robin Smith has died. As a cricket-obssessed kid in Hampshire in the 1980s he was my idol. I was at the Oval in 1988 and watched him score his first Test 50. Farewell Judge, I was never happier than when watching you bat.
Likely my final Substack post of the year, so it's personal and reflective. substack.com/home/post/p-...
2025: An unserious year
A personal review of what just happened and what happens next
substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Likely my final Substack post of the year, so it's personal and reflective. substack.com/home/post/p-...
Every time a newspaper columnist portends a "febrile atmosphere" I remind myself that a lack of febrility is a bad thing for newspaper sales/clicks.
November 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Every time a newspaper columnist portends a "febrile atmosphere" I remind myself that a lack of febrility is a bad thing for newspaper sales/clicks.
Our window cleaner is here. He's so incessantly chatty I have to hide indoors or suffer at least 45 mins of him talking at me. British politeness is a curse.
November 27, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Our window cleaner is here. He's so incessantly chatty I have to hide indoors or suffer at least 45 mins of him talking at me. British politeness is a curse.
I largely avoid politics podcasts, but for Doctorow + Behr I am glad I made an exception.
“Enshittification” is the word of the moment. It’s the reason Google is all ads and Amazon serves you crappy overpriced products. Cory Doctorow, who coined the term, joins @nndroid.bsky.social and @rafaelbehr.bsky.social to discuss how we can combat it ➡️ linktr.ee/ohgodwhatnowpod
November 27, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I largely avoid politics podcasts, but for Doctorow + Behr I am glad I made an exception.
The Stranger Things S5 release schedule feels designed primarily for Netflix shareholders, not customers. Brands barely bother to hide their motivations anymore. The addict will suffer it for their fix.
November 27, 2025 at 9:43 AM
The Stranger Things S5 release schedule feels designed primarily for Netflix shareholders, not customers. Brands barely bother to hide their motivations anymore. The addict will suffer it for their fix.
What part did you get in the school nativity play, Timmy? Shepherd?
Nah, Turkish ICE agent.
2025 primary school problems.
Nah, Turkish ICE agent.
2025 primary school problems.
November 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
What part did you get in the school nativity play, Timmy? Shepherd?
Nah, Turkish ICE agent.
2025 primary school problems.
Nah, Turkish ICE agent.
2025 primary school problems.
If there's one thing endemic in moderm marketing it's brands' desire to show "how they did it", as soon (or even before) showing what they did, or how well it worked. The creep of "building in public" into marketing. But it's psychologically so weak, signalling the output needs explaining.
November 25, 2025 at 2:47 PM
If there's one thing endemic in moderm marketing it's brands' desire to show "how they did it", as soon (or even before) showing what they did, or how well it worked. The creep of "building in public" into marketing. But it's psychologically so weak, signalling the output needs explaining.
If I could be PM for a day my first decision would be the creation of a specific ministry for taxation and the appointment of Dan Neidle as its Chancellor.
These reports the Government could revalue council tax bands F, G and H don't make sense to me. Here's what could actually be going on:
November 25, 2025 at 12:29 PM
If I could be PM for a day my first decision would be the creation of a specific ministry for taxation and the appointment of Dan Neidle as its Chancellor.
Consultants will look at this and sigh. Knowing the inverse of this pattern often determines their hiring. Human biases ensure companies often choose kind liars. Designers of AI also know this. In humans, want trumps need.
The challenge of designing AI agents as helpers:
In the short term, we prefer positive feedback.
In the long term, we benefit from having harsh but fair feedback.
AI companies might make more money by following our preference for sycophancy rather than our long-term interest.
In the short term, we prefer positive feedback.
In the long term, we benefit from having harsh but fair feedback.
AI companies might make more money by following our preference for sycophancy rather than our long-term interest.
November 20, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Consultants will look at this and sigh. Knowing the inverse of this pattern often determines their hiring. Human biases ensure companies often choose kind liars. Designers of AI also know this. In humans, want trumps need.
Interesting question: Do the British people have a deep faith in the jury system, given the terrible practical issues with dispensing justice? Seems to me, as with many things, people want to see it get done effectively more than handwringing about how it's done.
November 20, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Interesting question: Do the British people have a deep faith in the jury system, given the terrible practical issues with dispensing justice? Seems to me, as with many things, people want to see it get done effectively more than handwringing about how it's done.
This is the kind of incident that drives the "broken Britain" narrative. Incompetence upon incompetence from multiple authorities and still, when the scale of the problem is clear, no one actually doing anything.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Mountain of waste dumped in Oxfordshire field contains rubbish from councils
Evidence of waste from primary schools and local authorities in south-east England points to possible large-scale corruption, expert says
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:37 AM
This is the kind of incident that drives the "broken Britain" narrative. Incompetence upon incompetence from multiple authorities and still, when the scale of the problem is clear, no one actually doing anything.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
What perfect album came out the year you turned 16?
Only one possible answer for me (even though 1990 was a damn good year for rock albums).
Only one possible answer for me (even though 1990 was a damn good year for rock albums).
November 18, 2025 at 4:08 PM
What perfect album came out the year you turned 16?
Only one possible answer for me (even though 1990 was a damn good year for rock albums).
Only one possible answer for me (even though 1990 was a damn good year for rock albums).
"Small govt" is a fashionable idea, I'm told. Is "small enough to fit all its buildings and people into an urn" the intent?
The Clerk of the House of Commons described restoration of the Palace as a “hard sell” to the public. So we're just going to... wait for it to burn to the ground again?
November 17, 2025 at 2:18 PM
"Small govt" is a fashionable idea, I'm told. Is "small enough to fit all its buildings and people into an urn" the intent?
Probably a bit late to tell everyone your product is dangerous, after getting everyone hooked on its promise. Perhaps the fact I'm a smoker helped me not be fooled twice in one lifetime.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
AI firms must be clear on risks or repeat tobacco’s mistakes, says Anthropic chief
Artificial intelligence will become smarter than ‘most or all humans in most or all ways’, says Dario Amodei
www.theguardian.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Probably a bit late to tell everyone your product is dangerous, after getting everyone hooked on its promise. Perhaps the fact I'm a smoker helped me not be fooled twice in one lifetime.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Classy from Mr Coverdale. What a speaking voice as well as his mighty singing one. Very fond memories of seeing Whitesnake live 3 times between 1994 - 2008. He's on my Mt Rushmore of British rock singers.
youtu.be/GNTRgkd4gB0?...
youtu.be/GNTRgkd4gB0?...
Whitesnake - Fare Thee Well (Important Announcement) - Official 2025 Remix 'Forevermore'
YouTube video by Whitesnake TV
youtu.be
November 14, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Classy from Mr Coverdale. What a speaking voice as well as his mighty singing one. Very fond memories of seeing Whitesnake live 3 times between 1994 - 2008. He's on my Mt Rushmore of British rock singers.
youtu.be/GNTRgkd4gB0?...
youtu.be/GNTRgkd4gB0?...
While I'm commenting on news: Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul during panto season. LOL. I was mulling cancelling my Netflix subscription anyway, but this seals that decision.
November 13, 2025 at 11:44 AM
While I'm commenting on news: Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul during panto season. LOL. I was mulling cancelling my Netflix subscription anyway, but this seals that decision.
First NHS England, now Police and Crime commissioners. What a fucking waste of enormous amounts of time and money.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Police and crime commissioners to be abolished, government to announce
System introduced in 2012 across England and Wales has faced criticism from police chiefs
www.theguardian.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
First NHS England, now Police and Crime commissioners. What a fucking waste of enormous amounts of time and money.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The irony that the triple lock will go just as people start to actually need it.
According to the English Housing Survey, just 6% of households headed by someone over 65 are privately renting. But the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) forecasts that this will almost treble to 17% by 2040.
According to the English Housing Survey, just 6% of households headed by someone over 65 are privately renting. But the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) forecasts that this will almost treble to 17% by 2040.
November 13, 2025 at 10:10 AM
The irony that the triple lock will go just as people start to actually need it.
According to the English Housing Survey, just 6% of households headed by someone over 65 are privately renting. But the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) forecasts that this will almost treble to 17% by 2040.
According to the English Housing Survey, just 6% of households headed by someone over 65 are privately renting. But the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) forecasts that this will almost treble to 17% by 2040.